Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

Pretty Good Dating ("the Service"), operated by Sheldon Stewart ("we", "us", "our"), is committed to protecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, and protect your personal information.

By using the Service, you consent to the practices described in this policy. If you are a resident of Quebec or Canada, your data is handled in accordance with applicable Canadian privacy legislation.

2. Information We Collect

Information you provide:

• Account information: Name, email address, password
• Profile information: Date of birth, gender, location (postal code), ethnicity, photos, and other profile details you choose to share
• Messages: Content of messages you send to other users through the Service
• Referral data: Your referral code and any referral relationships
• Marketing preferences: Whether you opted in to marketing emails
• How you found us: Optional post-signup survey responses (e.g. how you heard about the Service)
• Safety actions: When you block or report another user, we store that action (who was involved, reason, optional details, and timestamps) so we can enforce our Terms and review reports

Information collected automatically:

• IP address: Collected during registration and certain security-related events for anti-spam and abuse prevention
• Signup attribution: UTM parameters and landing page path when you register, and any referral or creator code you enter, to understand how people find the Service
• Usage data: Pages visited, features used, and interactions within the Service (via analytics tools described below)
• Device information: Browser type, operating system, and device identifiers
• Security & audit logs: Certain account events (e.g. sign-in, report submitted, block created) with timestamps and technical metadata to prevent abuse and support moderation
• Browse preferences: Profiles you hide from browse ("not interested"). They stay out of your search results but are not the same as blocking
• Favorites: Profiles you star stay saved until you remove them. We also count how many people have favorited you (a number only; we do not show who)
• Profile opens: When someone opens your full profile on Browse or via a shared link, we record an anonymous visitor key so we can show you a unique-open count. We do not show who viewed you, and we do not store raw IP addresses for this
• Printed QR links: When someone opens a QR code we printed, we store the time, IP address, browser, language, and which of our servers received the request. Site admins can see this, and we send the same details to our phone notification service (ntfy). It is not attached to an account
• Cookies & local storage: Session cookies required for login; a first-party visitor cookie (pgd_visitor) for unique page and profile-open counts; a 30-day creator link cookie (pgd_src, see Section 9); analytics tools may use cookies or browser local storage (see Section 9)

3. How We Use Your Information

We use your information to:

• Provide, operate, and improve the Service
• Create and manage your account and profile
• Match and display profiles to other users
• Facilitate messaging between users
• Send you service-related communications (email verification, password resets, important updates)
• Track and manage the referral program
• Detect and prevent spam, fraud, and abuse (including automated bot detection signals)
• Review and act on user reports; enforce blocks and other safety measures
• Comply with legal obligations
• Promoting PGD (only if you opt in): Feature portions of your profile on PGD's social channels, in featured placements on Browse, and in paid advertising, according to the consent level you choose in onboarding or My Profile. Separately, if you opt in to the front page showcase, show your full profile and photos to visitors of the PGD home page, including non-members

If you opt in to promotional use, we use your profile content only as described by your selected consent level (anonymized profile details, or full spotlight with name, age, general location, and photos). You may withdraw consent at any time in My Profile; withdrawal stops future use and removes you from the PGD website promptly, but does not necessarily remove content already published on our social accounts, in ads, or on third-party platforms. See our Terms of Service for details on removal requests.

We do not sell your personal information to third parties. We do not use your data for targeted advertising or third-party ad networks.

4. Data Sharing

We may share your information only in the following circumstances:

• With other users: Your profile information (name, photos, bio, etc.) is visible to other users of the Service. Your email address is never shared with other users.
• Service providers: We use third-party services that process data on our behalf, including hosting (Fly.io), transactional email delivery, and analytics (Google Analytics and Mixpanel). These providers are bound by appropriate agreements and process data only as needed to operate the Service.
• Legal requirements: We may disclose information if required by law, court order, or to protect the safety of our users.

5. Data Storage & Security

Your data is stored on servers hosted by Fly.io in North America (Toronto, Canada). We implement reasonable security measures to protect your data, including:

• Encrypted passwords (bcrypt hashing; your password is never stored in plain text)
• HTTPS encryption for all data in transit (enforced at the infrastructure level)
• Secure, HTTP-only session cookies (not accessible via JavaScript)
• Database-backed sessions with automatic expiration
• No third-party advertising trackers or data brokers

No system is 100% secure. While we strive to protect your information, we cannot guarantee absolute security.

