Privacy Policy
Last updated April 29, 2026 · Effective April 29, 2026
Velvet Ties is a curated, human-matchmaker-led dating service and members club. This Privacy Policy explains what personal information we collect, how we use it, who we share it with, and the choices you have. It applies to the Velvet Ties mobile app, the velvetties.com website, our matchmaking services, our social club and events, and any related services (collectively, the “Service”).
By using the Service, you agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with this policy. If you do not agree, please do not use the Service.
1. Who we are
“Velvet Ties”, “we”, “us”, and “our” refers to Velvet Ties, the data controller for the personal information described in this policy. You can reach us at velvet@velvetties.com for any privacy-related request.
2. What we collect
We collect the minimum personal information required to run a human-curated matchmaking service, members club, and mobile app. Specifically:
Information you give us directly
- Identity & contact: full name, email, phone number, date of birth, city, profession.
- Profile content: photos you upload, bio text, interests, orientation, pronouns, gender identity, relationship structure (monogamous, non-monogamous), and matchmaking questionnaire answers.
- Sensitive preferences: dating intentions (wanting kids, marriage), dealbreakers, ideal-partner description, and sexuality / kink preferences if you choose to share them. These fields are encrypted at rest and only revealed to another user if and when you both accept a curated match.
- Safety information: emergency contact details, SOS check-in configuration, and location data you share when you explicitly trigger a safety check-in. We do not passively track your location.
- Payment information: Velvet Ties uses Stripe to process payments. We receive a confirmation that a payment succeeded and the last four digits of the card; we do not store your full card number.
- Communications: messages you send to other members through the app, and messages you send to our matchmakers or support team.
Information we collect automatically
- Device & usage: device type, OS version, app version, approximate time zone, and the actions you take in the app (screens viewed, matches accepted/passed). We use this to debug, improve the service, and keep you safe.
- Log data: standard HTTP access logs (IP address, user agent, request path, timestamp). IP addresses are used only for rate limiting, fraud detection, and coarse-grained region detection.
Information from third parties
- BAI vetting service: if you applied through our upstream vetting partner (BAI), we receive your application answers, Instagram verification result, and any AI-generated personality notes from that process. This information is stored as part of your applicant record.
- Photo analysis: when you upload photos, we may run automated face-and-content analysis to check that your photos meet our quality standards (face visible, one person, no disallowed content). Photos are sent to our analysis provider for that check only and are not retained by the provider after analysis.
3. How we use your information
We use the information above for the following purposes:
- Matchmaking. Our human matchmakers and our matching engine use your profile, preferences, and matchmaking questionnaire to suggest compatible members. You see only the matches the matchmaker approves for you.
- Account management. Creating, maintaining, and securing your account; processing payments; sending service messages (match deliveries, safety check-in nudges, billing receipts).
- Safety and trust. Verifying you are a real person, moderating photos and bio content, preventing abuse, and powering features like the in-app SOS button.
- Legal and compliance. Responding to legal requests, enforcing our Terms, and complying with applicable law.
- Product improvement. Aggregate, anonymized usage analytics to improve the service. We do not train any third-party model on your personal data.
4. Who we share information with
We do not sell your personal information. We share it only with:
- Other members — only via curated matches. When you are matched with another member, they see a limited subset of your profile: display name, age, city, photos, bio, interests, orientation, relationship structure, and (for casual-mode matches) power dynamic, duration preference, and frequency preference. Sensitive kink details are never shown without an explicit opt-in per match.
- Velvet Ties matchmakers. Our internal matchmaking team has access to your full profile and questionnaire answers so they can curate your matches. They sign a confidentiality agreement.
- Service providers. We share information with vendors who help us run the service, under contracts that require them to protect it: Supabase (database, file storage, authentication), AWS (content analysis), Stripe (payments), Railway (backend hosting), and transactional-email providers.
- Legal authorities. When required by law, subpoena, or to protect the safety of members or the public.
- Successors. If Velvet Ties is acquired or merged, your data may be transferred to the successor, subject to the same protections in this policy.
5. Sensitive data: encryption and limited access
We treat your sexuality, kink preferences, and free-text matchmaking answers as sensitive personal data. These fields are encrypted at rest in our database using per-field application-layer encryption. They are never returned by any public API endpoint. They are decrypted only when you view your own profile, when our matchmakers review your profile for curation, or when both you and a matched member have accepted a match and chosen to share.
We do not use sensitive preferences to train machine learning models, and we do not share them with advertising networks or data brokers.
6. How long we keep your data
We keep personal information only as long as needed to:
- Operate your account while it’s active.
- Comply with legal obligations (e.g. tax records for payment history).
- Resolve disputes and enforce our agreements (e.g. abuse reports).
When you delete your account, we delete or anonymize your personal information within 30 days, except for records we are legally required to retain (which are kept in locked, limited-access storage). Sensitive fields (kink preferences, sexuality free text) are deleted immediately on account deletion.
7. Your rights
Depending on where you live, you may have the following rights:
- Access. Request a copy of the personal information we hold about you.
- Correction. Ask us to fix information that is wrong or incomplete.
- Deletion. Ask us to delete your personal information.
- Export (portability). Ask for a machine-readable copy of the information you provided.
- Objection / restriction. Ask us to stop or limit certain uses of your information.
- Withdraw consent. Where we rely on your consent, withdraw it at any time.
To exercise any of these rights, email velvet@velvetties.com from the email on your account. We will respond within 30 days. California residents: we do not sell personal information and will honor verified “do not sell or share” requests. European Economic Area and UK residents: you can also lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority.
8. How we protect your information
We protect your data through:
- TLS encryption in transit for every request.
- Application-layer encryption at rest for sensitive fields (kink preferences, sexuality free text, matchmaking transcript).
- Role-based access controls on our database and internal tools.
- Rate limiting and automated abuse detection on every mutating endpoint.
- Logging and monitoring that redact personally identifiable information.
No system is perfectly secure. If we ever discover a data breach that affects your personal information, we will notify you and the appropriate authorities as required by law.
9. Children
Velvet Ties is for adults only. You must be at least 18 years old (or the age of majority in your jurisdiction, if higher) to create an account. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 18. If you believe a minor has given us personal information, please email velvet@velvetties.com and we will delete it immediately.
10. International transfers
Velvet Ties is based in the United States, and our service providers are based in the United States and the European Union. If you are located outside the United States, your information will be transferred to and processed in the United States and the EU. Where required by law, we use appropriate safeguards (such as Standard Contractual Clauses) for these transfers.
11. Changes to this policy
We may update this policy from time to time. When we do, we will change the “Last updated” date at the top and, for material changes, notify you in-app or by email before the change takes effect. Your continued use of the Service after changes take effect means you accept the updated policy.
12. Contact us
Questions, requests, or complaints about this policy or your personal information:
Velvet Ties
velvet@velvetties.com
