Privacy Policy

We at Viranda (“the Platform”) greatly respect your privacy. Therefore, it is important for us to clarify the extent of the information collected about you (and the information that is not collected, of course), the potential uses of it, and your rights in relation to it.

We also clarify that we make every effort not to collect personal information that is not required for us to provide you with the maximum benefit from our services.

This document supplements our terms of use and the definitions appearing there apply here as well.

1. General

As mentioned, we make an effort not to collect information about you. Of course, you are not required for any reason to provide us with any information, and please do not use the platform if you have relevant information that you do not wish to disclose. As required, the platform collects two types of information about you:

Information Type	Platform Users	Anonymous Friends
Non-Personally Identifiable Information	Statistical information is accumulated about users’ usage of the platform and its services. Metadata related to conversations (such as timestamps, duration, message count, etc.), cumulative statistical information, and a random user ID are recorded. When using the platform, users receive a random user ID and a random conversation ID for each interaction, ensuring there is no personal identification. Conversation documentation and its metadata (meta-data) are preserved. Additionally, it’s possible that non-identifying personal data (such as gender, age, language, marital status, mood, etc.) may be used to present personalized suggestions and advertisements on the platform. Of course, this information will not be disclosed to others.	Cumulative statistical information, for example: key availability hours, device or software used, session times, conversation-related metadata, cumulative statistical information, cumulative rating or feedback received from users who chatted with them. During platform use, you will receive a fixed identifier for all your conversations, allowing identification of the conversations you participated in.
Potentially Identifiable Information	The conversation content itself is retained for the convenience of the participants and is deleted within 24 hours from the start of the conversation. The responses to the questions at the beginning and end of each conversation are not permanently stored. However, they are temporary during the conversation and some of them are accessible to the anonymous friend involved in that conversation. Additional information (such as name, email address, or any other personal information) is not collected. Verbal feedback chosen to be left by the user regarding the conversation and the anonymous friend is collected. It’s important to note that the service is designed to respond to anonymous users. Therefore, inclusion of any personal information, whether referring to you or the anonymous friend, is strictly prohibited. The reason for conversation ending by the user.	The conversation content itself (as mentioned, the content is stored for the convenience of the participants and will be deleted after 24 hours from the start of the conversation). Your name and contact details. The fixed identifier identifying your conversations, used by us only. Any information provided to us voluntarily in questionnaires, interviews, and any stages of registration as an anonymous member on the platform (such as your experiences, positions, etc.). Of course, you are not required to provide us with any personal information. However, if we deem that insufficient information has been provided to us, we reserve the right not to approve your registration as an anonymous friend, and the responsibility for not providing the information will be solely yours if you choose to register. Verbal feedback left by the user regarding the conversation and the anonymous friend. We recommend that companions do not include any personal information in feedback, but we cannot enforce this on them. Your username and password for logging into the platform (the password is stored in an encrypted form that is not accessible to us). The reason for ending a conversation whenever the anonymous friend chooses.

• Due to the nature of the service, we operate a computerized algorithm without human intervention designed to identify specific texts or expressions in conversations (such as suicidal expressions or others). We are not responsible for the results of using the same algorithm and its quality. It is possible, of course, that it will not identify cases it should have identified, and therefore, we cannot guarantee that it will identify all relevant cases. Still – to the extent that the algorithm identifies such an expression, we may present a note to the user that it is recommended to seek professional personal counseling. We will recommend to any of our users who received such a message to indeed seek personal counseling to take care of themselves, especially when interacting with an anonymous friend.
• We also emphasize that there are places where you (users and anonymous friends) may provide sensitive personal information (to us or to each other). This includes, for example, the content of your conversations or the option to provide feedback after each conversation. Please consider carefully what you write and do not share sensitive personal information, offensive content, slander, or any other information that harms you, others, or violates the law, especially when interacting with your anonymous friend.

