Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy describes our policies and procedures on the collection, use, disclosure, storage, transfer, and protection of your information when you use the Service, and informs you about your privacy rights and how applicable laws protect you. By using the Service, you agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with this Policy.

Some of what this policy describes - your letter, profile verification, WhatsApp updates and the new photo checks - arrives with Wingmann 1.3.0. Those parts apply to you from when you update the app.

Interpretation & Definitions

Collecting & Using Your Personal Data

1 · Personal Data

While using our Service, we may ask you to provide certain personally identifiable information, including but not limited to:

• Full name, email address, and phone number
• Date of birth (for age verification)
• Gender and relationship preferences
• Precise location (GPS coordinates) and city / region
• Profile photographs, bio, and descriptive content
• Intent-based questionnaire responses and lifestyle / compatibility inputs
• Your work or study, where you live and where you are from, and the other details you choose to show on your letter
• Transcripts of your Know Yourself sessions with a Wingmate, and your answer when your Wingmate asks whether the session can be transcribed (see Know Yourself Session Transcription)
• Your Wingmann letter, the photo captions on it, and the edits you make to it (see Your Letter)
• If you choose to verify your profile: a photo of the front of your Aadhaar card with the number masked on your phone before upload (see Profile Verification)
• Your agreement to WhatsApp updates, when it was given, and any request to stop them (see WhatsApp & Notifications)
• Your picks, waves, matches, date requests, dates and date feedback

Providing this information enables us to create your account and deliver the intended functionality of the Service.

2 · Sensitive Profile & Compatibility Data

As part of fostering serious, intentional relationships, you may voluntarily provide relationship goals, personal values, lifestyle habits, personality-based responses, and emotional compatibility inputs. This data is used strictly for matchmaking, community safety, and algorithm improvement. We do not sell or publicly disclose such data beyond the visibility controls you choose within the platform.

3 · Communications Data

We may collect messages exchanged within the platform, reports submitted against other users, safety-related complaints, and feedback or support communication. To maintain platform safety, we may use automated systems and human moderation to review reported conversations or detect harmful conduct.

Voice & Audio: When you use Wingmann’s voice-calling feature, your call is transmitted in real time through a third-party provider (Agora). We do not record the audio content of your calls. We collect limited call metadata - such as participants, duration, and timestamps - to operate the feature, enforce our policies, and prevent misuse.

Facial Analysis for Compatibility: To help suggest more compatible matches, we analyse the photographs you upload to generate a mathematical representation of facial features (“facial vectors”). These are derived data used solely for compatibility matching; they are not used to identify you to any third party, are stored securely, and are deleted when you delete your account or remove your photographs. We process this with your consent, which you may withdraw by contacting us.

Photo checks and captions: When you upload a photo, it is checked automatically for safety, and your first photo is checked to make sure it shows just one face. An AI model (Google’s Gemini, through Google’s paid API as our processor) also suggests a short caption for each photo on your letter. You can change or hide any caption. These checks look only at the photo; they are not used to identify you.

4 · Wingmann Chat Messages

When you use Wingmann Chat with a mutual match, we collect and store the text of the messages you send and receive, along with timestamps, delivery and read status, and the identity of sender and recipient. Wingmann Chat is text only - you cannot send photos, videos, or files.

5 · Calls

For in-app voice calls we collect call metadata: who called whom, the time, and the duration. We do not record or store the audio content of your calls.

6 · Safety & Moderation Records

When a message is blocked, reported, or flagged by our safety systems, we retain a record of that message and the reason, even though it was never delivered to the recipient. We also retain reports you submit and blocks you apply.

7 · Usage Data

Collected automatically when using the Service - this may include IP address, browser type and version, device type and OS, app interaction data, timestamps, session duration, click behavior, and crash reports and diagnostics. Recordings of in-app session activity may be captured by diagnostic tools (such as Sentry) to help us diagnose crashes; sensitive on-screen content such as text and images is masked in these recordings.

