Privacy Policy
SYNC is a private space for two people. This policy explains, in plain English, what we collect, why, who can see it, how long we keep it and the choices you have.
- What you share in SYNC is visible to you and your partner only. It isn't public, and we don't sell it or use it for advertising.
- There are no ads, no advertising trackers and no third-party analytics in the app.
- Location sharing is off unless you turn it on, and even then we only store an approximate (about 1 km) position.
- Nudity and sexual content are not allowed, even between partners. You can report anything or anyone, and block or disconnect at any time. We are also rolling out automatic image safety checks in a later update. No person at SYNC ever looks at your photos (see section 6).
- No one at SYNC can view what you and your partner share: not your photos, messages, voice notes, letters, moods or location. Our admin tools only show account details and the dates and details of safety decisions.
- Almost everything you write or record is end-to-end encrypted: only your phone and your partner's phone can read it. Not SYNC, not our administrators, not Supabase and not any other service provider. Photos are stored encrypted at rest (see section 10).
- Keys live on your phones. If you lose every way back in (your phone, your partner's phone, your Apple or Google backup and your recovery code), nobody can recover your past shared things, including us.
- You can delete your account, and what you created, from inside the app at any time.
1. Who we are
SYNC ("SYNC", "we", "us"), based in Surat, Gujarat, India, provides the app. We are the controller (in India, the data fiduciary) of the personal data described here. You can reach us at syncapp.noreply@gmail.com.
2. What we collect
Information you give us
- Account: your email address and the name you choose. If you sign in with Apple or Google, we receive an identifier from them and your email address. With Apple this can be a private relay address, and Apple may also share your name the first time. We never receive your Apple or Google password.
- Profile (optional): a profile photo, a phone number and/or FaceTime address (used only to let your partner call you from the call buttons), your time zone, and preferences like your pebble colour and notification settings.
- Pairing: invite codes, who asked to connect with whom and when, and the connection itself.
- Things you share with your partner (end-to-end encrypted, see section 10): short voice clips, captions and notes, moods, letters (including "Open when" letters and songs you attach), date-night plans and reviews, countdowns, goals, vision-board pins, playlist links, game answers and reactions, daily question answers, "Thinking of you" pebbles and other signals.
- Photos (and videos, if enabled): stored encrypted at rest with keys kept separate from our database. Only your two phones get the key to view them, and no one at SYNC can view them. These are not end-to-end encrypted (see section 6 and section 10).
- Gentle Days (optional): period start dates, how you're feeling on a given day, and messages for your partner (see section 4).
- Support: whatever you send us when you contact support or appeal a decision. Unlike the things you share with your partner, support messages are readable by us, because you are writing to us.
Information we can read, and information we can't
Most of what you share is encrypted so that we can't read it. What stays readable to us is: your name, email address and sign-in details; dates and times (for example when something was sent, or when a plan is scheduled); one-tap reactions; account status and moderation records (scores and warning counts); and the messages you send to support. Section 10 has the full picture.
Information collected automatically
- Approximate location, only if you turn on "Share my location": your city, region, country, and a position rounded to about 1 km. Your phone works out the city itself and rounds it; the precise reading never leaves your phone. The approximate place is encrypted on your phone before it is sent, so only your partner's phone can read it. We don't track location in the background.
- Device and security data: a scrambled (hashed) identifier for each device you sign in on, its type and model name (e.g. "iPhone 15"), and when it was first and last used. We use these to warn you about sign-ins on new devices.
- Notification data: push notification tokens for your devices, and a log of which notifications were sent (type and time only, never message content).
- Activity status: whether you're online and when you last opened the app, shown to your partner.
- Days you used SYNC: which days you opened the app. We only ever look at these as totals (for example, how many people used SYNC today, or how many come back after a week), never person by person, and no outside analytics company receives them.
- Technical logs: like every online service, our hosting providers record IP addresses, timestamps and request details to run and secure the service.
What stays on your phone
When you add a date night to your calendar, SYNC writes it to your device calendar; we only store the event's ID so we can update it later. We never upload your calendar. Likewise, we only access your camera, microphone and photo library when you choose to take, record or pick something. We don't access your contacts.
We don't use analytics or advertising SDKs, and we don't track you across other companies' apps or websites.
