Privacy Policy

By SDC.com, operated by SDC Media LLC

Effective Date: November 10, 2026 | Last Update: May 24, 2018

1. Scope and Who We Are

This Privacy Policy explains how SDC Media LLC, (we, company, Service, platform) located in Florida USA, collects, uses, discloses, and protects personal data when you use the SDC.com website and mobile applications (the “Service”). It applies to all users worldwide, with additional jurisdiction-specific rights described in Sections 10 (EEA/UK) and some US states).

For purposes of the EEA/UK GDPR/DUAA Act 25, SDC Media LLC is the data controller of personal data processed through the Service. Our contact details, and those of our EU and UK representatives, are in Section 18.

This Privacy Policy should be read together with our Terms of Service and Cookie Policy, as well as the Community Guidelines.

2. Personal/Business Data We Collect

2.1 Information You Provide

• Account and account data: account name, date of birth, gender, email, photos, videos, bio, and dating preferences;
• Communications: messages, chat content, and any content you exchange with other users through the Service;
• Minimal payment data: payment card or bank details are collected and processed directly by our payment processors;
• Content you post or submit, including messages with customer support.
• If applicable: payment verification to determine ownership of account, or photo/ID for age verification.

2.2 Information Collected Automatically

• Device and log data: IP address, user agent, browser type, app version, crash logs;
• Usage data: features used, likes, matches, messages sent (metadata), time spent, pages viewed;
• Location data: approximate location derived from IP address, only used to show nearby matches, parties, and events.
• Cookies and similar technologies, as described in our Cookie Policy.

2.3 Information from Third Parties

• If you register or log in using a third-party account (e.g., Google, Apple), we receive the account information you authorize that provider to share;
• Payment processors provide confirmation of successful transactions and limited billing metadata;
• Analytics and advertising partners may provide aggregated, or device-level data as described in our Cookie Policy.

2.4 Special Category Data

Where you choose to disclose sexual interests, health information (e.g., in your bio), or similar special category data, we show it only on the basis of your explicit consent or, for US users, in compliance with applicable state sensitive-data requirements. We delete any requested age verification identifiers immediately after verification, or upon account deletion, whichever is earlier. We do not use facial scanning or biometric math models. Our data retention and destruction policy is available in our Terms of Service.

3. How and Why We Use Your Data (Purposes and Legal Bases)

• To create and administer your account, and to operate core matching/messaging features (with explicit consent) - legal basis: contractual performance;
• To verify identity/age - legal basis: legal obligation. We may check details to comply with mandatory age-verification laws and child protection regulations that prohibit underage users from accessing our platform.
• To prevent fraud, impersonation, and unauthorized platform use – legal basis: our legitimate interest to protect the safety, security, and integrity of our platform and its community. This may include verifying your identity via manual review of non-biometric documents or data cross-checks to detect fake accounts, prevent malicious impersonation, block bad actors, and ensure an authentic environment;
• To optimize matching (see Section 9 on automated decision-making) - legal basis: contractual performance;
• To process payments and manage subscriptions - legal basis: contractual performance;
• To send Platform Safety & Security Alerts - legal basis: our legitimate interest to protect the digital safety of our community, prevent malicious activity, and secure our infrastructure. This includes notifying you of unauthorized account logins, potential security breaches, or critical safety policy updates;
• To send Service Updates & System Alerts – legal basis: our legitimate interest to ensure the operational integrity and reliability of our platform. This includes sending non-marketing communications regarding planned maintenance, critical feature changes, server outages, or essential updates to our operational terms;
• To send transactional messages (i.e. receipts, password resets) – legal basis: contractual performance;
• To maintain platform safety, investigate reports, and enforce our Terms - legal basis: our legitimate interest in preventing platform abuse;
• To comply with court orders – legal basis: legal obligation;
• Defending lawsuits or legal claims - legal basis: our legitimate interest in protecting our organization’s legal rights, assets, and operational stability for regular dispute resolution, investigating terms-of-service breaches, and general risk management. This includes retaining and processing relevant data under GDPR Article 9(2)(f) to investigate potential legal disputes, defend ourselves against lawsuits, regulatory enforcement actions, or third-party complaints, and to enforce or vindicate our own legal rights and contractual remedies;

4. Account Visibility and Sharing with Other Users

Your account photos, displayed name, age, bio, and other account fields you choose to complete are visible to other users as described in your privacy/visibility settings at Account Settings > Privacy. Your precise location is not visible at all to other users; only an approximate distance is displayed, where that feature is enabled. Businesses other than BNBs show their exact address and contact information unless requested to remain hidden.