8 · Payment Data

When you pay for a Know Yourself session, the payment is processed by our payment partner, Razorpay Software Private Limited. We receive and keep the details needed to confirm and record your payment: the amount, date and time, payment and order references, payment status, the payment method used (for example UPI or card) and limited details Razorpay shares with us, such as a masked card number or UPI ID. We also keep a record of any session credit, free session or refund on your account. We never receive or store your full card number, CVV, UPI PIN or banking password.

Know Yourself Session Transcription

What happens

Your Know Yourself session is a video conversation with a Wingmate over Google Meet. These sessions are transcribed using Google Meet's built-in transcription. Transcription is on from the start of the meeting, and Google Meet shows a visible notice in the meeting while it is active. At the start of the session your Wingmate will ask whether you are comfortable with it, and record your answer. If you say no, your transcript is not used, and your letter is written from your profile details only.

What we capture

A text transcript of what was said in the session - who spoke, what they said, and when. Sessions are not video- or audio-recorded; only the transcript is kept.

Where it lives

Transcripts are processed by Google Workspace (our processor for meetings and transcription) and then stored in Wingmann's private cloud storage in India. They are not part of your public profile and are never shown to other members.

Who can see it

Only the Wingmate who held your session and Wingmann's internal team. Access is limited to people who need it to do their job. Your Wingmate may also keep short notes about the session for the team; these are internal and are never shown to other members.

Why we keep it

Two reasons: to keep the quality of our conversations high, and - this is the important one - because what you tell your Wingmate is how we find you the right person. We use session transcripts, including AI-assisted analysis of them, to understand who you are and to curate your matches.

Letter drafting with AI

We use your session transcript, together with your profile details, to draft your Wingmann letter (see Your Letter). Drafting is assisted by an AI model - Google’s Gemini, used through Google’s paid Gemini API as our data processor. Under those terms, what we send is not used to train or improve Google’s models. The drafting tool does not keep a copy of your transcript.

How long we keep it

For as long as you have a Wingmann account. When your account is deleted, your session transcripts are deleted with it. You can also ask us to delete your transcripts earlier by writing to hello@wingmann.co, and we will - it just means your Wingmate's notes, not your own words, will guide your matching from then on.

Your choices

• You can decline transcription at the start of any session.
• You can request a copy of your transcript at hello@wingmann.co.
• You can request deletion at any time at the same address.

Your Letter

On Wingmann, other members get to know you through a letter: a short introduction to who you are, with your photos, written from your Know Yourself session and your profile details.

How it is written

• New members: after your Know Yourself session, your letter is drafted with AI help (see Letter drafting with AI) and read by your Wingmate.
• Members who joined before Wingmann 1.3.0: your letter is prepared from what you have already shared with us - your profile details and, where one exists, the transcript of your Know Yourself session.

Our drafting rules keep sensitive details out of your letter - for example health, family circumstances, past relationships, salary, the name of your employer or college, religion, caste or community.

You are in control

Nothing in your letter is shown to anyone until you have read it and approved it. You can change any part of it at any time. Every change is checked automatically before it is saved, so that the letter stays within our rules (for example, no contact details).

Who sees it

Your approved letter is shown to the members you are shown to as a pick, the members you wave at, and your matches. If, after your session, we decide Wingmann isn’t the right fit for you just now, we prepare a letter for you to keep. That letter is only ever shown to you, and you can save it as a PDF.

Not a fit

If Wingmann isn’t the right fit for you after your session, your Wingmate writes you a short note, which you see in the app and in our email. So that you can apply again after 90 days - and not before - we keep your phone number, your first name and the date of the decision until 30 days after that 90-day period ends, even if you delete your account. Only Wingmann’s team can see this record, and it is then deleted automatically.

Profile Verification (Aadhaar)

Verifying your profile is optional. If you choose to do it, you upload a photo of the front of your Aadhaar card so that our team can check that your first name and date of birth match your profile. Verified profiles show a “Verified” badge to other members.

