Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

Gatchi ("we," "our," or "us") operates the Gatchi mobile application (the "App"), a social activity platform connecting people to enjoy activities in Korea together. This Privacy Policy explains what personal information we collect, why we collect it, and how we use and protect it when you use our App and related services (collectively, the "Service").

We are committed to protecting your privacy in accordance with the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Republic of Korea's Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA). By creating an account or using the Service, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this policy.

2. Data Controller

The data controller responsible for your personal data is:

3. Information We Collect

3.1 Account Information

When you register using Google or Apple Sign-In, we receive your email address, name, and profile picture from your OAuth provider. You may replace this profile picture with your own during onboarding.

3.2 Profile Information

During onboarding and profile editing, you provide:

• Display name, age, and gender
• Nationality
• Profile photos (minimum 1 required)
• Interests (minimum 1 required)
• Bucket list activities you want to do in Korea

3.3 Location Data

We collect your GPS location only while you are actively using the App (foreground use). We use this to show you people and activities nearby and to display your approximate location to other users. We do not collect location data when the App is closed or running in the background.

3.4 User-Generated Content

• Messages you send in direct and group chats. You can edit or delete a message for a day after sending it; we keep the original alongside, so that a report about something said can still be checked against what was actually sent. Only our review staff can see it — the person you were talking to sees the edited message, marked as edited, or a note that one was deleted.
• Photos and videos you send in direct and group chats
• Activity posts and descriptions you create
• Posts you publish to the feed: the text, photos and videos, the region and neighbourhood you choose (if any), any dates you add, and any activity or “I wanna” card you attach to it. For a post you mark as a Memory, also the dates its pictures were taken, the activity you link it to (if any), and who can see it
• Comments and replies you write on posts
• Reactions you leave on posts (“Like”, “Interested”, “I’m in” or any other emoji)
• Reviews and reputation tags (friendly, punctual, reliable, talkative) you give or receive

3.5 Usage and Device Information

• App interactions (screens visited, features used, filters applied), including through Google Analytics for Firebase in the App (see Section 11)
• Which partner banners in the feed were shown to you, and whether you tapped or closed them (see Section 11)
• Device type, operating system, and app version
• Push notification token (for delivering notifications)
• IP address (logged by our servers)
• Crash reports and diagnostic data

3.6 Communications

If you contact us for support, we retain the content of your communications and any information you provide.

3.6.1 Mobile Phone Number and Text Messages

When you verify your phone number, we collect the mobile number you enter. By tapping “Send code”, you agree to receive text messages from Gatchi at that number: one-time verification codes, and account and security alerts (for example, a notice that your account was signed in to, changed, restricted, or deleted). We do not send marketing or promotional text messages. Message frequency varies with your account activity. Message and data rates may apply. Reply STOP to opt out, or HELP for help, or contact [email protected].

Mobile information will not be shared with third parties or affiliates for marketing or promotional purposes. Text messaging opt-in data and consent are not shared with or sold to any third party; they are processed only by our SMS provider to deliver the messages described above.

Alongside the number, we store a keyed, one-way hash of it. The hash cannot be turned back into your number without a secret key that only our servers hold, and it lets us tell when the same number is used again without keeping the number itself. After your account is deleted, your phone number is deleted with the rest of your personal data, but the hash is kept for 3 years (see Section 6).

3.7 Photo Verification Images (Biometric Data)

Gatchi does not allow accounts that use someone else's profile photo. People meet in person through Gatchi, so photo verification is how everyone here knows the face in the photos is the one who turns up. We call it photo verification because that is what it is for; what it does is take pictures of your face. You look at the front camera and move your head as instructed, and we capture nine still images of your face — three for each of three instructions. These are compared against each other to confirm a live person is present, and the front-facing one against your profile photos.

These images are biometric data, a special category of personal data under GDPR Article 9 and sensitive information under Korea's Personal Information Protection Act. We process them only with your explicit, separate consent (GDPR Art. 9(2)(a); PIPA Art. 23), requested on its own screen before the camera opens.

