Privacy Policy

1.Information We Collect

The information we collect depends on how you use The Tide.

Information You Provide to Us

When you create or use a Tide account, you may provide information such as:

• email address
• username
• display name
• country
• profile information
• profile photograph
• photographs and images you upload
• captions, stories, comments, reactions, and other content you post
• information you provide when communicating with us
• information submitted when reporting content or another user
• preferences and settings associated with your account

We refer to photographs, stories, captions, comments, and other material submitted through The Tide as “User Content.”

Photographs and Images

The Tide is built around people sharing acts of kindness. As a result, photographs uploaded to the Service may contain images of:

• the person uploading the photograph
• other Tide members
• friends or family members
• people participating in an act of kindness
• individuals appearing in the background
• people who have never created a Tide account

This means The Tide may receive and store an image depicting a person even when that person has no account with us and has never directly provided information to The Tide.

Our treatment of these photographs is explained further in Section 4: Information About People Who Are Not Tide Members.

Information We Collect Automatically

When you access or use The Tide, we may automatically collect certain technical and usage information, including:

• IP address
• device type
• operating system
• browser type
• application version
• device identifiers
• language settings
• approximate geographic location derived from IP address
• dates and times you use the Service
• pages, posts, screens, and features you interact with
• referring and exit pages
• crash reports
• diagnostic information
• security and authentication information
• information about how you interact with the Service

Information From Other People

Other members may provide information involving you when they:

• upload a photograph containing you
• mention or tag you
• describe an act of kindness involving you
• invite you to The Tide
• report content involving you
• otherwise submit User Content that references you

2.How We Use Information

We use information to operate, maintain, protect, and improve The Tide. This may include using information to:

• create and manage Tide accounts
• authenticate users
• provide user profiles
• display photographs, stories, and other User Content
• operate feeds and content-discovery features
• allow members to comment on, react to, or interact with content
• help people discover acts of kindness
• enable community features
• personalize the content and experience presented to users
• communicate with members
• send administrative or account-related messages
• respond to support requests
• investigate reports and complaints
• moderate content
• detect and prevent fraud, spam, abuse, harassment, or unauthorized activity
• maintain the safety and integrity of the Service
• diagnose technical problems
• analyze how the Service is used
• develop and improve features
• conduct research and analytics regarding use of the Service
• enforce our Terms of Service and Community Guidelines
• comply with applicable law
• establish, exercise, or defend legal claims
• protect the rights, safety, and property of The Tide, our members, and others

We may also use aggregated or de-identified information that does not reasonably identify an individual to understand and improve the Service.

3.Public Content and Social Features

The Tide is a social platform.

Depending on your settings and the features you use, information you post may be visible to other Tide members or to the public. This may include:

• your username
• display name
• profile photograph
• profile information
• photographs you post
• stories or descriptions you post
• captions
• comments
• reactions
• other public activity associated with your account

You should assume that information you intentionally publish publicly may be viewed, copied, photographed, downloaded, shared, or redistributed by other people outside of The Tide.

Please think carefully before posting personal or sensitive information publicly.

4.Information About People Who Are Not Tide Members

Because The Tide is designed for people to share real-world acts of kindness, photographs and stories posted by members may include individuals who do not use The Tide.

For example, a member may share a photograph of:

• helping a stranger
• volunteering at a community event
• delivering food to another person
• assisting someone in need
• participating in a neighborhood project
• another real-world act of kindness

A person appearing in that photograph may never have created an account with The Tide.

If You Appear in Content on The Tide

You do not need to create a Tide account to contact us regarding content depicting you.

If you believe a photograph, story, or other content involving you:

• was posted without appropriate permission
• violates your privacy
• is inaccurate or misleading
• exposes sensitive personal information
• is being used to harass, embarrass, threaten, or exploit you
• otherwise violates your rights

you may contact us at privacy@thetide.xyz.

Where available, you may also use the reporting tools provided within the Service.

Please provide enough information for us to locate the content, such as a link, username, screenshot, or description.

We may request reasonable information to confirm that you are the individual depicted or are legally authorized to act for that person.

We will review requests based on our policies, applicable law, the rights of the person who posted the content, and the rights of the person depicted.

Responsibilities of People Uploading Content

Members are responsible for the content they upload.

Our Terms of Service and Community Guidelines may require users to have any permissions or rights reasonably necessary to post photographs and other User Content.

The Tide does not represent that every person appearing in every photograph has created an account, endorsed the post, or independently submitted information to us.

5.How We Share Information

We may share information in the circumstances described below.

With Other Users and the Public

When you post content publicly, that information may be visible to other people.

The scope of visibility depends on the feature used and any privacy controls we make available.

With Service Providers

We may use third-party service providers to help us operate The Tide. These providers may perform services such as:

• cloud hosting
• database infrastructure
• content delivery
• authentication
• email delivery
• analytics
• application monitoring
• customer support
• security
• fraud prevention
• data storage
• content moderation
• other technical or operational services

These providers may process information on our behalf as necessary to provide their services.

Legal Requests and Safety

We may disclose information when we reasonably believe disclosure is necessary to:

• comply with applicable law
• respond to valid legal process
• comply with a court order, subpoena, or governmental request
• investigate suspected fraud or illegal activity
• protect a person from serious harm
• investigate violations of our Terms or policies
• protect the security of The Tide
• protect the rights, property, or safety of The Tide, our users, or others

Business Transactions

If The Tide or the business operating it is involved in a merger, acquisition, financing, restructuring, bankruptcy, sale of assets, or similar corporate transaction, information may be transferred as part of that transaction.

