LinkConnect — Privacy Policy

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    Your data, your rights, our commitment

    This Privacy Policy explains how LinkConnect Inc. ("we", "us", or "our") collects, uses, stores, and protects your personal information when you use the LinkConnect platform ("Platform"). We are committed to transparency and to protecting your privacy. By using LinkConnect, you agree to the collection and use of information as described in this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, please do not use the Platform.

    1. Information We Collect

    1.1 Information We Collect at Signup

    To create an account on LinkConnect, we collect:

    • Email address — for account access and important notifications
    • Phone number — for account verification and security
    • Date of birth — to confirm you are 18 or older
    • Display name and unique @handle
    • Password (stored hashed, never in plain text)
    • Profile information (optional): avatar emoji, bio, interests, Pulse words, active persona, active mood, job title (if set on Professional persona), and Link Card settings
    • Content you post: thoughts, photos, videos, audio recordings in Link Wave, comments, messages in LinkChat, and any other content you create on the Platform
    • Event information: when you create Neighborhood events, we collect the event name, description, category, date, time, and location
    • Circle information: names, descriptions, and rules of Circles you create
    • Communications: messages you send to our support team

    You do not need to provide a government-issued ID to create an account. We do not collect, scan, or store identity documents at signup.

    1.1a Optional Identity Verification

    You may choose to verify your identity for additional features. This is optional and only required for:

    • Earning the LinkConnect verified badge (Link Seal)
    • Live streaming on Link Live
    • Monetization features
    • Creating large public communities

    If you choose to verify your identity, you may be asked to provide:

    • A photo of a government-issued ID
    • A selfie for biometric matching

    Identity documents are processed by our identity verification partner and are not stored on LinkConnect servers except as confirmation that verification was completed (verification status and date). You can request deletion of your verification status at any time.

    1.1b Business Verification Documents

    If you submit documents to verify a business account, LinkConnect collects and processes them as described below.

    What we collect:

    • Business documents you submit for verification (such as business license, tax ID, utility bill, or proof of online presence)
    • Information about your role at the business and your authority to represent it

    Why we collect it:

    • To verify that the business is legitimate and that you are authorized to represent it
    • To prevent fraud and impersonation on the Platform
    • To enable verified business features (such as live broadcasts and the verified business badge)

    How we use it:

    • Reviewed by LinkConnect verification staff
    • Used only for verification purposes
    • Not shared with other users
    • Not sold to third parties

    How we store it:

    • Encrypted in storage
    • Access restricted to authorized LinkConnect staff
    • Access is audit logged

    How long we keep it:

    • While your business account is active and verified
    • Deleted within a reasonable period after account deletion or verification rejection (or as required by applicable law)

    Your rights:

    • Request a copy of documents we hold about your business
    • Request deletion of verification documents (subject to legal retention requirements)
    • Withdraw a pending verification submission

    For any of the above, contact support@linkconnectapp.com.

    1.2 Information We Collect Automatically

    When you use the Platform, we automatically collect:

    • Device information: device type, operating system, browser type, and unique device identifiers
    • Usage data: features you use, content you view, posts you interact with, and time spent on the Platform
    • Log data: IP address, access times, pages viewed, and crash reports
    • Location data: approximate location inferred from IP address; precise location only when you enable location features such as Neighborhood or location-tagged posts
    • Interaction data: likes, comments, reshares, follows, RSVP actions, and Circle memberships

    1.3 Information from Other Users

    Other users may mention you in posts, tag you in photos, or share your content. When they do, information about those interactions is associated with your account.

    2. How We Use Your Information

    2.1 To Operate the Platform

    We use your information to:

    • Create and maintain your account
    • Display your profile, personas, and Link Card to other users
    • Deliver content from people you've Linked with in your Connect Feed
    • Enable LinkChat messaging between users
    • Power the Neighborhood section by filtering events within your chosen radius
    • Display the Link Map showing your social connections
    • Calculate and display your Memory Threads and annual stats
    • Send you notifications about activity on your posts and account
    • Process RSVP registrations for Neighborhood events

    2.2 To Improve the Platform

    We use aggregated and anonymized data to analyze usage patterns, identify bugs, test new features, and improve the overall Platform experience. We do not use your personal content to train AI or machine learning models for generative purposes.

