Privacy Policy

Seldeo, Inc. ("Seldeo", "we", "our") operates the Seldeo mobile application and the website at www.seldeo.com (together, the "Service"). This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect about you, how we use it, and the choices you have. It applies whenever you use the Service or interact with us.

Seldeo is a private North Carolina corporation. Our principal place of business is Durham, North Carolina 27703, United States. You can reach our privacy team at privacy@seldeo.com.

1. Information we collect

1.1 Information you give us

• Account information. When you sign up we collect your phone number or email address, and, optionally, a username, display name, profile photo, and date of birth. You must be at least 13 years old (16 in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, and certain other jurisdictions) to use Seldeo.
• Profile and content. Photos, videos, voice notes, captions, stories, posts, memorials, calls, comments, reactions, and direct messages you create on the Service. Some of this content is visible only to you; some is visible to people you choose; some is publicly visible. The Service shows you the audience for each post before you publish it.
• Contacts you import. If you allow Seldeo to access your phone or email contacts, we use them to suggest connections. Hashed contact identifiers are stored on our servers; raw contact lists are not retained after matching completes.
• Communications with us. Support tickets, in-app feedback, bug reports, and emails you send to addresses like support@seldeo.com.

1.2 Information we collect automatically

• Device and log data. Device model, operating system version, app version, mobile carrier, language and time zone, screen resolution, IP address, crash reports, and basic performance traces.
• Usage data. Which screens you open, which posts you view or share, which notifications you tap, search queries inside the app, and similar interaction events used to measure feature health and improve the product.
• Presence and call state. When you are online, when you are in a call, and which device you are using are stored in real-time databases so the people you talk to can see and reach you. This data is short-lived and tied to your account.
• Location. If you opt in to location features (for example, attaching a place to a post), we collect your approximate or precise location at that moment. We do not continuously track your location in the background.
• Push notification tokens. A device-specific token issued by your operating system's push-notification service, so that we can deliver notifications you've asked for.
• Cookies and similar technologies on the website. See our Cookies Policy for details.

1.3 Information from third parties

• If you sign in using a third-party provider (for example, Apple ID or Google), that provider sends us the account identifiers and email address you authorize, but not your password.
• If you submit identity verification, the verification service sends us a pass/fail signal plus a limited set of attributes (such as country, document type, and age band). We do not store images of your identity documents.
• If you use background music in a post, our licensed music partner provides licensing metadata that we display next to the track. The provider receives the fact that the track was used but not your identity.

2. How we use information

We use the information described above to:

• Operate the Service: deliver your content to the audience you picked, sync your conversations, place calls, and send the notifications you've enabled.
• Authenticate you and protect your account, including sending one-time codes by SMS or email when you sign in from a new device or recover access.
• Keep the Service safe: detect and prevent fraud, spam, abuse, and violations of our Terms of Service.
• Improve features through aggregated analytics and bug reports. Engineers see crash dumps and performance traces, not your content.
• Respond to your support requests.
• Comply with legal obligations and enforce our agreements.
• With your consent, send you product updates, newsletters, or invitations to test new features.

3. AI and machine learning

Some Seldeo features use machine-learning models. When you use these features, the relevant content is sent to our processing infrastructure and may be briefly stored to run the model. We do not use your private content (posts to friends, direct messages, calls) to train third-party foundation models. We do use aggregated, de-identified signals to evaluate model quality.

• Automatic caption suggestions on posts and reels — processed by our cloud AI provider, hosted in the United States.
• Content-safety classifiers for report triage and detection of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) — using industry-standard perceptual hashing on our own infrastructure. Confirmed CSAM is reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) as required by law.
• Message and post translation — via our cloud translation provider (EU or US region depending on your location). Text is sent for translation; the provider processes and returns the translation and does not retain the request.
• Creative rewrite and long-form translation — via our cloud AI provider for optional caption polish and document translation.

You can opt out of on-demand AI features from Settings → Privacy → AI features. Content-safety classifiers cannot be disabled because they are load-bearing for platform integrity.

3a. Advertising and monetization

Seldeo does not run advertising on the Service. We do not build behavioural profiles for advertisers, we do not share your data with ad networks, and we do not participate in the IAB Transparency & Consent Framework or Google's Privacy Sandbox. If we introduce monetization in the future — for example, a paid subscription or a verified organisation account — we will explain any related data use before it launches and update this Policy with a version bump.

4. How we share information

4.1 With other users

Information you publish to a specific audience is shared with that audience. Public posts may be visible to anyone, including people who don't have a Seldeo account. We surface engagement signals (like view counts and reactions) according to the privacy of each post.

