This Privacy Policy explains how YakRaz ("we", "us") collects, uses, and protects your personal data when you use the YakRaz mobile application and this website (together, the "Service"). YakRaz is an adults-only (18+) dating service. We are committed to processing your data lawfully, fairly, and transparently in accordance with the EU/UK GDPR, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA/CPRA), Japan's APPI, and other applicable laws.
Data controller: YakRaz. For any privacy question or to exercise your rights, contact our Data Protection Officer at dpo@yakraz.com.
1. Data we collect
Account data
Email address, optional phone number, hashed password, display name, date of birth (to confirm you are 18+ and for matchmaking filters), gender and sexual orientation, and your profile photos or videos.
Optional profile data
Information you choose to add to improve your matches — such as religion, lifestyle attributes, and personality/compatibility responses. Some of this is "special category" data and is only processed with your explicit consent, given at the point of collection.
Activity data
Reactions, comments, posts, match choices, chat messages, and video-call metadata (participants and duration), used to personalize your feed and improve matchmaking.
Verification data
Identity verification is performed by our partner Veriff. The document and biometric images remain with Veriff; we only receive the verification decision and audit metadata. Student status is verified by SheerID; we only store whether you are a verified student and the expiry date.
Technical data
Server logs (with request bodies redacted), aggregate metrics, and crash reports. For free-tier users, advertising is served by Google AdMob using the device advertising identifier, subject to your consent. Paying subscribers see no ads and the ad SDK is not initialized for them.
2. How we use your data
- To create and operate your account and provide matchmaking (contract).
- To process sensitive attributes you provide for compatibility (explicit consent).
- To verify identity and keep the community real and safe (contract / legal obligation).
- To moderate content, prevent abuse, and secure the Service (legitimate interests).
- To send transactional messages, and — only if you opt in — marketing messages (consent).
- To show contextual or, with consent, personalized ads to free-tier users only.
Matchmaking involves profiling but is not a solely automated decision: it surfaces candidates that you then choose to act on. You can opt out of personalized recommendations in the app.
3. Sharing & processors
We use carefully selected service providers acting on our instructions, including:
- Google Cloud & Firebase — hosting, authentication, storage, push notifications.
- Veriff — identity verification.
- SheerID — student verification.
- OpenAI — content moderation and tag generation.
- Google AdMob — advertising (free tier only).
- SendGrid — transactional email delivery.
We never sell your personal information.
4. Advertising (free-tier only)
YakRaz is free to use, and we fund the free tier with ads. Ads are shown only to free-tier users. Paying subscribers (Gold / Platinum) see no ads, and the advertising SDK is never initialized for them.
We use Google AdMob (provided by Google Ireland Limited and Google LLC) to serve ads through the Google Mobile Ads SDK. To request and measure ads, the SDK uses your device's advertising identifier (Android Advertising ID / Apple IDFA) and standard ad-request data such as coarse location (country/region) and device type.
Personalized vs. non-personalized ads
With your consent, ads may be personalized by Google using its own signals. Without consent, you still see non-personalized (contextual) ads. We do not send Google any of your profile data (such as interests, exact age, or precise location) for ad targeting, and we never use special-category data (for example sexual orientation, religion, or health) to select ads.
Your consent and choices
- In the EEA, UK and Switzerland we collect consent through a Google-certified consent message (Google's User Messaging Platform, IAB TCF v2.2) shown in the app. Declining still allows non-personalized ads where lawful.
- On iOS, Apple's App Tracking Transparency prompt is shown before the advertising identifier is used for personalized ads. Declining keeps ads non-personalized.
- In the app at any time, you can turn personalized ads off under
Settings → Privacy controls → Personalized ads, and reopen the Google consent options viaManage ad privacy choices. - United States (CA/CO and similar): we do not "sell" or "share" your personal information as those terms are defined under the CCPA/CPRA; your in-app opt-out is honored.
Google processes advertising data as described in "How Google uses information from sites or apps that use our services" and Google's Privacy Policy. Ads are 18+ only; we never request child-directed ad treatment.
5. International transfers
Your data may be processed outside your country. Where required, transfers are protected by Standard Contractual Clauses and equivalent safeguards with each provider.
6. Retention
We keep personal data only as long as necessary for the purposes above or as required by law, and delete or anonymize it afterward. Most account data is retained until you delete your account.
7. Your rights
Depending on where you live, you have rights to access, rectify, erase, restrict, or object
to processing, to data portability, and to withdraw consent at any time. You can download
your data and delete your account directly in the app under
Settings → Privacy & data. To exercise any right or lodge a complaint,
contact dpo@yakraz.com. You may also complain to
your local data protection authority.
8. Children
YakRaz is strictly for users aged 18 and over. We do not knowingly collect data from minors and delete any such account immediately upon discovery.
9. Security
We apply technical and organizational measures including encryption in transit and at rest, access controls, and audit logging to protect your data. To report a vulnerability, contact security@yakraz.com.
10. Changes
We will update this policy as the Service evolves and post the new version here with an updated date. Material changes will be communicated in-app.