• We never collect your full Aadhaar number. The app hides the first 8 digits on your phone before anything is uploaded; if it cannot, nothing is uploaded. You can also use a masked Aadhaar downloaded from UIDAI.
• We ask for your consent on a separate screen before you upload, and keep a record of it.
• The photo is stored in a private storage area that only a small number of named team members can open, for a few minutes at a time, and every view is logged. It is never used for anything else - not for matching, photo checks, captions or your letter.
• The photo is deleted as soon as our team has made a decision. If no decision is made, it is deleted automatically within 7 days (30 days if a safety review is needed), and never kept longer than 31 days.
• We keep the result - verified or not, the date, and the first name and date of birth you had when you submitted - for as long as you have an account.
• If you change your first name or date of birth after you are verified, the badge is removed.

WhatsApp & Notifications

We send you updates about your Wingmann account - for example a new wave or match, a message, a missed call, your date plans, your Know Yourself session and payments - by push notification, in the app, by email and on WhatsApp.

• WhatsApp: when you sign up and agree to our Terms and this Privacy Policy, you also agree to receive these updates on WhatsApp; we record that agreement and when it was given. Members who joined before Wingmann 1.3.0 continue to receive WhatsApp updates, as they do today. You can stop WhatsApp messages at any time by replying STOP to any of our messages, or by writing to hello@wingmann.co.
• WhatsApp messages are sent through our WhatsApp provider, Wylto, and delivered by Meta (WhatsApp). They receive your phone number and the content of the message.
• Messages about your account, safety and payments may still be sent by email or in the app if you turn other notifications off.

Automated Message Screening

To keep Wingmann safe and to protect our community, every message is automatically screened before it is delivered. This screening happens in real time, without human involvement in the ordinary case.

Our screening system:

• checks messages against pattern rules and a classification model operated by Wingmann; and
• for a small proportion of messages that require contextual understanding, sends the message text and recent conversation context to Google’s Gemini API, which acts as our data processor and returns only a safety assessment.

Messages that violate our Community Guidelines - for example attempts to share phone numbers, social media handles, email addresses, external links, or physical addresses, or content that is abusive, threatening, or sexually explicit - are not delivered. The sender is informed; the recipient is not shown the message.

Human review

Wingmann staff may review messages that have been reported by a user, blocked by our systems, or flagged for safety review. We do not read the ordinary conversations of users who have not been flagged.

Third-party processing

Google processes message text solely to return a moderation assessment to us, under a data processing agreement. Wingmann uses the paid Google Gemini API, under which submitted content is not used to train or improve Google’s models.

Why we do this

Wingmann’s purpose is to help you meet in person at our partner venues. Screening protects users from harassment and prevents contact details being exchanged before you have chosen to meet.

How We Use Your Personal Data

• To provide & maintain the Service - user matching, profile management, and platform functionality, including nearby matches and approximate distance based on your location (which you can disable in device settings).
• To manage your account - to register and authenticate users.
• For safety & fraud prevention - to detect fake accounts, prevent harassment, enforce serious-intent policies, and maintain community standards.
• Your letter - drafting your letter with AI help from your Know Yourself session and profile details, suggesting photo captions, and checking your edits; nothing is shown to others until you approve it.
• Profile verification - checking your first name and date of birth against your Aadhaar, if you choose to verify.
• Your Know Yourself session - scheduling it, sending calendar invites and reminders, and recording your Wingmate’s decision.
• AI-based moderation - analysing behavior and communications for harassment, fraud, misrepresentation, and community violations, with both automated and human review.
• To contact you - via email, SMS, WhatsApp, in-app or push notifications for service updates, security alerts, or policy changes.
• Marketing - to send updates or promotions unless you opt out.
• Business operations - analytics, service improvement, and feature development.
• Legal compliance - to comply with applicable Indian laws, including the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023.