Any successor receiving personal information will remain subject to applicable law regarding that information.

6.Sale and Sharing of Personal Information

The Tide does not sell personal information in exchange for money.

However, certain privacy laws use terms such as “sell” or “share” more broadly and may treat some advertising or cross-context behavioral advertising activities as a sale or sharing even when no money changes hands.

If The Tide engages in activities that constitute a sale or sharing under applicable privacy law, we will provide any notices and opt-out mechanisms required by law.

7.Cookies and Similar Technologies

The Tide may use cookies, local storage, pixels, software development kits, and similar technologies to:

• keep users signed in
• remember settings
• operate essential features
• maintain security
• prevent fraud
• understand how the Service is used
• diagnose technical problems
• measure performance
• improve the Service

Additional information is provided in our Cookie Policy.

Where required by applicable law, we will provide appropriate choices regarding non-essential cookies and similar technologies.

8.Data Retention

We retain information for as long as reasonably necessary to provide The Tide and accomplish the purposes described in this Privacy Policy.

The length of time we retain information may depend on:

• whether you maintain an active account
• the type of information
• whether the information is part of publicly posted content
• security requirements
• fraud-prevention requirements
• legal obligations
• dispute-resolution requirements
• enforcement of our agreements
• applicable statutes of limitation

When information is no longer reasonably necessary, we may delete, de-identify, or aggregate it.

Information may remain temporarily in backups or disaster-recovery systems after deletion from active systems.

9.Account Deletion

Where account deletion functionality is available, you may request deletion of your Tide account through the Service or by contacting privacy@thetide.xyz.

Deleting an account may result in deletion or de-identification of information associated with that account, subject to applicable legal and operational exceptions.

Certain information may be retained where reasonably necessary to:

• comply with law
• prevent fraud or abuse
• maintain security
• resolve disputes
• enforce our agreements
• respond to legal claims
• maintain records required by law

Content involving other people may also require additional review before deletion.

10.Your Privacy Rights

Depending on where you live, you may have certain rights regarding your personal information. These may include the right to:

• know whether we process personal information about you
• request access to personal information
• request information regarding categories of personal information we collect
• request correction of inaccurate information
• request deletion of personal information
• receive a portable copy of certain information
• object to or restrict certain processing
• withdraw consent where processing relies on consent
• opt out of certain sales or sharing of personal information
• opt out of certain targeted advertising
• limit certain uses of sensitive personal information where applicable
• appeal certain decisions regarding privacy requests

You may submit a request by contacting privacy@thetide.xyz.

We may need to verify your identity before fulfilling certain requests.

Where permitted, an authorized agent may submit a request on your behalf. We may require evidence that the agent is authorized to act for you.

We will not unlawfully discriminate against you for exercising privacy rights.

11.California Privacy Rights

California residents may have additional rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act, as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act (“CCPA”).

Subject to applicable requirements and exceptions, these may include rights to:

• know the categories of personal information we collect
• know the purposes for which information is used
• know categories of sources from which information is collected
• know categories of third parties to whom information is disclosed
• access certain personal information
• request deletion
• request correction
• opt out of the sale or sharing of personal information
• limit certain uses and disclosures of sensitive personal information
• receive equal service and pricing when exercising privacy rights

We may also be required to recognize legally valid opt-out preference signals, such as Global Privacy Control, where applicable.

California residents may submit requests at privacy@thetide.xyz.

Additional California-specific disclosures may be added to this Privacy Policy as The Tide’s operations and legal obligations develop.

12.Children's Privacy

The Tide is not intended for children under the age of 13.

We do not knowingly allow children under 13 to create accounts or knowingly collect personal information directly from children under 13 without authorization required by applicable law.

If you believe a child under 13 has created an account or submitted personal information to The Tide, please contact privacy@thetide.xyz.

If we determine that we collected personal information from a child in violation of applicable law, we will take appropriate steps to delete that information.

Photographs uploaded by other users may incidentally contain children. Parents or legal guardians who believe an image involving their child should be reviewed may contact us at the address above.

13.Security

We use reasonable administrative, technical, and organizational safeguards designed to protect information from unauthorized access, loss, misuse, alteration, or disclosure.

However, no internet service, transmission method, database, or storage system can be guaranteed to be completely secure.

You are responsible for protecting your account credentials and should notify us if you believe your account has been compromised.

14.International Users

The Tide may be accessed from countries around the world.

Your information may be transferred to, stored in, or processed in countries other than the country where you live.

Those countries may have privacy and data-protection laws that differ from those in your jurisdiction.

Where required by law, we will use appropriate mechanisms designed to protect personal information transferred internationally.

15.Third-Party Links and Services

The Tide may contain links to websites, applications, or services operated by third parties.

We do not control the privacy practices of third parties.

Your use of third-party services is governed by their own terms and privacy policies, and we encourage you to review them.

16.Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time as The Tide evolves.

When we update it, we will change the “Last Updated” date at the top of this page.

If changes materially affect how we use personal information, we may provide additional notice or obtain consent where required by law.

We will not retroactively apply materially different privacy practices where doing so would violate applicable law.

17.Contact The Tide

If you have questions, concerns, or requests relating to privacy, personal information, or content depicting you, contact:

We want The Tide to be a community where kindness toward other people includes respect for their privacy.