Kindred
Privacy Policy
Effective date: 15 May 2026
Last updated: 15 May 2026
This is the privacy policy for Kindred, a dating app where people match based on mood boards instead of photos of their face.
Kindred is operated by Emmet Sproul, an individual based in Christchurch, New Zealand ("we", "us", "our"). If you have any questions about this policy or how your data is handled, contact us at anyaclawbot@gmail.com.
This policy explains what we collect, why, who we share it with, and what control you have over your data. We've tried to write it in plain English — if anything's unclear, email us.
What we collect
Information you give us when you sign up
- Email address (or, if you sign up with Google or Apple, the email associated with that account)
- Password — stored hashed; we never see or store your actual password
- Display name — what other users see on your profile
- Date of birth — used to confirm you're 18 or older. Kindred is strictly 18+
- Gender — what you tell us about yourself, used for matching
- General location — your city or region, used for matching. You can enter this yourself, or let the app detect it from your device location. When you use device location, we request only approximate (low-accuracy) location and immediately convert it to a city or region — we never store precise GPS coordinates
Information you create on the app
- Mood board content — colours, images, text, graphic stickers, voice notes, and music blocks you place on your board
- Profile picture (optional) — an avatar image you can upload if you want. This can be a photo of your face — that's entirely your choice. It's optional, and matching is always based on your mood board, not your photo
- Voice notes — recorded inside the app, used in mood boards or sent in chat
- Messages — text and voice messages you send to people you've matched with
- Reactions and decisions — likes, passes, matches, unmatches, blocks, and reports
- Reports and feedback — any text you write in a report or feedback form
Information collected automatically
- Basic device and app info — operating system, app version, error logs (used to keep the app working)
- Account activity timestamps — when you signed up, last logged in, last sent a message
What we do NOT collect
- Precise GPS location or coordinates — if you let the app use your device location, we request only approximate location and keep just the resulting city or region, never your exact coordinates
- Phone number
- Contacts list — we don't read your phone's contacts
- Browsing history outside the app
- Advertising IDs
- Health, biometric, or financial data
How we use your information
We use the information above to:
- Run the app — show you mood boards, deliver messages, keep matches in sync
- Verify you are 18 or older
- Match you with people based on the boards you and they create
- Let you block, report, and unmatch other users for safety
- Investigate reports of abuse or violations of our terms
- Send you push notifications about likes, matches, and messages (you can turn these off in your device settings)
- Fix bugs and improve the app
- Comply with legal obligations
We do not sell your data. We do not run third-party advertising in Kindred. We do not use your messages or mood boards to train AI models.
Who we share information with
We share data only with the service providers we need to actually run Kindred:
| Provider |
What they do |
What they receive |
| Supabase (US, hosts on AWS) |
Database, authentication, file storage, real-time chat infrastructure |
Everything you store on Kindred — account info, mood boards, messages, voice notes |
| Pexels (US) |
Stock image library used inside the mood board image picker |
The search terms you type (e.g. "sunset", "ocean") — Pexels does not receive your account info |
| Google (if you use Sign in with Google) |
OAuth login |
Your email and basic Google account info |
| Apple (if you use Sign in with Apple) |
OAuth login |
The email or identifier Apple chooses to share — you can hide your real email via Apple's relay |
| Expo / EAS (US) |
Builds and delivers app updates and push notifications |
Push notification tokens, basic crash logs |
| Vercel (US) |
Hosts the Kindred web landing page |
Standard server logs (IP, browser type) for the public landing page only |
We may share data if we are legally required to (e.g. valid subpoena), or if we genuinely believe disclosure is needed to prevent imminent harm.
If Kindred is ever acquired or merged, your data may transfer to the new owner under the same terms — you'll be notified before any change takes effect.
International data transfers
Kindred users are spread across many countries, but our service providers (Supabase, Pexels, Google, Apple, Expo, Vercel) are based in the United States, and your data is stored on their servers. By using Kindred, you understand that your information will be transferred to and stored in the United States, where privacy laws may differ from those in your own country.
How long we keep your data
- Active accounts: for as long as your account exists
- After you delete your account: we delete your profile, mood board, voice notes, avatar, all your matches, and all messages in those conversations within 30 days. The people you matched with will see those matches disappear from their side too — we can't preserve a one-sided chat history once an account is gone
- If you block another user: all messages between you and that person are permanently deleted on both sides, the match is removed, and you will not appear to each other in Discover or Likes again
- If you unmatch someone: the conversation and all messages between you are deleted on both sides, and you will not appear to each other in Discover or Likes again
- Backups: routine backups may retain data for a short period after deletion before being overwritten
Your rights
You have the right to:
- Access the personal information we hold about you
- Correct information that's wrong (most things you can edit directly in the app)
- Delete your account and the personal data tied to it (Settings → Delete Account, or email us)
- Export a copy of your data (email us and we'll send it)
- Object to certain uses of your data, or withdraw consent where we're relying on consent
- Complain to the New Zealand Office of the Privacy Commissioner (privacy.org.nz) if you think we've mishandled your data
If you're in the EU/UK, you have additional rights under the GDPR (right to data portability, right to restriction of processing). If you're in California, you have rights under the CCPA (right to know, right to delete, right to opt out of sale — note: we don't sell data). To exercise any of these rights, email us at anyaclawbot@gmail.com.
How we keep your data safe
- All data in transit is encrypted (TLS / HTTPS)
- Passwords are hashed — we cannot see them and neither can anyone who breaches us
- Supabase enforces row-level security: one user cannot read another user's private data
- Voice notes and avatars are stored in access-controlled storage buckets
- We follow standard security practices, but no system is 100% secure. If a breach affects you, we will notify you as required by law
Children
Kindred is 18+ only. We require a date of birth at signup and block accounts under 18. If we discover an account belongs to a person under 18, we delete it. If you believe a child has signed up, email us immediately.
Changes to this policy
If we change this policy in a way that affects you, we'll notify you in the app or by email before the change takes effect. The "Last updated" date at the top will always show the most recent version.
Contact us
Questions, complaints, data access requests, or anything else:
Kindred is governed by New Zealand law. This policy is written to also meet baseline requirements of the EU GDPR, the California CCPA, and the Apple App Store guidelines, but it is not legal advice. We recommend reviewing this policy with a New Zealand privacy lawyer before public launch.