The services behind SideOf.

Cloudflare. Handles: every request to the website and app, the photos and videos members upload (stored on Cloudflare R2), and the automated-sign-up check on the sign-up form (Turnstile). What it does: serves the pages and media and screens bot sign-ups; like any network it sees the connection's IP address and device type. How long: media is kept while your account keeps it and is deleted on the schedule in the Privacy Policy; Cloudflare's own network logs follow its policy. Read their privacy policy →

Our cloud hosting platform. Handles: the account data the servers process, and SideOf's database, which runs on the platform's managed database service. What it does: runs the SideOf servers, background jobs and database. The data belongs to SideOf and is used only to run SideOf; sensitive fields such as Private Side answers, phone numbers and trusted-contact details are encrypted before they are stored. The key that unlocks those fields is kept apart from the database, as a restricted secret setting on the hosting platform, and never in SideOf's code or database. How long: governed by SideOf's own retention in the Privacy Policy, not a separate schedule. The provider operates under contractual data-protection restrictions.

Maps. Handles: the map areas shown in SideOf: the approximate discovery map, and the small map under a spot shared in a conversation. What it does: base map imagery comes from the USGS National Map, with OpenStreetMap as a fallback, requested through SideOf's own map proxy so your device's address is not sent to them. The discovery map shows approximate areas only. A shared spot is drawn on SideOf's own map and is never sent to a map provider. A map marker is never proof of anyone's exact location. How long: SideOf keeps no record of your map requests. The USGS National Map is the upstream source for base tiles, fetched through SideOf's proxy; the OpenStreetMap fallback is self-hosted, so OpenStreetMap.org receives nothing. Read their privacy policy →

Stripe. Handles: the payment details you enter for a web purchase, and - only if you use the optional explicit-content age check - an identity-verification session. SideOf never sees your card number. What it does: processes the web payment, or runs the ID check and tells SideOf whether it passed. How long: Stripe keeps transaction and verification records, including the ID images for its check, under its own policy and financial-record law. For a web payment, SideOf keeps a hashed payment reference for accounting and refunds. For an ID check, SideOf keeps the result (passed or not), when it came back, and the Stripe session reference that links to Stripe's record, not your ID. Read their privacy policy →

Apple. Handles: purchases you make in the iOS app, through the App Store. What it does: runs the checkout; SideOf receives a purchase token, not your payment method. How long: Apple keeps purchase records under its own policy; SideOf keeps a hashed reference for accounting and refunds. Read their privacy policy →

Google. Handles: purchases you make in the Android app, through Google Play. What it does: runs the checkout; SideOf receives a purchase token, not your payment method. How long: Google keeps purchase records under its own policy; SideOf keeps a hashed reference for accounting and refunds. Read their privacy policy →

Expo. Handles: the push token for your device and the notification text SideOf sends it. What it does: delivers push notifications. SideOf keeps notifications free of message bodies and exact location. How long: the token is kept while your device is registered and removed on sign-out or account deletion; delivery through Expo is transient, under its policy. Read their privacy policy →

Our transactional email provider. Handles: your email address and the contents of account email such as sign-in codes and receipts. What it does: delivers that email. The provider operates under contractual data-protection restrictions. How long: SideOf keeps your email address under the Privacy Policy schedule; the provider's delivery logs follow its own policy.

Our SMS provider. Handles: a phone number and the text of the message, in three cases: a six-digit sign-in code when you add or use a recovery phone number (free for every member); a safety alert to your trusted contact when you use SideOf+ text-message safety alerts, which includes your display name and when your check-in was due; and the automatic reply when someone texts STOP, START or HELP. In-app safety alerts never use it. What it does: delivers those text messages. The provider operates under contractual data-protection restrictions. How long: SideOf keeps your recovery phone number encrypted until your account is deleted; you can turn off recovery by text at any time. Trusted-contact details are encrypted and removable by you. The provider's and carriers' delivery records follow their own policies.

Google (AdMob in the apps, AdSense on the web). Handles: for free members on the Social and Dating Sides only, the ad request: the connection's IP address, the device or browser type, and the advertising identifier the ad code reads. What it does: serves a non-personalized ad. SideOf sends no profile, activity, message, or location, and does not authorize Google to use the advertising identifier to build a profile of you. Ads never appear on the Private Side, and SideOf+ removes them entirely. How long: Google holds ad-serving data under its own policy; SideOf keeps no ad-side record of its own. Read their privacy policy →

OpenAI (automated photo check). Handles: an uploaded photo, sent as a link that expires within 90 seconds. No name, contact details, or account information goes with it. Videos and identity-check selfies are not sent. What it does: an artificial-intelligence service that flags possible prohibited content in a photo for SideOf's moderators. A person at SideOf makes every approval or rejection. SideOf sends your photos only if you allow it when you first upload; if you choose Not now, only SideOf's moderators review them. How long: SideOf keeps the photo under its own media retention. Under its API terms, OpenAI does not use it to train its models and may keep what it receives for up to 30 days to detect abuse of its service, then deletes it. Read their privacy policy →

Our error-monitoring service. Handles: crash and error diagnostics: request identifiers, route names, and low-risk technical events. What it does: helps find and fix problems. It is configured not to receive personal data, message bodies, or exact location. How long: short operational retention only.

Google Fonts. Handles: on the website only, your browser's request for the font files, which - like any web request - includes an IP address. What it does: supplies the website's typefaces. The app itself ships its fonts and does not call Google Fonts. How long: Google handles these requests under its own policy; SideOf keeps no record of them. Read their privacy policy →

Eventbrite. Handles: if you RSVP to a SideOf launch event, the registration details you give Eventbrite. What it does: hosts the public event listing and RSVP. How long: Eventbrite keeps your registration under its own policy. Read their privacy policy →

Separately from the providers above, the law requires SideOf to report apparent child sexual abuse material to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC). That reporting happens only when a moderator escalates a case, never as part of ordinary use. The Community Standards describe it.