Privacy Policy

Last updated: 1 January 2026

This Privacy Policy explains what personal information Wecket collects when you use our platform, how we use it, who we share it with, and the choices you have. We've tried to write it in plain language — if anything is unclear, please contact us.

1. Information we collect

1.1 Information you give us

• Account details: your full name, username, email address, phone number, and date of birth (to confirm you're 18 or older).
• Profile content: your bio, profile photo, cover image, location (if you provide it), website, and social links (Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, GitHub).
• Content you post: posts, photos, videos, comments, messages, stories, community posts, poll votes, discussion comments, and event details.
• Payment-related information: when you pay for a Premium subscription, event ticket, ad campaign, or verification, the transaction is processed entirely by PayPal. We receive a confirmation that the payment succeeded and the amount — we never see or store your card number or PayPal password.
• Verification documents: if you request a verified account, you upload a legal document (passport, ID, or similar). These are stored separately and used only to review your verification request.

1.2 Information collected automatically

• Session cookie: a single session cookie is used to keep you logged in. It expires when you log out or after a period of inactivity.
• Online status: we record whether your account is currently online, based on periodic "heartbeat" signals from your browser. This is displayed to other users as your online/offline status.
• Last seen: the last time your browser contacted our servers.
• IP address: used only for rate limiting and abuse prevention (e.g. blocking repeated login attempts). It is not used for advertising or profiling.

1.3 Information we collect only with your permission

• Location: if you allow it, your browser shares your precise location so we can tag your posts or fill in your profile location. If you don't, Wecket may fill in an approximate city from your network connection when your profile has no location. You can edit or remove it at any time in your profile. You can decline this at any time in your browser settings.
• Camera and microphone: only used when you start a live stream or record a voice message. We never access these in the background.
• Push notifications: if you allow them, we send you notifications about messages, likes, and comments. You can disable them from your device settings or from within Wecket.

2. How we use your information

We use the information we collect to:

• Create and operate your account
• Show your posts, messages, and profile content to the people you intend to share them with
• Deliver notifications you've asked for
• Process payments for Premium, tickets, and other paid features (via PayPal)
• Prevent spam, abuse, and fraud
• Respond to your support requests
• Comply with legal obligations

Advertisers on Wecket choose who sees their ads by account type, sector and location. We match ads using the sector, interests and location you add to your profile, and we count ad views and clicks to bill advertisers and rank ads. Advertisers never receive your personal information. We do not sell your information to third parties and we do not share it with data brokers.

2.1 Analytics

Wecket counts profile views and post impressions. Free accounts can see how many people viewed their profile; Premium accounts can also see which signed-in members viewed it, along with aggregate audience insights for their posts (such as the locations and sectors of the people reached).

3. Who we share information with

We share data with a small number of service providers who help us run Wecket. Each of these receives only what's necessary for their specific role:

• PayPal — processes all payments (Premium subscriptions, event tickets, ad budgets, verification fees). PayPal's own Privacy Policy governs how they handle your payment details.
• Google (Gemini AI) — powers the Tiny assistant. When you message Tiny, the text of your request and your recent posts may be sent to Google to generate a reply. CVs are built by Wecket from your own profile and activity and are not sent to an AI provider.
• Google Firebase Cloud Messaging — delivers push notifications to your device. FCM receives a device token and the notification text, not your account data.
• Location lookup services (OpenStreetMap Nominatim, BigDataCloud, ipwho.is) — turn coordinates, or your network address, into a city name for your post tags and profile. They receive only the coordinates or network address at that moment.
• bit.checkin — if you create or RSVP to an event, the event details and guest name/email are synced to bit.checkin for door check-in purposes. Only applies if bit.checkin integration is enabled for your event.

We may also disclose information if required by law, in response to a valid legal request, or to protect the safety of our users or the public.

4. How long we keep your data

• Active accounts: your data is kept for as long as your account exists.
• Deleted accounts: when you request deletion, your account is scheduled for permanent removal after 30 days. Log back in at any point during those 30 days and deletion is automatically cancelled. After 30 days, your posts, messages, media, and account data are erased from our servers.
• Hibernated accounts: if you hibernate instead of deleting, your account is hidden but nothing is removed. Log back in to reactivate instantly.
• Posts: posts are kept for the retention window you choose in your settings (default: 3 months). You can set this to 1, 3, 6, or 12 months, or "never expire", from Profile → Settings → Post Expiry.
• Stories: automatically expire after 24 hours and are deleted.
• Notifications: read notifications older than 30 days are automatically cleared.
• Verification documents: retained for the duration of the verification review plus a reasonable records period, then deleted.

5. Your rights and controls

You can do the following directly from your account at any time:

• Access and export your data: from your profile, open Settings → Export Data to download a JSON file containing your profile and settings.
• Edit or delete your content: every post, comment, message, and story can be edited or deleted by you.
• Adjust your privacy settings: from Settings → Privacy you can choose whether your profile is public or private, and who is allowed to message you (everyone, connections only, or no one).
• Manage notifications: from Settings → Notification Settings you can turn off notifications by type, sound, or vibration.
• Hibernate or delete your account: from Settings → Account Management you can hibernate (hide without deleting) or schedule permanent deletion.

Depending on where you live, you may have additional rights under laws such as the GDPR (EU/UK) or CCPA (California). These include the right to request a copy of your data, to correct inaccuracies, to object to processing, and to lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority. To exercise any of these, use our enquiry form and choose “Privacy”.

6. Security

We protect your account with industry-standard measures including hashed passwords (never stored in plain text), HTTPS for all traffic, session cookies that expire, and rate limiting against brute-force attacks. Uploaded files are stored on the same server as the application and are only served to users who are authorised to see them.

No system is perfectly secure. If you believe your account has been compromised, change your password immediately and contact us at the address above.

7. Children

Wecket is not intended for anyone under 18. We require all users to provide their date of birth at signup and we block registration for anyone under 18. If we learn that a minor has created an account, we will delete it.

8. International transfers

Wecket is hosted on servers in the European Union. Some of our service providers (Google, PayPal, Firebase) may process your data in other countries. Where they do, they rely on standard contractual clauses or equivalent legal mechanisms approved by the European Commission to protect your data.

9. Changes to this policy

If we make material changes to how we handle your data, we'll notify you in the app before the changes take effect. The "last updated" date at the top of this page always reflects the current version.

10. Contact

For any question about this policy, or to exercise a privacy right, use our enquiry form and choose “Privacy”.