Legal · 01

Privacy Policy

What data we collect, how we use it, and what you can do about it. The plain‑English version is up top. The fine print is below.

Effective 2026‑05‑20 Controller Theme Park AG · Zurich Contact privacy@dudes.chat

In plain English

We aim for the highest standards with respect to your privacy. These are the general rules that govern how we operate:

  • We don't sell your data or share it with other companies — your data is used only for the purpose of providing the service you have signed up to receive.
  • All site and app traffic is encrypted via HTTPS (the same as banks use), and your password is only stored on our servers in hashed form.
  • You can delete your profile and data at any time; we don't keep your information indefinitely if you decide to leave.

Please read the fine print below to understand the full details of our privacy practices and any possible exceptions to the above.

The fine print

Introduction

We are committed to safeguarding the privacy of our users.

This policy applies where we are acting as a data controller with respect to the personal data of our users — that is, where we determine the purposes and means of the processing of that personal data.

We use cookies and similar storage on our website and in our app.

The DudesChat app and website incorporate privacy controls which affect how we will process your personal data. By using the privacy controls you can choose which optional communications you receive and limit the publication of your information. You can access the privacy controls in your Account settings.

In this policy, "we", "us" and "our" refer to DudesChat, a Theme Park AG brand.

How we use your personal data

In this section we have set out:

  • the general categories of personal data that we may process;
  • in the case of personal data that we did not obtain directly from you, the source and specific categories of that data;
  • the purposes for which we may process personal data; and
  • the legal bases of the processing.

We may process data about your use of our website and services ("usage data"). The usage data may include your IP address, geographical location, browser type and version, operating system, and referral source. The source of the usage data is our analytics system. This usage data may be processed for the purposes of analysing the use of the website and services, troubleshooting user problems and maintaining backups of our databases. The legal basis for this processing is our legitimate interests, namely monitoring and improving our website and services.

We may process your account data ("account data"). The account data includes your email address provided by yourself and information about your use of the service recorded by our administration team. The account data may be processed for the purpose of operating the service, providing our features, ensuring the security of the service, maintaining backups of our databases and communicating with you. The legal basis for this processing is our legitimate interests, namely the proper administration of our service and business.

We may process information included in your personal profile on DudesChat ("profile data"). The profile data provided by yourself may include your profile text, profile pictures, date of birth, physical attributes and community/interest tags. The profile data may be processed for the purposes of providing our services, enabling your use of the app and maintaining backups of our databases. The legal basis for this processing is consent. Insofar as such data can be considered "special category data" under Article 9.2 of the EU GDPR, our condition for processing is that the processing relates to personal data which are manifestly made public by you choosing to publish said data in your public profile.

We may process information contained in or relating to any communication that you send us ("correspondence data"). The correspondence data may include the communication content and metadata associated with the communication. The correspondence data may be processed for the purposes of communicating with you and record‑keeping. The legal basis for this processing is our legitimate interests, namely the proper administration of our service and business and communications with users.

We may process any of your personal data identified in this policy where necessary for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims, whether in court proceedings or in an administrative or out‑of‑court procedure. The legal basis for this processing is our legitimate interests, namely the protection and assertion of our legal rights, your legal rights and the legal rights of others.

We may process any of your personal data identified in this policy where necessary for the purposes of managing risks. The legal basis for this processing is our legitimate interests, namely the proper protection of our business against risks. In addition to the specific purposes for which we may process your personal data set out in this section, we may also process any of your personal data where such processing is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which we are subject, or in order to protect your vital interests or the vital interests of another natural person. Please do not supply any other person's personal data to us, unless we prompt you to do so.

Location data

DudesChat is a location‑based service. We process approximate location to compute distance between you and other users. We round your location before storing it (≈ 100m precision in urban areas, ≈ 500m precision in rural areas). Raw coordinates are never sent to other users. You can pause location at any time in Settings.

Sharing your personal data

We do not sell your personal data. We share personal data with our service providers (hosting, email delivery, payment processing, age verification) only as necessary to operate the service, under written contracts that require them to protect your data and use it only on our instructions.

International transfers

DudesChat is operated from Switzerland. Personal data may be processed by our service providers in the European Economic Area, Switzerland, the United Kingdom or the United States. Transfers outside the EEA are made on the basis of Standard Contractual Clauses or other recognised transfer mechanisms under GDPR.

Retention

We retain your profile data for as long as your account is active. If you delete your account, your profile data is removed within 30 days, except where we are required to retain certain information for legal or compliance reasons (for example: payment records, abuse reports, age‑verification audit trails).

Your rights

Under EU/UK/Swiss data protection law you have rights including: access, rectification, erasure ("right to be forgotten"), restriction of processing, data portability, and objection to processing. You can exercise most of these rights directly in your Account settings, or by writing to privacy@dudes.chat. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority — for Swiss users, that's the Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner (FDPIC).

Children

DudesChat is for adults only. You must be at least 18 years of age, or the age of consent in the country in which you live (whichever is older), to use DudesChat. We do not knowingly collect personal data from anyone under 18.

Cookies

We use cookies that are necessary for the service to work (authentication, session, security) and optional analytics cookies that you can opt out of. We do not use advertising or tracking cookies.

Updates to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. We will publish the new policy on this page and notify you in‑app of any material change before it takes effect.

Contact

Questions about this policy or how we handle your data: privacy@dudes.chat. Postal address: Theme Park AG, Zentralstrasse 43, 8003 Zurich, Switzerland.

Last revised: 2026‑05‑20

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