    2.3 For Safety and Trust

    We use your information to:

    • Detect and prevent spam, fake accounts, bots, and coordinated inauthentic behavior
    • Identify and remove content that violates our Terms or Community Guidelines
    • Detect suspected AI-generated or deepfake content
    • Enforce age verification and ensure users meet the 18+ requirement
    • Respond to legal requests and prevent harm

    2.4 How We Use Your Phone Number

    Your phone number is used only for:

    • Sending verification codes at signup and when changing security settings
    • Account recovery
    • Security notifications such as suspicious login attempts
    • Two-factor authentication if you enable it

    We never use your phone number for marketing and never share it with advertisers.

    2.5 To Communicate with You

    We may send you:

    • Service notifications: account alerts, security warnings, and policy updates
    • Platform notifications: activity on your posts, new Links, event reminders
    • Legal notices: updates to Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

    We do not send promotional or marketing emails without your consent.

    2.6 To Surface Relevant Connections

    We use activity signals (such as when you last opened the app, posted, or engaged with content) to order the Link Cards row in your Connect Feed so that connections who are around recently appear earlier. This activity is never displayed to other users — no "online", "active now", or "last seen" indicators are shown anywhere on LinkConnect. If you enable Ghost Mode in Privacy & Trust settings, your activity is excluded from this surfacing for other users.

    3. How We Share Your Information

    3.1 With Other Users

    Information you make public on LinkConnect is visible to other users according to your privacy settings and active persona:

    • Post visibility options: Public, Links, Close Links, and Just Me. You choose audience per post in the composer.
    • Close Links: a private subset of up to 50 people you select. Only members see those posts. Your list is private from other users — no one (including members) can see who else is on it. Members can opt out of receiving your Close Links posts without unlinking.
    • Anonymous persona: content posted without your identity; your handle and display name are hidden from other users but remain associated with your account in our systems.

    Your Close Links list is private from users, but not from platform safety review: moderators may access reported Close Links posts as part of formal moderation or legal processes, and such access is audit-logged.

    Your follower and following lists are visible according to your persona privacy settings. Anonymous persona hides all follower counts and lists.

    3.2 With Service Providers

    We share information with trusted third-party service providers who help us operate the Platform, including:

    • Supabase: database hosting and real-time data infrastructure
    • Daily.co: live video broadcasting infrastructure for Link Live
    • Cloud storage providers: hosting for photos, videos, and audio content
    • Analytics providers: aggregated usage analytics (no personally identifiable data shared)

    All service providers are contractually bound to protect your data and use it only for the purposes we specify.

    3.3 For Legal Compliance

    We may disclose your information when required by law, including:

    • In response to a valid court order, subpoena, or government request
    • To protect the safety of our users or the public
    • To enforce our Terms of Service
    • To prevent fraud, abuse, or illegal activity on the Platform

    3.4 What We Never Do

    We will never:

    • Sell your personal data to any third party
    • Share your personally identifiable data with third parties for their own marketing purposes
    • Allow your content or data to be used to train AI or generative models by third parties
    • Share your precise location data with any third party without your explicit consent

    3.5 Business Accounts

    If you operate a business account, the business information you provide — including business name, category, contact details, hours, location, and services — is displayed publicly on your business profile to help customers find and reach you.

    Business contact information you choose to display (phone, email, address, website) will be visible to all users. Only provide contact details you are comfortable making public. You can edit or remove any of this information at any time from your business profile settings.

    Reviews left on your business profile are visible publicly and include the reviewer's display name and persona, in line with their persona privacy settings.

    3.6 Insights for Businesses and Creators

    To provide insights to businesses and content creators, LinkConnect records aggregate engagement data, including how many times content is viewed, shared, and engaged with, and how follower counts change over time.

    This data is shown to the content owner in aggregate form only. We do not reveal the identities of individual users who viewed your content through insights.

    Insights are visible only to the owner of the account or post. They are not shared with other users or with third parties.

