1. Who operates Dating Companion
Dating Companion is operated in the United States by Dr. Rachel Vanderbilt. For privacy questions or requests, contact rachel@datingcompanion.co.
2. Information we collect
We collect information you provide when you create and use an account, including your email address and authentication information; questionnaire answers; dating preferences, values, traits, and background information; reflections about dates and connections; goals and check-ins; responses to insights; and feedback or support messages.
Depending on what you choose to share, responses may include sensitive information about your relationships, identity, sexuality, feelings, or personal circumstances. You can skip questions marked optional. Please avoid including other people’s full names, contact details, or other identifying information; an alias or initials can be used for a connection.
We also record information needed to provide the service, such as account and response identifiers, dates of submissions, completion status, and check-in preferences. Hosting and authentication providers may process technical information such as IP addresses, browser or device information, request times, and security or error logs when you access the service.
3. How we use information
We use information to authenticate accounts, save and retrieve responses, provide relationship-science-informed advice and insights, visualize patterns, support goal setting and check-ins, respond to support and feedback, maintain security, and improve Dating Companion.
Insights are based on what you share and are intended to support reflection. You can tell us when an observation does or does not fit your experience.
4. Scientific research and publications
Responses may also be used at an aggregated level for scientific publications. Before publication, we remove identifying information and report findings in aggregate rather than publishing identifiable individual responses.
Removing identifying information is part of our publication process; it does not mean the information stored in your account is anonymous. Account information and responses remain associated with your account so Dating Companion can provide its features.
5. No use of responses in AI systems
Participant responses are never fed into AI systems. We do not use them to train AI models or send them to generative AI services for advice, interpretation, or analysis.
6. Who can access information
Within Dating Companion, participant data is accessible only to authorized Dating Companion researchers who need it for the purposes described in this policy. We do not sell participant data or use it for targeted advertising.
We use service providers to operate the service, including Supabase for authentication and data storage and Vercel for website hosting. These providers process information as needed to supply their services. Email delivery providers also process email addresses and account-verification or password-reset messages to deliver account emails. These emails do not contain questionnaire responses. This infrastructure processing is separate from researcher access and publication of aggregated findings.
We may disclose information when required by law or when necessary to protect the security of the service or the rights and safety of users and others.
7. Cookies, local storage, and security
The website uses authentication cookies or browser storage to maintain your session. The mobile app uses secure device storage for session credentials. These mechanisms allow you to stay signed in; they are not used by Dating Companion for advertising tracking.
We use access controls and encrypted connections to help protect information. No method of storage or transmission can be guaranteed completely secure. Keep your password private, and do not include passwords or password-reset links in feedback or support messages.
8. Data retention
We retain participant data indefinitely unless you request deletion. This supports ongoing personal reflections, patterns over time, goals, and aggregated research. We may retain information when required by law.
Stopping connection check-ins, pausing a goal, signing out, or uninstalling the app does not delete your account or previously saved responses.
9. Your choices and deletion requests
You can skip optional questions and stop or resume connection check-ins. To request access to, correction of, or deletion of your account and associated personal information, email rachel@datingcompanion.co, preferably from the address associated with your account. We may need to verify your identity before processing a request.
Deletion cannot withdraw findings already published or remove information from aggregated results that can no longer be linked to you. Some information may remain in backups until those backups are replaced or expire, or where retention is required by law. Any applicable privacy rights depend on where you live; contact us to discuss a request.
10. Adults only
Dating Companion is intended only for people ages 18 and older. If you believe someone under 18 has provided personal information, contact us so we can review and address it.
11. United States operation
Dating Companion is operated in the United States and uses third-party service providers. Information may be processed in the United States or other countries where those providers operate. Privacy protections may differ from those in your location.
12. Policy updates and contact
We may update this policy as the service or our practices change. We will update the effective date on this page and provide additional notice when appropriate or required.
Contact: Dr. Rachel Vanderbilt, rachel@datingcompanion.co.