Draft: this document is being finalized and reviewed. Details in [brackets] are still to be filled in.
Whim Privacy Policy
Last updated: October 23, 2026
This Privacy Policy explains what information [LEGAL ENTITY NAME] ("Whim," "we," "us," or "our") collects when you use the Whim app, our website, and related services (the "Service"), how we use and protect it, who we share it with, and the choices you have. Whim does not sell your personal information, and we do not use it for advertising.
If something here is unclear, email us at support@whimhq.com.
1. What we collect
Information you give us
- Account: your phone number and a password (we store only a scrambled "hash" of the password, never the password itself), or your Apple or Google sign-in identifier if you sign in that way. Older accounts may use an email address instead of a phone number.
- Profile: first name, birthday, gender, who you'd like to meet, height, job, school, hometown, "why I'm here" choices, prompt answers, and photos you upload.
- Lifestyle answers: whether you drink, smoke, use cannabis, or use drugs ("yes," "no," or "sometimes"). These are shown on your profile.
- Phone number (your login, and to verify you're real): we text you a code when you sign up. We keep only a scrambled fingerprint of the number, never the number itself, and use it to log you in, to make sure one number is linked to one account, and to keep removed people from returning. A second scrambled fingerprint of your number is used to keep you and people who have your number saved from seeing each other in Meet. Our text-message provider sees your number to deliver the code.
- Messages: what you send in chats, including your one introductory message to someone before they reply. Chats are text only.
- Interests and meetup feedback: things you say you're into, and, if you choose, a short note on how a meetup went. If you say you felt unsafe, we may review it and file a report.
- Help requests and appeals you send us, and the email you give with them.
- Photo verification (optional): if you choose it, one selfie of you copying a random pose. A person at Whim compares it with your profile photos, then the selfie is deleted. We keep only the result and the date.
- Safety tools: the names and phone numbers or emails of Trusted Contacts you add, and details of any meetup you share (who you are meeting, when, and whether you have checked in).
- Reports, blocks, and support messages you send us.
- Waitlist: if you joined our pre-launch waitlist, your email, first name, and any survey answers you chose to give (such as your area, phone type, what annoys you about dating apps, and how you'd use Whim).
Information collected automatically
- Location: with your permission, your phone's location, so we can show you nearby people and work out distance. We store your most recent location. The Map uses it only in grouped, rounded form.
- Activity: when you last used the app, when you are "free," your availability schedule, who you Spark or pass on, your sparks and chats, and basic usage events (for example, which screens and features you use and whether a notification led you to open the app) so we can keep the Service working and improve it.
- Video calls: we record only when a call started and ended and whether it lasted long enough to count as a video check. We do not record the audio or video itself. Calls go directly between the two phones, or through a relay server that passes the connection along without storing it.
- Device and technical data: your notification token (so we can send you notifications), app version, device type, IP address, and error and crash information.
- Screenshot events: if the other person has screenshot alerts on, a screenshot of your chat triggers a notice to them.
Information from your phone's contacts
If you turn on "Hide me from my contacts," the app scrambles the phone numbers and emails in your contacts on your phone and sends only the scrambled fingerprints. We never receive names, numbers, or emails from your contacts, and we use the fingerprints only to keep you and the people you know out of each other's Meet.
Information from others
Other users may report you or send you messages. Apple tells us whether a purchase or subscription is valid (see Section 4).
2. Sensitive information
Some of what you choose to share is sensitive under privacy laws, including who you'd like to meet (which can reveal sexual orientation), your lifestyle answers about alcohol, cannabis, and drugs, precise location, and photos. We collect and use this sensitive information only to run the features you ask for (for example, showing you the right people and showing your profile to others) and to keep people safe. We do not use it for advertising or sell it. By entering it, you consent to our using it this way. You can edit most of it at any time, or delete your account.
3. How we use your information
- To provide Whim: show you people nearby, run Sparks, chats, video checks, the Map, and the safety tools.
- To confirm that you are within our age range (18 to 30) and, if you choose, that you are the person in your photos.
- To keep the Service safe: review reports, find and stop rule-breaking, spam, fraud, and harassment, and keep banned people from returning. Some safety steps are automatic, such as hiding an account after reports from several different people until we review it. We may use automated tools and human reviewers, including to check photos for content that breaks our rules.
- To send you notifications about sparks, replies, safety check-ins, and activity near you. You can turn these off.
- To process purchases and subscriptions and give you what you bought.
- To understand how the Service is used, fix problems, and improve Whim.
- To contact you about your account, safety, or changes to our terms, and (if you joined the waitlist) about our launch.
- To follow the law, respond to legal requests, and protect the rights, property, and safety of Whim, our users, and the public.
4. Who we share it with
We do not sell your personal information, and we do not share it for cross-context behavioral advertising.
- Other users. Your profile (name, age, photos, height, job, school, hometown, "why I'm here," prompts, lifestyle answers, photo-verified status, and approximate distance) is shown to people who see you in Meet. Your messages are visible to the person you are chatting with. We never show anyone your exact location, email, birthday, or phone number.
