Privacy Policy

This policy explains what Charm collects and why. The short version: we collect what the product needs to work, we don't sell your data, and there are no ads.

What we collect

• Phone number — your account identity, verified by SMS.
• Name and username — shown to your friends and on your invite link.
• Photos, videos, captions and comments you send — stored so we can deliver them to the friends you choose.
• Profile picture — if you set one.
• Contacts — if you allow contact access, phone numbers from your address book are matched against existing users to suggest friends. Used for matching, not marketing.
• Device push tokens — so new photos reach your devices.
• Approximate location — only if you allow it, and only to fetch the weather shown on a photo's caption chip. Coordinates are rounded before they leave your phone and are never stored.

What we don't do

We don't sell your data, share it with advertisers, or show ads. We don't use your photos for anything except delivering them to your chosen recipients, including generating the resized versions watches and widgets need. We run no third-party analytics or tracking software.

Who processes it for us

• Google Firebase Authentication — verifies your phone number and sends the SMS code.
• Cloudflare R2 — stores photos, videos and profile pictures.
• Apple Push Notification service and Firebase Cloud Messaging — deliver notifications.
• Amazon SES — sends the mail behind the in-app support form.
• MET Norway — returns a forecast for the rounded coordinates described above.

Account data lives in our own database, on a server we operate. These providers act on our instructions; none of them is permitted to use your data for their own purposes.

International transfers

Our providers are US companies and some processing happens in the United States. Where data leaves the UK or EEA it is covered by the standard contractual clauses those providers offer, or by an adequacy decision where one applies.

How long we keep it

Photos and videos stay until you delete them or delete your account. Account data stays for as long as the account exists. Server logs, which may include your account id, are kept for up to 30 days. Backups are overwritten on their own cycle, within 30 days.

Deleting your data

Deleting a photo removes it from our servers and your friends' feeds. Deleting your account — Settings → Danger zone → Delete account, or the instructions at charm.watch/delete-account — removes your account, photos, videos, comments and connections. One thing we can't undo: a photo a friend has already saved to their own phone is on their device, beyond our reach.

Your rights

You can access, correct, export or delete your data. Most of it is editable in the app; for anything else, email us and we'll do it. If you are in the UK or EEA you also have the right to object to or restrict processing, and to complain to your data protection authority — in the UK, the Information Commissioner's Office. We rely on your consent for contacts and location, and on the necessity of performing our contract with you for everything else.

Children

Charm isn't intended for children under 13, and we don't knowingly collect their data. If you believe a child has given us their information, email us and we'll remove it.

Security

Traffic between the apps and our servers is encrypted with TLS. Photos and account data sit behind access-controlled credentials held only by us. No system is perfectly secure, but we keep what we hold to the minimum the product needs.

Changes

If this policy changes we'll update the date at the top of this page, and tell you in the app when the change is a significant one.

Contact

Privacy questions: help@charm.watch