5. How We Share Your Data

We do not sell your personal data in any way, shape, or form. We disclose limited personal data only as follows:
Service providers who process data on our behalf for payment processing.
Law enforcement or regulators where required by law, court order, or to protect the safety of a user or the public;
Professional advisors (lawyers, auditors) only if needed;
A successor entity in connection with a merger, acquisition, financing, or sale of assets, subject to confidentiality obligations, only if applicable.

6. International Data Transfers

We are based in the United States and use server providers located in the US. All personal data collected from users abroad is transferred to, processed, and stored on secure servers located in the United States. To ensure your information remains protected, we transfer data in accordance with European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses, the UK International Data Transfer Agreement or other legally recognized transfer mechanisms.

Please note that because your data is stored in the United States, it may be accessed by US law enforcement or regulatory authorities under local statutory frameworks.

7. Cookies and Tracking Technologies

We use cookies, SDKs, and similar technologies for authentication, preferences, and analytics. Users are asked for consent to non-essential cookies before they are set, via our cookie banner. You can withdraw consent at any time through your account Privacy Settings. Full details can be found in our Cookie Policy.

8. Data Retention

We retain limited personal data (email address, IP and username) for as long as your account is active and as needed to provide the Service. Following account deletion, we delete or anonymize all personal data within 30 days, except where retention is required to: comply with legal, tax, or accounting obligations; resolve disputes; enforce agreements; or maintain safety records (e.g., bare minimal cryptographic data records of banned accounts and the reason for the ban, retained for up to 10 years to prevent re-registration and protect the platform and its community from abusive users).

9. Automated Decision-Making

We use some automated processes for matching, fraud-detection, picture classifiers, and to operate the Service according to our Terms. For all other processes and account moderation, we rely exclusively on human review.

10. Your Rights - EEA/UK/Canada/Switzerland Residents

If you are located in the EEA, UK, Canada or Switzerland, you have the right to: (a) request rectification of inaccurate data; (b) request erasure (“right to be forgotten”); (c) restrict or object to processing based on legitimate interests, including for direct marketing; (d) withdraw or adjust consent at any time, without affecting the lawfulness of processing before withdrawal. (e) view personal data / data portability. You may exercise these rights by contacting helpdesk@sdc.com. Depending on the request, we will respond within 30 days, extendable by two months for complex requests. (see Art. 17 for more specifics). You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the supervisory authority in your country of residence, or with your local authorities, if applicable.

11. Your Rights - US State Residents

Depending on your state of residence, you may have some or all of the following key consumer rights under laws such as the California Consumer Privacy Act CCPA) as amended by the CPRA, and comparable laws in Virginia (VCDPA), Colorado (CPA), Connecticut (CTDPA), Utah(UCPA), and other states (e.g. TX, OR, MT, DE, NJ, NE, NH, MN, and those states following with similar rights as they take effect: Know, delete, correct, limit use of sensitive personal information, portability, non-discrimination, appeal, and opting out of targeted ads/sale/profiling if applicable.

You may designate an authorized agent to submit a request on your behalf. We will not discriminate against you for exercising any of these rights. SDC Media LLC does not engage in selling or sharing any data for any purpose including the purpose of targeted ads, sales, or profiling activities.

11.1 California - Notice at Collection and Sensitive Personal Information

The categories of personal information we collect, the purposes for collection, and the categories of third parties to whom we disclose each category are set out in Sections 2 and 5 above, which serve as our Notice at Collection required by Cal. Civ. Code §1798.100. We collect the following categories of sensitive personal information: approximate location based solely on IP address, sexual orientation, and interests you may voluntarily disclose on your account to optimize matching. You are free to not fill out any additional personal information, but this may impact your experience.

12. Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information / Global Privacy Control

We do not sell or share any of your personal information. If we at any time would use advertising or analytics technologies that would constitute a “sale” or “sharing” of personal information under CCPA/CPRA, or similar activity under other state laws, you will then be provided with the explicit opportunity to opt out in your privacy settings. We honor the Global Privacy Control (GPC) browser signal as a valid opt-out request for the browser/device on which it is enabled, and, for participating states, as a valid opt-out under applicable universal opt-out mechanism requirements.

Where we process your personal data, we rely on the legal bases of legal obligation and/or legitimate interests, for safety enforcement, fraud prevention, and/or legal compliance. You have the right to object to processing based on legitimate interests;

12.1 Couple Accounts, Relationship Dissolution, and Liability Mitigation

The Primary Account Holder Contractual Anchor.
Any account set up as a ‘Shared Account,' on the Platform remains tied contractually and legally to exactly one (1) natural person who initiated registration (the 'Primary Account Holder'). Legal identity and ownership of the data, billing account, and match history reside exclusively with the individual verified by the platform's primary authentication mechanism (e.g., email address, IP address, or third-party payment token used at creation). The Platform does not recognize fractional or shared legal title to any account or user data.

Absolute Prohibition on Split Operations and Account Transfers.
The platform explicitly lacks the operational capability, software architecture, and legal obligation to partition, split, subdivide, or cleanly sever a couple account into two distinct, independent individual accounts. Upon the dissolution of the relationship, marriage, or partnership between the individuals associated with the account:
(a) The account cannot be divided.
(b) Match history, private message logs, and shared media assets are non-transferable and cannot be exported piecemeal to a newly created individual account.
(c) The primary account holder retains the sole authority to modify credentials, maintain the account, or permanently delete the account.

Mutual Separation, Consent Disputes, and 'Nuclear' Account Termination.
If the relationship between the individuals utilizing the Couple Account terminates, or if an ownership dispute arises regarding access rights:
(a) The Platform will not mediate, arbitrate, or review legal separation agreements, divorce decrees, or domestic court orders unless directly ordered by a court of competent jurisdiction via a valid, judge-signed mandate.
(b) If either individual contacts Customer Support claiming unauthorized use of their likeness, name, or data by an ex-partner, or if a material dispute over account access is logged, the Platform reserves the absolute, unilateral right to immediately and without prior notice execute a 'Nuclear Account Suspension' by freezing or permanently deleting the account, its match history, and all premium subscriptions.
(c) Both individuals explicitly waive any claims against the Platform for the loss of status, match connections, messages, or unexpired membership fees resulting from a termination executed under this Section.

Shifting the Burden of Shared Authentication Security.
By utilizing an Account as a couple, both individual users acknowledge that sharing access credentials, passwords, or secondary authentication tokens creates inherent privacy risks. The Platform explicitly disclaims all liability for breaches of personal privacy, emotional distress, or unauthorized monitoring of new interactions occurring when one partner retains or revokes access using valid credentials. Users are required to manage post-separation privacy immediately.

13. Data Security

Safety is important to us. We use administrative, technical, and physical safeguards designed to protect personal data, including encryption in transit, access controls, and security reviews. With today’s technology, no method of transmission or storage is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security. In the event of a data breach affecting your personal data, we will immediately activate our data breach security protocol and notify you and any required regulator in accordance with applicable law, including GDPR Art. 33/34 (without undue delay, and where feasible within 72 hours of becoming aware, to the supervisory authority) and applicable US state breach-notification statutes.

14. Privacy and Data Protection

14.1 General

Our collection, use, and disclosure of Personal Data is described in this Privacy Policy, which is incorporated into our Term of Service by reference. Dating account information - including photos, self-described preferences, and, where you choose to disclose it, information revealing sexual orientation, age, body type, or similar characteristics - can be sensitive; please review our processes before disclosing such information. You are free to adjust your account at will and may withdraw any given consent at any time without affecting the lawfulness of prior processing.

Location Data and Distance Features

We offer distance-based matching features (such as showing that another user is "20 km/mi away") to help you find connections in nearby areas based on the city you provide during signup.

