CHINKY Privacy Policy
**Effective Date: 20 September 2026**
**Last Updated: 20 September 2026**
At **CHINKY** ("we", "us", or "our"), your privacy is fundamental to how we build our products and services. This Privacy Policy explains what personal information we collect, how we use, store, and protect it, who we share it with, and the rights and choices you have regarding your data when using the CHINKY mobile applications, websites, and associated services (collectively, the "Platform").
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1. Information We Collect
A. Information You Provide Directly
- **Account Credentials**: Full name, unique username, email address, phone number, and password (securely hashed with bcrypt).
- **Profile Details**: Profile picture/avatar, biographical details (bio), external links, and account preferences.
- **User Content**: Photos, videos, stories, and multimedia posts (Picks, Flares, Vibes), captions, comments, and direct chat messages.
- **Two-Factor Authentication**: Verification codes, recovery email, and authentication timestamps.
- **Support Inquiries**: Correspondence and attachments when you contact support or submit user reports.
B. Information Collected With Your Permission
When you choose to enable specific features, we may request access to:
- **Camera & Microphone**: Required when you capture photos/videos within the app, participate in audio/video calls, or broadcast live video (LIVE).
- **Photo Library & Media Storage**: Required when you select and upload existing photos and videos to your profile or feed.
- **Contacts**: Optional feature to help you discover friends and contacts already on CHINKY. Contacts are only accessed if you explicitly grant permission and are never shared or sold.
- **Device Location**: Optional approximate or precise location, only if you choose to tag your post or discover nearby creators.
- **Push Notifications**: Device push notification tokens to alert you of new messages, calls, mentions, and updates.
C. Automatically Collected Technical & Usage Data
- **Device Metadata**: Operating system type and version, device model, unique device identifiers, network state, and app version.
- **Log Data & Security Activity**: IP address, login history, session identifiers, failed login timestamps (for account lockout and security protection), and crash reports.
- **Engagement Metrics**: Content views, likes, comments, shares, and search queries within the app to improve feed relevance.
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2. How We Use Your Information
We process your data for legitimate, specific, and transparent purposes:
1. **Provide & Maintain Services**: Authenticate accounts, maintain persistent secure sessions, and deliver core features (Picks, Flares, Vibes, chat, calling, and LIVE).
2. **Security & Account Protection**: Defend against fraud, brute-force attacks, spam, and abuse. We enforce account lockout policies and cryptographically hash verification codes.
3. **Audio & Video Calling**: Provide peer-to-peer and real-time voice and video calling through secure, encrypted streaming infrastructure.
4. **Community Safety & Content Moderation**: Screen content using automated filtering and human review to enforce Community Guidelines and protect against unlawful content.
5. **Customer Support**: Investigate and resolve bugs, handle user reports, and answer technical or billing inquiries.
6. **Communications**: Send important security notices, verification codes, and service-related announcements.
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3. Payments, Wallet & Virtual Items
- **Payment Processing**: CHINKY offers virtual coins and creator monetization. Payment transactions are processed securely through certified third-party payment gateways (e.g., Razorpay / App Store In-App Purchases).
- **No Raw Financial Data Stored**: CHINKY **never** stores your full credit card numbers, debit card numbers, or net banking passwords on our servers.
- **Wallet & Withdrawal Records**: We retain transaction identifiers, coin balances, and withdrawal history solely for accounting, tax compliance, fraud prevention, and audit requirements.
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4. How Information is Shared
- **Public Profile & Content**: Your public profile, username, bio, and public posts (Picks, Flares) are visible to other users. You can adjust account privacy controls at any time.
- **Direct Messages & Private Calls**: Private 1-on-1 messages and calls are intended solely for the participants.
- **Trusted Service Providers**: We work with reputable third-party infrastructure providers under strict confidentiality agreements:
- **Cloud Infrastructure & Storage**: For secure database and media hosting.
- **Real-Time Communications (ZegoCloud)**: For encrypted audio/video calling and live streaming.
