Privacy Policy
The short version:
- We don't run ads and we don't sell or share your personal information.
- We don't track you across other apps or websites.
- We collect the minimum needed to run Seens and keep it safe.
- Your private messages are end-to-end encrypted — we can't read them.
- You can delete your account and content at any time.
1. Who we are
Seens is a social photo-sharing app operated by Seens, a Public Benefit Corporation, part of Junction ("Seens," "we," "us," or "our"). This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect, how we use it, and the choices you have. It applies to the Seens app, this website, and related services (the "Service").
2. Information we collect
Account information
You sign in with Sign in with Apple. We receive a stable, anonymized identifier from Apple that lets us recognize your account. We do not request your name or email address from Apple. You also choose a username and may add a profile photo and display details you decide to share.
Content you create
Photos, posts, captions, events, rolls, and other content you create or upload. Each photo carries an honest source label — captured inside Seens (sensor-true) or selected from your device's photo library (labeled "From Photos"). We store this content so we can show it to the people you choose.
Messages
Direct messages ("Tethered Dialogue") are end-to-end encrypted. We cannot read the contents of your messages. We process only the technical metadata required to deliver them.
Beta and website information
If you join the beta list on this website, we collect the email address you submit, along with basic technical details of the request (such as timestamp and IP address) to prevent abuse. We use this only to contact you about beta access and launch.
Limited technical information
To operate reliably and securely, we process limited technical data such as app version, device type, coarse diagnostic and crash information, and IP address. We do not use advertising SDKs and we do not build cross-app tracking profiles.
3. How we use information
- To provide and operate the Service — showing your content to the people you choose, and delivering messages, events, and notifications.
- To keep Seens safe — detecting abuse, enforcing our Terms, and meeting our legal safety obligations (see Section 5).
- To maintain reliability and security, diagnose problems, and prevent fraud.
- To communicate with you about the Service, including beta access and important updates.
4. Local discovery and location
Some features (such as local discovery and nearby events) use location. On public posts, precise location is coarsened for people outside your mutual connections. You control location permissions in your device settings, and you choose the audience for each post.
5. Content safety and CSAM detection
Protecting children is a legal and moral obligation we take seriously. Photos uploaded to Seens are automatically checked against known child sexual abuse material (CSAM) using industry hash-matching technology before they are published. When we detect a match or otherwise obtain knowledge of apparent CSAM, we block the content, restrict the account, preserve the material as required, and report to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) as required by U.S. law (18 U.S.C. § 2258A). We may share related information with NCMEC and law enforcement in connection with these reports. Because direct messages are end-to-end encrypted, this scanning applies to content that is uploaded for posting, not to encrypted message contents.
6. How we share information
We do not sell or share your personal information for advertising, and we never have. We share information only in these limited cases:
- Service providers. Vetted vendors who process data on our behalf to run the Service — for example Apple (sign-in), Cloudflare and Fly.io (hosting and storage), and Microsoft PhotoDNA (CSAM detection). They may only use the data to provide services to us.
- With the people you choose. Your content is visible to the audience you select for each post.
- Legal and safety. When required by law, to comply with legal process, or to protect the safety of people — including CSAM reports to NCMEC and responses to lawful requests.
- Business changes. If Seens is involved in a merger, acquisition, or asset sale, information may transfer as part of that transaction, subject to this Policy.
7. Data retention and deletion
You can delete your account at any time from within the app. When you do, we delete your content and account data, except where we are legally required to retain certain information (for example, preserved CSAM evidence, which is retained as required by law). Some information may persist for a limited time in backups and logs before it is removed. Content that another person has independently saved may remain in their own collection, consistent with our in-app rules.
8. Your rights and choices
Depending on where you live, you may have rights to access, correct, delete, or obtain a copy of your personal information, and to limit certain processing. You can exercise many of these directly in the app, or contact us at [email protected]. We will not discriminate against you for exercising your rights. Because we do not sell or share personal information or use it for cross-context behavioral advertising, there is no such activity for you to opt out of.
9. Children
Seens is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. You must be at least 13 years old (or older where required by your local law) to use Seens. If you believe a child under 13 has provided us information, contact [email protected] and we will take appropriate steps.
10. Security
We use technical and organizational measures designed to protect your information, including end-to-end encryption for direct messages and access controls for stored content. No system is perfectly secure, but we work continuously to protect your data.
11. Where your data is processed
Seens is operated from the United States, and your information is processed and stored in the United States. If you use Seens from outside the U.S., you understand your information will be processed here.
12. Changes to this Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we make material changes, we will update the "Last updated" date above and, where appropriate, notify you in the app. Your continued use of Seens after an update means you accept the revised Policy.
13. Contact us
Questions about privacy? Email [email protected] or [email protected]. To report a safety concern, email [email protected].