Declining is a real option, and you keep a real service. You can refuse the check, or simply never do it, and still create an account, complete your profile, browse, open profiles, send and receive messages and invites, and use Gatchi normally. Two things change:

• You cannot host or join an activity. This is the only thing we ourselves withhold. An activity is an agreement between strangers to be in the same place at the same time, which is the one point at which photos nobody has checked turn into a person standing in front of another person.
• Members who asked to see verified profiles only will not see you, and cannot be invited by you. That setting belongs to them, not to us, and it is on by default — so in practice many members will not see an unverified profile. You can turn it off for yourself in Settings, and so can they.

Your profile is marked "Not verified" wherever it is shown, including on your shareable web profile, so that anyone deciding whether to meet you knows what has and has not been checked. You are told all of this on the consent screen before the camera opens, and on your own profile afterwards. You are never charged for declining, your account is not deleted or suspended for declining, and you may change your mind in either direction at any time.

We keep these images rather than deleting them after the check, for one purpose: your photos are yours to change, and when you change one we compare the new photo against the frames we already have. Without them, an account could verify honestly and then swap in someone else's picture, which a one-time check cannot detect. The comparison happens on our servers and asks you for nothing.

You may also be asked to verify again because other members reported you.If several different members report your profile photos as someone else's — and only that report, not any other kind — we ask you to re-run the check. Our review staff can ask for the same thing directly. While that request is open, your account is treated as unverified: your photos are hidden from other members, you do not appear to anyone who has asked to see verified profiles only, and you cannot host or join an activity. You keep your account, your messages and everything else.

The restriction rests on the reports, not on your answer to us. Passing the check lifts it immediately and closes the reports. You have three days, and nothing happens automatically when they are up: a member of our team looks at the account and decides — restoring it, or, if the photos are someone else's, suspending or closing it under our Terms. You can write to [email protected] instead of, or as well as, taking the check, and that is the way to answer if you would rather not be photographed again. We do not tell you who reported you, and we do not tell them what you did about it.

How these images are protected:

• Stored encrypted, in storage that is not publicly accessible.
• Never served from our public content network, never given a public URL, never shown to other users.
• Openable only by our review staff, through a link that expires within minutes, with every access recorded in an audit log naming who opened it.
• Never used for advertising, profiling, or to train any model.
• Deleted when your account is deleted (see Section 6).

You may withdraw this consent at any time by contacting [email protected]. We delete the images, and your account returns to the unverified state described above — it stays open, you keep browsing and reading, and you stop appearing to other members. Nothing else about your account changes.

4. How We Use Your Information

We use your personal data only for the purposes listed below, each with its legal basis under GDPR Article 6:

5. Information Sharing

We do not sell your personal data. We share your information only as described below.

5.1 Other Users

Your profile information — including your name, age, gender, photos, interests, bucket list, and approximate location — is visible to other Gatchi users as part of the core discovery and matching functionality.

The feed.Posts you publish to the feed, and the comments and replies you write there, can be seen by every Gatchi user except people you have blocked, who cannot see your posts. Each post shows your name, age, nationality, whether your photo is verified, and either the dates you are in Korea (if you are travelling) or the city you live in, taken from your profile and trip. Reactions are public too: the people who tap “Like”, “Interested”, “I’m in” or any other emoji on a post are listed on that post by name and photo, so if you react to a post, other users can see that you did. If you appear in a photo in someone else’s post and do not want it shown, you can report it for that reason and the photo is hidden while we review the report.

Memories.A Memory is a post about somewhere you have been. Set to “Everyone”, it is shown like any other post — on the feed and your profile — and, if you link it to an activity, on that activity and as a card in its group chat. Set to “Only me”, no one but you can see it, anywhere. Your profile also shows public Memories that other people posted from activities you went to, with their name on each; you can hide any of them from your profile. Photos you pick for a Memory from an activity’s group chat remain part of that chat: if the person who sent one withdraws it, or it is hidden after a report, it disappears from the Memory too. When you choose a photo from your phone, we read the date and place it was taken only to suggest when and where for the Memory; the coordinates are not stored.

