Privacy Policy

Last updated: December 2024

Ephemeral Social PBC ("Ephemeral," "we," "us," or "our") is committed to protecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your information when you use our services.

Our Core Privacy Principles

Unlike traditional social media platforms, Ephemeral is built on fundamentally different principles:

• Delete by Default: Content automatically deletes after set periods. When we say delete, we mean permanently removed from our servers.
• End-to-End Encryption: Private messages are encrypted so that only you and your recipients can read them. We cannot access this content.
• No Advertising: We never sell your data to advertisers or show you targeted ads.
• No AI Training: Your content is never used to train AI models.

Information We Collect

Information you provide:

• Email address (for account creation and waitlist)
• Payment information (processed securely by Stripe)
• Profile information you choose to share
• Content you create (subject to automatic deletion)

Information collected automatically:

• Basic usage analytics (session duration, feature usage)
• Device information for security purposes
• Crash reports to improve stability

How We Use Your Information

• To provide and maintain our services
• To notify you about waitlist status and updates
• To process payments
• To detect and prevent fraud or abuse
• To comply with legal obligations

Information We Do NOT Collect or Use

• We do not read your encrypted messages
• We do not track your location
• We do not build advertising profiles
• We do not sell or share data with data brokers
• We do not use your content to train AI

Data Retention

Content deletion follows these rules:

• Posts and Stories: Deleted after 24 hours
• Event content: Deleted 7 days after event ends
• Messages: End-to-end encrypted; deleted when you delete them
• Account data: Retained while your account is active

When content is deleted, it is permanently removed from our servers. We do not retain backups of deleted content.

Data Security

We implement industry-standard security measures including:

• End-to-end encryption for private messages
• TLS encryption for all data in transit
• Encryption at rest for stored data
• Regular security audits

Third-Party Services

We use the following third-party services:

• Stripe: Payment processing
• Cloudflare: Infrastructure and security
• Beehiiv: Email communications (waitlist only)

These services have their own privacy policies and handle data according to their terms.

Your Rights

You have the right to:

• Access the personal data we hold about you
• Request correction of inaccurate data
• Request deletion of your account and data
• Export your data
• Opt out of non-essential communications

Children's Privacy

Ephemeral is not intended for children under 13. We do not knowingly collect information from children under 13.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of significant changes via email or in-app notification.

Contact Us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact us at:

privacy@ephemeralsocial.com