Privacy Policy

Children Under the Age of 18

Our Website is not intended for children under 18 years of age. No one under age 18 may provide any information to or on the Website. We do not knowingly collect personal information from persons under 18. If you are under 18, do not use or provide any information on this Website or through any of its features or provide any information about yourself to us, including your name, address, telephone number, email address, or any screen name or user name you may use. If we learn we have collected or received personal information from a person under 18, we will delete that information. If you believe we might have any information from or about a person under 18, please contact us at inquiries@seabirdreader.com.

Information We Collect About You and How We Collect It

We collect several types of information from and about users of our Website or Apps, including information:

• By which you may be personally identified, such as name, e-mail address, or any other identifier by which you may be contacted online or offline (“personal information”);
• That is about you but individually does not identify you, such as IP address, username, and password; and
• About your internet connection, the equipment you use to access our Website, and usage details.
• Additional information, such as details on your bio and your interests, links to your website and other social media accounts, as well as content such as a profile image. To add certain content, like photos, you may allow us to access your camera or photo album.
• With your permission on our mobile Apps, email addresses from your device's contacts, solely for the purpose of helping you find friends who are already on Seabird. These email addresses are cryptographically hashed (using SHA-256) on your device before being transmitted to our servers and are never stored by us.
• Content you create and share on the platform, including links, commentary, and attributions (“User Contributions”), which may be visible to other users.
• If you choose to sign in with Google or Apple, we receive a limited identity token from that provider containing your name and email address. We do not receive your Google or Apple password, contacts, files, or any other account data. We store a unique identifier from the provider to link your Seabird account to your Google or Apple sign-in. Using OAuth sign-in is entirely optional — you may always create an account with an email address and password instead.

We collect this information:

• Directly from you when you provide it to us.
• From Google or Apple when you choose to sign in using their OAuth services.
• Automatically as you navigate through the site. Information collected automatically may include usage details, IP addresses, and information collected through cookies and other tracking technologies.

Information You Provide to Us

The information we collect on or through our Website may include:

• Information that you provide by filling in forms on our Website. This includes information provided at the time of registering to use our Website, subscribing to our service, posting material, or requesting further services. We may also ask you for information you report a problem with our Website.
• Records and copies of your correspondence (including email addresses), if you contact us.
• Your responses to surveys that we might ask you to complete for research purposes.
• Your search queries on the Website.

You also may provide information to be published or displayed (hereinafter, “posted”) on public areas of the Website, or transmitted to other users of the Website or third parties (collectively, “User Contributions”). Your User Contributions are posted on and transmitted to others at your own risk. Additionally, we cannot control the actions of other users of the Website with whom you may choose to share your User Contributions. Therefore, we cannot and do not guarantee that your User Contributions will not be viewed by unauthorized persons.

Contacts Information

Our mobile Apps offer an optional “Find Friends” feature that checks your device contacts against existing Seabird users. When you use this feature:

• Only email addresses are read from your contacts. We do not access names, phone numbers, or any other contact information.
• Email addresses are converted to one-way cryptographic hashes (SHA-256) on your device before being transmitted to our servers.
• Our servers compare these hashes against hashed versions of existing Seabird users' email addresses to identify matches.
• No contact data — including email addresses, names, or phone numbers — is stored on our servers. The comparison is performed in real time and the hashes are discarded immediately after.
• This feature is entirely optional. You may skip it during signup and can access or skip it at any time from your Settings.
• You may revoke contacts permission at any time through your device's system settings.

Information We Collect Through Automatic Data Collection Technologies

As you navigate through and interact with our Website and Apps, we may use automatic data collection technologies to collect certain information about your equipment, browsing actions, and patterns.

Analytics

We use PostHog, a third-party analytics service, to collect limited usage and operational analytics. This helps us maintain, debug, improve, and understand how Seabird is used. Our analytics configuration is designed to protect your privacy:

• We do not capture your IP address.
• We do not use session recording or screen capture.
• We do not use automatic event capture or DOM scraping.
• We collect only events that we explicitly define, such as page views, feature usage, and content interactions.
• We associate a randomly generated session identifier (not tied to your identity) with each browsing session.
• If analytics are enabled and you are logged in, we may associate your internal user identifier with analytics events to understand usage patterns.
• If you choose Anonymous Only, or if your browser sends a Do Not Track (DNT) or Global Privacy Control (GPC) signal, we continue collecting limited usage and operational data, but we configure our analytics to avoid intentionally associating those events with your account.

You may switch analytics to Anonymous Only at any time from your account Settings on the Website or in the App. In Anonymous Only mode, Seabird still collects limited usage and operational data, but that data is not associated with your account.

Cookies and Local Storage

We use a single essential cookie to maintain your logged-in session:

• Authentication cookie (xanoToken): An encrypted session token stored as an HttpOnly, Secure cookie with SameSite protections. This cookie is required for the Website to function when you are logged in. It expires after one year or when you log out.

We also store a small number of preferences in your browser's local storage:

• Your theme preference (light or dark mode)
• Your analytics mode preference
• Whether you have dismissed the analytics notice

On our mobile Apps, your authentication token is stored in your device's secure keychain (iOS Keychain or Android Keystore), which is encrypted at rest by your operating system.