3. How we use it and why
We only use your data to provide SYNC, keep it safe, and talk to you about your account. Where the GDPR or UK GDPR applies, our legal bases are:
| Purpose | Data | Legal basis (GDPR / UK GDPR) |
|---|---|---|
| Create and run your account, sign you in, connect you with your partner, show your partner what you share, send notifications you've allowed | Account, profile, pairing, shared content, device and notification data | Performance of our contract with you (Art. 6(1)(b)) |
| Share your approximate location with your partner | Approximate location | Your consent (Art. 6(1)(a)). Switch it off any time in Settings |
| Gentle Days health features | Period dates, wellbeing check-ins | Your explicit consent (Art. 9(2)(a)) |
| Keep accounts and SYNC safe: new-device alerts, rate limits, abuse prevention, CAPTCHA | Device, technical and pairing data | Legitimate interests in protecting you and the service (Art. 6(1)(f)) |
| Keeping SYNC safe: handling reports, warnings and account closure; recognising banned people who sign up again; preserving and reporting known child sexual abuse material. Once we switch on automatic photo safety checks (a later update), checking uploaded photos for nudity and sexual content | Reports you send us; moderation records; scrambled identifiers (email, Apple / Google sign-in ID, app install ID); photos, only once automatic checks are enabled | Legitimate interests in a safe service and enforcing our Terms (Art. 6(1)(f)); legal obligation where we must report or preserve CSAM (Art. 6(1)(c)) |
| Answer support requests, appeals and requests for a person to review a safety decision | What you send us; the details of the decision (dates, warning count), never the photo | Contract / legitimate interests |
| Understand, in totals only, how many people use SYNC and which features they use, so we can improve it | Days you opened the app; counts of what is created (never its content) | Legitimate interests in running and improving the service (Art. 6(1)(f)) |
| Comply with law, respond to lawful requests, establish or defend legal claims | As needed | Legal obligation (Art. 6(1)(c)); legitimate interests |
We don't sell your personal data, share it for cross-context behavioural advertising, or use it to build advertising profiles. We don't use your content to train AI models.
4. Health information (Gentle Days)
Gentle Days lets you note period dates and how you're feeling, and choose whether your partner sees them. This is health information, which the law treats as especially sensitive. We only process it because you choose to use the feature (your explicit consent). It's private to you unless you switch on sharing in Gentle Days settings, and you can stop sharing, or delete your entries, at any time. We never use it for anything except showing it to you and, if you choose, your partner. Period dates, check-ins and messages in Gentle Days are end-to-end encrypted: only your phone and, if you share them, your partner's phone can read them. We can't.
5. What your partner can see
SYNC is built for two. When you're connected, your partner's phone can open and show:
- your name, profile photo, email address and, if you added them, your phone number and FaceTime address;
- everything you share in the app (moments, moods, letters once they open, plans, game answers once revealed, reactions and so on);
- when you're online or last opened the app;
- your approximate city and distance, only if location sharing is on;
- your Gentle Days status or calendar, only if you turn sharing on.
Some things are deliberately hidden until the right moment, like a sealed letter before its opening time or a daily answer before both of you have replied.
Because shared things are encrypted end to end, your partner's phone holds the key to open them; we don't. Your partner can also save things you share (for example by taking screenshots, or saving a photo to their phone). We can't control copies made outside SYNC.
If you disconnect
- Either of you can end the connection from Settings. When that happens, you're both unpaired and your shared space is archived: it's frozen and neither of you can see it.
- While it's archived, each of you can download the things you created.
- We keep the archive for 3 months, remind you about two weeks before it ends, and then delete it permanently.
- Either of you can delete the shared space straight away from Settings, without waiting.
- If the same two of you reconnect within those 3 months, we'll ask you both whether to bring your memories back or start fresh. They only come back if both of you agree.
6. Safety checks of photos
SYNC has a zero-tolerance rule on nudity and sexual or adult images, even between partners (see our Terms). SYNC is a private two-person app: the only person who can send you a photo is the partner you paired with. There is no public feed and no strangers. No person at SYNC ever looks at your photos.
- If something breaks the rule: if your partner ever sends something that isn't allowed, you can report it and block or disconnect from Settings, or email us at syncapp.noreply@gmail.com. Please describe what happened, but don't send the image.
