Privacy Policy
Draft: not yet in effect. Highlighted items are still being filled in. Questions: support@pennywink.com.
Last updated: not yet in effect (draft)
1. What we collect and why
Information
Where it comes from
Why we use it
Email and password (stored scrambled)
You, when you join
Your account, log-in, receipts and important notices
Profile: first name, age, gender, who you're looking for, ZIP code and town, description, interests, "looking for," photos and short live clip
You
Showing your profile to other members and finding nearby matches
Optional profile details: children, smoking, drinking, education, ethnicity, religion
You, only if you choose
Helping members find compatible people; leave them blank if you prefer
Activity: favorites, winks, connections, blocks, messages, reports, group membership, discussion posts, RSVPs
Your use of the Service
Making those features work and keeping members safe
ID check result: passed or not, date of birth, and a scrambled fingerprint of name + date of birth
Stripe, after your ID check
Confirming you're a real adult, one account per person, keeping banned people out
Payments: purchase history and a Stripe customer number
Stripe
Memberships, contacts, passes, renewals and receipts
Technical: IP address, browser type, and pages requested
Your browser, via our hosting providers
Running the site, stopping abuse, fixing problems
Saved settings on your device (browser storage)
Your browser
Remembering your log-in, filters and drafts on that device
Your ethnicity, religion, gender and who you're looking for can be sensitive. You choose whether to share them, and they're shown only as part of your profile.
We use your ZIP code, never your exact address, to show distances and driving times. We don't track your device's location.
2. Your ID check (Stripe Identity)
You photograph your driver's license or state ID and take a live selfie on Stripe's secure page, not on PennyWink. Stripe checks that the ID looks genuine and compares your selfie with the photo on the ID. That face comparison uses biometric information; Stripe asks for your consent on its page before it starts, and handles it under the Stripe Privacy Policy.
What PennyWink receives and keeps: whether you passed, your date of birth, and a one-way scrambled fingerprint made from your name and date of birth. The fingerprint can't be turned back into your name; we use it only to stop one ID from opening two accounts and to keep banned people out.
What PennyWink never receives or keeps: your ID photo, license number, home address, selfie, or any biometric data.
We do not run criminal background checks or sex offender registry checks on members.
3. Who can see what
What
Who can see it
Your profile, photos, member number, town and badges
Logged-in members, and visitors browsing the site (visitors see a limited view)
Your profile when Hide Dating Profile is on
Only people you've already connected with
Your Local Groups profile when Hide Local Groups Profile is on
Only organizers of groups you belong to or asked to join
Who belongs to a group, who's going to its events, and its discussion
Only that group's members and organizer
Your favorites ("Fav'd me") and winks
The person you favorited or winked at
Your messages
You and the person you're messaging; our safety team, if either of you reports the conversation
Your email, date of birth, ID result details and payment history
Only you and PennyWink staff
Blocking someone hides you from each other everywhere and erases what was between you: messages, winks, favorites and your connection.
4. Who we share it with
We don't sell your personal information, and we don't share it with advertisers or data brokers. We share it only with companies that run parts of PennyWink for us, under contracts that limit how they use it:
Company
What they do for us
What they handle
Supabase
Database, log-in and photo storage
Your account, profile, photos, messages and activity
Stripe
Payments and ID checks
Card details, ID photos, selfie, purchase records
Cloudflare
Website hosting, security and our domain names
Technical information such as IP address
[EMAIL SERVICE]
Sending account emails (sign-up confirmation, password reset, renewal reminders)
Your email address
A map-routing service
Estimating driving times between ZIP codes
ZIP-code map points only, never your name or account
Ads. We may show ads on some pages. Ads are chosen using basic profile information such as your gender; we don't give advertisers your profile or contact details. If we add an outside ad network that uses cookies, we'll update this policy first.
When the law requires it. We may share information if required by law, court order or subpoena, or if we believe in good faith it's needed to protect someone from harm, investigate fraud, or enforce our Terms.
If the business changes hands. If PennyWink is sold or merged, your information may move to the new owner, who must follow this policy.
5. How long we keep it
Information
How long
Profile, photos and activity
Until you delete them or your account; deleted within 30 days of closing your account
Messages
Removed 6 months after a conversation's last message, or sooner if either person deletes or blocks
A conversation copy kept because of a report
90 days
ID check result and date of birth
While your account is open
ID fingerprint of a member removed for breaking the Terms
Kept, so that ID can't be used to join again
Payment and purchase records
7 years, for tax and accounting
Technical logs
A short period, usually under 90 days
6. Your choices and rights
- See and change your information: edit your profile and settings anytime.
- Hide your profile: use Hide Dating Profile or Hide Local Groups Profile, or put your account on hold.
- Delete your account: Settings → Delete account. Your profile, photos and messages are removed within 30 days, except the records listed in section 5 that we must keep.
- Get a copy or ask a question: email support@pennywink.com and we'll answer within 30 days.
- Emails: you can't turn off account emails such as receipts and renewal notices while you have an account, and we don't send marketing email without your permission.
Depending on your state (for example California, Connecticut, Colorado, Virginia or Texas), you may have legal rights to access, correct, delete, or get a copy of your personal information, and to opt out of its sale or use for targeted advertising. We don't sell it or use it for targeted advertising, but we'll honor any of these requests from any member, wherever you live. We won't treat you differently for asking. If we turn down a request, you can appeal by replying to our answer.
7. Security, under-18s, changes and contact
Security. Your information is stored with providers that encrypt it in transit and at rest, photos are private to logged-in members, and database rules stop members from seeing what isn't theirs to see. No system is perfectly secure; if a breach affects you, we'll tell you as the law requires.
Under 18. PennyWink is only for adults. We don't knowingly collect information from anyone under 18. If we learn that a member is under 18, we close the account and delete their information, keeping only the ID fingerprint so the account can't be reopened.
Changes. If we make a significant change to this policy, we'll tell you by email or on the site before it takes effect.
Contact. PennyWink LLC, [MAILING ADDRESS], support@pennywink.com.