Privacy Policy

1. Who We Are

MelloCrush operates the MelloCrush dating and social discovery service.

Website: www.mellocrush.com

Privacy enquiries: privacy@mellocrush.com

2. Adults Only

MelloCrush is available only to people aged 18 or older.

We do not knowingly permit people under 18 to maintain accounts.

If we reasonably determine that an account belongs to a person under 18, we may restrict or delete the account and associated information as appropriate.

Suspected underage users can be reported through the Service or to safety@mellocrush.com.

3. Information You Provide

Information users provide may include:

• name or display name;
• email address;
• date of birth and age;
• gender;
• dating preferences;
• relationship preferences;
• island, atoll or general location;
• biography;
• interests;
• occupation;
• education;
• lifestyle information;
• photographs;
• verification information;
• Community content;
• reports;
• support communications; and
• other information voluntarily provided.

Because MelloCrush is a dating service, information users choose to provide may reveal personal or sensitive aspects of their lives.

Users should consider carefully what they choose to make visible.

4. Authentication

MelloCrush may support Google, Telegram and email/password authentication.

When an external authentication provider is used, we may receive information authorized by the user and provider, such as an account identifier, name or email address.

MelloCrush does not receive users’ Google or Telegram passwords.

Email/password credentials are handled using appropriate security mechanisms. Passwords should never be stored as readable plaintext.

5. Photos

We process photographs to:

• display profiles;
• operate discovery;
• moderate content;
• investigate reports;
• prevent impersonation;
• support verification functionality; and
• protect platform safety.

Photos may be reviewed using automated systems and/or authorized human moderation.

6. Likes, Matches and Discovery

We process information concerning profiles shown, likes, passes, matches, Likes You, discovery preferences, Boost activity, visibility and related interactions.

This information is used to operate MelloCrush’s core dating functionality.

7. Messages

When users communicate through MelloCrush, we process information necessary to provide messaging.

This may include message content, sender, recipient, timestamps, delivery information, read status where enabled and associated conversation information.

Messages are not intended to be publicly visible.

Relevant communications may be processed or reviewed where reasonably necessary to investigate reports, enforce our rules, protect users, prevent fraud or comply with legal obligations.

8. Community

When users participate in Community, we may process posts, comments, reactions, associated media, reports and moderation information.

Community content may be visible to other MelloCrush users.

9. Technical Information

We may automatically process technical information such as:

• IP address;
• device type;
• browser;
• operating system;
• session identifiers;
• login timestamps;
• security events;
• error information; and
• diagnostic information.

This information may be used to operate, secure and troubleshoot MelloCrush.

IP addresses are processed by MelloCrush’s hosting, security and infrastructure providers in the ordinary course of delivering the Service — for example to route requests, prevent abuse, mitigate attacks, enforce rate limits and maintain operational and security logs. Those providers may process and retain IP addresses under their own arrangements and retention periods.

That infrastructure and security processing is separate from the first-party website analytics described in clause 26. MelloCrush’s website analytics does not receive or store IP addresses, and no IP address is written to the analytics records described in that clause.

10. Location Information

MelloCrush may use general location information to provide locally relevant discovery.

Depending on functionality, location information may come from:

• information selected or entered by the user;
• island or atoll information;
• approximate location derived from technical information; or
• device location if a feature requests location permission and the user grants it.

MelloCrush will not represent that precise GPS location is collected unless such functionality is actually enabled.

11. Payment Information

If a user purchases MelloCrush Plus or another paid feature, we process information required to administer and verify the transaction.

For bank transfers this may include:

• uploaded receipt;
• bank information;
• transaction reference;
• amount;
• date;
• payer information visible on the receipt; and
• receiving account information.

12. Receipt OCR

Uploaded payment receipts may be processed using optical character recognition (OCR).

OCR may extract information such as transaction ID, amount, payment date and relevant bank information.

Extracted information may be compared against expected payment details.

Automated processing may result in approval, rejection or manual-review states.

MelloCrush may use transaction information and cryptographic identifiers to detect duplicate submissions and suspected payment fraud.

13. How We Use Information

We may use information to:

• create and maintain accounts;
• authenticate users;
• verify email addresses;
• operate profiles;
• provide discovery;
• process likes and matches;
• deliver messages;
• provide Community;
• deliver notifications;
• provide Plus and Boost;
• process and verify payments;
• moderate photos and content;
• investigate reports;
• detect scams and fake accounts;
• prevent abuse;
• enforce restrictions and bans;
• maintain security;
• provide support;
• diagnose technical problems;
• improve MelloCrush;
• enforce our Terms and Community Guidelines; and
• comply with applicable legal obligations.

14. Information Visible to Other Users

Depending on features and settings, other users may see information including:

• profile name;
• age;
• profile photos;
• biography;
• interests;
• general location;
• occupation or education;
• selected preferences;
• verification status;
• Community activity; and
• other information intentionally made visible.

Passwords, authentication credentials and payment receipts are not intended to be publicly displayed.

15. Information Shared With Other Users

Information sent to another user may be copied, screenshotted, photographed or otherwise retained by that person.

MelloCrush cannot technically prevent every user from independently recording information displayed on their device.

Users should avoid sharing passwords, banking credentials, identification documents or other highly sensitive information through dating conversations.

16. Moderation and Safety

We may process relevant information to investigate reports, detect scams, identify spam, detect impersonation, moderate content, investigate threats, enforce restrictions, prevent ban evasion and protect users.

This may involve automated systems and authorized human review.

17. Reports

When a report is submitted, we may process information concerning the reporting account, reported account, reason for the report, relevant content or communications, supporting information and resulting moderation actions.

