Other members see
Your name, age, profile and approved photos; how you identify, only if you choose to show it; a distance band, if you both have distance on; and what you have in common.
What AshtaSetu keeps,
and why.
A plain-language description of how the AshtaSetu app in development handles personal data. AshtaSetu is not launched; this is not yet its legal privacy policy, which will be reviewed by a lawyer before launch. Retention periods below may change in that review.
What AshtaSetu keeps
- Your email address, to send one-time sign-in codes. It is stored encrypted. There are no passwords.
- Your profile: name, age, what you’re looking for, interests, prompts and the photos you add.
- How you identify and who you’d like to meet, used only for matching.
- The result of your age check, which opens dating on your account.
- Your approximate area, only if you turn distance on: a square about 2 km across, stored encrypted.
- Likes, matches and messages, so your conversations work.
- Blocks and reports, to keep people safe.
- Call records: who called whom, voice or video, when, and how it ended. Never what was said or seen.
- Security events: the kind and time of events such as signing in, for investigating abuse.
What it never collects
- Your exact location. The app asks your phone for approximate location only, never precise or background location.
- Your contacts, other apps or browsing.
- Recordings or content of calls. Calls go from phone to phone; the server only helps them connect.
- Advertising or analytics tracking. The app contains no advertising or analytics code.
- Your photos’ hidden location data, which is removed when a photo is processed.
Who sees what
Other members never see
Your email, your area, who you’d like to meet, your age-check details, who you’ve blocked or reported, and whether you’ve read a message, unless you both share read receipts.
Moderators see only what they need to review a report: the reason, the profile, and the one message you chose to include. Photos are reviewed by a person before anyone else sees them.
How long it is kept
WhatKept for
Your account, profile, matches and messagesUntil you delete your account, then removed after a 7-day grace period
Your approximate areaUntil you turn distance off, which removes it at once
Used or expired sign-in codes1 day
Ended sign-ins on a device30 days; a device unused for 90 days signs in again
Rejected photo records (the photo itself is deleted at once)90 days
Call records90 days
Security events (kind and time only)1 year
Decided reports and appeals2 years, to recognise repeat abuse
BackupsReplaced after 7 days, so deleted data leaves them too
Your controls
- Download a copy of everything AshtaSetu keeps about you, from Settings. It includes your own messages, never anyone else’s.
- Delete your account from Settings. It is removed after 7 days, in case you change your mind; signing in before then keeps it.
- Take a break by turning off “Show me on Discover”.
- Turn distance off at any time, or hide it near private places. Private places are kept only on your phone.
- Choose read receipts and typing, shared only when both of you turn them on.
- Decide who can send you photos and who can call you, one match at a time.
Security
Sign-in uses one-time codes instead of passwords, and signing out ends every sign-in on that device. Email addresses and areas are stored encrypted. Photo links work only for the person viewing them and expire after 15 minutes. The app does not back up your AshtaSetu data to other services. A security review has been written and an independent test is planned before launch.
AshtaSetu is in development and not a live dating service; there is no public contact address yet. How AshtaSetu keeps you safe →