We do not use advertising cookies, tracking pixels on our Website or Apps, or third-party cookies. We do not participate in cross-site tracking or retargeting.

Email Newsletter

We send a newsletter via Kit (ConvertKit). Our newsletter emails may contain tracking pixels (web beacons) that allow us to measure aggregate open rates and link clicks. This helps us understand what content resonates with our readers and improve our newsletter over time. You can limit this tracking by configuring your email client to block remote images, or you can unsubscribe from the newsletter at any time using the link at the bottom of any email.

How We Use Your Information

We use information that we collect about you or that you provide to us, including any personal information:

• To present our Website and its contents to you.
• To provide you with information, products, or services that you request from us.
• To fulfill any other purpose for which you provide it.
• To provide you with notices about your account.
• To carry out our obligations and enforce our rights arising from our terms and other agreements with you.
• To notify you about changes to our Website or any products or services we offer or provide though it.
• To allow you to participate in interactive features on our Website.
• To help you find friends on the platform by comparing hashed email addresses from your device contacts against our user base (only with your explicit permission).
• To maintain, debug, improve, and understand how our platform is used through analytics that may be associated with your account when enabled, or collected anonymously when you choose Anonymous Only or browser privacy signals require it.
• In any other way we may describe when you provide the information.
• For any other purpose with your consent.

We may also use your information to contact you about Seabird updates, announcements, or other goods and services that may be of interest to you. If you do not want to receive those communications, you may use the unsubscribe link in those emails or contact us at inquiries@seabirdreader.com.

Legal Bases for Processing

If you are located in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, or Switzerland, we process personal data only where we have a valid legal basis to do so. Depending on the circumstances, those legal bases may include:

• Performance of a contract, such as providing the Seabird service, creating and maintaining your account, authenticating you, and delivering the features you request.
• Legitimate interests, such as operating, securing, maintaining, debugging, improving, and understanding how Seabird is used, preventing abuse, enforcing our terms, and communicating with users about the service.
• Consent, where required or where we specifically ask for it, such as accessing your contacts for Find Friends or sending promotional communications where consent is required by law.
• Compliance with legal obligations, such as responding to lawful requests or retaining information where required by applicable law.

Disclosure of Your Information

We may disclose aggregated information about our users, and information that does not identify any individual, without restriction.

We may disclose personal information that we collect or you provide as described in this privacy policy:

• To our subsidiaries and affiliates.
• To contractors, service providers, and other third parties we use to support our business.
• To a buyer or other successor in the event of a merger, divestiture, restructuring, reorganization, dissolution, or other sale or transfer of some or all of Seabird's assets, whether as a going concern or as part of bankruptcy, liquidation, or similar proceeding, in which personal information held by Seabird about our Website users is among the assets transferred.
• To fulfill the purpose for which you provide it.
• For any other purpose disclosed by us when you provide the information.
• With your consent.

We may also disclose your personal information:

• To comply with any court order, law, or legal process, including to respond to any government or regulatory request.
• To enforce or apply our terms of use https://seabirdreader.com/terms and other agreements.
• If we believe disclosure is necessary or appropriate to protect the rights, property, or safety of Seabird, our customers, or others.

Third-Party Service Providers

We use the following third-party services to operate and improve Seabird. These providers help us deliver the service and process data in connection with the services they provide to us:

• Xano — our backend infrastructure provider. Stores your account information, posts, and platform data.
• PostHog — analytics platform. Receives limited usage and operational analytics events as described in the Analytics section above. PostHog is configured to not capture IP addresses or record sessions, and when you choose Anonymous Only we configure our analytics to avoid intentionally associating those events with your account.
• Amazon Web Services (AWS) — cloud storage for user-uploaded images (such as profile photos).
• Kit (ConvertKit) — email newsletter platform. Sends our newsletter and may use tracking pixels to measure email engagement (open rates and link clicks). You can unsubscribe from the newsletter at any time.
• Google and Apple — optional OAuth sign-in providers. If you choose to sign in with Google or Apple, we receive a limited identity token (name and email address) to authenticate you. We do not receive any other data from your Google or Apple account.

We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information to any third party for their own marketing purposes.

Choices About How We Use and Disclose Your Information

We strive to provide you with choices regarding the personal information you provide to us:

• Analytics. You may switch analytics to Anonymous Only at any time from your account Settings. In Anonymous Only mode, we continue collecting limited usage and operational data, but we configure our analytics to avoid intentionally associating that data with your account. We also respect your browser's Do Not Track (DNT) and Global Privacy Control (GPC) signals — when these are detected, analytics data is collected in a manner designed to avoid intentionally linking it to your account.
• Contacts. You may decline to share your contacts when prompted, and you may revoke contacts access at any time through your device's system settings. We do not store any contact data.
• Cookies. You can set your browser to refuse all or some browser cookies, or to alert you when cookies are being sent. If you disable the authentication cookie, you will not be able to remain logged in. No other cookies are used.
• Communications. If you do not wish to receive Seabird updates, announcements, or promotional emails, you may opt out using the unsubscribe link in those emails or by contacting us at inquiries@seabirdreader.com. Our newsletter emails may contain tracking pixels; you can limit this by blocking remote images in your email client.