Shared posts.You or another user can share a post outside Gatchi as a link. The link opens a web page that anyone who has it can view: the post’s text, photos and videos, place and dates, your name, nationality and main profile photo, and how many reactions and comments it has — not the comments themselves, nor who reacted. These pages ask search engines not to index them. A Memory set to “Only me” and a post hidden after a report have no web page. Turning off your shareable web profile hides your profile page, not your posts’ pages: your name stays on them, without a link to your profile.

Shared activities.An open activity has a public web page anyone can view without an account: its title, description, photos, time, meeting place and neighborhood, the host’s name and main profile photo, and how many people are going, with the others shown only under masked names. Search engines may list an open activity until it is over, and it can appear in their results with its time and place and, if the host has a shareable web profile, the host’s name. Private activities ask search engines not to index them. An activity we remove, or one whose host we have suspended or removed, stays at its link marked as cancelled, with its details.

5.2 Service Providers

We use the following third-party services, which may process your data on our behalf:

5.3 Legal Requirements

We may disclose your personal data if required to do so by law, court order, or government authority, or when we reasonably believe disclosure is necessary to protect the rights, property, or safety of Gatchi, our users, or the public.

6. Data Retention

• Active accounts: We retain your personal data for as long as your account remains active.
• After account deletion: Your personal data — including your name, email address, photos, profile, phone number, and location — is retained for 30 days after you delete your account, so that you can recover it by signing in again. After 30 days, it is permanently and irreversibly deleted from our systems, except for the content you shared with other users and the limited safety record, both described below.
• Content you shared with other users: Messages, photos and videos you sent in a direct or group chat, content you posted to an activity, and posts, comments and replies you published to the feed, stay where you shared them after your account is deleted. They are part of a conversation, an activity or a discussion that other people share and have answered, and removing your part would leave their record with holes in it. They are shown as from a “deleted user”, without your name or profile. If you want something removed before you go, delete it yourself where the App allows it, or ask us at [email protected]. We keep this content on the basis of our and the other participants’ legitimate interest in an intact shared record (GDPR Art. 6(1)(f)), and you can still ask for erasure under Section 7.
• Safety record after deletion: To prevent fraud and abuse, we keep the following for 3 years after your account is deleted, and then delete it:
  • A keyed, one-way hash of your verified phone number (see Section 3.6.1)
  • Your account’s internal ID, and when and how it was deleted
  • Records of suspensions or bans on your account
  • Reports made by or about you, and the actions we took on them
  This record is used only to stop a suspended or banned user from registering again with the same phone number, to keep blocks that other users placed on you in effect, and to handle disputes or legal claims. It contains no name, photo, email address, or phone number, and is never used for advertising or shown to other users.
• Photo verification images: Retained for as long as your account exists, rather than deleted after the check completes, so that a photo you add or change later can be compared against them. See Section 3.7 for why and for the controls on who can open them. They are deleted with the rest of your personal data after your account is deleted, or earlier if you withdraw consent.
• Legal holds: We may retain certain data for longer periods where required by applicable law.

Note: Even after deletion, your account appears as a "deleted user" in conversations and activities you participated in. Your name and profile are not displayed.

7. Your Rights Under GDPR

If you are located in the European Economic Area (EEA), or if GDPR otherwise applies to your use of the Service, you have the following rights regarding your personal data:

• Right of Access (Art. 15): Request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• Right to Rectification (Art. 16): Request correction of inaccurate or incomplete data.
• Right to Erasure (Art. 17): Request deletion of your personal data. You can also delete your account directly in the App under Settings. The limited safety record in Section 6 is kept for its stated period, because it exists to protect other users from someone returning after a ban.
• Right to Restrict Processing (Art. 18): Request that we limit how we use your data in certain circumstances.
• Right to Data Portability (Art. 20): Receive your personal data in a structured, machine-readable format.
• Right to Object (Art. 21): Object to processing based on legitimate interests.
• Right to Withdraw Consent: Where processing is based on your consent (e.g., location access, push notifications), you may withdraw consent at any time through your device settings or the App's Settings screen. Withdrawal does not affect the lawfulness of prior processing.