    4. Data Retention

    4.1 Active Accounts

    We retain your personal information for as long as your account is active. You can delete specific content at any time from within the Platform.

    4.2 Timed Content

    Thoughts posted with a timed expiry (1hr, 12hr, or 24hr) are automatically and permanently deleted from our servers when the timer expires. This deletion is irreversible and the content cannot be recovered by you or by LinkConnect.

    4.3 Neighborhood Events

    Neighborhood events are automatically removed from the Platform feed 24 hours after their scheduled end time. The underlying event data is retained in our database for a period of 30 days following removal to allow for moderation and legal compliance purposes, after which it is permanently deleted.

    4.4 Account Deletion

    When you delete your account, we begin the process of removing your personal data. Most data is deleted within 30 days of your deletion request. Some data may be retained for up to 90 days for legal compliance, fraud prevention, or dispute resolution purposes. Data that other users have reshared may remain on the Platform under their account.

    4.5 Identity Verification Data

    • Verification documents (ID photos, selfies) are processed by our verification partner and are not stored on LinkConnect servers
    • We retain only your verification status (verified or not) and the date of verification
    • You can request deletion of your verification status at any time from Settings → Verification

    4.6 Legal Hold

    In some circumstances, we may be required to retain data beyond our standard retention periods to comply with legal obligations, resolve disputes, or enforce our agreements.

    5. Your Rights and Controls

    5.1 Access and Portability

    You may request a copy of the personal data we hold about you by contacting our privacy team through the in-app support form. We will respond to data access requests within 30 days.

    5.2 Correction

    You may update most of your personal information directly in your profile settings. For corrections that cannot be made in-app, contact us through the in-app support form.

    5.3 Deletion

    You may delete your account at any time through Settings > Account > Delete Account. You may also request deletion of specific data through the in-app support form.

    5.4 Privacy Controls Within the App

    LinkConnect provides in-app privacy controls including persona selection to choose how you are identified for each post.

    5.5 Location Data

    You can revoke location access at any time in your device settings or in the LinkConnect app privacy settings. Revoking location access will disable location-based features including Neighborhood events and location-tagged posts but will not affect any other platform functionality.

    5.6 California Residents — CCPA

    California residents have additional rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), including the right to know what personal information we collect, the right to delete personal information, and the right to opt out of the sale of personal information. We do not sell personal information. To exercise your CCPA rights, submit a request through the in-app support form.

    5.7 Identity Verification Rights

    You have the right to:

    • Choose not to verify your identity (verification is always optional)
    • Remove your verification status at any time from Settings → Verification
    • Request what verification data was processed about you by our verification partner

    5.8 EEA and UK Residents — GDPR

    If you are located in the European Economic Area or United Kingdom, you have rights under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) including the right to access, correct, delete, and port your personal data, the right to restrict or object to processing, and the right to lodge a complaint with your local supervisory authority. Our legal basis for processing your data is your consent (which you may withdraw at any time, including consent to optional identity verification), the performance of our contract with you, and our legitimate interests in operating and improving the Platform.

    5a. Linked Accounts and Your Data

    If you operate multiple accounts on LinkConnect (one personal account plus up to three business accounts), they are linked under your verified identity.

    Shared across your linked accounts

    • Your verified identity
    • Login credentials
    • Two-factor authentication settings
    • Some account preferences (such as language and theme)

    Separate per account

    • Posts and other content
    • Links
    • Notifications
    • Chat history
    • Profile information
    • Insights and analytics

    What LinkConnect tracks

    • The connection between your linked accounts
    • Activity across your linked accounts for abuse detection
    • Cross-account engagement patterns for moderation

    Visibility

    LinkConnect administrators can see which accounts belong to the same verified human, for moderation and abuse prevention purposes. Other users do not see the connection between your linked accounts.

    Your data rights across linked accounts

    • When you request a data export, you will receive data from all accounts linked to your verified identity.
    • When you delete your primary personal account, all linked accounts are permanently deleted (with confirmation and subject to the recovery window).
    • You may delete individual business accounts without affecting your personal account.

