Privacy Policy

Last updated: 1 October 2026 — draft, requires legal review before launch

This policy explains which data the Areed app and website ("the platform", "we") collect, how we use and protect it, and your choices. The platform is a classified ads marketplace: users publish and browse listings and contact each other. The platform does not sell products and there are no in-app payments.

1. Data we collect

Account data

• Phone number: to create your account and sign in with a verification code sent over WhatsApp. Your number is not shown on your listings or public profile.
• Username, display name, profile photo (optional), preferred language and country.
• Verification code (OTP): the code itself is never stored; we keep a cryptographic fingerprint only while it is valid (5 minutes by default). OTP request records (number, IP address, device type, delivery status) are deleted automatically after 7 days and are used to prevent abuse.

Listings and stores

• Listing content: title, description, price and currency, category and its attributes, the country and area you select, and the neighborhood if you type it.
• Photos are re-processed and converted to WebP; all metadata, including GPS location and camera data, is removed.
• Store (if you create one): name, description, logo and the bank transfer details you choose to publish for buyers.
• Listings and stores are public: visible to app and website visitors and may appear in search engines.

Communication between users

• Chat messages are stored on our servers to deliver and display them to both participants.
• The seller's number is never displayed as text; if the seller enabled the call or WhatsApp button, the number is used to open your dialer/WhatsApp only when you tap it. We record that the button was used (who, when, which listing), never the number.
• In-app notifications and push notifications. Message push notifications contain the sender's username only, never the message text.

Safety and moderation

• Reports and blocks you make or that concern you, violation history and administrative actions.
• Technical logs: IP address and browser/device type in security logs and the admin audit log. Server logs never contain verification codes, passwords, access tokens or phone numbers and are deleted after 14 days by default.

Device and usage data

• A random device identifier created by the app, operating system, app version, device name and the push token (FCM).
• Basic internal statistics: listing views (one view per visitor every 6 hours), contact button taps, favorites count and the last activity time of the account. We do not use any third-party analytics or advertising service.

What we do not collect

• We do not request your location (GPS) or contacts.
• The microphone is used only when you tap voice search; speech is converted to text by your device's speech recognition service. We do not send the audio to our servers or keep it.
• The camera and photos are used only when you choose to add a photo.
• There are no in-app payments and we do not collect payment card data.

2. How we use data

• Operating your account, verifying your phone number and securing sign-in.
• Publishing, displaying and searching listings; running chat and notifications.
• Content moderation, fraud/spam/abuse prevention and handling reports.
• Manually activating subscriptions and featured listings after you contact the administration.
• Improving the service with aggregated internal statistics.

We do not sell your personal data or use it for targeted advertising.

3. Service providers (third parties)

We only use the following, to the extent needed to run the service:

• WhatsApp (Meta) and the WhatsApp gateway provider we use: to deliver your verification code.
• Firebase Cloud Messaging (Google): to deliver push notifications to your device.
• Cloudflare: website protection and performance; photos may be stored on its storage service.
• Hosting provider: the servers and databases running the platform.
• Apple and Google: app distribution through their stores under their own policies.

We may disclose data when required by a competent authority under applicable law, or to protect users from fraud.

4. Retention

• Account data: while the account exists.
• Verification codes: never stored; request records for 7 days.
• In-app notifications: read ones are deleted after 90 days, all of them after one year.
• Server logs: 14 days. Admin audit log, reports and violation records are kept for safety and fraud prevention.
• Deleted listings are hidden immediately from everyone; their record is kept for moderation and fraud prevention.

5. Account deletion

You can delete your account at any time in the app: Account → Delete account, or by request through the account deletion page. When you delete your account:

• Your phone number, profile photo and store logo are removed and your name is replaced by "Deleted user".
• Sessions, registered devices, push tokens, favorites, block list and notifications are deleted.
• Your listings, store and bank accounts are hidden immediately.
• Messages you already sent remain with the other participant, who sees your account as unavailable.
• Reports, violation records and audit logs needed for safety and fraud prevention are kept.

6. Security

We use encrypted connections (HTTPS), store access tokens in the device secure storage (Keychain/Keystore), encrypt verification-code delivery jobs, and give staff granular permissions with every access to a user's phone number logged. No transmission or storage method is 100% secure, but we use reasonable measures to protect your data.

7. Children

The platform is not directed to people under 18 and we do not knowingly collect their data.

8. Your rights

You can view and edit your account data in the app, delete your listings or your account, turn off notifications in your device settings, and contact us about any request regarding your data.

9. Contact

• Email: (to be published)
• WhatsApp: (to be published)

We may update this policy; the new version will be published on this page with its update date.