User-Provided Location: We do not track your real-time movements, and we do not collect or process your device’s precise GPS coordinates. Instead, our distance calculations rely entirely on the static location (City/Town and Region) you voluntarily provide when creating your account or updating your account.

Data Minimization and Fuzzing: To maximize your privacy, distance calculations are computed from a centralized, generic point within your stated city, rather than a specific street address. This "fuzzed" radius ensures your exact residential neighborhood cannot be deduced by other users.

Trilateration Prevention and Security: Because we do not store or transmit precise coordinates, our backend APIs are inherently secure against real-time tracking, location spoofing, or trilateration attacks. All static city data is securely processed on our servers.

Control Over Visibility: You retain full control over how your information is displayed. You can update your city at any time.

14.2 EEA/UK users

The company acts as the data controller of your personal data. Processing is carried out on the legal bases described in the Privacy Policy, principally performance of a contract (Art. 6(1)(b)), legitimate interests (Art. 6(1)(f)) for safety and fraud prevention, and, where applicable, your explicit consent (Art. 9(2)(a)) for special category data such as sexual orientation, or health information that you voluntarily add to your account.

As such, EEA/UK users have the right to access, rectify, erase, restrict, or port their personal data, and to object to processing based on legitimate interests, by contacting helpdesk@sdc.com. They also have the right to lodge a complaint with your local supervisory authority.

The Company keeps under ongoing review whether its processing of personal data, including special category data such as sexual orientation or other sensitive account information, meets the threshold for mandatory appointment of a Data Protection Officer (DPO) under Article 37 GDPR, having regard to the number of EEA/UK data subjects affected, the volume and permanence of such processing, and its geographic extent. When that threshold is met, the Company will then appoint a DPO in accordance with Article 37 and will publish the DPO’s contact details in this Section and notify the relevant supervisory authority, without undue delay.
This does not affect your right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority, or to seek judicial remedy, at any time.

14.3 US users — State Privacy Laws

Depending on your state of residence, you may have rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act as amended by the CPRA, and comparable laws in states including Virginia, Colorado, Connecticut, Utah, Texas, and other states, which may include the right to know, delete, correct, and when applicable opt out of the sale or sharing of personal information and out of targeted advertising or certain profiling.

14.4 Cookies and Tracking

Our use of cookies and similar technologies, including the consent mechanisms applicable to EEA/UK users under the ePrivacy Directive and equivalent US state requirements (e.g., opt-out of certain tracking under CCPA/CPRA), is described in our Cookie Policy.

14.5 Automated Support

To enhance your user experience, SDC.com utilizes proprietary, in-house Artificial Intelligence to provide automated customer helpdesk support regarding general platform navigation (Virtual Assistant).
You acknowledge that interactions with the helpdesk interface are generated by an automated machine and do not constitute direct communication with a human site moderator, support agent, or matchmaker.

Our Virtual Assistant is provided for informational and navigational purposes in platform only. While we strive for accuracy, SDC.com does not guarantee that the automated responses will be error-free, and we assume no liability for navigational errors or any suggested adjustments by the automated system.

Permitted Use and Restrictions
The Virtual Assistant is provided for the sole purpose of allowing users to ask questions that are relevant to SDC’s platform and Services. Users must not: Use the chatbot for commercial, personal, or academic research unrelated to SDC. Submit prompts or queries that are spam, abusive, harassing, unlawful, or violate third-party rights. Attempt to probe, scan, modify, or reverse-engineer the underlying technology. Overload the chatbot with an excessive volume of queries or prompt spam.

Abuse and Enforcement
If a user engages in conduct that violates the intended use of the Virtual Assistant, including but not limited to excessive prompting or submitting irrelevant or inappropriate queries, SDC reserves the right to: Issue a warning; Temporarily or permanently disable access to the Virtual Assistant; Suspend or terminate the user’s SDC account, at its sole discretion.

15. AI Infrastructure

To comply with the EU AI Act and US state consumer disclosure laws, our AI Navigation and Helpdesk system clearly shows that it is not a human agent, site moderator, or matchmaker. To enhance your user experience, SDC.com utilizes proprietary in-house created Artificial Intelligence (Virtual Assistant) to provide automated customer support and navigation assistance. If you need a human agent, contact account Helpdesk inside the site, or email helpdesk@sdc.com.

