Last updated: 3 July 2026
Privacy Policy
At Haerd, your privacy matters. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, and protect your information when you use our voice-first dating platform.
1. Who We Are
Haerd Limited is the controller for personal data processed through Haerd. You can contact us at contact@haerd.com. Our registered office/contact address is 53 Eastern Avenue West, Romford, England, RM6 5SA.
2. Information We Collect
We collect the following types of information when you use Haerd:
- Account Information: Display name, email address, phone number, date of birth, gender, and account identifiers.
- Authentication and Verification Data: OTP/verification codes, verification attempts, IP address, user agent, and timestamps.
- Profile Information: Photos, voice prompts and recordings, preferences, interests, profile answers, location, home town, country, work, education, lifestyle, beliefs, languages, and compatibility answers.
- Communications and Interactions: Messages, voice notes, swipes, likes, matches, reports, blocks, and feedback.
- Device & Usage Data: Device identifiers, app interactions, analytics events, crash/error data, and logs.
- Safety and Identity Verification Data: Verification videos or frames, moderation signals, and report evidence.
- Consent and Rights Records: Privacy/terms consent type, version, acceptance time, IP address, user agent, data export request records, and deletion request records.
3. How We Use Your Information
We use your information for the purposes and lawful bases below:
| Purpose | Lawful basis |
|---|---|
| Account creation, login, and OTP verification | Performance of contract |
| Profile, onboarding, matching, discovery, and messaging | Performance of contract |
| Safety, fraud prevention, moderation, reports, blocks, and profile verification | Legitimate interests |
| Product analytics and service improvement | Legitimate interests, with an in-app opt-out |
| Push notifications about likes, matches, messages, and important service updates | Consent where required by device platform settings; legitimate interests or performance of contract for service-related notices |
| Privacy Policy and Terms acceptance records | Legal obligation and legitimate interests |
| Data export, account deletion, and data-subject requests | Legal obligation |
| Legal compliance, dispute handling, and security auditing | Legal obligation and legitimate interests |
4. Sharing of Information
We do not sell your personal information. We may share your information with:
- Other Users: Your profile, voice notes, messages, and shared content are visible according to the product features and your settings.
- Service Providers: Vendors who help us operate, host, secure, analyse, and improve Haerd.
- AWS S3/Rekognition: Media storage and identity verification assistance.
- OpenAI: Content processing for moderation, enrichment, and service functionality where applicable.
- Twilio: SMS authentication and alerts.
- PostHog: Product analytics and service improvement.
- Railway: Infrastructure hosting.
- Expo/APNs/FCM: Push notification delivery.
- Legal Authorities: If required by law or to protect rights, safety, and security.
- Business Transfers: In case of a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets.
5. International Transfers
Personal data may be processed outside the UK or EEA by Haerd and our processors or sub-processors. Where this happens, we use safeguards such as adequacy decisions, the UK International Data Transfer Agreement, Standard Contractual Clauses, or equivalent contractual safeguards as applicable.
6. Automated Processing and Profiling
Haerd uses automated systems to help operate and protect the service. This may include:
- Algorithmic matching and recommendations.
- Automated moderation assistance.
- Verification assistance.
- Safety and fraud signals.
We do not make solely automated decisions with legal or similarly significant effect without appropriate safeguards and human review.
7. Your Rights
You may have the following rights under UK data protection law:
- Access your personal data.
- Correct inaccurate or incomplete personal data.
- Delete your personal data.
- Restrict certain processing.
- Object to certain processing, including processing based on legitimate interests.
- Request data portability.
- Withdraw consent where processing is based on consent.
- Complain to the Information Commissioner's Office at https://ico.org.uk/.
To exercise these rights, contact us at contact@haerd.com.
8. Data Security
We take precautions to protect your data, including encryption and secure storage. However, no system is 100% secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.
9. Data Retention
We keep personal data only for as long as needed for the purposes described in this policy. The following scheduled retention periods are currently enforced:
- Verification/OTP codes are deleted after 30 days.
- Analytics events are deleted after 2 years.
- Failed or needs-review verification attempts are deleted after 1 year.
- Expired refresh tokens are deleted 7 days after expiry.
Account data is removed when you delete your account, subject to legal, safety, dispute, security, and compliance exceptions. Consent records and rights-request records may be retained as needed to evidence compliance.
10. Cookies and Similar Technologies
The Haerd website uses privacy-conscious analytics. PostHog is configured without persistent browser storage in this launch pass. If we later use non-essential cookies or similar persistent tracking technologies, we will request consent where required.
11. Children's Privacy
Haerd is for users 18 years and older. We do not knowingly collect data from children under 18. If we learn we have, we will delete it immediately.
12. Changes to this Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. If we make significant changes, we will notify you in the app or via email.
13. Contact Us
If you have questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy, please contact us at contact@haerd.com.