Privacy Policy

1. Scope and controller

This Privacy Policy explains how Bern Software, as the operator of Swipy ("Swipy", "we", "us", or "our"), handles personal information when you use the Swipy website, mobile applications, APIs, and related services. It applies to visitors, registered users, and people who contact us.

2. Information we collect

• Account and profile information: username, display name, email address, password hash, age confirmation, country, language, music preferences, biography, profile image, verification and subscription status.
• User Content and social activity: posts, captions, Spotify links, comments, reposts, likes, follows, hashtags, rooms, reports, blocks, and related timestamps and counters.
• Recommendation activity: impressions, opens, plays, long views, skips, “not interested” signals, artist or author affinity, and network engagement used to rank the feed.
• Device and technical information: IP address, request and security logs, browser or app information, device identifiers, session identifiers, language, and push-notification token when notifications are enabled.
• Purchase information: subscription product, entitlement, transaction state, and store-related identifiers supplied through Apple, Google, or RevenueCat. We do not receive your complete payment-card number.
• Communications: information included in support, privacy, legal, or report requests you send to us.

3. How we use information

• Create and secure accounts, authenticate sessions, verify email addresses, and provide account settings.
• Publish User Content, operate feeds and social features, calculate interaction counts, and personalize music discovery.
• Send service messages and optional push notifications according to your settings.
• Process and restore subscription entitlements and prevent purchase fraud.
• Moderate content, investigate reports, enforce our Terms, prevent spam and abuse, apply rate limits, and protect users and the Service.
• Maintain, troubleshoot, measure, and improve performance, reliability, accessibility, and product features.
• Comply with law, respond to valid legal requests, and establish, exercise, or defend legal claims.

4. Legal bases

Where data-protection law requires a legal basis, we process information as needed to perform our contract with you, based on our legitimate interests in operating and protecting Swipy, with your consent for optional features such as notifications where required, and to comply with legal obligations. You may withdraw consent without affecting processing already performed, but some features may then stop working.

5. Spotify and music links

Users submit public Spotify track, album, playlist, or episode links. Swipy validates those links and uses Spotify’s public oEmbed service to display embed titles, artwork, and playback frames. Swipy does not use Spotify OAuth for this flow and does not request or store your Spotify password, Spotify access token, saved-track library, or listening history. When you interact with a Spotify embed or open Spotify, Spotify may independently collect information under its own privacy policy.

6. How information is shared

We do not sell personal information. We may disclose information in the following circumstances:

• Public and social features: profile fields, posts, comments, counts, and activity are visible according to your privacy settings and the nature of the feature.
• Service providers: hosting, database, file storage, email, security, rate-limiting, notification, customer-support, and infrastructure providers process information for us under contractual restrictions.
• Platform partners: Spotify handles embeds and outbound links; Firebase supports mobile notifications; RevenueCat, Apple, and Google support mobile purchases and entitlements.
• Legal and safety: we may disclose information to comply with law or valid legal process, protect rights and safety, investigate abuse, or enforce agreements.
• Business changes: information may be transferred as part of a merger, financing, acquisition, reorganization, or sale of assets, subject to appropriate protections.
• With your direction: we share information when you ask us to or clearly consent.

7. Cookies, local storage, and mobile storage

The web app uses essential secure cookies for authentication and may use local browser storage for preferences. The mobile app stores session credentials in device Keychain or secure storage where available, with a local-storage fallback for compatibility, and stores settings such as language, onboarding state, and a notification device identifier. We do not currently describe these technologies as advertising cookies.

8. Retention and account deletion

We retain information while your account is active and as reasonably necessary to provide the Service, secure the platform, resolve disputes, enforce agreements, and meet legal obligations. Retention periods vary by data type and risk.

You may request account deletion using available web account settings or Contact Us. Deletion removes the account and related content from normal public use. Limited records may remain temporarily in backups, anti-abuse systems, transaction records, or legal archives and will be isolated, deleted, or de-identified according to applicable retention requirements. Deleting Swipy does not delete your Spotify account or automatically cancel an Apple or Google subscription.

9. Your choices and rights

Submit a privacy request through Contact Us. We may need to verify your identity before completing it. Authorized agents may be required to provide proof of authority.

• Edit profile information and privacy, mention, follow, and notification preferences in Swipy settings.
• Disable push notifications through Swipy or device settings and revoke device permissions.
• Access, correct, delete, restrict, or object to processing of personal information where applicable.
• Request a portable copy of eligible information and withdraw consent where processing relies on consent.
• Complain to your local data-protection authority. We will not discriminate against you for exercising a privacy right.

10. International transfers

Swipy and its providers may process information in Türkiye and other countries where they operate. When required, we use contractual or legal safeguards designed to protect information transferred across borders. Privacy protections may differ from those in your country.

11. Security

We use administrative, technical, and organizational measures designed to protect information, including password hashing, encrypted transport, scoped access, secure session mechanisms, input validation, and abuse controls. No online service can guarantee absolute security. Please use a unique password and contact us if you believe your account has been compromised.

12. Children

Swipy is not directed to children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from a child under 13. If you believe a child has created an account contrary to this rule, contact us so we can investigate and take appropriate action. Higher minimum ages or parental-consent requirements may apply in some countries.

13. Automated recommendations

Swipy uses account preferences and interaction signals to rank music and community posts. These recommendations affect content ordering but are not used to make decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects. You can influence recommendations by following, interacting, skipping, or using “not interested.”

14. Changes to this Policy

We may update this Policy as the Service, providers, or law changes. We will update the effective date and provide additional notice when required. We encourage you to review this page periodically.

15. Contact Us

Privacy requests and questions can be submitted at https://bernsoftware.com/contact.