Sharing Your Personal Data

We may share your information only under the following circumstances:

• With service providers who process data only on our behalf - Google / Firebase (authentication, notifications, analytics, hosting), Google Cloud (file storage), Agora (voice calling), Sentry (diagnostics), Resend (email), Razorpay (payment processing), and Wylto with Meta (WhatsApp messages). These providers are contractually limited to using your data only to provide services to Wingmann.
• With other users - once you approve it, your letter (with your first name, age, photographs and captions, and the details you choose to show) and your Verified badge, if you have one, are visible to the members you are shown to, wave at or match with. Your Aadhaar photo, session transcript, Wingmate’s notes and verification details are never shown to other members. Messages remain private between participants unless reported.
• With your Wingmate - the Wingmate who holds your Know Yourself session sees your first name, profile details and your letter, and receives a calendar invite for the session.
• With Razorpay - Razorpay Software Private Limited processes your payments for Know Yourself sessions. It receives the details needed to complete a payment, such as your name, phone number and payment method, and handles them under its own privacy policy and the payment rules set by the Reserve Bank of India.
• For legal obligations - if required by court order, law enforcement, or government authority.
• Business transfers - in case of merger, acquisition, or restructuring.
• With Google Workspace (Google LLC) - video meetings and meeting transcription for Know Yourself sessions.
• With Google (Gemini API) - strictly as a processor, for automated safety screening of messages, photo checks and captions, and AI-assisted drafting of your letter (see Letter drafting with AI), and with Google Cloud Platform / Firebase, which hosts our services.

We do not sell your personal data, we do not sell your messages, and we do not use them for advertising.

Retention of Your Personal Data

We retain Personal Data while your account remains active, for up to 90 days after account deletion for safety and fraud monitoring, and longer if legally required. Chat logs may be retained where necessary for dispute resolution or abuse prevention.

The following periods apply:

We may retain records longer where required by law or to investigate serious safety incidents.

Transfer of Your Personal Data

Your data may be processed at locations outside your state or country. Where such transfers occur, we ensure reasonable security safeguards are in place. Your continued use of the Service constitutes consent to such transfers.

Deleting Your Personal Data

You may delete your account through Profile › Delete Account in the app, or without installing the app by following the instructions at wingmann.co/delete-account. You may also request access or correction, or withdraw consent. Upon deletion, your profile becomes invisible immediately, data enters a retention phase, and is permanently deleted or anonymised after retention. We permanently erase your photographs and facial vectors and remove your personal profile details - subject only to the limited retention described above. We may retain limited data to prevent banned users from re-registering, and we keep the “not a fit” record described under Your Letter for the period shown under Retention. Any Aadhaar photo is deleted with your account.

Payment, credit and refund records are not deleted with your account, because Indian tax and accounting laws require us to keep them. They are separated from your profile and kept only for the period shown under Retention. Any unused session credit is forfeited when you delete your account.

Residual copies of your data may persist in our encrypted database backups, transaction logs, and object storage for up to 7 days after deletion from our live systems, after which they are permanently overwritten.

Disclosure of Your Personal Data

We may disclose Personal Data in the event of a business transaction (acquisition or merger), if legally required by law enforcement, or to protect users, investigate wrongdoing, or prevent legal liability.

Security of Your Personal Data

We implement encryption in transit (HTTPS), secure cloud storage, role-based access controls, monitoring and breach detection, and internal confidentiality agreements. However, no digital platform guarantees absolute security.

Children’s Privacy

Wingmann is strictly for individuals 18 years or older. We do not knowingly collect data from minors. If identified, such accounts will be removed immediately.

Your Rights Under Indian Law

Under applicable data protection laws, you have the right to access your data, correct inaccuracies, request deletion, withdraw consent, and lodge a grievance. To exercise these rights, contact hello@wingmann.co

You may request a copy of your messages, or request deletion of your account and associated messages, by contacting hello@wingmann.co or through Profile › Delete Account in the app. Full instructions, including how to request deletion without the app installed, are at wingmann.co/delete-account. We will respond within 30 days.

Where a message has been retained as part of a safety or abuse record, we may keep it for the period stated above even after account deletion, in order to protect other users.

Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you through in-app notifications, email, and an updated “Last Updated” date. Continued use of the Service after changes constitutes acceptance of the revised Policy.