Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

WYWK ("Who You Wanna Know"), operated by WYWK Social ("we," "us," or "our"), provides a social discovery application designed for high school students. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information when you use our mobile application and website (wywk.social).

We are committed to protecting the privacy of our users, especially minors. By using WYWK, you agree to the practices described in this policy.

2. Information We Collect

2.1 Information You Provide

• Phone Number: Used for account verification via Firebase Phone Authentication. Your phone number is stored securely and used solely for login purposes.
• Account Information: First name, last name, school name, grade level, gender (optional).
• Profile Content: Answers to profile questions (e.g., "Crush," "Vibe Checker").
• Game Data: This or That answers and preferences.

2.2 Information Collected Automatically

• Device Information: Device type, operating system, push notification token.
• Usage Data: Features used, interactions, timestamps.

2.3 Contact Information (Optional)

With your explicit permission, WYWK can access your device's contacts to help you find friends who are already using the app. We never store raw contact data. Phone numbers from your contacts are converted into one-way hashes (SHA-256) on your device before being sent to our server. These hashes are used solely to match you with existing users and cannot be reversed to reveal the original phone numbers.

Automatic re-sync: If you have already granted contacts permission, WYWK silently re-syncs your hashed contact list each time you open the app. This keeps your contact-based features (such as "Contacts Only" privacy mode) accurate as new friends join. You can revoke contacts permission at any time via your device settings — re-syncing will stop immediately.

2.4 Profile View Tracking

When you visit another user's profile, we record an anonymized view event (your user ID + the profile's user ID + timestamp). This is used to display weekly view counts on profiles and to surface trending users at your school. View counts are aggregated and reset weekly (every Sunday at 00:00 Eastern Time). Individual viewers' identities are never disclosed to the profile owner.

2.5 Information We Do NOT Collect

• Location data (GPS)
• Photos or camera/microphone access
• Financial or payment information
• Email addresses

3. How We Use Your Information

• To verify your identity and create your account
• To provide and maintain the WYWK service
• To match you with classmates at your school
• To generate compatibility scores based on shared answers
• To send push notifications about activity
• To moderate content and enforce community guidelines
• To improve our application and user experience

We do not sell your personal information to third parties.

4. Data Sharing

We share your information only in these limited circumstances:

• With Other Users: Your name, school, grade, and locked profile cards are visible to classmates. Answer content is only revealed when another user spends Sparks to unlock it.
• Private Data: In "This or That," your individual choices are private. Only aggregate statistics (e.g., "68% chose Option A") are shown publicly.
• Send a Drop: When you send a Drop, your 3 selected answer cards are delivered to the recipient and unlocked one per day over 3 days. Your identity remains hidden until the recipient pays 150 Sparks to reveal your name. You can also send Drops to people not yet on WYWK via a "Wingman" (a mutual friend who delivers the invite); the Wingman never sees the actual answer content.
• Service Providers: We use Firebase (authentication), Vercel (hosting), Neon (database), Upstash (cron jobs & rate limiting), Sentry (error monitoring), and Expo (push notifications) to operate our service. These providers process data on our behalf under strict data processing agreements.
• Legal Requirements: We may disclose information if required by law or to protect the safety of our users.

5. Privacy Controls

You can control who can unlock your answer cards via Privacy Mode in Profile → Settings:

• Public (default): Anyone at your school can spend Sparks to unlock your answer cards.
• Contacts Only: Only people who have your phone number saved in their contacts (and have synced their contacts to WYWK) can unlock your answer cards. Other classmates will see the locked cards but be unable to unlock them.

Privacy Mode applies to all unlock actions (profile cards, Drop name reveals, This or That answer peeks, and compatibility detail). You can change this setting at any time, and changes take effect immediately.

6. Data Security

We implement industry-standard security measures to protect your data, including encrypted database connections, secure API endpoints, and hashed sensitive data (phone numbers, contact information). Authentication is handled by Firebase, a Google-operated service with enterprise-grade security. However, no method of electronic transmission or storage is 100% secure.

7. Data Retention

We retain your data for as long as your account is active. You can delete your account at any time from your Profile settings. Account deletion follows a 14-day grace period during which you can recover your account by logging back in. After 14 days, your profile, answers, and associated data are permanently and irreversibly deleted.

8. Children's Privacy

WYWK is designed for high school students (ages 13+). We do not knowingly collect information from children under 13. If we learn that we have collected data from a child under 13, we will promptly delete that information.

If you are a parent or guardian and believe your child under 13 has provided us with personal information, please contact us at support@wywk.social.

9. Your Rights

You have the right to:

• Access the personal information we hold about you
• Request correction of inaccurate information
• Request deletion of your account and data
• Opt out of push notifications at any time
• Revoke contact access permissions at any time through your device settings

To exercise these rights, contact us at support@wywk.social.

10. Third-Party Services

WYWK uses Firebase (by Google) for phone number authentication. When you verify your phone number, Google's privacy policy applies to the authentication process. We encourage you to review their privacy practices at policies.google.com/privacy.

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify users of significant changes through the app or by updating the "Last updated" date above. Continued use of WYWK after changes constitutes acceptance.

Contact Us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy, contact us at:
support@wywk.social

WYWK Social
wywk.social