Privacy Policy

1. The short version

CONect is a social network for convention-goers. We collect only what we need to run the service — your account, your profile, your messages, and the conventions and events you tell us about. We don't sell your data, and we don't use it to target ads. This page explains what we collect, how it's stored, and how your age information is handled.

2. What we collect

When you sign up and use CONect, we collect:

• Account data — your email address, an encrypted password, and the display name and username you choose.
• Profile data — bio, pronouns, interests, affiliations, fandom tags, badge text and colors, avatar, and the social handles you choose to display.
• Age data — your date of birth, collected at sign-up to confirm you're old enough to use CONect. See section 5.
• Activity data — friendships, messages, meetup and cosplay plans, RSVPs, convention attendance, and the reports and blocks you submit.
• Notifications data — your notification preferences and the in-app notifications we generate (friend requests, new messages, convention updates).
• Usage data — basic logs our hosting provider records (IP address, device type, request times) to keep the service running and secure.

Social handles are display-only. Linking a handle does not let CONect pull posts or images from that platform — that only happens when you explicitly turn it on for a specific upload, and you can revoke it at any time.

3. How we use your data

We use your data to:

• Run your account, profile, friends, messages, and convention features.
• Verify you're old enough to use the service (see section 5).
• Show your public profile and convention activity to the people you share it with.
• Send the in-app notifications you've turned on.
• Review reports and enforce blocks and community rules.
• Maintain security, prevent abuse, and meet legal obligations.

We do not sell your personal data, and we do not share it with third parties for their advertising.

4. How your data is stored

Your data is stored in CONect's backend (a managed database) and its file storage (for avatars and images you upload). Account credentials are handled by our authentication provider — we never store your raw password, only a hashed version.

Access to your data is protected by row-level security: other users can only see what your profile visibility settings allow, and what you choose to share publicly. Private data like your messages and age is never exposed to other users.

We keep your data for as long as your account is active. If you delete your account or ask us to remove your data, we will delete your profile and personal content within a reasonable time, except where we're required to keep records for legal reasons.

Data is processed and stored by our hosting providers in the regions they operate. We take reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect your data, but no system is perfectly secure.

5. How your age data is handled

CONect requires users to be at least 18 years old. To enforce this, we collect your date of birth when you sign up.

• Your date of birth is stored privately on your profile and is never shown to other users. It does not appear on your badge or public profile.
• We use it only to verify you meet the minimum age, and to block sign-ups from people who are too young.
• Accounts created by users who are under 18 are blocked from accessing the service. Admins can review and unblock such accounts from the admin panel, for example if the birth date was entered incorrectly.
• We do not use your date of birth for advertising, profiling, or any purpose other than age verification and the safety measures described here.

If you believe your account was blocked by mistake, contact the team through the options in the app.

6. Sharing your data

We only share your data with others in the ways the service is designed to — for example, showing your public profile to people who look at it, or delivering your messages to the people you're talking to. We may share data with service providers who help us run CONect (like hosting and email delivery), but only to operate the service, and they're bound to protect it.

We may disclose data when required by law or to protect the rights, safety, or property of CONect, our users, or others.

7. Your choices and rights

You can control your data in several ways:

• Use your profile settings to choose which sections (badge, social handles, pronouns, fandoms, cosplay plans, conventions, and more) are visible to others.
• Turn notification types on or off for messages, friend requests, and convention updates.
• Block any user so they can't contact you or see your content.
• Revoke any social-handle pull grant at any time.
• Delete your account to remove your profile and personal content (we may keep anonymized or legally required records).

Depending on where you live, you may have rights to access, correct, or delete your personal data. Contact the team through the app to exercise these rights.

8. Children

CONect is not intended for anyone under 18. We verify age at sign-up and block accounts that don't meet the minimum. See section 5 for how age data is handled. If you believe a child under 18 is using the service, please report it through the app.

9. Changes to this policy

We may update this privacy policy. When we do, we'll change the date above and, for material changes, notify you in the app or by email. Continued use after the update means you accept the revised policy.

10. Contact

Questions about your privacy or this policy? Use the report or feedback options in the app, or reach the team through the contact details shown in the app. We'll do our best to help.