Privacy Policy for Yuragi

Welcome to Yuragi. We are building a different kind of social space, one founded on privacy, respect, and genuine conversation. This Privacy Policy explains how we handle your information with the care and transparency you deserve. Our guiding principle is simple: we only collect what is necessary to provide the service, and we will never sell your data.

1. The Information We Collect

We believe in data minimization. Here is a complete and honest list of what we collect.

A. Information You Provide to Us

• Account Information: When you create an account, we require a username, an email address, and a password. Your password is immediately hashed and is never stored in plain text.
• Date of Birth: We require your date of birth for the sole purpose of legal compliance, such as with the U.S. Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). This information is used once to verify your age and is never displayed publicly, shared, or used for any other purpose.
• Profile Information (Optional): You may choose to add a bio or an avatar to your profile. This is completely optional.
• Your Content: We collect the content you create on the platform. This includes:
  • Public Content: Sparks, replies, and any other content you post in public Hearths.
  • Private Content ("Echoes"): Your Echoes are your private journal. They are stored securely and are private by default. We will not access your Echoes unless legally compelled to do so or to investigate a severe security issue.
• Communications: If you contact us directly for support or feedback, we will collect the information you provide in that communication.

B. Information We Explicitly DO NOT Collect

To be perfectly clear, we have built Yuragi to function without needing the invasive data that other platforms rely on. We never collect:

• Your real name
• Your phone number
• Your precise GPS location data
• Your device's advertising identifiers (IDFA, AAID)
• Your address book or contacts
• Data from third-party services or social media accounts
• Any tracking information via third-party advertising pixels or cookies

2. How We Use Your Information

We use your information for a few, simple purposes:

• To Provide and Maintain the Service: To operate our servers, authenticate your account, display your content, and deliver the core functionality of the app.
• To Protect Our Community: To enforce our Terms of Service and Community Guidelines, and to investigate and prevent harmful or illegal activity.
• To Communicate With You: To send you important service-related announcements (e.g., updates to our policies, security notices) or to respond to your support requests. We will never send you marketing emails.
• To Comply with the Law: To respond to valid legal requests like subpoenas or court orders.

3. How We Share Your Information

Your trust is our most important asset. We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information. We only share it in the following limited circumstances:

• Publicly: Your username, optional avatar/bio, and any content you post in public Hearths are visible to anyone on the platform.
• With Essential Service Providers: We use a small number of third-party companies to help us operate the service. This may include cloud hosting providers (to run our servers) or donation processors (if you choose to support us via our Stewardship page). These providers are only given the minimum information necessary to perform their function and are contractually obligated to protect it.
• For Legal Reasons: If we receive a legal request, we may disclose your information if we believe in good faith that it is required by law. We will attempt to notify you of such requests unless legally prohibited from doing so.
• In an Anonymized, Aggregated Form: We may share high-level, non-personally identifiable statistics, such as the total number of users or Sparks created, to talk about the health of our community.

4. Your Rights and Choices

You are in control of your information on Yuragi.

• Access & Edit: You can access and edit your profile information at any time through your account settings.
• Account Deletion: You can delete your account at any time. This will begin a process to permanently delete your account and all associated content from our servers. This process is irreversible after a short grace period.
• Data Portability: Depending on your location, you may have the right to request a copy of the information we hold about you.

5. Data Security

We take the security of your data seriously. We employ industry-standard technical and administrative security measures, such as using encryption for data in transit (HTTPS/TLS) and at rest, and hashing all user passwords. However, no system is 100% impenetrable, and we cannot guarantee the absolute security of our systems.

6. Children's Privacy

Yuragi is not intended for children under the age of 13 (or the relevant age of consent in your jurisdiction, such as 16 in the European Union). We use the date of birth you provide solely to enforce this policy. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under this age. If you believe we have inadvertently collected such information, please contact us immediately so we can take steps to delete it.

7. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. If we make a significant change, we will notify you through the app or via the email address associated with your account, giving you an opportunity to review the new terms.

8. Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact us at: privacypolicy@yuragi.app