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at [email protected]. We will respond within 30 days.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection supervisory authority. EEA residents can find their authority at edpb.europa.eu.

8. International Data Transfers

Our servers are located in the Republic of Korea. If you access the Service from the EEA or other jurisdictions, your data is transferred to and processed in Korea.

We also use Google and Apple services, which may process your data in the United States and other countries. These transfers are carried out under appropriate safeguards, including standard contractual clauses approved by the European Commission, as provided by Google and Apple.

9. Security

We implement appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect your personal data, including encrypted data transmission (TLS/HTTPS), short-lived access tokens stored securely on-device, and automated content moderation to remove flagged accounts from discovery.

No method of transmission or storage is completely secure. You are responsible for maintaining the security of your device and the accounts you use to sign in to Gatchi.

10. Children's Privacy

Gatchi is intended for users who are 18 years of age or older. We do not knowingly collect personal data from anyone under 18. If we become aware that a user is under 18, we will terminate their account and delete their associated data promptly.

If you believe a minor is using our Service, please contact us at [email protected].

11. Cookies and Analytics

Our website (gatchi.co) uses Google Analytics to understand how visitors interact with the site. Google Analytics collects anonymized usage data.

The App uses Google Analytics for Firebase to understand how Gatchi is used and where it falls short. It records which screens are opened and when key actions happen — for example signing up, posting, starting or joining an activity, sending a like or a message, sharing, verifying a photo, or filing a report — together with your Gatchi account ID (a random identifier, not your name or email), whether you are travelling or live in Korea, whether your photo is verified, an app-instance identifier, and device information such as model, operating system, app version and approximate location derived from your IP address. It does not receive what you write, the photos you share, who you talk to, or your precise location, and we have turned off the collection of advertising identifiers and device vendor identifiers. Google processes this data on our behalf; see Section 5.2 and Section 8.

Ad measurement (Meta).To tell which of our ads bring people to Gatchi, the App uses the Meta SDK to send Meta Platforms a limited record of app activity: that the App was installed and opened, that you completed sign-up, your device’s advertising identifier (Android) and basic device information. It never sends your messages, photos, profile, location or who you talk to. On iOS we do not ask for permission to track you, so Meta measures our iOS ads only in aggregate, without identifying you.

If your device is set to a country in the European Union or European Economic Area, the United Kingdom or Switzerland, nothing is sent to Meta unless you allow it when the App asks you (legal basis: consent, GDPR Art. 6(1)(a)). Everywhere else it is on by default (legal basis: our legitimate interest in measuring our advertising, Art. 6(1)(f)). Wherever you are, you can switch it off at any time under Settings → Ad measurement, and we keep a record of each choice you make. Meta processes this data under its own privacy policy.

Partner banners.The top of the feed may show a banner from a partner or sponsor, labelled as one where that applies. Tapping it opens the partner’s link outside the App. We record, against your Gatchi account, each time a banner is shown to you and whether you tap or close it, so that a banner you closed is not shown to you again and so that we can count how many people saw and tapped it. Partners receive only those totals, never who saw or tapped their banner. A banner may be meant only for members from outside Korea, or only for members from Korea; we choose which to show you from the nationality on your profile, and from nothing else in your profile or activity. The choice is made on our servers, nothing about you is passed to the partner to make it, and no advertising network, advertising identifier or third-party SDK is involved (legal basis: our legitimate interest in running and measuring partnerships, Art. 6(1)(f)).

We do not sell your data, and apart from these banners we do not show ads inside the App.

12. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of material changes by updating the "Last Updated" date at the top of this page and, where appropriate, by sending an in-app or push notification. Your continued use of the Service after changes take effect constitutes your acknowledgment of the revised policy.

13. Contact Us

For privacy-related questions, requests, or concerns, please contact: