Privacy Policy

Last updated: March 29, 2026

Links ("we", "our", "the app") is a social networking app that helps you visualize and grow your real-world connections. This policy explains what data we collect, how we use it, and your rights.

Data We Collect

Account information: When you sign up, we collect your phone number for authentication via Firebase Auth. We do not store your plaintext phone number in our application database — only a SHA-256 hash is stored for contact matching. Authentication is handled by Firebase, which processes your phone number securely under its own privacy policy.

Profile information: Display name, bio, location, workplace, username, profile photo, and additional photos you choose to upload. If you take a photo using the app, we access your device camera only at the moment of capture — we do not access your camera in the background.

Social connections: Your links with other users, including link status and any tags you assign.

Messages: Direct messages you send to other users. Messages are private between you and the recipient. We do not read your messages except as necessary to operate the service or investigate reports of abuse.

Contacts: If you choose to sync contacts, we hash phone numbers on your device and send only the hashes to our server to find matches. We do not store your contacts.

Device information: Push notification tokens (FCM) to deliver notifications to your device.

Usage analytics: We use PostHog to collect usage data (such as screens viewed and features used) to improve the app. This data is not used for advertising and is not sold to third parties.

How We Use Your Data

To create and maintain your account
To show your links and reach, and suggest new people
To deliver messages and notifications
To match your contacts with existing users
To improve the app through anonymous analytics

Data Storage & Security

Your data is stored on AWS infrastructure (RDS PostgreSQL, S3) in the United States. All data is encrypted at rest and in transit. Phone numbers are hashed before storage using industry-standard techniques.

Data Retention

We keep your data only as long as your account is active:

Account & profile data: Retained until you delete your account
Messages: Retained until you delete your account (or the other participant deletes theirs)
Push notification tokens: Removed when they are no longer valid or when you sign out
Analytics data: Anonymized and aggregated; not tied to your identity after collection
Contact hashes: Used only for matching and not stored on our servers

When you delete your account, all your data — profile, photos, links, messages, and notifications — is permanently removed from our servers.

Data Sharing

We do not sell your data. We do not share your data with advertisers. Your data is only shared with:

Other users: Your profile information (name, photos, bio) is visible to other users within the app, including users connected to you directly or through mutual connections (up to 2nd degree)
Service providers: AWS (hosting), Firebase (authentication, push notifications), Sentry (error tracking), PostHog (analytics). These service providers process data on our behalf and only as necessary to provide the service.
Legal requirements: We may disclose your information if required to do so by law or in response to valid legal requests (e.g., a subpoena or court order)

Your Rights

You can:

Access your data through the app (profile, connections, messages)
Edit your profile information at any time
Delete your account permanently from the Edit Profile screen, which removes all your data including profile, connections, messages, photos, and your Firebase authentication account
Block other users, which prevents all interaction

California Residents (CCPA)

If you are a California resident, you have additional rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act:

Right to know: You can request what personal information we collect, use, and disclose. See the "Data We Collect" section above for a complete list.
Right to delete: You can delete your account and all associated data at any time from the Edit Profile screen in the app.
Right to opt out of sale: We do not sell your personal information to third parties. We never have and never will.
Right to non-discrimination: We will not treat you differently for exercising any of these rights.

To exercise these rights, email privacy@linksapp.social or use the in-app account deletion feature.

California Residents (CalOPPA)

In accordance with the California Online Privacy Protection Act:

This privacy policy is accessible from within the app and on our website at linksapp.social/privacy
We will notify users of privacy policy changes by updating the "Last updated" date at the top of this page
Users can change their personal information by editing their profile in the app
Do Not Track: We do not track users across third-party websites. Our analytics (PostHog) are limited to in-app usage only and are not shared with advertisers. We do not respond to Do Not Track browser signals because the app does not operate in a web browser context.
Third-party tracking: Third parties cannot collect personally identifiable information about your activity through our app

European Users (GDPR)

If you are in the European Economic Area (EEA) or the United Kingdom, the following applies:

Legal basis for processing:

Contract: Processing your account data, messages, and connections is necessary to provide the service you signed up for
Legitimate interest: Anonymous analytics to improve the app
Consent: Push notifications and contact syncing — both are opt-in and can be revoked at any time

Your additional rights:

Data portability: You can request a copy of your data in a machine-readable format by emailing privacy@linksapp.social
Withdraw consent: You can disable push notifications in your device settings and decline contact syncing at any time
Restriction of processing: You can request that we limit how we use your data
Lodge a complaint: You have the right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority

International transfers: Your data is stored in the United States. By using Links, you consent to the transfer of your data to the US. We protect your data using encryption at rest and in transit.

Children

Links is not intended for children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If we learn that we have collected data from a child under 13, we will delete their account and all associated data promptly. If you believe a child under 13 is using Links, please contact us at privacy@linksapp.social.

Changes

We may update this policy. If we make significant changes, we will notify you through the app. Continued use of the app after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

Contact

Questions or requests about this policy? You can reach us by:

Email: privacy@linksapp.social
Website: linksapp.social/privacy