- **Push Notifications (Firebase Cloud Messaging)**: For delivering push alerts to your device.
- **Ad Networks (Google AdMob)**: To display non-intrusive advertisements supporting free platform access.
- **Legal Compliance & Safety**: We may disclose information if required by a valid legal subpoena, court order, or applicable law, or to protect the safety, rights, or property of CHINKY, our users, or the public.
- **NO SALE OF PERSONAL DATA**: **CHINKY does not sell, rent, or trade your personal data to data brokers or third parties.**
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5. In-App Advertising (Google AdMob)
CHINKY uses **Google AdMob** to display in-app advertisements. Google AdMob may collect and process device identifiers (such as Google Advertising ID or IDFA), IP address, and interaction metrics to serve relevant ads and detect fraud.
You can opt out of personalized ad targeting at any time through your device settings:
- **Android**: `Settings > Google > Ads > Delete advertising ID` or `Opt out of Ads Personalization`.
- **iOS**: `Settings > Privacy & Security > Tracking > Ask App not to Track`.
CHINKY complies with Google Play Family and COPPA policies. We configure advertising content ratings to maximum Teen (T) and do not deliver targeted advertising to children.
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6. Data Retention & Deletion
- **Retention**: We retain personal data as long as your account remains active and as needed to provide our services, maintain security records, and comply with legal requirements.
- **Ephemeral Media**: Ephemeral stories (Vibes) are automatically purged after 24 hours.
- **Account Deletion**:
- You can permanently delete your account at any time directly in the app: **Settings > Security > Account control > Delete account**.
- You can also request deletion through our web portal: [https://chinkyapp.com/delete-account](/delete-account).
- Upon confirmed account deletion, all personal data, photos, videos, messages, and profile information are permanently erased from our active databases, subject only to mandatory legal or fraud-prevention retention obligations.
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7. Data Security
We implement industry-standard physical, organizational, and technical safeguards:
- **Encryption**: TLS/HTTPS 1.3 encryption in transit for all network traffic between the app, website, and servers.
- **Password Security**: Passwords are cryptographically salted and hashed using bcrypt.
- **OTP Protection**: Verification codes and OTPs are hashed using SHA-256 with strict 3-attempt limits.
- **Session Revocation**: Token-based authentication with instant server-side session invalidation on logout.
- **Database Hardening**: NoSQL injection protection and strict role-based access control.
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8. Children’s Privacy (COPPA & Global Standards)
CHINKY is **not** directed to children under the age of **13**. We do not knowingly collect or solicit personal information from anyone under 13. If we discover that a child under 13 has provided us with personal information without verified parental consent, we will promptly delete the account and associated data. If you believe a child under 13 is using CHINKY, please contact us immediately at **support@chinkyapp.com**.
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9. Your Privacy Rights (GDPR, CCPA & Indian DPDP Act)
Depending on your geographic location, you may have the following rights:
- **Right of Access & Portability**: Request a copy of your personal data.
- **Right to Rectification**: Update or correct inaccurate personal details in your Profile Settings.
- **Right to Erasure ("Right to be Forgotten")**: Request permanent deletion of your data.
- **Right to Restrict or Object**: Object to certain types of processing or withdraw permissions at any time.
To exercise any of these rights, email **support@chinkyapp.com** or use the in-app account control settings.
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10. Changes to This Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect product updates, technological changes, or legal requirements. When updates occur, we will revise the "Last Updated" date at the top of this policy and notify you via the app or website.
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11. Contact & Grievance Officer
If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or your personal data, please contact our Data Protection and Grievance Team:
* **Email**: [support@chinkyapp.com](mailto:support@chinkyapp.com)
* **Website**: [https://chinkyapp.com](https://chinkyapp.com)
* **Response Time**: We strive to respond to all privacy inquiries and data requests within 48 hours.
Passkeys and retired identity verification
Passkeys store public credentials; biometric checks stay with the device or passkey provider. Security selfie submission and admin review are removed. Existing private records retain account deletion and retention cleanup. Badge requests remain separate.