    6. Security

    We take the security of your personal information seriously and implement appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect it, including:

    • Encryption of data in transit using TLS/HTTPS
    • Encryption of sensitive data at rest
    • Access controls limiting employee access to personal data to those with a need to know
    • Regular security assessments and vulnerability testing
    • Incident response procedures for data breaches

    No method of electronic transmission or storage is 100% secure. While we strive to protect your information, we cannot guarantee absolute security. In the event of a data breach that affects your rights, we will notify you as required by applicable law.

    7. Children's Privacy

    LinkConnect is strictly for users aged 18 and over. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 18. If we become aware that a user is under 18 or that we have collected personal data from a minor, we will take immediate steps to delete that information and permanently terminate the account. If you believe we may have collected information from a minor, please contact us immediately through the in-app support form.

    8. Cookies and Tracking Technologies

    We use cookies and similar tracking technologies to operate the Platform, remember your preferences, and understand how users interact with our features. We use:

    • Essential cookies: required for the Platform to function, including authentication and session management
    • Preference cookies: to remember your settings including persona, mood, and feed preferences
    • Analytics cookies: to understand aggregated usage patterns and improve the Platform

    You can control cookie settings in your browser settings, though disabling essential cookies will affect Platform functionality.

    9. Third-Party Links and Services

    The Platform may contain links to third-party websites or services, including links shared by other users. This Privacy Policy does not apply to those third-party services. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of any third-party services you access through the Platform.

    10. Legal Basis for Processing (GDPR)

    Categories of data:

    • Required at signup: email, phone number, display name, @handle, date of birth
    • Optional (only if you choose to verify): identity documents (processed by partner, not stored on our servers) and your verification status

    For users in the European Economic Area, we process your data under these legal bases:

    • Contract performance: Required signup data (email, phone, name, handle) — necessary to deliver the service you signed up for
    • Legitimate interest: Platform safety, fraud prevention, content moderation, and service improvement
    • Consent: Optional identity verification, analytics tracking, marketing emails, personalised recommendations, and location features — you can withdraw consent at any time in Settings → Privacy → Consent & Legal
    • Legal obligation: Responding to lawful requests from authorities and maintaining records as required by law

    11. Data Retention Periods

    • Posts and content: Retained until you delete them or delete your account
    • Timed Thoughts: Permanently deleted when the timer expires (1hr, 12hr, or 24hr)
    • Messages: Retained until deleted by you or the other participant
    • Analytics data: Anonymised after 12 months
    • Account data: Deleted within 90 days of account deletion request
    • Neighborhood events: Removed from feed 24hrs after end time; deleted from database after 30 days
    • Consent records: Retained for 5 years as required for GDPR audit trail

    12. Third-Party Data Processors

    The following third-party services process data on our behalf. Each operates under a Data Processing Agreement (DPA):

    • Supabase — Database hosting, authentication, and real-time infrastructure (EU region available)
    • Daily.co — Live video broadcasting infrastructure for Link Live and Link Wave
    • Pixabay — Royalty-free music library for LinkClips
    • Klipy — GIF search and delivery

    For processors located outside the EU/EEA, data transfers are protected by Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) or an adequacy decision by the European Commission.

    13. International Data Transfers

    User data is stored in the EU (AWS eu-west-1, Ireland) via Supabase. Where data is processed by sub-processors outside the EU, we ensure appropriate safeguards are in place including Standard Contractual Clauses approved by the European Commission.

    14. EU Representative

    In accordance with Article 27 of the GDPR, our EU representative is:

    DataRep

    EU Representative for LinkConnect Inc.

    Email: linkconnect@datarep.com

    Website: datarep.com

    15. Right to Complain

    If you are in the EU/EEA, you have the right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection supervisory authority. You can find your local authority at the European Data Protection Board directory.

    16. Changes to This Privacy Policy

    We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, features, or applicable law. We will notify you of material changes via in-app notification and email to the address on file at least 14 days before the changes take effect. Your continued use of the Platform after the effective date constitutes your acceptance of the revised Privacy Policy. If you do not agree to the changes, you must stop using the Platform and may delete your account.