- What we do with reports: we review reports from the details you give us and act: removing access to the content, warning an account, or closing it. Illegal child sexual abuse material is preserved and reported to the authorities as the law requires (see below).
- Coming improvement, not live yet: we're rolling out automatic image safety checks in a later update. They are not running today. When they are enabled, they will run on our own servers and will not involve any person at SYNC looking at your photos; we will update this page and the date above, and describe exactly what we keep, before switching them on. Until then, safety relies on the rule above, reports, and blocking.
- How photos are stored: a photo is stored encrypted, with the keys kept separately from our database. Only the two phones in your couple are given the key to view it, and no one at SYNC can view it. Unlike your messages, photos are not end-to-end encrypted (see section 10). Voice notes are end-to-end encrypted, and your partner's app only plays them as audio. Videos can't be uploaded for now.
- Warnings and account closure: warnings don't expire. On a third warning your account is closed. We email you the dates, and for 14 days you can still sign in to ask for a review or download your things; after that the account is deleted.
- Your right to a review: you can contest any warning or closure in the app or through support, give your point of view, and ask a person to review the decision (in the EU and UK this is your right under Article 22 of the GDPR, where a decision is made by automated means). That person sees only the details of the decision, such as dates, warning count and what you wrote to us, never the photo, and can overturn it.
- What SYNC staff can see: our admin tools show account details (name, email, sign-up date, warning count, account status), messages you send to support, and a log of safety decisions. They can't show any couple's photos, videos, messages, voice notes, letters, moods or location, and no one at SYNC views them.
- Recognising banned people: so that warnings and bans can't be reset by making a new account, we keep scrambled versions (a keyed hash that can't be turned back into the original) of the email address, the Apple or Google sign-in ID and the app's install ID of anyone with a warning, pause or ban. A new account that matches is given the same status; you can ask for a review as above.
- Child sexual abuse material: we have zero tolerance. We use, and are expanding, automated tools to detect known material by matching its fingerprint (for example Microsoft's PhotoDNA, once our access is approved and enabled). Whether it comes to us through a report or through detection, the material is never shared and never simply deleted: it is sealed and preserved, with the related account information, for at least one year, the account is blocked, and it is reported to the authorities as the law requires (the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) and the relevant Indian authorities), without anyone at SYNC viewing it. The sealed material is only ever handed to the authorities.
7. Who we share data with
We share personal data only with service providers ("processors") that help us run SYNC. Each one is bound by contract to use it only on our instructions:
| Provider | What they do | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Supabase | Database, sign-in, file storage, real-time updates, server functions. It holds your encrypted content as scrambled data it can't read, plus the account details listed in section 2 | Data stored in Mumbai, India (AWS); server functions may run in other regions, where a photo being checked is processed in memory only |
| Microsoft (PhotoDNA Cloud Service), planned, once our access is approved and enabled | Will compare uploaded photos with fingerprints of known child sexual abuse material. The photo would be processed only for this match | United States |
| Expo (650 Industries) | Delivers push notifications and app updates | United States |
| Apple Push Notification service / Google Firebase Cloud Messaging | Delivers notifications to iPhone / Android | United States / global |
| Apple (iCloud Keychain) / Google (account backup) | If you leave it on, keep an encrypted backup of the key that restores your shared things on a new phone. This is your own Apple or Google account storage. SYNC never receives it, and you can turn it off in Settings | Wherever your Apple or Google account stores it |
| Google (Gmail) | Sends account and security emails from syncapp.noreply@gmail.com | United States |
| Cloudflare (Turnstile) | Checks that sign-ins come from a person, not a bot | Global |
Notifications only carry your first name and a fixed message (for example "Priya is thinking of you"). They never include your notes, letters or photos.
Other services you choose to use: Sign in with Apple and Google sign-in are run by Apple and Google under their own privacy policies. When you search for a song to attach to a letter, the search words go directly from your phone to Apple's public iTunes Search service. No SYNC account information goes with them.
Legal and safety: we may disclose data if required by law or a valid legal request, to report child sexual abuse material, or to protect someone's life or safety. If SYNC is ever involved in a merger or acquisition, your data may transfer to the new owner under this policy, and we'll tell you first.