2. Use of Information

• The platform will make any use it deems appropriate of statistical data and non-identifiable information, including improving its services, presenting personalized advertisements based on user characteristics, and collaborating with business partners to offer users better and more relevant proposals.
• The use of personally identifiable information collected will be for one or more of the following purposes:
  • Allowing anonymous friends to join conversations (for this purpose, we will use their background information and account details, including username and encrypted password).
  • Allowing participants in a conversation to continue and/or end it within 24 hours.
  • Conducting an initial review of the compatibility of anonymous friends as required and, if necessary, establishing contact with each of them, including their inclusion in the anonymous friends’ database on the platform (for this purpose, we will use their background information and account details, including username and encrypted password).
  • Distinguishing between different conversations and providing statistical information about them, as well as about users and anonymous friends (for this purpose, we will use the details of anonymous friends and non-identifiable conversation data, including random identifiers).
  • Enabling users to use various services on the platform and presenting relevant results based on their preferences or finding an anonymous friend that suits their preferences (for this purpose, we will use your responses before each conversation and non-identifiable statistical data in our possession).
  • Providing responses to your questions or inquiries directed to the platform, allowing us to respond and address feedback from users, anonymous friends, or various legal inquiries (for this purpose, we will use the content of inquiries submitted to us, conversation upload data, and details of the participating anonymous friend).
  • Displaying advertisements tailored to your characteristics or areas of interest.
  • Correcting, improving, and enriching the services and content offered on the platform, including creating non-personally identifiable statistics (for this purpose, we will only use non-identifiable statistical information).
  • Addressing problematic expressions identified by our algorithm in conversations (for this purpose, we will use the results of the algorithm and any available identifying information in our possession).
• The information will only be accessible to the project’s employees or administrators, used solely for the project’s purposes, and in accordance with this policy.

3. Sharing Information with Third Parties

The platform will not transfer your personally identifiable information to third parties unless explicitly detailed below:

• User responses to opening questions in each conversation will be provided to the anonymous friend participating in the conversation to allow for accuracy and empathy.
• With your explicit consent, documented by us, for the purpose of contractual communication with you, either within the ongoing platform activities or specific operations.
• To assist us in delivering relevant promotional information to you.
• For the purpose of conducting statistical analysis and generating research, statistical, or non-personally identifiable information.
• To perform any action necessary for the ongoing understanding, maintenance, and operation of the platform, including its improvement, repair, and modification, as well as enriching the offered services.
• If you engage in platform activities that violate the law, infringe on privacy, harass or harm others, breach agreements, violate intellectual property rights, violate our terms of use, or are otherwise harmful, at our discretion.
• In cases of legal dispute between you and the platform that requires the disclosure of your information or in cases of violation of terms of use, privacy policy, or any other agreement with the platform.
• Upon receipt of a judicial order (or any other legally binding directive, such as that of a certified law enforcement officer) instructing us to disclose your details or information about you to a third party. For the avoidance of doubt, the only information disclosed will be that which we have collected and for which we have received authorized instructions to disclose.
• To create direct contact with you or to send direct email through various means to provide you with the requested services, any complementary service or product that, in our opinion or that of our partners, may interest you.
• In the event that the platform’s operations are sold or transferred (in whole or in part) in any form, or if the owner of the platform or its operations merges with a third party or its operations, provided that the recipient of the information agrees to abide by the terms of this privacy policy.
• If the platform operator deems, in its best judgment, that providing the mentioned information is required to minimize damage of any kind or type caused to the platform, its owners, users, anonymous friends, and/or any other third party, body, or entity.

