Halfway – Privacy Policy
Last updated: 6 November 2026
Halfway (“the app”, “we”) helps adults who are looking for marriage get to know people in other countries and languages. This policy explains what we collect, why, who else sees it, how long we keep it, and what you can do. Because Halfway handles identity documents, photos, voice and private conversations, we keep the amount of data to what each feature needs.
1. Who is responsible
The data controller is Damou walid, the developer of Halfway: Serious Marriage on Google Play. Contact for any privacy request: mohamedboufenara5@gmail.com.
2. Who may use Halfway
Halfway is for people aged 18 or over. We do not knowingly collect data from anyone younger. The identity check (section 3) is used, among other things, to confirm age; an account that turns out to belong to a minor is closed.
3. What we collect and why
| Data | Why we use it |
|---|---|
| Account: email address, password (stored hashed by our authentication provider), first and last name, optional phone number, declared birth date and gender, country, language and time zone | To create and secure your account and show the app in your language |
| Profile: your answers about yourself and about the partner you are looking for; optional sensitive areas (religion, intimacy, finances, astrology) only if you agree to each one | To suggest compatible people. You can withdraw a sensitive area at any time and its answers are deleted |
| Photos (up to 6) | To show your profile to the people you are matched with, according to the visibility you choose |
| Interview with the AI matchmaker and your written portrait | To fill in your profile from what you tell it, and to draft a short portrait that you edit and approve before anyone sees it |
| Identity check: a photo of an identity document and a selfie | To check that you are a real adult and that the document is not used by another account. This is an automatic reading of two still photos, reviewed by our staff when unclear; it is not a certified identity service |
| Messages, voice messages and photos sent in a conversation; optional spoken introduction (up to 60 seconds) | To let you talk with your matches. Voice is transcribed and translated so the other person can understand it. Until a conversation is unlocked, messages, voice messages and photos are checked automatically before delivery so that no phone number, social-media account or other contact detail is exchanged; a photo is shown only to the other person of the match and can be reported |
| Optional: the country your phone is in at the identity check (country only, never your precise position) | To help our staff review an identity check; a difference is never a reason to refuse you on its own |
| Trust signals: comparison of new profile photos with your identity selfie, whether what you say matches your verified details, and your private opinion after a call | To keep fake profiles and scams away. These signals are seen by our staff only; they never decide alone against a person |
| Payments: amount, currency, provider, status and date of the payment that unlocks a conversation | To unlock the conversation you paid for and to keep accounting records. Your card details are entered on the payment provider’s page and never reach us |
| Marriage plan: the steps you and your match agree on and confirm (for example families informed, travel documents) | To remind you of the next step. Answers to follow-up questions are private and seen by our staff only |
| Video and audio calls | To connect you with your match. If both people agree, speech can be translated live. Call content is not recorded or stored by us |
| Safety data: reports, blocks, support requests, first-meeting plans you choose to share with a trusted person | To protect members and handle abuse |
| Device and notification data: push notification token, connection quality during calls | To deliver notifications and keep calls stable |
| Consents and activity records (for example when you agreed to AI processing, and decisions we made about your account) | To prove what you agreed to and to keep an audit trail |
We do not sell your personal data and we do not show advertising.
4. Automatic processing (AI)
With your consent to “AI processing”, your messages, voice and profile answers are processed by AI services to translate, check messages for safety (for example contact details, requests for money, threats), summarise a profile, read identity photos, compare new profile photos with your identity selfie, and notice patterns typical of romance scams (reported to our staff, never shown to the other person). AI never decides alone to refuse a person: unclear identity checks go to our staff. Text you write is treated as untrusted content and is never allowed to give instructions to the AI. You can withdraw the consent in the app; features that need it then stop.
5. Who receives your data
Only service providers that run the app for us:
- Supabase – database, authentication and file storage.
- Google (Gemini) and Anthropic (Claude) – AI translation, safety checks, voice transcription and identity-photo reading.
- LiveKit – real-time video and audio calls.
- Expo – delivery of push notifications.
- Stripe (card payments outside Algeria) and SlickPay (Edahabia / CIB payments in Algeria) – payment processing. They receive the payment details you enter on their page.
- Fly.io – hosts our live-translation service during calls (audio is processed in memory and not stored).
The people you are matched with see only what your profile and visibility settings allow. We may disclose data when the law requires it or to protect someone from serious harm. Your data may be processed in countries other than yours; where required we rely on appropriate safeguards.
6. How long we keep it
| Data | Retention |
|---|---|
| Identity document and selfie | Deleted 30 days after the decision on your check |
| Chat messages, voice messages and chat photos | Deleted 90 days after the match ends |
| Shared first-meeting plans | Deleted 30 days after the meeting date |
| In-app notifications | Deleted 90 days after being read, 180 days if never read |
| Recordings that were uploaded but never sent | Deleted after about one day |
| Profile, photos and account data | Kept while your account is open; deleted when you delete your account |
| Payment records | Kept as long as accounting and tax law requires, then deleted |
| Safety records (reports, blocks) and the audit trail | Kept as long as needed to protect members and to meet legal duties |
7. Your rights and choices
- Access and export: download a copy of your data from the app (Account).
- Correction: edit your profile in the app, or ask us.
- Deletion: delete your account from the app or by e-mail, see How to delete your account.
- Withdraw consent for sensitive profile areas, AI processing and notifications, at any time.
- Complain to your data protection authority if you think we handled your data wrongly.
To use a right that the app does not offer, write to mohamedboufenara5@gmail.com. We answer within 30 days.
How to delete your account
In the app: open Halfway, open the Profile tab, scroll to My data, tap Delete my account and confirm with your password.
Without the app: send an e-mail to mohamedboufenara5@gmail.com from the address of your account, with the subject “Delete my Halfway account”. We confirm your identity by replying to that address and delete the account within 30 days.
What is deleted: your account, profile, answers, portrait, photos, spoken introduction, identity files, consents and push tokens. Your open matches are closed and the other people are told that the conversation ended. Messages you sent are removed with the conversation according to section 6.
What we keep: payment records (for as long as accounting law requires) and safety records such as reports and blocks (to protect other members). Deletion cannot be undone.
Child safety
Halfway: Serious Marriage is for adults only and strictly prohibits child sexual abuse and exploitation (CSAE). Read our Child Safety Standards.
8. Security
Data is encrypted in transit. Access to other members’ data is blocked by database rules, so you can only reach what you are allowed to see. Identity files are stored privately and only our staff can open them when a check needs review. No system is perfectly secure; if a breach puts you at risk we will tell you and the authorities as the law requires.
9. Permissions on your phone
- Camera – identity selfie, document photo, photos sent in a chat, video calls.
- Microphone – voice messages, spoken introduction, calls.
- Photos – to pick profile photos, a document image or a photo to send in a chat from your gallery.
- Approximate location – optional, only at the identity check, to read the country your phone is in.
- Notifications – new matches, messages and call reminders.
You can change these in your phone settings at any time.
10. Changes
If we change this policy in a way that matters to you, we will tell you in the app before it applies. The date at the top shows the current version.