Accessing and Correcting Your Information

You can review and change your personal information by logging into the Website and visiting your account profile page.

You may also send us an email at inquiries@seabirdreader.com to request access to, correct or delete any personal information that you have provided to us. We may not accommodate a request to change information if we believe the change would violate any law or legal requirement or cause the information to be incorrect.

You may request a copy of your personal data by contacting us at inquiries@seabirdreader.com. We will provide your data in a commonly used electronic format within 30 days of your request.

You may delete your account at any time from the Settings page on the Website or in the App. When you delete your account, we will delete your personal information from our active systems promptly.

If you delete your User Contributions from the Website, copies of your User Contributions may remain viewable in cached and archived pages, or might have been copied or stored by other Website users. Proper access and use of information provided on the Website, including User Contributions, is governed by our terms of use https://seabirdreader.com/terms.

Data Retention

We retain your personal information for as long as your account is active or as needed to provide you with our services. If you delete your account, we will delete your personal information from our active systems promptly.

Anonymous usage and operational analytics data that is not associated with your identity or account may be retained to help us understand long-term usage trends and maintain the service.

International Data Transfers

Seabird is based in the United States, and our service providers may process information in the United States and other countries where they operate. Those countries may have data protection laws that differ from the laws where you live. Where required by applicable law, we seek to rely on contractual protections and other appropriate safeguards for international transfers of personal data.

EEA, UK, and Switzerland Privacy Rights

If you are located in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, or Switzerland, you may have the right, subject to applicable law and certain exceptions, to request access to the personal data we hold about you, request correction or deletion of that data, request restriction of processing, object to certain processing, request portability of the data you provided to us, withdraw consent where processing is based on consent, and lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority.

To exercise these rights, contact us at inquiries@seabirdreader.com. We may need to verify your identity before fulfilling your request.

California Privacy Rights

If you are a California resident, California law may give you the right, subject to certain exceptions, to request that we disclose the categories and specific pieces of personal information we have collected about you, the categories of sources from which we collected that information, the business or commercial purposes for collecting, using, or disclosing it, and the categories of third parties to whom we disclosed it. You may also have the right to request correction or deletion of personal information and the right not to receive discriminatory treatment for exercising your privacy rights.

In the last 12 months, we have collected identifiers and contact information, account and profile information, user-generated content, device and internet activity information, communications you send to us, and, if you choose to use Find Friends, hashed contact email data used for matching. We disclose relevant personal information to service providers that help us operate the service, including infrastructure, analytics, and storage providers. We do not sell personal information, and we do not share personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising as those terms are defined under California law.

California residents may submit privacy requests by emailing inquiries@seabirdreader.com. We may need to verify your identity before fulfilling your request. You may also authorize an agent to submit a request on your behalf, subject to verification and applicable law.

California's “Shine the Light” law (Civil Code Section § 1798.83) permits California residents to request certain information regarding our disclosure of personal information to third parties for their direct marketing purposes. We do not disclose personal information to third parties for their own direct marketing purposes.

Under Nevada Revised Statutes Chapter 603A, Nevada residents may opt out of the sale of certain covered information. We do not currently engage in a sale of personal information that triggers that statute's opt-out requirements.

Data Security

We have implemented measures designed to secure your personal information from accidental loss and from unauthorized access, use, alteration, and disclosure. Specific measures we employ include:

• Authentication tokens stored in HttpOnly cookies (web) and encrypted device keychains (mobile), inaccessible to JavaScript and third-party code.
• Passwords transmitted over HTTPS and hashed before storage; we never store plaintext passwords.
• Contact email addresses hashed on-device using SHA-256 before transmission; raw email addresses never leave your device.
• Image uploads validated for type and size, with server-side protections against malicious file uploads.
• Protection against server-side request forgery (SSRF) on all URL-fetching endpoints.

The safety and security of your information also depends on you. Where we have given you (or where you have chosen) a password for access to certain parts of our Website, you are responsible for keeping this password confidential. We ask you not to share your password with anyone. We also urge you to be careful about giving out information in public areas of the Website. The information you share in public areas may be viewed by any user of the Website.

Unfortunately, the transmission of information via the internet is not completely secure. Although we do our best to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee the security of your personal information transmitted to our Website. Any transmission of personal information is at your own risk. We are not responsible for circumvention of any privacy settings or security measures contained on the Website.

Changes to Our Privacy Policy

It is our policy to post any changes we make to our privacy policy on this page. If we make material changes to how we treat our users' personal information, we will notify you by email to the email address specified in your account. The date the privacy policy was last revised is identified at the top of the page. You are responsible for ensuring we have an up-to-date active and deliverable email address for you, and for periodically visiting our Website and this privacy policy to check for any changes.

For previous versions of our privacy policy, please contact us at inquiries@seabirdreader.com.

Contact Information

Seabird, Inc. is the controller responsible for the personal information described in this policy.

To ask questions or comment about this privacy policy and our privacy practices, contact us at:

inquiries@seabirdreader.com.