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Privacy Policy

Last updated: June 29, 2026

This Privacy Policy explains how Zooey (“Zooey,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) collects, uses, discloses, and protects personal information when you use the Zooey website, applications, and related services. By using Zooey, you acknowledge the practices described in this Privacy Policy.

1. Information We Collect

Information you provide

We collect information you provide directly to us, including:

  • Your name
  • Email address
  • Phone number, if you use phone-based sign-in or SMS features
  • Username
  • Profile photograph
  • Profile and account information
  • Posts, Wanteds, photographs, descriptions, comments, and other content you submit
  • Messages and communications you send through or about Zooey
  • Support requests, reports, and feedback
  • Any other information you choose to provide

Please do not submit sensitive or confidential information through public posts or profile fields.

Information collected automatically

When you use Zooey, we and our service providers may automatically collect information such as:

  • IP address
  • Browser type
  • Device type and operating system
  • Device and session identifiers
  • Pages or screens viewed
  • Features used and actions taken
  • Dates and times of access
  • Referring and exit pages
  • Approximate location derived from your IP address
  • Error, diagnostic, performance, and security information

We may collect this information through cookies, local storage, log files, analytics technologies, and similar tools.

Information from service providers

We may receive information from providers that support authentication, hosting, analytics, SMS delivery, email delivery, fraud prevention, error monitoring, and other platform operations. For example, an authentication provider may confirm that you successfully signed in, and an SMS provider may provide delivery or opt-out records.

2. Public and User-Visible Information

Zooey is a community and discovery platform. Certain information you provide may be visible to other users or to the public, including:

  • Your username
  • Profile photo
  • Profile information
  • Posts and item photographs
  • Wanteds
  • Comments or other public activity

Information that you make public may be viewed, copied, saved, or shared by others. Avoid posting personal information that you do not want others to see.

Your phone number and email address will not be publicly displayed unless you intentionally include them in public content or use a feature that clearly tells you they will be shared.

3. How We Use Personal Information

We may use personal information to:

  • Create and manage accounts
  • Authenticate users and secure accounts
  • Provide and operate Zooey
  • Display profiles, posts, Wanteds, and other content
  • Match Wanteds with potentially relevant curator posts
  • Send verification codes
  • Send account, security, service, and match notifications
  • Enable communication and interaction between users
  • Respond to support requests
  • Detect, investigate, and prevent fraud, spam, abuse, and security incidents
  • Moderate content and enforce our Terms of Service
  • Diagnose errors and improve performance
  • Analyze how users interact with Zooey
  • Develop and improve features
  • Comply with law and protect the rights and safety of Zooey, our users, and others

4. Phone Numbers and SMS

If you provide a phone number, we may use it for:

  • Phone-based authentication
  • One-time verification codes
  • Account-security messages
  • Match alerts or other transactional notifications you choose to receive
  • Fraud prevention, troubleshooting, and SMS-delivery administration

We do not display your phone number to other users unless you intentionally share it. We do not share your phone number with third parties for their own marketing purposes.

We may provide your phone number to service providers that help us deliver, secure, and administer SMS messages. Those providers process the number on our behalf and under their applicable contractual obligations.

Message frequency varies. Message and data rates may apply. You may opt out of eligible recurring SMS notifications by replying STOP or through another opt-out method we provide. Reply HELP for assistance.

See our SMS Policy for additional details.

5. How We Disclose Personal Information

Service providers

We may disclose information to vendors that provide cloud hosting and databases, authentication, SMS and email delivery, file and image storage, analytics, error and performance monitoring, security and fraud prevention, customer support, and other technical and operational services. These providers may process information only for the services they provide to us, subject to applicable contractual restrictions.

Other users and the public

We disclose content and profile information when you post it publicly or use features designed to share it with other users.

Legal and safety reasons

We may disclose information when we reasonably believe doing so is necessary to comply with law, regulation, legal process, or governmental request; enforce our Terms or other policies; investigate fraud, abuse, infringement, or security incidents; protect the rights, property, or safety of Zooey, our users, or others; or establish, exercise, or defend legal claims.

Business transactions

We may disclose or transfer information in connection with a merger, acquisition, financing, reorganization, bankruptcy, sale of assets, or similar business transaction. Where required, we will provide notice before personal information becomes subject to a materially different privacy policy.

At your direction

We may disclose information when you request, direct, or consent to the disclosure.

6. Sale and Advertising

We do not sell personal information for money. We do not share personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising, and we do not use third-party advertising trackers to build profiles about your activity across unrelated websites or services.

7. Cookies and Similar Technologies

Zooey and our service providers may use cookies, local storage, software development kits, and similar technologies to keep you signed in, remember preferences, protect account security, understand platform usage, diagnose problems, and improve performance and features.

You may be able to control certain technologies through your browser or device settings. Disabling them may affect some Zooey features.

8. Data Retention

We retain personal information for as long as reasonably necessary to maintain your account, provide the Service, fulfill the purposes described in this Policy, maintain security and prevent fraud, resolve disputes, enforce agreements, and comply with legal and regulatory obligations.

If you delete your account, we will delete or deidentify personal information within a reasonable period, subject to the following:

  • Content shared publicly may remain visible if it was copied, reshared, or stored by others
  • Limited records may be retained for fraud prevention, security, dispute resolution, legal compliance, or enforcement
  • Information may remain temporarily in encrypted backups until those backups are overwritten
  • Service providers may retain information according to their documented deletion cycles

9. Your Privacy Choices and Rights

You may:

  • Review or update certain account information through Zooey
  • Change notification preferences
  • Opt out of eligible SMS notifications
  • Request access to personal information we maintain about you
  • Request correction of inaccurate information
  • Request deletion of your account or personal information

To submit a request, email hello@heyzooey.com. We may need to verify your identity before completing a request. We will respond within the timeframe required by applicable law.

Certain information may be exempt from access, correction, or deletion, including information we must retain for security, fraud prevention, legal compliance, or the rights of others.

Depending on where you live, you may have additional rights, including rights to know, correct, delete, or obtain a copy of personal information, and to opt out of certain sales or targeted advertising. We will not discriminate against you for exercising rights provided by applicable law.

10. Security

We use administrative, technical, and organizational safeguards designed to protect personal information. These may include encrypted network connections, access controls, authentication protections, logging, monitoring, and vendor-security measures.

No method of transmission or storage is completely secure. We cannot guarantee that personal information will never be accessed, lost, misused, or altered. You are responsible for maintaining the security of your account and the device and phone number or email address used to access it.

11. Children’s Privacy

Zooey is intended for users who are at least 18 years old. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child has provided personal information to Zooey, contact us at hello@heyzooey.com so we can investigate and take appropriate action.

12. Third-Party Services

Zooey may contain links to or integrations with third-party services. Their collection and use of information are governed by their own privacy policies, not this Policy. We encourage you to review those policies before providing information to a third party.

13. International Users

Zooey is operated from the United States. If you access Zooey from another country, your information may be transferred to, stored in, and processed in the United States or other countries where our service providers operate. Those countries may have different data-protection laws than your country.

14. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will post the revised version and update the “Last updated” date. If changes materially affect how we use personal information or your rights, we will provide reasonable advance notice through Zooey, by email, or through another appropriate method.

15. Contact Us

For privacy questions or requests, contact us at hello@heyzooey.com.