Privacy Policy

1. What we collect

Information you give us

• Profile details: name, date of birth, city, profession, employer, education, bio, preferences
• A profile photo and at least one social media link (LinkedIn, Instagram, or Facebook)
• Your email address and phone number (for account and verification)
• Your invite code, and the invite codes you generate for others
• Messages you send inside the app

Information generated by use

• Match activity: introduction requests sent or received, accepts, declines, conversation status
• Notification preferences and push notification tokens
• Payment status via Stripe — we never see or store your card number
• Basic technical logs: timestamps, error reports, device type — used only to keep the service working

2. Why we process your data (lawful basis)

We rely on the following lawful bases under UK GDPR:

• Contract performance (Art. 6(1)(b)) — to provide the matchmaking service you signed up for
• Legitimate interests (Art. 6(1)(f)) — to prevent fraud, keep the service secure, and improve reliability
• Your explicit consent (Art. 9(2)(a)) — for the processing of special category data. Because matchmaking involves romantic preferences and ethnic background, this data falls under Article 9. You gave explicit consent when you ticked the consent box during sign-up. You can withdraw this consent at any time by deleting your account.

3. Who can see your profile

Your profile is never public. It is only visible to:

• The Bachola(s) you are directly connected to
• Seekers your Bachola has personally introduced you to (once an introduction is made)
• Our small founding team, for support and moderation purposes only

We never expose your profile to search engines, public directories, or any third party for any commercial purpose.

4. What we never do

• We never sell your personal data to anyone
• We never share your data with third parties for marketing or advertising
• We never use your data to train AI or machine learning models outside of Bachola
• We never run your photo through facial recognition software
• We never show your profile to anyone outside your trust network

5. Third-party services we use

• Stripe — payment processing. Stripe is PCI DSS compliant. We never see your card details.
• Resend — transactional email delivery (e.g. "you have a new introduction"). No marketing.
• Expo / Apple Push Notification Service / Firebase Cloud Messaging — push notifications. Your device token is stored securely and used only to send you notifications about your own activity.
• Clerk — authentication and session management

Each provider is bound by a Data Processing Agreement and processes data only as instructed.

6. How long we keep your data

• Active account: data is kept for as long as your account exists
• Deleted account: your profile, photos, messages, and preferences are deleted within 30 days of account deletion. We retain basic financial records (payment status, not card data) for 7 years as required by HMRC.
• Technical logs: retained for up to 90 days, then automatically deleted

7. Your rights under UK GDPR

You have the following rights. To exercise any of them, email hello@bachola.co.uk.

We will respond to all requests within 30 days.

8. Cookies

The Bachola app does not use advertising cookies or third-party tracking cookies. The website (bachola.co.uk) uses only essential session cookies required for navigation. No analytics cookies are set without your consent.

9. Children

Bachola is strictly for adults aged 30 and over. We do not knowingly collect data from anyone under 18. If you believe a minor has created an account, please contact us immediately at hello@bachola.co.uk.

10. Changes to this policy

If we make a material change to this policy, we will notify you inside the app and ask you to re-accept before continuing. The "last updated" date at the top of this page will always reflect the current version.

Contact

For any privacy question or to exercise your rights, email us at hello@bachola.co.uk. We aim to respond within 5 working days.