Data Collection & Storage: When you use our AI Helpdesk, the text of your conversations, timestamps, and account DBID are logged and securely stored on our internal servers. You can delete your chat history at any time.
Purpose of Storage: We store these interactions to provide customer support continuity (allowing you to resume help sessions) and to monitor the safety and performance of our proprietary AI software.
Data Retention Period: Chat logs are retained in an identifiable format for a maximum of 30 days from the date of interaction, after which they are either permanently deleted or fully pseudonymized, unless a log is flagged for an active safety investigation.

Upon deletion, closure, or permanent banning of your account, due to a violation of our Community Guidelines or Terms of Service, we immediately initiate the permanent erasure of your account data in compliance with the principles of data minimization and applicable legal regulations.

While we strive for accuracy, SDC.com does not guarantee that any AI automated responses will be error-free, and we assume no liability for errors by the automated system.

16. Advertising and Content Customization

1. General, Non-Targeted Advertisements

We display advertisements within our platform’s user feed to enhance our Services. These advertisements are general and non-targeted, meaning they are not based on your individual user account, personal data, browsing history, or dating preferences.

Instead, these ads are strictly contextual. For example, all users viewing a specific screen or section of the platform will see the exact same advertisement.

2. Legal Basis for Processing (EEA and UK)

For users located in the European Economic Area (EEA) and the United Kingdom (UK), we serve these non-targeted advertisements based on our Legitimate Interests. Our legitimate interest is to provide, maintain, and monetize a sustainable platform without engaging in intrusive behavioral profiling or tracking. Because this advertising does not track your behavior, it does not require your prior explicit opt-in consent.

3. Data Collection and Limited Use

While we do not use your personal information to target ads, our third-party advertising partners or servers may collect limited, non-identifying technical data when an ad is displayed or clicked.

This technical data is processed strictly for ad delivery tracking, fraud detection, and reporting aggregate statistics (e.g., counting how many total users clicked a link). It is never used to build a marketing account about any user.

17. DSAR Timelines and Procedures

We are committed to responding to Data Subject Access Requests (DSAR) without undue delay and within the following legally mandated timeframes:
Standard Response Time: If the request is not part of our automated process, we will provide information on action taken on your request within one (1) month of receiving a valid request or 45 days according to the California Consumer Privacy Act when applicable.
Extension of Timeline: This period may be extended by an additional two (2) months where necessary, considering the complexity and number of the requests. If an extension is required, we will inform you of any such delay within one (1) month of receipt of the request, together with the specific reasons for the extension.

Identity Verification (Identity Check): To protect your privacy and secure your data, we may need to verify your identity before processing your request. The statutory response timeline will be paused ("stop the clock") at the moment we request necessary identity verification and will resume only once sufficient proof of identity and ownership of the account has been successfully provided.
Manifestly Unfounded or Excessive Requests: Where requests from a data subject are manifestly unfounded or excessive, in particular because of repetitive character, we reserve the right to either charge a reasonable fee taking into account the administrative costs, or refuse to act on the request.

All photos, videos and other media files uploaded to a account are permanently deleted from active production servers immediately upon final account termination. We do not retain copies of these media files in observance of privacy laws. This may impact any access request: Because photos and videos are completely destroyed at the time of permanent account closure, they are no longer processed or stored by us. Consequently, we can no longer retrieve or provide these media files in response to any subsequent Data Subject Access Request (DSAR) under Article 15 of the EU GDPR after 30 days. To enforce bans and prevent fraud or re-registration, we retain only a strictly limited, minimized set of technical data (such as a secure cryptographic hash of your email address and a record of the ban reason) based on our legitimate interest in platform security.

18. Contact Us

General questions: Helpdesk@sdc.com
Postal address SDC Media LLC: 2054 Kildaire Farm Rd #4428 Cary, NC 27511, USA

19. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will post the updated version with a new “Last Updated” date and, for material changes, provide additional notice (e.g., email or notification) and, where required by law, obtain renewed consent before a material change takes effect.