Privacy Policy

Effective Date: October 13, 2026

This Privacy Policy explains how Fourthie collects, uses, stores, and protects your personal data when you use our platform, mobile applications, and related services. By using Fourthie, you agree to the practices described in this policy.

October 13, 2026 update: we added information about Memory book and Memory Corner photos (section 3.5).

October 10, 2026 update: our AI provider is now Anthropic Claude (USA); DeepSeek is no longer used (sections 3.3 and 4.2).

October 9, 2026 update: we added information about chat photos, voice messages, direct messages, how long chat data is kept, and processing by AI (section 3).

1. Data We Collect

1.1 Personal Information

• Name, surname, username, and profile information
• Email address and authentication details
• Phone number when provided
• For Business applications: full name, business name, category, city and district, phone number, role, contact preference, and the ad campaign the application came from (UTM)
• When the age eligibility question is shown: your 18+ declaration, answer time, and policy version. No birth date or identity document is requested in this step.
• Profile photos and user-uploaded media
• Payment and billing details required for paid features

1.2 Technical Data

• IP address and device identifiers
• Browser type, operating system, and app version
• Crash logs, diagnostics, and performance data
• Cookies and similar session technologies used for essential product functionality
• Meta Pixel cookies used for ad measurement on fourthie.com/business (see section 4.3)

1.3 Location Data

• Approximate location based on IP or device settings
• Shared event location information you choose to publish
• Location preferences used to improve nearby event discovery

1.4 Content and Activity Data

• Event listings, descriptions, and preferences you create
• Messages, photos, voice messages, replies, and reactions you send in event chats and direct messages
• Photos and notes you add to a Memory book, and photos you send to Memory Corner
• Your messaging preference (who can message you), users you block, and chats you mute or hide
• In direct messages: read receipts, the typing indicator, and online status showing that a chat screen is open
• Reports and support requests you send
• Participation, join requests, and interaction history on the platform
• Moderation signals and safety-related records generated from platform activity

2. Purposes of Data Use

• Service provision and platform operation
• Delivering messages, photos, and voice messages and sending chat notifications
• User security and fraud prevention
• Content moderation, reviewing reports, and enforcing community guidelines
• AI content checks and AI-assisted features (section 3.3 explains which content, when, and with which providers)
• Fulfillment of legal obligations
• Providing customer support
• Assessing Business applications and contacting applicants
• Measuring the results of fourthie.com/business ads (see section 4.3)
• Service improvement and analysis

3. Messages, Photos, Voice Messages, and AI

3.1 Event Chats and Direct Messages

• Direct messages are off by default. You can choose who can message you (Nobody, People I follow, or Everyone) in your profile settings at any time. With Everyone, people you don't follow send a message request first.
• A message request is a single text message and cannot contain links, photos, or voice messages. If you delete a request, the sender is not told.
• Online status, the typing indicator, and read receipts are shown only to the other person in an accepted direct message chat.
• Photos shared in chats are resized on your device before sending, and photo metadata (EXIF), including location (GPS), is removed.
• Voice messages are recorded only when you tap the record button and allow microphone access. A recording is at most 2 minutes, and you can listen to it and delete it before sending. Voice messages are not turned into text, and your voice is not used to identify you.
• Chat photos and voice messages are kept in private, encrypted storage in AWS's Frankfurt (Germany) region. They are shown only to members of the chat, after a membership check, through short-lived links.
• In event chats, the event host decides whether participants can send photos and voice messages.
• Messages are protected with TLS in transit and stored encrypted on our servers. Messages are not end-to-end encrypted.

3.2 Retention and Deletion

• Chat messages, photos, and voice messages are kept for 1 year from the date they were sent and are then deleted automatically. This also applies to existing event chat history.
• When you delete a message, it is hidden from everyone. So that reports can still be reviewed, its content, photos, and voice message are kept until the 1-year period ends and are used only for reviewing reports.
• A review copy of a reported photo or voice message is kept separately for at most 1 year from the date of the report.
• When you delete your account, the chat photos and voice messages you uploaded are deleted, except review copies under an open report. Messages you sent in direct messages remain visible to the other person as "Deleted user", the chat is closed to new messages, and the messages are deleted when the 1-year period ends.

3.3 Processing by AI

• The following content is checked automatically by AI when it is submitted: event listings (creation and updates), join request messages, profile bio and story, and profile album photos.
• Event chat messages and direct messages are not scanned by AI when they are sent. When a message is reported, only the reported message, its photos if any, and the report reason are pre-reviewed by AI. Voice messages are not sent to AI; reported voice messages are listened to only by authorized administrators.
• As a result of the pre-review, the message may be hidden automatically, and in event chats the sender may be temporarily removed from the chat. Final decisions are made by authorized administrators. You can object to an automated decision at info@fourthie.com.
• When AI features such as chat summaries and the community bot are used in event chats, recent messages of that event chat are processed for the feature. Direct messages are never used for these features.
• AI providers receive only the content needed for the review or feature: text, photos, the report reason, and where needed the sender's display name and user ID. Your email address and phone number are not added for this purpose.
• Provider: we use Anthropic Claude (USA). OpenAI (USA) may also be used for the same purposes.
• This processing means personal data is transferred abroad. The transfer is based on the conditions set out in Article 9 of the Turkish Personal Data Protection Law No. 6698 (KVKK).

