Privacy Policy

Last updated: August 2026

1. Information We Collect

Information you provide:

• Email address (for account creation and verification)
• Profile information (nickname, age, interests/tags)
• Content you post, messages you send, and interactions you make
• AI character (OC) configurations you create
• Selected photos from your device photo library (only images you manually choose to upload for character avatar creation; we never scan or access your full photo gallery automatically)

Information collected automatically:

• Device information (device type, operating system version)
• App usage data (features used, session duration)
• Log data (crash reports, performance data)
• Anonymized usage statistics for product optimization

2. How We Use Your Information

• Account management: To create, verify, and maintain your account.
• Matching & recommendations: To suggest people with shared interests using AI-powered matching.
• AI features: To generate personalized icebreakers and conversation suggestions based on your profile and interests.
• Communication: To send verification codes and important account notifications.
• Safety: To detect and prevent fraud, abuse, and violations of our Terms.
• Improvement: To analyze usage patterns and improve the app experience.

3. AI Data Processing Notice

Data sent: Your chat text, voice recordings, uploaded images, video clips, prompts, and related request metadata needed to process AI conversation features.

Processed by: OpenAI LLC via OpenAI API and Google LLC via Gemini API, both independent third-party artificial intelligence service providers.

Purpose: To generate AI conversation replies you request within chat sessions.

Critical Clarification: To deliver AI chat functionality, we transmit your conversation content to OpenAI and Google Gemini third-party AI APIs for real-time reply generation. All chat text, voice audio, uploaded images and video content shared with OpenAI and Google will only be used to fulfill your immediate AI conversation requests. We do not permit OpenAI or Google to use your submitted content to train their general AI models. We enter formal data processing agreements with both providers to enforce equivalent data security and privacy protection standards for your personal data as required by applicable laws. User chat media and text content will only be forwarded to third-party AI services after you explicitly grant consent via the mandatory in-app dual-choice authorization popup prior to any data transmission.

4. AI and Your Data

Sonder uses third-party AI services from OpenAI and Google Gemini to enhance your chat experience. Specifically:

• Your interest tags and profile information are used locally within our platform to compute compatibility scores and generate personalized social suggestions; this profile data is never sent to OpenAI or Google Gemini.
• Conversation context is only sent to OpenAI or Google Gemini if you approve the AI data consent popup and actively send chat text, voice, images or videos during conversations. We do not store your private conversations on our servers beyond what is necessary for message delivery.
• We do not use your private messages to train any internal or third-party AI models.
• AI-generated chat replies are created in real-time after your content is processed by OpenAI or Gemini.
• When you voluntarily upload photographs containing human faces via photo album selection to create custom AI characters: 1. We only receive the full original image file you select; we DO NOT extract facial biometrics, facial feature vectors, face geometry, or perform facial recognition, biometric matching or identity verification of any kind. 2. Your uploaded avatar images are solely used to generate personalized character avatars for your own use within Sonder; these avatar photos are never transmitted to OpenAI or Google Gemini AI services. 3. We will never share, sell or transmit your uploaded face-containing avatar photos to any third-party companies, AI vendors or external service providers. 4. All uploaded avatar media files are encrypted and stored on our secure self-operated internal cloud servers, with end-to-end encryption applied during data transmission between your device and our servers. 5. Uploaded avatar images will be permanently and irreversibly deleted from our servers immediately once you delete the corresponding custom character, with no backup copies retained. If you delete your entire Sonder account, all associated uploaded face images will be fully erased.

5. Information Sharing

We do not sell your personal information. We may share data with:

• Third-party AI Service Providers (OpenAI LLC & Google LLC): Your chat text, voice recordings, uploaded chat images and video clips are shared exclusively to generate AI conversation replies, only after your explicit in-app consent. Both providers are contractually obligated to maintain equal data security protections for your shared content.
• Service providers: Third-party vendors who help us operate the platform including secure cloud hosting infrastructure and anonymized usage statistics analysis. All these partners are bound by strict data confidentiality agreements, and none of them receive your chat/uploaded image data for AI processing.
• Usage Statistics: Anonymized usage data is collected to help us understand app performance and optimize functions.
• Legal requirements: When required by law or to protect our legal rights.

6. Data Retention

• Account data is retained while your account is active.
• You may request deletion of your account and associated data at any time through Settings.
• Some data may be retained for up to 90 days after deletion for legal and safety purposes.
• Content sent to OpenAI and Google Gemini is governed by each provider’s data retention policies for API requests; we do not control long-term storage of content on their external servers after transmission.

7. Your Rights

Depending on your location, you may have rights to:

• Access the personal data we hold about you.
• Request correction of inaccurate data.
• Request deletion of your data.
• Object to or restrict certain processing.
• Data portability.

To exercise these rights, contact us at [email protected].

8. Security

We take security seriously. All your personal data is protected through comprehensive encryption measures across all stages of data handling:

• All sensitive configuration and identity information is encrypted at rest.
• Locally stored data on your device is fully encrypted to prevent unauthorized access.
• All data transmitted between your device and our servers is encrypted during transfer.
• Your account authentication credentials are securely encrypted and stored separately.
• All uploaded face-containing avatar images are encrypted at rest within our internal storage systems.
• Data sent to OpenAI and Google Gemini is transmitted via encrypted API channels, subject to each provider’s published security safeguards.

9. Children's Privacy

Sonder is not intended for users under 18. We do not knowingly collect data from minors. If you believe a minor has created an account, please contact us immediately.

10. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy periodically. We will notify you of significant changes via in-app notification. Your continued use of Sonder after changes constitutes acceptance.

11. Contact Us

For privacy questions or concerns, please contact our privacy team at [email protected].