4. Direct Email Communication

• We and our business partners (as updated) may reach out to you to offer commercial and promotional deals that aim to meet your needs through any media – be it phone, email, messaging (SMS), social media like Facebook or WhatsApp, retargeting, and the like, either on a one-time or recurring basis. All offers will be related to mental health, personal development, and support, self-improvement and empowerment, personal well-being, and health in all aspects, based on the information you directly provide to the platform.
• Such information will be sent to you only if you have consented to it by entering your contact details and personal information in the appropriate place and checking the box indicating your consent. Of course, you can cancel your consent to receive such messages at any time through a “remove” message via the media channel where you received the message or to the email box appearing where the message is displayed. Shortly after receiving your request, we will cease sending such messages to you.
• You may be asked from time to time to provide information that allows us to communicate directly with you, and of course, if you do not agree, please do not enter the information and do not confirm the delivery.

5. Cookies

• The platform uses “cookies” for its ongoing and regular operation, including cookies necessary for its functioning. It also uses cookies to collect statistical data about the use of the platform, to document anonymous statistical information about users, to understand usage patterns and user movements, and the services provided by the platform for information security, and the like.
• Cookies are text files created by your computer according to the platform’s instructions and/or on its behalf. Some are temporary, and some are permanent. Cookies also include information such as the pages on the Internet you visited, the duration of your stay on the platform in services or different locations, and the like.
• In most browsers and systems, you can prevent the activation of cookies by changing the browser settings or by deleting them, and you are free to choose this option. However, disabling cookies on your computer may impair and/or affect the services you receive from the platform and/or their results and their adaptation to your preferences.
• This includes third-party cookies such as Google Analytics and Pixels (or any similar technology) of companies like Facebook (Meta), Linkedin, and the like. It is clarified that information received from these cookies and through them will be used for remarketing purposes, offering marketing offers that we believe will interest users.

6. Third-Party Advertisements

• The platform may include advertisements, whether from the platform operator or from third parties. If the source of the advertisements is not the platform but third parties, the platform is not responsible for the content of these advertisements, the transactions offered in them, and their existence.
• Also, note that these third parties may collect different information about you than what is collected by the platform or may have a policy different from the platform regarding data disclosure. Please proceed with caution.

7. Data Security

• The platform implements up-to-date systems and policies for data security. While these systems and policies minimize the risks of unauthorized access, they do not provide absolute security. Therefore, we cannot guarantee that the platform and/or the services will be completely immune from unauthorized access to the stored information or changes to it through such access.
• We store our information in reliable and secure cloud services (such as Google’s Firebase database and its cloud service – Google Cloud). You can read about their security in these links.

8. Deletion of Information

• As mentioned, beyond the temporary retention of conversation content so that you can return and chat within the first 24 hours, chat content will never be retained by us.
• Information about anonymous users (including feedback and ratings, which in most cases do not constitute personal information) will be retained by us as long as the member is registered with us on the platform and will essentially be retained even afterward to make it difficult for members with whom the connection was disconnected to return and re-register on the platform.
• Minimal personal information retained by us in relation to users will be deleted after seven years from the date of collection to enable us to comply with legal and tax obligations.
• Data given about and statistical information do not constitute personal information and will not be deleted.
• Of course, if you contact us and request the deletion of your personal information held by us, as long as we do not need or are obligated to add and retain such information – we will delete it.

9. Right to Access Information

• According to the Privacy Protection Law, 1981, every person is entitled to access, either by themselves or by an authorized representative in writing or by a guardian, the information held about them in the database. A person who has accessed information about themselves and found it to be incorrect, incomplete, unclear, or not up-to-date is entitled to apply to the database owner to correct or delete the information. If the database owner refuses to comply with this request, he must notify the requester in the manner and manner specified in the regulations. If the database owner refuses to allow inspection and refuses to correct or delete information, the data subject may appeal before the Magistrate’s Court in the manner and manner specified in the regulations.
• If there is information in our possession that you wish to update, change, or delete, please contact us through the following contact form: www.viranda.space/contact

10. Changes to Privacy Policy

• In any case where significant changes are made to this policy regarding the use of personal information you provided, the specified date above will be updated.
• Any continued action on the platform after a change in this privacy policy implies that you agree to the updated policy, and if you do not agree – please do not perform any action on the platform after the update.