Privacy Policy.

1. Who we are

StrangerMeetup (“we,” “us,” “our”) operates the website located at https://strangermeetup.cam/ (the “Service”). For the purposes of the GDPR, we act as the data controller for the personal data described in this policy.

You can reach us at any time via our contact page regarding privacy matters, data requests, or concerns.

2. The short version

Before we get into the legal detail, here is what you actually need to know:

• We do not record, store, or have access to the content of your video or text chats.
• We do not require you to create an account. We don’t collect your name, email, or phone number.
• We temporarily process your IP address to connect you with a match and to enforce bans against abusive users. IPs are held only as long as needed.
• We use essential cookies for the age gate and basic operation, and analytics cookies only if you consent.
• Because we are established under Netherlands law, GDPR gives you strong rights including access, deletion, and complaint to the Dutch Data Protection Authority.

3. What personal data we collect

We collect the minimum data necessary to operate the Service safely. Specifically:

We do not collect: your real name, date of birth, email address (unless you contact us), phone number, home address, government ID, or payment information. We do not run facial recognition, AI fingerprinting of your appearance, or any biometric processing.

4. Why we collect it (legal bases under Article 6 GDPR)

Under GDPR, we can only process your personal data if we have a valid legal basis. Here are ours:

• Legitimate interests (Article 6(1)(f)): Operating the matching service, preventing abuse, enforcing community guidelines, protecting platform security.
• Consent (Article 6(1)(a)): Analytics cookies, marketing communications (if you ever opt in), and other non-essential processing.
• Contract performance (Article 6(1)(b)): Providing the Service when you agree to our Terms of Service by using it.
• Legal obligation (Article 6(1)(c)): Responding to lawful requests from Netherlands authorities, retaining evidence of serious abuse reports, complying with EU e-commerce regulations.

5. How long we keep it

We hold personal data for the shortest period reasonably necessary. Specifically:

• IP address in connection logs: up to 30 days, then deleted unless required for an ongoing abuse investigation.
• Chat session metadata: deleted immediately when the session ends. No recording, no archive.
• Report data: up to 12 months to support pattern detection of repeat offenders.
• Ban records: indefinitely while the ban is active.
• Contact form submissions: up to 24 months from the date of your last message to us, then deleted.
• Analytics data: up to 14 months in aggregated form.
• Age gate timestamp: stored only in your browser’s local storage, typically 30 days. We cannot access it.

6. Who we share data with

We share personal data only with parties who help us operate the Service, and only under contracts that require them to protect your data. Specifically:

• Service providers who help us operate the Service (hosting, infrastructure, content delivery) — under contracts requiring them to protect your data and use it only for our purposes.
• Content moderation partners — to review reports and flag inappropriate content.
• Analytics providers (only if you consent) — we use privacy-friendly analytics that anonymise IPs and do not use cross-site tracking.
• Law enforcement — only when we receive a valid legal order from a Netherlands, EU, or international authority with jurisdiction.

We never sell your personal data. We do not share it with data brokers, advertising networks for targeted advertising, or any third party for their own marketing purposes.

7. Cookies and similar technologies

We use a small number of cookies and similar browser-storage mechanisms. You can control these through our cookie banner or your browser settings.

Essential cookies (always active)

• sm_age_verified — stores whether you passed the 18+ age gate. Local storage, 30 days.
• session_id — temporary session identifier, deleted when you close the browser.

Essential cookies do not require consent under GDPR because they are strictly necessary for the Service to function.

Optional cookies (only with consent)

• Analytics: If you accept analytics via the cookie banner, we set cookies that help us understand aggregate usage patterns.

You can withdraw consent at any time through the cookie banner at the bottom of the page.

8. Video and audio during chats

This section is important enough to break out separately because it’s the core of what StrangerMeetup does.

• We do not record, store, or have the technical ability to replay your chat content.
• Video and audio are encrypted in transit between you and your match.
• We do not process your video or audio for facial recognition, behaviour analysis, or any automated profiling.

9. Third-party links and affiliates

StrangerMeetup contains links to third-party websites, including affiliate partners. When you click such a link, you leave our Service and are subject to that third party’s privacy policy.

We may earn a commission when you interact with an affiliate partner. This does not change what you pay or how we treat your data on our own site. We do not share your StrangerMeetup data with affiliate partners.

We disclose these affiliate relationships in compliance with the Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) guidelines on commercial disclosure and EU consumer protection law.

10. International data transfers

StrangerMeetup is a global service. Your personal data may be processed in the European Economic Area (EEA), the United Kingdom, the United States, South Africa, or other countries where our service providers are located.

Where we transfer personal data outside the EEA, we use one of the following legal safeguards:

• European Commission adequacy decisions — where the destination country has been recognised as providing adequate protection.
• Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) — the EU’s approved template for cross-border transfers.
• Your explicit consent where no other safeguard applies.

You can request a copy of the relevant safeguards by contacting us.

11. Your rights under GDPR

If you are in the EU, EEA, or UK, GDPR (or the UK equivalent) gives you the following rights over your personal data. You can exercise any of them by contacting us via our contact form.

• Right of access (Article 15): request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• Right to rectification (Article 16): request that we correct inaccurate or incomplete data.
• Right to erasure / “right to be forgotten” (Article 17): request that we delete your personal data.
• Right to restrict processing (Article 18): request that we stop processing your data in certain circumstances.
• Right to data portability (Article 20): request your data in a portable, machine-readable format.
• Right to object (Article 21): object to processing based on legitimate interests or for direct marketing.
• Right not to be subject to automated decision-making (Article 22): you are not subject to any automated decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects.
• Right to withdraw consent (Article 7(3)): where processing is based on consent, you can withdraw it at any time without affecting prior lawful processing.
• Right to lodge a complaint (Article 77): see Section 16 below.

We will respond to your request within one calendar month, as required by Article 12(3) GDPR. In complex cases we may extend this by two additional months, in which case we will notify you of the extension and reason within the first month.

There is no fee for a reasonable request. If requests are manifestly unfounded or excessive, we may charge a reasonable fee or refuse to act, as permitted by Article 12(5) GDPR.

If you are in California: the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA/CPRA) gives you similar rights including the right to know what personal information is collected, the right to delete it, the right to correct it, the right to opt out of sale or sharing (we do neither), and the right against discrimination for exercising your rights.

If you are in South Africa: the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) gives you substantively similar rights. You may lodge complaints with the South African Information Regulator.

12. Children and age verification

StrangerMeetup is strictly for users aged 18 and older. We do not knowingly collect personal data from anyone under 18.

Before accessing the chat service, every user must pass an age gate confirming they are 18 or older. The age gate is a self-declaration with checkbox consent and a timestamp stored in the user’s browser. We rely on this declaration in good faith.

If you believe a minor has used StrangerMeetup, please contact us immediately via our contact form and we will take action to remove any associated data and prevent further access.

13. Security measures

We apply appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data, as required by Article 32 GDPR. These include:

• TLS encryption on all connections to our Service (HTTPS everywhere).
• Encryption in transit on video and audio streams.
• Access controls limiting which team members can access personal data.
• Secure hosting infrastructure with regular security patches.
• Minimisation: we simply don’t collect or store most data, which reduces our attack surface.

No system is fully secure. In the unlikely event of a personal data breach that is likely to result in a risk to your rights and freedoms, we will notify you and the Dutch Data Protection Authority within 72 hours as required by Article 33 GDPR.

14. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in law, our practices, or the Service. When we make material changes, we will:

• Update the “Last updated” date at the top of this page.
• Provide a prominent notice on the Service for at least 30 days.
• For significant changes affecting your rights, seek fresh consent where required by GDPR.

Continuing to use the Service after the effective date of a change constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

15. How to contact us

For any question, concern, or rights request relating to this Privacy Policy or your personal data:

• Use our contact form and select “Data request” or “General inquiry” as the topic.
• We will acknowledge your request within 7 days and substantively respond within one calendar month.

16. Supervisory authority

As this Privacy Policy is governed by Netherlands law and the GDPR, the competent supervisory authority for StrangerMeetup is:

You have the right to lodge a complaint with the Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens if you believe we have infringed your data protection rights. You may also lodge a complaint with the supervisory authority in your country of residence.

Thank you for reading. If you made it this far, you care about privacy — and so do we.