    17. Built-in Features & Data

    LinkConnect offers features including search, basic photo editing, a guided Help Bot, and browser spellcheck. These operate within LinkConnect and do not share your content with any external AI service.

    • Search — keyword queries run against our own database. Your query is logged for safety and trending analytics only (see Section 4).
    • Photo editing — crop, rotate, brightness, contrast, saturation, and preset filters are applied on your device. No image is sent for editing.
    • Help Bot — a pre-written decision tree. Your taps stay on your device; no conversation is sent off-platform.
    • Spellcheck — provided by your browser or operating system, not by LinkConnect.
    • Safety & moderation — on-device authenticity signals (EXIF, perceptual hashing) and our own moderation queue. See our content authenticity controls in Section 4.

    17.1 AI-Generated Content Is Not Allowed

    AI-generated content posing as human is prohibited on LinkConnect and is detected by our authenticity system. This rule applies regardless of which tools we add to the Platform in the future.

    17.2 If We Add AI Tools Later

    We may introduce optional AI-powered tools (for example, AI writing assist, AI search, or an AI chatbot) in the future. If and when we do, we will update this Privacy Policy before turning those tools on, disclose any third-party AI provider involved, and give you the ability to opt out under Settings → Content & Display → AI Tools.

    18. End-to-End Encryption of Messages

    LinkChat direct messages and group chats are end-to-end encrypted using RSA-OAEP key exchange and AES-256-GCM. Your private key is generated on your device and stored locally in your browser's IndexedDB. LinkConnect cannot read the contents of your encrypted messages.

    Because your private key stays on your device: (a) if you clear your browser data, uninstall the app, or switch devices without exporting your key, your prior message history will not be readable; (b) LinkConnect cannot recover encrypted message contents on your behalf; (c) message metadata (sender, recipient, timestamp, delivery status, and read receipts when enabled) is still processed on our servers to route and deliver messages.

    Reported messages: when a recipient reports a message, the reporter's client attaches the plaintext of that specific message to the report so our moderation team can review it. We do not decrypt messages that have not been reported.

    19. Reactions, Photo Conversations, and Blocking Data

    19.1 Temperature reactions

    Temperature reactions (🔥 Hot, 🌡️ Warm, ❄️ Cool, 🧊 Cold, ⚡ Electric) are stored on your account and attributed to the post you reacted to. Post owners see aggregate reaction counts and can see who reacted. Reactions on Anonymous posts are also anonymised in the display but remain associated with your account in our systems for safety.

    19.2 Photo Conversations

    When you reply to a post or comment with a photo, that photo is stored with the same visibility as the post you're replying to. You are responsible for having the right to share any photo of another person you post.

    19.3 Mute, Restrict, and Block

    When you mute, restrict, or block another user, we retain the fact of that action so the effect persists across sessions and devices. Blocked users are not notified that they have been blocked, but they can typically infer it from the app's behavior. Muted words are stored on your account and applied when displaying content to you; they are never shared with other users.

    20. Contacts Matching (Optional)

    If you choose to find friends from your device contacts, LinkConnect normalises each contact's email and phone number on your device, applies a one-way cryptographic hash using a platform-specific pepper, and sends only the hashes to our servers to check for matches with LinkConnect accounts. Hashes that do not match are discarded. We do not store your address book, contact names, or unmatched identifiers. You can revoke contacts access at any time in your device settings; doing so does not remove connections you have already made.

    21. Content Authenticity Signals

    To enforce our human-content rules, LinkConnect analyses posts for AI-generation, deepfake, and spam indicators. Signals include EXIF metadata read on your device, perceptual image hashing performed on our servers, and lightweight on-device inference. The resulting authenticity score is stored on the post record and used by moderators and by our ranking and safety systems. We do not sell these signals or share them with third parties for advertising.

    22. Automated Decision-Making and Profiling

    LinkConnect uses automated systems in three areas that may affect your account: (a) Ranking — Hot Score, Rising Creators, and trending hashtag detection order content on Discovery; (b) Bot Score — a 0-100 score based on profile, behaviour, content, and community reports that can restrict posting, reduce reach, or suspend accounts at defined thresholds; (c) Content moderation — automated detection of AI-generated content, spam, and prohibited categories that can label, reach-restrict, or remove content.

    You have the right to (i) be informed that an automated decision has been made; (ii) request meaningful information about the logic involved; and (iii) request human review. To appeal a Bot Score action, use Settings → Account → Appeal a restriction or contact support@linkconnectapp.com. Human reviewers respond within 7 days.

    23. Push Notifications and Crash Reporting

    23.1 Push notifications

    When you enable notifications, LinkConnect registers a device token with Apple Push Notification service (APNs) or Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM) so we can deliver alerts. Push payloads contain the minimum information needed to display the notification (for example, the notifier's display name and a short preview). You can revoke notification permission at any time in your device settings.

    23.2 Crash and error reporting

    We use a crash-reporting service to record unhandled errors and performance data. Reports include device model, OS version, app version, and a stack trace. Personally identifiable content is stripped before upload and reports are used only to diagnose bugs. You can opt out under Settings → Privacy → Diagnostics.

    24. Referrals, Invites, and the Launch Waitlist

    When you invite someone to LinkConnect, we store the invitation record (destination email or phone, sender, timestamp) so we can attribute the join and prevent abuse. Invitees can request deletion of any invite record referencing them by emailing support@linkconnectapp.com.

    The launch waitlist collects email address, submission source, and timestamp for the sole purpose of notifying you when LinkConnect opens in your region. You can unsubscribe using the link in any waitlist email or by emailing support@linkconnectapp.com.

    25. United States State Privacy Rights

    Residents of California (CCPA/CPRA), Virginia (VCDPA), Colorado (CPA), Connecticut (CTDPA), Utah (UCPA), Texas (TDPSA), and Oregon (OCPA) have rights that include: the right to know what personal information we collect; the right to access and receive a copy; the right to correct inaccurate information; the right to delete personal information; the right to opt out of the sale or sharing of personal information (we do not sell or share personal information); the right to opt out of profiling that produces legal or similarly significant effects; and the right to limit the use of sensitive personal information (including precise geolocation and message contents).

    To exercise any of these rights, submit a request through the in-app support form or email support@linkconnectapp.com. We respond within 45 days. Authorised agents may submit requests on your behalf with proof of authorisation. You will not be discriminated against for exercising your rights.

    You may appeal a denial of a rights request by replying to our decision email; appeals are reviewed by a different reviewer within 45 days.

    26. Sensitive Personal Information

    Under CPRA and comparable state laws, "sensitive personal information" processed by LinkConnect may include: precise geolocation (only when you enable location features), the contents of messages sent through LinkChat (which are end-to-end encrypted and inaccessible to us), and identity verification data (processed only if you opt in). We use sensitive personal information only to provide the features you have chosen to use and for safety and legal compliance. We do not use it to infer characteristics about you for advertising.

    27. Data Breach Notification

    If a personal data breach occurs that is likely to result in a risk to your rights and freedoms, we will notify our supervisory authority within 72 hours of becoming aware of the breach (as required by GDPR Article 33) and notify affected users without undue delay by email and in-app notice. US state notifications will be made within the timelines required by applicable state law.

    28. Children Under 13 (COPPA)

    LinkConnect is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 13. Because our Platform requires all users to be 18 or older, no children's data should ever reach us. If we learn that we have collected personal information from a child under 13, we will delete it as soon as possible. Parents or guardians who believe we may have inadvertently collected information from a child may contact support@linkconnectapp.com.

    29. Cookie Consent (EU/UK Users)

    For users in the EU/UK, non-essential cookies (analytics and preference) load only after you accept them through our cookie banner. Essential cookies (authentication and session) are always active because they are strictly necessary to provide the Platform. You can withdraw or change your cookie choices at any time under Settings → Privacy → Cookies.

    30. Contacting Our Privacy Team

    Privacy questions, data-rights requests, and complaints can be sent to our privacy team at privacy@linkconnectapp.com. General support remains at support@linkconnectapp.com.

    EU/UK users may also contact our EU Representative (see Section 14) or their local supervisory authority.

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