8. Where your data is stored
Your account and content are stored in India (Mumbai). Some providers above process data in other countries, including the United States. When personal data from the EEA, UK or Switzerland is transferred to a country without an adequacy decision, we rely on the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses (and the UK Addendum) included in our providers' data processing agreements, plus the safeguards described in section 10. You can ask us for a copy of the relevant safeguards.
9. How long we keep it
| Data | How long |
|---|---|
| Your account, profile and the content you create | Until you delete it or delete your account |
| Your shared space after a disconnect | Archived for 3 months (or until either of you deletes it sooner), then permanently deleted |
| Location | Only your latest approximate position is kept; it's wiped the moment you turn sharing off |
| The encrypted backup of your keys that your recovery code unlocks (we can't open it) | Until you delete your account |
| Security emails queue | Deleted 30 days after sending |
| Device records | Your 20 most recent devices, until you delete your account |
| Days you opened the app | 400 days, or until you delete your account |
| An account closed automatically for breaking our Terms | You can still sign in for 14 days to ask for a review or save your things; then the account is deleted as if you had deleted it yourself (unless a review reopens it). Accounts in the child-safety process below are kept as the law requires |
| Once automatic checks are enabled: records of photos that weren't shared, without a warning (hash, scores) | 12 months; longer where needed for an open appeal or legal claim |
| Warnings, pauses and bans, with their records and the scrambled identifiers used to recognise returning accounts | Kept permanently (warnings don't expire), including after you delete your account. A warning overturned on review stops counting |
| Sealed copies of photos that led to a warning (no one at SYNC can open them; used only so a review can be carried out) | 14 days, or until the 14-day window of a closed account ends, then deleted |
| Known child sexual abuse material we must preserve and report by law (sealed, never viewed by SYNC) | At least 1 year, or longer if the law or the authorities require |
| Backups | Backups rotate every 7 days. After that, deleted data is gone from backups too |
| Support emails | Up to 2 years after the conversation ends |
Deleting your account
You can delete your account in the app: Settings → Delete Account. Or follow the steps on our account deletion page. When you do:
- everything you created (photos, videos, voice clips, notes, moods, answers, your profile and so on) is permanently deleted straight away. It isn't archived;
- you're disconnected from your partner. Your partner's own contributions go into the archive described in section 5 and follow the 3-month rule;
- a deleted account can't be restored. If you come back later, you'll start a new account;
- copies in our backups disappear within 7 days;
- we keep minimal safety records: warnings, pauses and bans with their scrambled identifiers (so they can't be reset by signing up again), records under an open appeal, and material we must preserve and report.
10. How we protect it
End-to-end encryption: what we can and can't see
SYNC uses end-to-end encryption. That means the things you share are scrambled on your phone before they leave it, and can only be unscrambled on your partner's phone. Our servers, our administrators, Supabase and our other service providers only ever hold the scrambled version.
| What | Who can read it |
|---|---|
| End-to-end encrypted: texts and notes, letters (including "Open when" letters), moods, captions, plans and date-night details, goals, countdowns, playlists, vision-board notes, Gentle Days and period data, messages to your partner, game answers and words, reflections, voice notes, and your approximate (city-level) location | Only the two partners' phones. Not SYNC, not our administrators, not Supabase and not any service provider |
| Photos and videos: stored encrypted with keys kept separate from our database | Only the couple's phones are given the key to view them. No SYNC staff can view them. See the note below |
| Readable by SYNC: your name, email address and sign-in data; dates and times; one-tap reactions; account status and moderation records (scores, warning counts); messages you send to support | SYNC, to run your account and keep it safe |
An honest note on photos. Photos are encrypted at rest and tightly access-controlled, but they are not end-to-end encrypted like your messages. We plan to add automatic image safety checks in a later update, which would need our server to read an image automatically before your partner sees it; they are not running today. No screen or tool in SYNC lets any person open photos.
Your keys, and getting back in
- The keys that unlock your shared things are created on, and kept on, your phone and your partner's phone.
- On a new phone you can get back in with any one of these: your iCloud Keychain or Google account backup (encrypted; you can turn it off in Settings); your partner's phone approving the new phone; or your personal recovery code, which we ask you to save when you set up.
- If you lose every one of these, your past encrypted things can't be recovered by anyone, including us. We can't reset this, because we never have the keys.