- Trusted Contacts you choose. Details of a meetup you share go to the people you pick, through your own phone's messaging.
- Service providers who work for us under agreements that limit how they can use your data. Examples: our hosting and database provider, our domain, DNS, and email-forwarding provider, Apple (push notifications, in-app purchases, and Sign in with Apple), Google (if you use Google sign-in), an email delivery provider, and providers for error reporting, analytics, and photo or content safety checks if we use them.
- Legal and safety reasons. We may disclose information to the authorities or others if we believe in good faith it is required by law, or necessary to protect someone's safety, to investigate a crime or a violation of our rules, or to protect our rights. We report child sexual abuse material to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children and to law enforcement.
- Business changes. If Whim is sold, merged, or reorganized, your information may be transferred, and we will tell you and honor this policy for it.
- Aggregated or anonymous information that does not identify you, such as how many people use a feature.
5. How long we keep it
| Information | How long |
|---|---|
| Chat messages | Deleted automatically about 24 hours after they are sent |
| Introductory messages nobody replies to | The conversation closes after about 24 hours; the message is deleted on the same schedule |
| Verification selfie | Deleted after review, and when you delete your account |
| Phone fingerprint | Until you delete your account; if you were removed for breaking our rules, kept so the number can't be used again |
| Usage events (which features were used, never message text or locations) | [12] months |
| Help requests and appeals | Until resolved, then [12] months |
| Profile, photos, sparks, swipe history, safety contacts, availability, preferences | Until you delete your account |
| Account deletion | Immediate and permanent for the items above |
| Reports about conduct | Kept after deletion for safety and legal reasons, with your identity removed from the record where possible |
| Records we must keep by law, and what we need to keep a banned person from returning | As long as the law or our safety needs require |
| Purchase records | Apple keeps the official record. We keep only what we need to show your subscription status, and delete it with your account |
| Waitlist information | Until you ask us to remove it, or [12] months after launch if you never create an account |
| Server logs and error reports | A short period, generally [30 to 90] days |
6. Your choices and rights
- Edit your information in the app. Gender and birthday are locked because they decide who you can see. Contact us if one is wrong.
- Delete your account in the app (Profile tab, scroll to the bottom, Delete Account). It is immediate. You can also email us.
- Location, notifications, camera, microphone, photos, and contacts can each be turned off in your iPhone's Settings.
- Notifications: turn them off in Settings at any time.
- Cancel a subscription in your iPhone's Settings with Apple. Deleting your account does not cancel it.
- Waitlist: unsubscribe from any email, or write to us and we will remove you.
- Ask us for a copy of the information we hold about you, or ask us to correct it, at support@whimhq.com. We may need to confirm it's you first.
If you live in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Utah, Virginia, or another state with a privacy law, you may have the right to know what we collect and how we use it, to access and get a copy of your information, to correct it, to delete it, to limit use of sensitive information, and not to be treated unfairly for using these rights. You may also appeal a decision by writing to us with "Privacy Appeal" in the subject. You can use an authorized agent. To use any right, email support@whimhq.com. We do not sell or share personal information as those laws define them, and we use sensitive information only as described in Section 2. If you are unhappy with our answer, you may contact your state attorney general.
Do Not Track. Our website does not use advertising or cross-site tracking, so there's nothing to turn off.
California categories (past 12 months). We collected: identifiers (email, notification token, IP address); personal records and characteristics (name, birthday, gender); sensitive information (who you'd like to meet, precise location, lifestyle answers); commercial information (purchase status); internet and app activity (usage events); geolocation; photos and audio-visual content you upload; communications (messages); and inferences limited to showing you relevant people. We disclosed them only as described in Section 4, to the recipients listed there, and did not sell or share them for advertising.
7. Security
We protect your information with measures including removal of hidden location data from the photos you upload, encrypted connections (HTTPS) when data travels between your phone and our servers, one-way hashing of passwords, private storage for verification selfies that is never shown to other users, limits on how often anyone can try to sign in or send requests, restricted staff access to our admin tools, and scrambling of your contacts on your phone before anything is sent. No system is perfectly secure, and we can't guarantee absolute security. If a breach affects you, we will tell you as the law requires. Please use a strong, unique password, and tell us right away at support@whimhq.com if you think your account has been used by someone else.
8. Age
Whim is only for adults aged 18 to 30. We do not knowingly collect information from anyone under 18. If we learn that we have, we delete it and remove the account. If you believe someone under 18 is using Whim, report it in the app or email support@whimhq.com.
9. Where your data is stored
Whim is offered in the United States, and your information is stored and processed in the United States. If you use Whim from another country, you understand your information will be transferred to the United States, where privacy laws may differ from yours.
10. Our website and waitlist
Our website collects the information you enter into the waitlist form. It does not use advertising cookies or tracking pixels. We may use basic, privacy-friendly measures of visits (such as page counts) and keep short-term server logs for security.
11. Changes to this policy
We may update this policy. For changes that matter, we will tell you in the app or by email before they take effect. The "Last updated" date at the top shows the latest version.
12. Contact us
[LEGAL ENTITY NAME]
[MAILING ADDRESS]
Email: support@whimhq.com