Information we collect
The information depends on how you use LinkBuddy:
- Account and profile: account identifiers; information supplied by your sign-in provider, such as an email address, display name, or profile image; settings and preferences; and records needed to manage access. We do not receive the password for your Google or Apple account.
- Content you provide: messages, prompts, instructions, images or other files you upload, feedback, reports, and support communications. Content may contain personal or sensitive information that you choose to include. Please do not submit another person's information without permission.
- Content and activity in the service: content generated for your account, relevant conversation history and summaries, preferences inferred from your interactions, feature usage, and records of actions taken for safety or support.
- Purchases: products purchased, transaction and subscription status, and records needed to provide access, handle refunds or disputes, prevent fraud, and meet legal obligations. For purchases through the App Store or Google Play, the store handles payment details; we do not receive a full payment-card number from it.
- Device and technical information: device and app type, operating system, language, IP address and approximate location inferred from it, app or device identifiers, session activity, crash and performance information, and security records.
- Advertising measurement information: where applicable, device or advertising identifiers, installation and session activity, registration or purchase events, product identifier or purchase category, currency, and purchase value. This helps us measure advertising and understand how people find the app.
We obtain information from you, your device and use of the app, and services involved in sign-in, purchases, security, and advertising measurement. The app or related web services may use local storage, cookies, and software tools to maintain sessions, remember preferences, protect the service, and measure use. We may derive limited preferences or safety signals from this information. We do not request precise device location for the core service.
If you upload an image containing a face, the image and visible features may be analyzed to provide the requested feature and perform safety checks. We do not use uploaded images to verify identity or build a biometric identification database.
How we use information
We use personal information to create and protect accounts; provide requested content and maintain relevant context; remember settings; process purchases and access rights; respond to support requests and reports; detect abuse and security incidents; diagnose errors; assess and improve reliability and quality; measure app use and advertising; and comply with law or protect legal rights.
Automated systems may process content and produce responses or other media. Limited authorized human review may occur when needed to handle support requests, investigate abuse or safety concerns, enforce our terms, or assess service quality. We limit access according to the task involved.
Where applicable law requires a legal basis, we rely on performance of our agreement with you, legitimate interests in operating and protecting the service, compliance with law, or your consent. The basis depends on the data and purpose. You may withdraw consent where applicable, but withdrawal does not affect processing already completed lawfully.
Third-party AI processing
To provide AI features, we may send information needed for a particular request to OpenAI and Google Gemini (through Google Cloud services). Depending on the feature, this may include the text you enter, an image or other file you choose to provide, relevant parts of an earlier conversation, saved preferences or context, and instructions needed to produce or check the requested output. The provider returns generated content or a processing result to LinkBuddy. A request is sent only to the provider used for that task; we do not routinely send your entire account history to every provider.
We do not intentionally send your sign-in password, payment-card number, or advertising identifier to AI providers. Information you place inside a message, prompt, or upload may nevertheless be included in the content sent for processing. Please avoid sharing information you do not want a provider to process.
We use these providers to generate content, maintain relevant context, or perform related safety checks. We do not send your conversations or uploads to them for advertising measurement. We do not authorize use of your content to train general-purpose AI models without separate notice and permission. Providers may retain limited request information for security, abuse prevention, or legal reasons under their applicable agreements. Their retention may differ from ours, and deleting data from LinkBuddy may not immediately remove a copy that a provider is legally permitted or required to retain.
Before sending your personal data to OpenAI or Google Gemini, the app will explain what is shared and ask for your explicit permission. If you do not grant permission, the affected AI feature cannot process your request. If an additional AI provider is enabled, we will update the disclosure before it receives personal data.
Other sharing
We share information only as needed for the purposes above:
- Service providers support hosting, storage, identity, content delivery, safety review, diagnostics, and customer support. They receive the categories needed for their role. We require third parties receiving user data from us, including AI and measurement partners, to provide the same or equivalent protection described in this policy and required by applicable platform rules. Providers acting on our behalf may use it only for authorized purposes.
- App stores receive or provide transaction information needed to complete store purchases, manage subscriptions, and resolve purchase issues. They may process information under their own privacy notices.
- Advertising and measurement partners may receive device identifiers, IP address, general device information, app installation and interaction data, and limited registration or purchase-event information. We do not send them message text, prompts, uploaded images, generated media, sign-in credentials, or payment-card numbers through these measurement events. Depending on the platform, device permissions, and applicable law, this activity may be considered targeted advertising or “sharing” under privacy law.
- Legal and safety recipients may receive information when needed to respond to a valid legal request, investigate fraud or abuse, protect rights or safety, or support a business transaction. We may also share information at your direction or with your consent.
We do not sell personal information for money. Where the law gives you a right to opt out of targeted advertising or regulated sharing, you can request this by emailing us. You can also use device privacy settings to manage advertising identifiers and, on iOS, the App Tracking Transparency permission. Declining optional tracking does not prevent you from using core features.
Retention, deletion, and security
We keep account information, conversations, preferences, and content while needed to provide the service or until you delete eligible content or your account. Temporary processing files are removed when no longer needed for their task. We may keep transaction, fraud-prevention, safety, and legal records longer when needed for those purposes. Backups may persist for a limited period before being replaced or deleted. We delete or de-identify information when there is no longer a valid reason to keep it.
You can request deletion of your account through the app or the account-deletion channel published for the service. Deletion ends account access and removes associated personal content, subject to records we must or may retain for legal, purchase, security, fraud-prevention, or dispute reasons. Deleting a LinkBuddy account does not itself cancel an App Store or Google Play subscription; you should cancel it through the relevant store's subscription controls.
We use access controls, restricted personnel access, and safeguards for storage and transmission designed to protect personal information. No system is completely secure. Our providers may process information outside your country. Where required, we use a lawful mechanism for international transfers.
Your controls and rights
You can manage available settings and device permissions, request account deletion, and contact us about your information. Depending on where you live, you may ask to access, correct, delete, or receive a copy of personal information; object to or restrict certain processing; withdraw consent; opt out of certain advertising uses; or complain to a privacy authority. We may need to verify your identity and may apply exceptions permitted by law. We will respond within the time required by applicable law.
LinkBuddy is intended for adults aged 18 or older. If we learn that a person under 18 has provided personal information, we will take appropriate steps, including deletion where required.
We may update this policy as our practices change. We will make the current version available and provide additional notice when required.
For privacy questions or requests, use the support option in the app or email [email protected].