- Because we can't read your content, our notifications only say who it's from (for example "Priya sent you a note"), never what it says. "Download my things" is built on your phone, which opens your own encrypted things and puts them in the file.
Other protections
- All data is encrypted in transit (HTTPS/TLS) and encrypted at rest by our hosting provider.
- Database rules ("row-level security") make sure each account can only read its own data and its current partner's. Photos and files sit in private storage and are shown through short-lived links.
- Sign-in is passwordless (Apple, Google or a one-time email code), so there are no passwords to steal. Your session is stored in your phone's secure keychain.
- We email you when your account signs in on a new device or connects with someone.
- Our backups are encrypted.
- Staff access: SYNC's admin tools have no way to open couples' photos, videos, messages, voice notes, letters, moods or location (most of which we couldn't read even if we tried), and no one at SYNC views your content. Admin accounts need two-step sign-in and every admin action is logged.
No system is perfectly secure. If a breach affects your personal data, we'll notify you and the relevant authorities as the law requires.
11. Your rights and choices
Depending on where you live, you can ask to access your data, correct it, delete it, download a copy (portability), restrict or object to some processing, and withdraw consent at any time (this doesn't affect what we did before). Many of these you can do yourself in the app: Download my things (it runs on your phone, opens your own encrypted things and gives you a copy), edit your profile, turn off location sharing or Gentle Days sharing, change notification settings, disconnect, or delete your account. For anything else, email syncapp.noreply@gmail.com. If you ask us for a copy of your data, we can send the account details we hold (section 2), but we can't open your encrypted content, so use Download my things for that. We'll reply within one month (or sooner where the law requires), and may need to confirm it's really you first. You won't be treated differently for using your rights.
Automated decisions: if warnings or account closures are ever decided by automated means (for example once automatic photo checks are enabled), you have the right to contest them, to give your point of view, and to ask for a person to review the decision. The person reviews the details of the decision (dates and what you tell us), never the photo. Ask in the app with Ask for a review, or follow the steps on our support page.
You can also complain to a data protection authority. For example: your local EU supervisory authority, the UK Information Commissioner's Office (ico.org.uk), or the Data Protection Board of India. We'd appreciate the chance to help first.
12. Region-specific information
India (Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023)
- This policy is our notice under the DPDP Act. It lists the personal data we process and why. Where we rely on your consent (for example, location sharing and Gentle Days), you can withdraw it as easily as you gave it, in the app or by emailing us.
- You have the right to access a summary of your data and of who we've shared it with, to correct, complete, update and erase it, to nominate someone to exercise your rights if you die or become incapacitated, and to grievance redressal.
- Grievance Officer: SYNC Grievance Officer, syncapp.noreply@gmail.com, Surat, Gujarat, India. We'll acknowledge your grievance promptly and resolve it within the time the DPDP Rules require. Grievances about moderation are handled from the details of the decision, never by viewing your photos. If you're not satisfied, you can approach the Data Protection Board of India.
European Economic Area and United Kingdom
Our legal bases are listed in section 3 and international transfers in section 8.
California and other US states
- In the last 12 months we collected these categories: identifiers (email, account and device IDs); personal records (name, phone number); geolocation (approximate, only if you turn it on); audio and visual information (photos, videos, voice clips); internet activity (app usage logs); and sensitive personal information (health information in Gentle Days, and the content of your messages to your partner). We collected them for the purposes in section 3, from you and your device.
- We do not sell or share personal information (as "sell" and "share" are defined by the CCPA/CPRA). We don't use sensitive personal information to infer characteristics about you, or for any purpose beyond those the law allows.
- You can ask to know, delete and correct your information, and you won't be discriminated against for doing so. An authorised agent can make a request for you. Email syncapp.noreply@gmail.com.
13. Children
SYNC is only for adults aged 18 or older. We don't knowingly collect data from anyone under 18. If you believe a child is using SYNC, tell us at syncapp.noreply@gmail.com and we'll delete the account. Our Child Safety Standards explain how we prevent and respond to child sexual abuse and exploitation.
14. Changes to this policy
If we make important changes, we'll tell you in the app or by email before they take effect, and update the date at the top. Earlier versions are available on request.
15. Contact
SYNC
Surat, Gujarat, India
Privacy questions: syncapp.noreply@gmail.com
Support: syncapp.noreply@gmail.com