4.2 With service providers

We share information with service providers that help us run the Service. They are contractually limited to using your information only on our instructions. They fall into these categories:

• Cloud infrastructure and app-platform providers — authentication, databases, file storage, push notifications, analytics, crash reporting, and content delivery.
• Cloud AI providers — on-demand machine-learning, translation, and creative-rewrite model serving (see Section 3).
• Real-time communications provider — real-time audio and video call infrastructure. Call media is transported over their network; we do not retain call recordings unless you create one.
• Mobile app-store and platform operators — app distribution, in-app billing if you make a purchase, and push-notification delivery.
• Licensed music partner — licensed background music. The provider receives aggregated track-usage statistics, not your identity.
• Transactional email provider — email delivery for one-time sign-in codes, verification emails, security notifications, and support replies sent from noreply@seldeo.com.

4.3 For legal reasons

We may disclose information if we believe in good faith that it is necessary to comply with a law, regulation, legal process, or governmental request; to protect the safety of any person; to address fraud or security issues; or to protect our rights or property. When we receive a legal demand, we evaluate it for legal sufficiency and, where permitted, notify the affected user.

We publish a semi-annual Transparency Report with aggregate statistics on government requests for user data, content-removal orders, and emergency disclosures.

4.4 Business transfers

If Seldeo is involved in a merger, acquisition, financing, or sale of assets, information may be transferred as part of that transaction. We will notify you (for example, by an in-app notice) before your information becomes subject to a different privacy policy.

4.5 With your consent

We share information for any other purpose disclosed to you and with your consent.

5. How long we keep information

We keep account information for as long as your account is active. Posts, stories, and messages live in our systems until you delete them, you delete your account, or, where applicable, they expire according to feature defaults (for example, stories expire after 24 hours).

When you delete content, it is removed from active systems promptly and from backups within 30 days. When you delete your account, it enters a grace period of up to 30 days during which you can recover it, after which it is permanently removed, except for limited records we are required to keep for legal, security, or fraud-prevention reasons (typically up to one year).

Concrete defaults for the data types we hold:

6. Security

We protect your information with encryption in transit and at rest, strict access controls, request-integrity checks for app traffic, and multi-factor enforcement on engineering systems. No method of transmission or storage is 100% secure; we encourage you to use a strong, unique password if you sign in with email and to keep your devices updated.

7. Age and teen safety

Seldeo is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. In the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, and certain other jurisdictions, the minimum age is 16. If you become aware that a child has provided us personal information without appropriate consent, please contact us at privacy@seldeo.com and we will take steps to delete it.

For accounts we identify as belonging to a teen (13–17):

• Discovery is restricted — teen accounts don't appear in general search or suggestions to adults who don't share a mutual friend.
• Default audience is friends-only for new posts, and direct messages from non-friends are blocked by default.
• Ad-style monetization is off for teen accounts (moot today because we run no advertising — but stated as future policy).

8. Your rights and choices

Depending on where you live, you may have rights to access, correct, delete, port, or restrict the processing of your information, and to object to certain uses. You can exercise many of these rights directly from inside the app:

• Edit or delete posts, comments, and messages from their respective screens.
• Manage your profile, privacy settings, blocked users, and notification preferences in Settings.
• Download a copy of your data from Settings → Privacy → Download my data.
• Delete your account from Settings → Account → Delete account.

For requests we can't service in-app, email privacy@seldeo.com. We will verify your identity before fulfilling a request and respond within the timeframes required by applicable law (typically 30–45 days). You also have the right to complain to your local data-protection authority.

9. California residents

If you live in California, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA), gives you specific rights with respect to your personal information, including the right to know what we collect, to delete it, to correct it, and to opt out of certain uses. We do not sell or share personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising. You can exercise your CCPA rights by emailing privacy@seldeo.com.

10. EEA, UK, and Switzerland

If you are in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, or Switzerland, the legal bases on which we process your information are: (a) performance of the contract with you (to deliver the Service); (b) our legitimate interests (to keep the Service safe, prevent fraud, improve features); (c) your consent (for example, for marketing emails); and (d) compliance with law.

We transfer information to the United States where our infrastructure is hosted. We rely on the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses (or the UK and Swiss equivalents) as a transfer mechanism.

10a. Other regional notices

• Brazil (LGPD). You have rights of access, correction, portability, deletion, and objection. The Controller is Seldeo, Inc.; contact privacy@seldeo.com.
• India (DPDP Act 2023). You may withdraw consent and request erasure. Grievance officer: privacy@seldeo.com.
• South Korea (PIPA). Our Personal Information Protection Officer is our privacy team at privacy@seldeo.com.
• Australia (Privacy Act 1988). If you believe we have breached the Australian Privacy Principles, contact privacy@seldeo.com; you may also complain to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.

11. International users

Seldeo is operated from the United States. By using the Service you understand that your information will be transferred to, stored, and processed in the United States and in any other country where our service providers operate.

12. Changes to this Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we will revise the version number and effective date at the top of the page and, for material changes, give you notice through the app or by email before the change takes effect. Older versions remain available at /legal/privacy/v<number>/.

13. Contact us

For questions about this Policy or our privacy practices, email privacy@seldeo.com or write to:

Seldeo, Inc.
Attn: Privacy
Durham, NC 27703
United States