5a. Account Verification & Safety

To protect our community from bots, scammers, and bad actors, every account undergoes a manual human review before being approved. We may collect and verify:

• Email address (verified via confirmation link)
• IP address (for fraud detection and ban enforcement)
• Photos (reviewed for authenticity during approval)

You can add a phone number to your profile. It is never shown on your profile and is not allowed in messages. We share it with another member only if you both agree to exchange numbers inside an open chat. We keep a record of the numbers you share, so changing your number later never silently updates what someone already has, and so we can investigate abuse.

Users can report other users for inappropriate behavior, harassment, or suspected fraud. When you submit a report, we store the reason, any details you provide, and related context (e.g. which profile or conversation). Reports are reviewed by our team and may result in warnings, suspensions, or permanent bans. You can view reports you have submitted in Account Settings.

Users can block other users. When you block someone, they cannot view your profile, message you, or send you chat requests. Block relationships are stored until you unblock them or delete your account. You can manage blocked users in Account Settings.

To measure whether the Service helps people connect, we record when two members have each sent a few messages in the same conversation, and when they exchanged phone numbers. This record holds no message text and no phone numbers. It also notes how each member found us (for example a creator link or campaign), so we can tell which outreach works. When you delete your account, we remove the link between you and this record; the dates and the source remain as anonymous statistics.

We maintain internal activity logs for certain safety and security events (such as reports, blocks, and account actions) to support moderation and investigate abuse.

6. Your Rights

You have the right to:

• Access: Request a copy of the personal data we hold about you
• Correction: Update or correct inaccurate information through your profile settings
• Deletion: Delete your account and associated data through the Service's settings
• Withdraw consent: Stop using the Service at any time

To exercise these rights, contact us at info@prettygooddating.com.

7. Data Retention

We retain your data for as long as your account is active. If you delete your account, we will delete your personal data within 30 days, except where retention is required by law or for legitimate business purposes (such as resolving disputes, enforcing our Terms, or maintaining records of safety reports and moderation actions tied to abuse investigations). We also keep anonymous statistics, such as the date two members connected and how they found us, with nothing that identifies you.

8. Children's Privacy

The Service is not intended for anyone under the age of 18. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If we discover that a child under 18 has created an account, we will delete it promptly.

9. Analytics & Cookies

We use analytics tools to understand how the Service is used and to improve it. These tools are not used for targeted advertising.

Google Analytics

Google Analytics collects usage data such as pages visited and general device/browser information. You can opt out using the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on.

Mixpanel

We use Mixpanel for product analytics. For signed-in users (excluding admin accounts), Mixpanel may receive identifiers such as your user ID, email, name, and profile attributes (e.g. region, onboarding status) to help us understand feature usage. Mixpanel may also record session replay and heatmap data to diagnose usability issues. Mixpanel may store data in browser local storage.

Essential cookies

We use session cookies required for authentication and security. These are necessary for the Service to function.

Creator link cookie

If you arrive through a link from a creator or influencer (a Pretty Good Dating link that starts with /c/), we set a first-party cookie called pgd_src that lasts 30 days. It contains only that creator's short name. We use it for one thing: so that if you sign up later, we can credit the creator and know which channels bring in members. It is not shared with anyone, it is not used for advertising, and we delete it when you create your account. If you sign up, we keep the creator's name on your account record as part of your signup attribution (see "Signup attribution" above). You can delete the cookie anytime by clearing site data in your browser.

Your choice

When you first visit, we ask for your consent before loading non-essential analytics. You can change your mind anytime via cookie preferences or by clearing site data in your browser.

10. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. If we make material changes, we will notify you via email or through the Service. The "Last updated" date at the top reflects the most recent revision.

Postal code to city lookups use data from GeoNames, licensed under CC BY 4.0.

11. Contact & Privacy Officer

If you have questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy, or wish to exercise your privacy rights, contact us at:

Pretty Good Dating
Privacy contact: info@prettygooddating.com
Montreal, QC, Canada

Sheldon Stewart is responsible for the protection of personal information collected by the Service (Quebec Law 25).