Privacy Policy for MindEcho

Effective Date: 19/9/2025

Welcome to MindEcho! This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information when you use our mobile application (MindEcho). Please read this privacy policy carefully. If you do not agree with the terms of this privacy policy, please do not access the application.

We reserve the right to make changes to this Privacy Policy at any time and for any reason. We will alert you about any changes by updating the "Effective Date" of this Privacy Policy.

1. Information We Collect

We may collect information about you in a variety of ways. The information we may collect via the Application depends on the content and materials you use, and includes:

A. Personal Data You Provide to Us

• Account Information: When you register, we collect personal information, such as your name, email address, password, and profile photo. If you register using Google Sign-In, we receive your name, email, and profile picture from your Google account.
• Profile Information: To complete your profile, you may provide us with your date of birth (from which we calculate your age), gender, and a personal biography. This information is used for features like user discovery.
• User-Generated Content:
  • Chat Messages: We collect the content of your messages in private and group chats, including text and images you send.
  • AI Assistant Conversations: We collect your conversations with our AI assistant, including your text inputs and any mood information you provide, to maintain context and improve the service.
• Friend and Social Data: We process information about your friends, friend requests (sent and received), and users you have blocked.

B. Information We Collect Automatically

• Location Information: With your permission, we may collect precise geolocation data from your device (latitude and longitude). This is used to show your online presence and power the "Discover" feature to find users near you. You can disable location services at any time through your device settings.
• Device and Usage Information: We collect information sent by your device, such as your device's operating system (iOS/Android), connectivity status, and a push notification token (FCM token) for delivering notifications.
• Presence and Activity Data: We collect your online status (e.g., "online," "offline," "typing...") and your last active timestamp to display to other users.

C. Data from Third Parties

• In-App Purchase Information: When you subscribe to remove ads, we process purchase details (like a purchase token and order ID) provided by the Apple App Store or Google Play Store to verify and activate your subscription. We do not see or store your credit card information.
• Advertising Data: Our advertising partner (Google AdMob) may collect device identifiers (like the Advertising ID) and other data to serve personalized ads.

2. How We Use Your Information

Having accurate information about you permits us to provide you with a smooth, efficient, and customized experience. Specifically, we use information collected about you via the Application to:

• Create and manage your account.
• Provide the core chat, group chat, and AI assistant functionalities.
• Display your profile to other users and enable the user discovery feature based on filters like age, gender, and proximity.
• Manage your friend list, friend requests, and blocked users.
• Send you push notifications for new messages, friend requests, and other important events.
• Process payments and manage your subscription for premium features.
• Serve advertisements to non-subscribed users.
• Monitor and analyze usage and trends to improve your experience with the Application.
• Ensure the security and integrity of our services.

3. How We Share Your Information

We may share information we have collected about you in certain situations. Your information may be disclosed as follows:

A. With Other Users

• Your public profile information (name, photo, age, gender, bio) is visible to other users, especially in the Discover section or when you interact with them.
• Your online status and typing indicators are visible to users in your chats.

B. With Third-Party Service Providers

We share your information with third-party vendors and service providers who perform services for us or on our behalf and require access to such information to do that work. These include:

• Google (Firebase): We use Firebase for user authentication, database services (Firestore for profiles and chats, Realtime Database for presence and location), and push notifications (Firebase Cloud Messaging).
• Google (AdMob): We use AdMob to display advertisements in the app. Google may collect and use data for ad personalization. You can learn more about Google's practices here.
• Groq API: Your AI assistant conversations (including your mood context) are sent to Groq's servers to generate AI responses.
• Cloudflare (R2 Storage): Images you upload (profile photos, chat images) are stored on Cloudflare R2's secure servers.
• Vercel: Our backend logic runs on Vercel. It processes sensitive operations like purchase verification, generating secure image upload links, handling friend requests, and powering the user discovery API.
• Apple & Google: For processing in-app purchases and subscriptions through their respective App Stores.
• Redis: Our backend uses Redis as a high-speed cache for user profile data to improve the performance of features like user discovery.

C. For Legal Reasons

We may disclose your information if we are required to do so by law or in the good faith belief that such action is necessary to (1) comply with a legal obligation, (2) protect and defend our rights or property, (3) act in urgent circumstances to protect the personal safety of users of the Application, or the public, or (4) protect against legal liability.

4. Data Storage and Security

We use administrative, technical, and physical security measures to help protect your personal information. Your data is stored on secure servers provided by Google Firebase and Cloudflare. While we have taken reasonable steps to secure the personal information you provide to us, please be aware that despite our efforts, no security measures are perfect or impenetrable, and no method of data transmission can be guaranteed against any interception or other type of misuse.

5. Your Choices and Rights

• Account Information: You can review and change your profile information (name, bio, photo) at any time within the app's settings.
• Location Services: You can disable location tracking at any time through your mobile device's settings. Doing so will limit the functionality of the user discovery feature.
• Push Notifications: You can opt-out of receiving push notifications by changing the settings on your mobile device.
• Advertising: You can opt-out of personalized advertising by following the instructions for Android and iOS. Non-subscribed users can also watch a rewarded ad to temporarily remove banner ads.
• Subscriptions: You can remove ads permanently by purchasing a subscription. You can manage your subscription through your Apple App Store or Google Play Store account.

6. Children's Privacy

Our services are not directed to individuals under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If we become aware that a child under 13 has provided us with personal information, we will take steps to delete such information.

7. Contact Us

If you have questions or comments about this Privacy Policy, please contact us at:

abbashussain4359@gmail.com
MindEcho