3.4 Voice Channel in Event Chats

• The voice channel lets members of an event chat talk live. Your microphone is used only when you join the voice channel as a speaker and allow microphone access in your browser; you can also join with your microphone off and just listen.
• Voice channel conversations are not recorded and are not stored on our servers. Audio is delivered to the people in the channel through Amazon Web Services' real-time audio service (Amazon IVS); voice channel sessions are created in AWS's Frankfurt (Germany) region.
• While you are in a voice channel, so that you can report someone, your device temporarily keeps only the last 60 seconds of what you hear and say in memory. This recording is overwritten continuously, does not leave your device unless you report someone, and is deleted when you leave the voice channel.
• When you report someone in a voice channel, you can choose to attach the last 60 seconds at the time of the report; it is sent to authorized administrators for review. This recording is kept in private, encrypted storage, is used only to review the report, is not sent to AI, and is deleted automatically 30 days after the report.
• With a report, we record the reason, your description, the time of the report, and who was in the voice channel at that moment. The person you report is not told who reported them.
• Moderation actions in the voice channel (turning off a microphone, removing someone from the channel) are written to the event moderation log. For voice channel sessions we keep only statistics that are not linked to individuals, such as duration and number of participants.

3.5 Memory Book and Memory Corner

• A Memory book is the shared photo album of an event or community chat. Members who are allowed to send photos in the chat can add photos, including their own photos already sent in the chat. All members of the chat can see the photos in its Memory book, their short notes, and the username of the person who added them.
• Like chat photos, Memory book photos are resized on your device before upload, which removes photo metadata (EXIF) including location (GPS); they are kept in private, encrypted storage in AWS's Frankfurt (Germany) region and shown through short-lived links.
• Memory Corner is a shared gallery that everyone on Fourthie can see. A photo is published there only if the person who uploaded it chooses to send it, confirms that everyone in the photo agreed to it being shared, and Fourthie administrators approve it. Your username, your note if any, and the event name are shown with the photo. Approved photos may earn a coin reward.
• Memory book photos are not subject to the 1-year automatic deletion of chat photos. They are kept until you, the event host, an authorized moderator, or Fourthie administrators remove them, or until you delete your account. A removed photo is deleted from storage and also leaves Memory Corner; report and reward records are kept without the photo.
• If you appear in a photo and want it removed, you can report it in the app or write to info@fourthie.com. Photos reported by several people are hidden until the review is finished. Memory book and Memory Corner photos are not sent to AI; authorized administrators review reports and Memory Corner submissions.

4. Data Sharing and Disclosure

4.1 Sharing with Legal Authorities

Your personal data may be shared with legal authorities in the following cases:

• Upon written request of law enforcement agencies
• Within the scope of a court order or prosecutor's investigation
• In case of detection of criminal content or behavior
• Emergency situations regarding user safety
• To fulfill our legal obligations

4.2 Third Party Service Providers

• Payment processing services (Stripe)
• Cloud infrastructure and storage providers (AWS)
• AI service providers (Anthropic; OpenAI where needed; see section 3.3)
• Analytics and performance monitoring tools
• Map services (Google Maps)
• Form security and abuse prevention services (Cloudflare Turnstile)
• Ad measurement (Meta Pixel and Conversions API; on fourthie.com/business only)

4.3 Ad Measurement (Meta Pixel and Conversions API)

To measure whether our business ads work, we use services from Meta Platforms Ireland Ltd. on fourthie.com/business only, and only if you accept the cookie prompt on that page. If you decline, the Meta Pixel is not loaded and no events are sent to Meta; your application is handled exactly the same. You can change your choice at any time with the "Cookie preferences" link at the bottom of the page.

• A page view event is sent to Meta when the page opens, and a single application (Lead) event when your application is stored on our server as a new application. Button clicks, failed and repeated applications are not sent.
• These events include Meta cookies (_fbp, _fbc), the ad click ID (fbclid), IP address, browser details, the page address and the business category you chose.
• Application details such as your name, phone number and business name are not shared with Meta.
• So we can see which ad an application came from, the campaign parameters in the ad link (UTM) are stored with the application.
• Meta may process this data under its own privacy policy and on servers outside Türkiye. You can delete or block these cookies in your browser settings and manage ad preferences in your Facebook and Instagram account settings.

No data is sold for commercial purposes. Your data is shared only when necessary for the provision of the service.

5. Data Security

• Data transfer via SSL/TLS encryption
• Data storage in secure AWS infrastructure
• Private, encrypted storage and short-lived access links for chat photos and voice messages
• Regular security updates
• Access control and authorization
• Notification within 72 hours in case of data breach

6. User Rights (GDPR/KVKK)

Your rights regarding personal data:

• To learn whether personal data is processed
• To request information if personal data has been processed
• To learn the purpose of processing and whether they are used appropriately
• To know the third parties to whom personal data is transferred domestically or abroad
• To request correction of personal data if it is incomplete or incorrectly processed
• To request the deletion or destruction of personal data
• To request notification of correction, deletion, and destruction operations to third parties
• To object to the occurrence of a result against the person by analyzing the processed data exclusively through automated systems
• To request compensation for damages in case of damage due to unlawful processing of personal data

7. Account Deletion and Data Portability

• You can permanently delete your account from Settings → Account Management
• Account deletion is irreversible and is completed within 30 days
• Chat messages, photos, and voice messages follow the rules in section 3.2
• Data with legal retention obligations are stored for the specified period
• You can request a copy of your data in JSON format

8. Contact