We do not normally disclose the reporting user’s identity to the reported user unless required by applicable law.

18. Service Providers

MelloCrush may use third-party providers for functions including cloud hosting, databases, authentication, email delivery, analytics, security, content processing and other technical infrastructure.

These providers may process information where necessary to provide their services to MelloCrush.

19. International Processing

Some technology providers used by MelloCrush may operate infrastructure outside the Maldives.

Information may therefore be processed or stored in other countries.

MelloCrush will take reasonable measures appropriate to the information and services involved to protect personal information handled through its providers.

20. Sale of Private Dating Data

MelloCrush does not sell users’ private messages or private dating-profile information as a standalone product to third parties.

If MelloCrush materially changes its commercial use of personal information in the future, this Privacy Policy must be updated accordingly before such processing where required.

21. Security

MelloCrush uses reasonable technical and organizational safeguards designed to protect information.

These may include encrypted network connections, authentication controls, password hashing, access controls, administrative permissions, security logging, rate limiting, fraud detection and moderation controls.

No internet service can guarantee absolute security.

22. Data Retention

We retain information for as long as reasonably necessary for the purpose for which it was collected.

After account deletion, information should be deleted or anonymized when it is no longer reasonably required.

Certain information may be retained where reasonably necessary for:

• fraud prevention;
• preventing serious offenders from immediately returning;
• safety investigations;
• dispute resolution;
• accounting and payment records;
• enforcement of agreements; or
• compliance with applicable legal requirements.

Backup systems may temporarily retain information after deletion.

23. Banned Accounts

For accounts permanently banned for serious misconduct, MelloCrush may retain limited information reasonably necessary to identify and prevent ban evasion, subject to applicable law.

This does not mean that a complete user profile must be retained indefinitely.

24. Your Privacy Choices

Depending on available functionality, users may be able to:

• edit profile information;
• remove photos;
• manage privacy settings;
• control notifications;
• manage discovery visibility;
• block users;
• delete Community content; and
• delete their account.

For questions or requests concerning personal information, contact privacy@mellocrush.com.

25. Account and Data Deletion

Users may delete their MelloCrush account through account settings where available.

After deletion, the profile should cease appearing through normal discovery and remaining information will be handled according to applicable retention requirements.

Signing out or deleting a shortcut does not delete an account.

For privacy or data-deletion assistance, contact privacy@mellocrush.com.

26. Cookies and Similar Technologies

MelloCrush may use cookies, local storage and similar technologies for authentication, sessions, security, preferences, fraud prevention, analytics and performance.

Where legally required, additional controls may be provided for non-essential technologies.

MelloCrush operates its own website analytics. It is first-party: the measurement is performed by MelloCrush on its own servers, and analytics data is not sent to an external analytics provider or advertising network. Two cookies support it — one identifying a browser so that repeat visits can be distinguished from first visits, and one identifying a single visit, which expires after 30 minutes of inactivity. Both contain only a random reference generated by MelloCrush, are marked HttpOnly so page scripts cannot read them, and are not linked to any advertising profile.

For each page view, MelloCrush records:

• the random browser and visit references described above;
• the page path, with identifiers removed — a conversation is recorded as /chats/:id, never as the individual conversation;
• a general device type (mobile, tablet or desktop);
• a browser family and operating-system family, such as “Chrome” and “Android”, without version numbers;
• a two-letter country code, where the hosting provider supplies one;
• the website that linked to MelloCrush, recorded as its hostname only and not the full referring URL or page; and
• the account identifier, only where the visit carries a valid signed-in session.

For the avoidance of doubt, MelloCrush’s website analytics does NOT collect or store:

• IP addresses;
• full browser User-Agent strings;
• GPS, precise or device-reported location;
• device fingerprints, or any measurement of screen, fonts, hardware or timing intended to single out a device;
• query strings or link fragments, which is where search terms and personal details usually appear; or
• any attempt to identify a visitor who is not signed in.

A visitor who is not signed in remains an anonymous reference. MelloCrush does not attempt to match that reference to a person, and staff activity in the administration area is excluded from these measurements. Raw analytics events are deleted after 90 days.

27. Notifications and Email

MelloCrush may send communications relating to verification, matches, likes, messages, security, account changes, payments, Community activity and service updates.

Optional marketing communications should provide an appropriate unsubscribe mechanism.

Essential account, transactional and security communications may still be sent where necessary.

28. Automated Systems

MelloCrush may use automated processing for discovery, recommendations, moderation assistance, spam detection, fraud detection, receipt OCR, duplicate-payment detection, security and rate limiting.

Automated recommendations do not represent a determination or guarantee that two users are compatible.

29. Legal and Safety Disclosures

MelloCrush may preserve or disclose information where reasonably necessary to comply with applicable law, valid legal process or a lawful request from an authorized authority.

Information may also be preserved or disclosed where reasonably necessary to investigate fraud or serious abuse, protect someone’s safety, establish or defend legal claims or enforce our Terms.

MelloCrush does not provide unrestricted access to user information merely because someone requests it.

30. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy as MelloCrush develops or applicable requirements change.

The current version will display its latest revision date.

Where changes materially affect how personal information is handled, additional notice may be provided where appropriate.

31. Applicable Law

MelloCrush operates from the Maldives.

This Privacy Policy is intended to operate consistently with applicable laws of the Republic of Maldives.

Nothing in this Policy removes mandatory legal rights available to users.

32. Contact Us

Privacy, personal-data and deletion requests

privacy@mellocrush.com

Safety concerns involving another user

safety@mellocrush.com

Account, payment and technical support

support@mellocrush.com

General enquiries

hello@mellocrush.com

Website

www.mellocrush.com