Merai Privacy Policy

1. Information We Collect

When you use the Merai application and our services, we collect various categories of information to operate, provide, improve, and personalize your experience, as well as to ensure the safety and security of our community.

a. Account & Profile Information

• Basic account details: your name, email address, and phone number, to create and manage your account.
• Location: your general, city-level location, to facilitate matching with other users.
• Date of birth: for age verification purposes.
• Profile data: optional information including gender identity, pronouns, sexual orientation, profile photos, avatars, and a written bio. This also includes story-card prompt answers, lifestyle details, height, or other optional profile fields.

b. Media & User Interactions

• Audio and video: audio messages, voice intros, and short video loops. While we facilitate in-app voice and video calls, the content of those calls is not recorded or stored by Merai.
• Interests and preferences: including vibe tags and emotional status tags.
• Progressive profile reveal content: blurred-to-clear photos, hobby and action media, and loops.
• Personality insights: data from optional onboarding assessments, such as MBTI, to help personalize your experience.

c. Behavioral & Safety Information

• Engagement data: match activity, chat engagement, conversation response patterns, anti-ghosting nudges and closure actions.
• Karma System: data points such as kindness, ghosting frequency, and respectful exits.
• Safety features: inputs from internal safety tools such as the Red Flag Detector AI, which filters for toxicity, harassment, coercion and manipulation. We may also process verification data, such as selfie scans, voice checks, or video verification, where enabled by you.

d. Optional Community & Social Mode Data

• Relationship status: your self-identified Relationship Mode status (e.g. “Taken, here for friendships”).
• Community participation: data related to your participation in groups, events, or platonic communities within the app.

e. Device & Technical Information

• Technical data: device type, operating system, and app version.
• Log & analytics data: log data, IP address, and session analytics, to monitor app performance, troubleshoot issues, and ensure the security of our services.

f. AI & Moderation Data

• AI interactions: interactions with our AI features, such as the AI co-pilot and Chingu buddy, solely to provide emotional guidance. This data is not shared with third parties.
• Safety scans: we scan messages and content for toxicity, harassment, or other safety risks, in line with our community guidelines and as required by law.

g. Sensitive Personal Data (with explicit consent)

• Optional data about your mood, intent, or emotional tags.

h. Chingu AI Companion Disclaimer

Chingu is an AI-powered virtual companion designed to provide light guidance, conversational support, and emotional nudges within Merai. Please be aware of the following:

• Not a human: Chingu is an AI system and not a human being.
• No professional advice: Chingu does not provide medical, therapeutic, psychological, financial, or legal advice. It is not a substitute for a licensed therapist, counselor, healthcare provider, or emergency service.
• Possibility of errors: as with all AI systems, Chingu may generate responses that are inaccurate, incomplete, or inappropriate. All content is provided “as is” with no guarantees of correctness.
• Voluntary use: your use of Chingu is entirely voluntary. Any reliance on its responses is at your own discretion and risk.
• No liability: Merai bears no responsibility or liability for any actions, decisions, or outcomes resulting from your use of Chingu.
• Seek professional help: if you are in distress or facing an emergency, do not rely on Chingu. Please seek immediate help from licensed professionals or contact your local emergency helpline.

i. Advertising and Sponsored Content

Merai may display advertisements, sponsored profiles, or branded content within the app. These placements help us keep certain features free of charge while supporting the continued development of the platform.

• Personalization: advertisements may be personalized based on your profile information, your app activity, or non-identifiable demographic information, in compliance with applicable data protection laws.
• Data protection: we do not access or use the content of your private messages for advertising purposes. We also do not share personally identifiable information (such as your phone number, email, or private messages) with advertisers. Only aggregated or anonymized data may be used for ad targeting.
• Promotional offers: you may see promotional offers, events, or community partnerships within Merai. Your engagement with these offers is entirely optional.
• Corporate access: for users of Merai Infinity, advertisements are managed solely by Merai. Your employer has no role, involvement, or visibility into any ads or sponsored content you may see.

j. Corporate / Partnership Users (Merai Infinity)

If you access Merai Infinity through your employer, company, or organization, please be aware of the following:

• No access or involvement from employer: your employer only facilitates your access to the application. They have no access to, involvement in, or liability for any of your activity, matches, conversations, or content created within Merai Infinity.
• Voluntary participation: your participation in Merai Infinity is entirely voluntary and based on your personal free will.
• Data protection: no data, personal information, or activity is ever shared with your employer. All information is processed in accordance with this Privacy Policy and applicable data protection laws.

2. How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect to provide and improve our services, including:

• Account management: to create, manage, and secure your account.
• Personalization & matching: to personalize your experience and provide relevant match suggestions, including our unique vibe-first features.
• Communication: to enable communication between users through text, audio, and video.
• Feature operation: to operate our progressive profile reveal and emotional-first discovery features.
• App improvement: to enhance the app’s functionality through analytics and user feedback.
• Safety & security: to operate our safety tools, such as the Karma system, Red Flag Detector, and ghosting prevention features.
• Community support: to support and enable our community features, including Relationship Mode, platonic groups, and events.
• Legal compliance: to comply with our legal obligations, including regulations like GDPR, the DPDP Act, CCPA, and the IT Act 2000.

3. How We Share Your Information

We do not sell your personal data. We may share your information only in the following circumstances:

• Service providers: trusted third parties who assist us with essential functions like hosting, analytics, customer support, and verification.
• Legal authorities: when required by law, court order, or in response to a valid legal process.
• Business transfers: your information may be transferred to an acquiring entity in the event of a merger, acquisition, or corporate restructuring.
• Other users: to enable core functionality, such as your profile visibility, match information, and participation in community features like Relationship Mode.

4. Your Rights and Choices

Depending on your location and applicable laws, you may have the following rights regarding your personal data:

• Access, correction & deletion: the right to access, update, or request the deletion of your personal data.
• Withdrawal of consent: the right to withdraw your consent for data processing at any time.
• Objection & restriction: the right to object to or request restrictions on certain data processing activities.
• Data portability: the right to receive a copy of your data in a portable format.
• Complaints: the right to file a complaint with a data protection authority in your jurisdiction.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at support@novadating.in.

5. Data Retention

We retain your information for as long as your account is active and as necessary to provide our services. We may retain certain data for a longer period for safety, fraud prevention, or to comply with legal obligations (e.g. moderation records, security logs). Once the data is no longer needed for these purposes, it is securely deleted or anonymized.

For full timelines, see our Data Retention & Deletion Policy.

6. Data Security

We implement industry-standard security practices to protect your information, including:

• Secure storage of face and voice verification data.
• Role-based access controls to limit internal data access.
• Regular security audits and monitoring.
• Established incident response protocols.

Please be aware that no method of data transmission or storage is 100% secure. We encourage you to promptly report any suspicious activity to us.

7. International Data Transfers

As we are a global service, your information may be stored and processed on servers located outside of your country. We implement appropriate safeguards, such as Standard Contractual Clauses or relying on adequacy decisions, to ensure your data remains protected in compliance with GDPR and other applicable data protection regulations.

8. Children’s Privacy

Merai is intended for users who are at least 18 years of age. We do not knowingly collect personal information from minors. If we become aware that we have collected such data, it will be deleted immediately.

9. Updates to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or applicable laws. If we make any material changes, we will notify you via email or through an in-app notification before the changes take effect.

10. Contact Us

If you have any questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact our Privacy Office at: