We collect the information we need to provide Shabyar, help you connect with other members, operate the Platform and keep it safe. This includes information you add to your profile, your photos, location information where you choose to provide or permit it, and information about how you use and interact with Shabyar.
We do not sell your personal information for money.
Members on the free tier may see advertising provided through Google AdMob. We do not provide advertisers with your Shabyar profile, private messages, photos, email address or phone number for advertising purposes. Google and participating advertising partners may, however, process certain device, advertising, technical and ad-interaction information as explained in section 9.
You can delete your Shabyar account at any time through Settings > Delete Account. When you delete your account, we delete or de-identify personal information associated with your account except for limited information we reasonably need to retain for safety, fraud prevention, legal, accounting, dispute-resolution or similar purposes, as explained in sections 12 and 13.
1. About This Policy
This Privacy Policy explains what information PP Tech Solutions Pty Ltd (ABN 27 673 804 969), trading as Shabyar (“Shabyar”, “we”, “us” or “our”), collects about you, how we use it, who we disclose or make it available to, how long we retain it, and the choices and rights available to you.
This Privacy Policy applies to the Shabyar mobile application for iOS and Android (the “App”), our website at shabyar.com, and the services we provide through them (together, the “Platform”).
Shabyar is operated from Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. We handle personal information in accordance with applicable Australian privacy law, including the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles (“APPs”) where they apply to us.
Depending on where you live, additional privacy laws and rights may also apply. Nothing in this Privacy Policy is intended to limit any privacy right you have under applicable law.
The Platform is only for people aged 18 or over. By creating an account, you confirm that you are at least 18.
By creating or using an account, you agree to our Terms of Service and acknowledge that you have read this Privacy Policy. Acknowledging this Privacy Policy does not replace any separate consent we may be required to obtain for particular types of information or processing. Where consent is required, we will seek it separately where appropriate.
If you do not want us to handle your information as described in this Privacy Policy, you should not use the Platform.
2. Information You Provide
Most of the personal information we hold is information you give us directly.
- Account details: your email address and information or identifiers provided by the sign-in method you use, such as Google or another sign-in provider where offered. If password-based sign-in is offered, passwords are handled using appropriate security safeguards; we do not receive the password you use for third-party services such as Google.
- Phone number: where phone verification or phone sign-in is available, we may collect your phone number, verification status and information about when verification occurred. Verification codes may be delivered by an SMS provider such as Twilio.
- Profile information: information you choose to add to your profile, which may include your name, date of birth, age, gender, sexual orientation or who you are interested in meeting, relationship preferences, age and distance preferences, biography, occupation, company, education, school, height, weight, body type, ethnicity, smoking, drinking, exercise and diet preferences, whether you have or want children, languages, religious beliefs, political views, interests and similar profile information.
- Location information you enter: such as your country, city, suburb, postcode or ZIP code, where the Platform allows you to enter these manually.
- Photos: photos you upload or capture for use on the Platform, including your main profile photo and any verification images if a photo or identity-verification feature is offered and you choose to use it.
- Messages and content: messages, attachments, message requests, reactions and other content you send through the Platform.
- Reports, safety information and support requests: information you provide when you report or block another member, make a safety complaint, appeal an account action or contact us for help.
Sensitive information
Some profile information may be considered “sensitive information” or a special category of personal information under applicable privacy laws. Examples can include sexual orientation, ethnicity or racial origin, religious beliefs, political opinions and some health-related information.
Providing these fields is optional unless we clearly tell you otherwise. Where applicable law requires consent before we collect or use sensitive information, we will seek appropriate consent. Choosing to provide a sensitive profile field after receiving an appropriate notice may form part of that consent process.
You can generally withdraw that information from your profile at any time. If you withdraw consent for processing that relies on consent, we will stop future processing based on that consent, subject to information we are permitted or required to retain for legal, safety or other legitimate purposes.
Remember that profile information you choose to make visible may be seen by other Shabyar members. You should only add information you are comfortable sharing with potential matches.
3. Information We Collect Automatically
When you use Shabyar, certain information may be generated or collected automatically.
- Device and technical information: device identifiers, device type or model, operating system, language or configuration information, App version, IP address, network information and similar technical information.
- Connection and session information: browser or App user agent, session information, sign-in and sign-out times and information required to maintain your authenticated session.
- Security information: information about sign-in attempts, verification attempts, suspicious activity and related IP, device or security information. We use this information to prevent fraud, spam, account takeovers and other misuse.
- Platform activity: profiles shown to you, profiles you view, like or pass on, matches, message or like limits, read-receipt information, conversations you initiate and other interactions with Platform features.
- Call information: if voice or video calling is available, information needed to establish and operate the call, such as the participants, time, status and technical connection information.
- Push notification information: a device or push-notification token, such as a Firebase Cloud Messaging token, that allows us to send notifications to your device.
- Advertising information: if you use the free tier, Google AdMob and its advertising technology partners may collect or receive advertising identifiers, IP address, device information and information about advertisements shown to you or interacted with, as further explained in section 9.
We do not currently use a separate third-party product analytics SDK solely to track behavioural analytics across the Platform unless we tell you otherwise. Some infrastructure, authentication, advertising or notification providers may nevertheless generate technical logs or service-related information as part of providing their services.
Our website uses cookies or similar technologies where necessary to operate the website. If we later introduce analytics, marketing or other non-essential tracking technologies, we will update this Privacy Policy and obtain any consent required by applicable law.
4. Location Information
Helping members find people in an appropriate area is an important part of Shabyar.
Depending on the features you use, location information may come from information you enter yourself — such as your country, postcode, city or suburb — or from your device location where you grant permission.
Where you give Shabyar permission to access device location, the App may collect latitude and longitude while you are using the App, along with information derived from that location such as your city, suburb or country and the time the location was last updated.
We may use location information:
- to show you members within or near your selected distance
- to determine which profiles may be relevant to you
- to show other members an approximate distance from you
- to help prevent fraud or misuse where reasonably necessary
- to maintain and improve location-based functionality
We do not display your exact GPS coordinates or street address to other members.
You can also revoke Shabyar’s access to your device location through your device settings. If you disable device location, some nearby or distance-based functionality may become unavailable or less accurate. Where available, you may still be able to use a manually selected location.
5. How We Use Your Information
We use information described in this Privacy Policy for purposes including:
- creating, authenticating and maintaining your account
- verifying age eligibility and helping prevent underage use
- building and displaying your profile
- showing your profile to other members who may be relevant to you
- providing matching and discovery features
- delivering messages and notifications
- providing voice or video calling where that feature is available
- operating subscriptions, in-app purchases and free-tier limits
- displaying advertising on the free tier
- preventing fraud, spam, impersonation, abuse and other prohibited conduct
- investigating reports and enforcing our Terms of Service
- suspending, restricting or banning accounts where appropriate
- responding to support requests and complaints
- troubleshooting technical problems and maintaining Platform reliability
- developing, testing and improving Platform features
- understanding in an aggregated or de-identified way how Platform features are used
- protecting Shabyar, our members and other people
- complying with legal obligations and responding to lawful requests.
Matching and automated recommendations
Shabyar uses information such as your age and distance preferences, location, interests, profile information and interactions — including likes, passes and matches — to determine which profiles may be shown to you and which members may be shown your profile.
Some of these recommendations and ranking decisions are generated automatically by software. Automated recommendations are intended to help organise and personalise the dating experience; they do not guarantee compatibility, interest, safety or the accuracy of another member’s information.
We may also use automated systems to identify signals associated with spam, abuse, fraud or suspicious account activity. Where applicable law gives you rights relating to automated decisions that significantly affect you, those rights will apply.
Legal basis where applicable
Where a law such as the EU or UK GDPR applies to a particular processing activity, depending on the activity we may rely on performance of our agreement with you, your consent, compliance with a legal obligation, protection of vital interests, or our legitimate interests or those of others where those interests are not overridden by your rights.
Sensitive information and precise location information may require consent in some circumstances. You may withdraw consent as described in section 14, although withdrawing consent may affect features that depend on that information.
6. Messages, Calls and Moderation
Messages
Messages are stored so they can be delivered to you and the person you are communicating with and remain available as part of the conversation.
Shabyar messages are not represented as end-to-end encrypted unless the App specifically tells you otherwise.
You should therefore avoid sending passwords, financial information, identity documents or other information that you would not want another person to retain.
Voice and video calls
Where voice or video calling is available, calls may use technologies such as WebRTC to establish a connection between participants. Shabyar does not intentionally record the audio or video content of calls unless we clearly tell you otherwise and obtain any consent required by law.
We may retain technical information necessary to establish, operate, troubleshoot and protect the calling feature, such as who initiated the call, its time, duration or status and related connection information.
Moderation and safety
When a user reports a profile, photo, message or other content, authorised Shabyar personnel may review information reasonably necessary to investigate the report and decide whether action is required.
We may also review relevant information where reasonably necessary to investigate suspected fraud, abuse, threats, child-safety concerns or serious breaches of our Terms of Service.
Access to user information for moderation should be limited to people who require it for their role.
7. Notifications and Communications
We may send push notifications about matches, messages, likes, calls, account activity and other Platform features through services such as Firebase Cloud Messaging.
Where phone verification is offered, verification codes or similar service messages may be delivered by SMS through a provider such as Twilio.
We may also send email or in-App communications relating to your account, subscriptions, safety, privacy, changes to our services or other important administrative matters.
You can control optional push notifications through Shabyar’s notification settings where available and through your device settings.
Certain communications are necessary to operate or protect your account — for example verification codes, security alerts, legal notices and important account notices — and you may not be able to opt out of those communications while maintaining an active account.
If we introduce promotional or direct-marketing communications, we will provide an appropriate way to opt out where required by law.
8. Subscriptions and Payments
Shabyar may offer paid products such as Shabyar Silver and Shabyar Gold through the Apple App Store and Google Play.
The applicable app store processes your payment. Shabyar generally does not receive your full payment card number or bank account details for purchases processed entirely by Apple or Google.
We may receive and retain information necessary to verify and administer your purchase, such as:
- the store or platform used
- subscription or product type
- transaction or purchase identifier
- validation or receipt information
- purchase, renewal or expiry status
- refund or cancellation status.
Apple or Google may notify us when a subscription renews, expires, is cancelled, refunded or otherwise changes so that we can update your access.
You must manage or cancel your subscription through the platform through which you purchased it.
Deleting the Shabyar App or deleting your Shabyar account does not necessarily cancel a subscription with Apple or Google. You should cancel the subscription separately through your App Store or Google Play account.
Apple and Google handle information they receive under their own privacy policies and terms.
9. Advertising
Members using Shabyar’s free tier may see advertisements served through Google AdMob.
We do not provide advertisers with your Shabyar profile, profile photos, private messages, email address or phone number for the purpose of serving advertisements.
However, advertising does involve data processing. Google AdMob and participating advertising technology partners may collect or receive information such as:
- IP address
- device and operating-system information
- advertising identifiers, where available
- publisher or app identifiers
- information about advertisements displayed
- ad impressions, clicks or other interactions
- technical information needed for ad delivery, measurement, fraud prevention and reporting.
Depending on your location, device settings, consent choices and our AdMob configuration, this information may be used to provide personalised or non-personalised advertising and to measure advertising performance.
Google and certain advertising partners may process this information under their own privacy terms and legal obligations. They are not permitted to receive personally identifiable Shabyar account information from us merely because they serve advertisements.
Where required by applicable law, we or Google may ask for advertising consent or provide privacy choices before personalised advertising information is used.
On iOS, Apple’s App Tracking Transparency controls may also apply to tracking or access to the advertising identifier.
On Android and iOS, you can use your device privacy or advertising settings to limit certain forms of ad personalisation or tracking.
You can also remove Shabyar advertising by purchasing an applicable ad-free subscription where available.
For information about how Google handles information, see Google’s Privacy Policy and Google’s information about how data is used when you use apps or sites that use Google services.
Advertising settings and technologies can change over time. We may update this section where our advertising configuration materially changes.
11. International Data Transfers
PP Tech Solutions Pty Ltd (ABN 27 673 804 969) is based in Australia.
Some of the service providers used to operate Shabyar have operations, servers, support teams or data-processing infrastructure in multiple countries, including Australia, the United States and other countries in which those providers operate.
As a result, your information may be transferred to or processed in a country other than the country in which you live.
Where Australian Privacy Principle 8 applies to an overseas disclosure, we take reasonable steps as required in the circumstances to address the protection of personal information disclosed overseas, subject to the exceptions permitted by Australian law.
Where other international-transfer laws apply, we may use contractual, organisational or other legally recognised safeguards appropriate to the transfer.
Because global technology providers may change infrastructure locations, the precise countries involved may change over time. We will update this Privacy Policy where there is a material change to the way we handle international transfers.
You may contact us at admin@shabyar.com if you would like further information about material overseas processing relevant to your information.
12. Data Retention
We do not intend to keep identifiable personal information indefinitely simply because it may be useful in the future.
We retain personal information for as long as reasonably necessary for the purpose for which it was collected, to operate the Platform, protect members, resolve disputes, enforce our agreements and meet applicable legal obligations.
Generally:
- Account and profile information is retained while your account remains active.
- Photos and profile content are retained while needed for your account and are scheduled for deletion or de-identification when the associated account or content is deleted, subject to backups, legal obligations and the exceptions described below.
- Messages and conversations are retained while necessary to provide the messaging service. After deletion, copies of messages already delivered to another member may remain available to that member, and limited copies may temporarily remain in backups or where required for a safety investigation, legal obligation or dispute.
- Security, login and verification information may be retained for a limited period reasonably necessary to detect fraud, abuse, account takeovers and similar security threats.
- Records relating to banned or restricted accounts may be retained for as long as reasonably necessary to enforce a ban, investigate serious abuse or prevent a person from immediately circumventing a safety restriction.
- Reports and safety information may be retained for an appropriate period having regard to the seriousness of the issue, the need to protect members, legal requirements and potential disputes.
- Purchase, transaction, taxation and accounting information may be retained for the period required by applicable law or reasonably necessary to establish or defend legal claims.
- Information subject to a legal hold, investigation or dispute may be retained until the relevant matter is resolved and any applicable retention requirement expires.
- De-identified or aggregated information that can no longer reasonably identify you may be retained for research, statistical, security or service-improvement purposes.
Information that has been deleted from active systems may remain temporarily in encrypted backups, caches or disaster-recovery systems until those systems are overwritten through their normal retention cycle. We do not intend to restore deleted account information to active use except where reasonably necessary for disaster recovery, security or legal purposes.
We periodically review the categories of information we retain and aim to delete or de-identify personal information when it is no longer reasonably required, subject to applicable law.
13. Deleting Your Account
You can request deletion of your account at any time through:
Settings > Delete Account
Deleting your account is different from simply deleting the Shabyar App from your phone. Removing the App does not by itself delete your account or cancel an App Store or Google Play subscription.
When you request account deletion:
- your account will no longer be available for normal use
- your profile will stop being presented as an active dating profile
- we will delete or de-identify account and profile information that we no longer need
- we will delete photos associated with the account from active storage where reasonably practicable
- your likes, matches and other account-linked dating information will be removed or de-identified in accordance with our systems and retention requirements.
Deletion from active systems may take a reasonable period to complete across our databases, storage systems and service providers. Backup copies may remain temporarily until they are overwritten through normal backup cycles.
Information that may remain
Account deletion does not necessarily erase every piece of information immediately.
For example:
- messages already delivered to another member may continue to be visible to that member
- another member may have independently saved or screenshotted information you shared
- purchase, accounting or tax records may have to be retained
- limited safety, fraud or ban-enforcement records may be retained
- information may be retained where necessary for an unresolved complaint, investigation, legal claim or legal requirement
- temporary backup copies may remain until overwritten.
Information retained after account deletion will not be kept for general dating or marketing purposes merely because the account previously existed.
If you cannot access your account, you may request deletion by emailing admin@shabyar.com from the email address associated with your account where possible.
We may take reasonable steps to verify your identity before processing an external deletion request.
Account deletion does not automatically cancel an Apple App Store or Google Play subscription. You must separately manage or cancel the subscription through the applicable store.
14. Your Privacy Controls and Rights
Shabyar provides controls intended to give you meaningful choices over your information.
Depending on available features, you may be able to:
- edit or remove information from your profile
- remove optional sensitive profile information
- turn off Show Age
- turn off Show Distance
- pause or hide your profile
- use incognito or similar visibility controls where available
- block or report another member
- change notification preferences
- revoke camera, microphone, photo or location permissions through your device
- change advertising or tracking permissions through your device or an applicable consent interface
- delete your account.
Access and correction
You may ask us for access to personal information we hold about you and ask us to correct information that is inaccurate, out of date, incomplete, irrelevant or misleading.
There is no fee merely to make an access or correction request. Where applicable law permits a reasonable charge for the actual cost of providing access, we will tell you before charging it.
Consent
Where we rely on your consent to process particular information, you may withdraw that consent. Withdrawal does not make processing that lawfully occurred before withdrawal unlawful, and it does not require us to delete information we remain legally entitled or required to keep.
Withdrawing consent may mean that a feature depending on that information can no longer operate.
Additional rights in some countries
Depending on where you live and whether the relevant law applies to Shabyar, you may have additional rights, such as the right to:
- request deletion or erasure
- restrict certain processing
- object to certain processing
- receive certain information in a portable format
- object to direct marketing
- withdraw consent
- receive information about certain automated decision-making
- lodge a complaint with your local privacy or data-protection authority.
These rights are subject to the conditions and exceptions in the applicable law.
Making a request
Email admin@shabyar.com to make a privacy request.
We may ask you to verify your identity before providing personal information or making a significant change to your account.
We aim to respond within a reasonable period. For Australian access requests, we generally aim to respond within 30 calendar days, although more complex requests may require additional time.
Privacy complaints
If you believe we have mishandled your personal information, please email admin@shabyar.com and describe:
- what happened
- the information involved
- when it occurred, if known
- how you would like the issue resolved.
We will investigate privacy complaints and aim to provide a response within 30 days where reasonably practicable.
If you are not satisfied with our response and Australian privacy law applies, you may be able to complain to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC).
People in other jurisdictions may also have the right to contact their local privacy or data-protection regulator.
15. Data Security
We take reasonable steps designed to protect personal information against misuse, interference, loss, unauthorised access, modification and disclosure.
Our safeguards may include, depending on the system involved:
- encryption of network traffic using HTTPS/TLS
- access controls limiting who can access production systems and member information
- authentication and session-security controls
- security logging and monitoring
- controls designed to detect repeated or suspicious authentication attempts
- use of reputable infrastructure and cloud-service providers
- appropriate restrictions on staff or contractor access
- backups and recovery controls
- security updates and review of vulnerabilities where appropriate.
Where authentication is handled by a third-party identity provider, that provider may be responsible for storing and securing the relevant authentication credential. We do not receive the password you use to sign in directly to services such as Google.
No internet or electronic-storage system can be guaranteed to be completely secure. Accordingly, we cannot guarantee that unauthorised access, loss or misuse will never occur.
You are also responsible for taking reasonable steps to protect your account and device.
If an eligible data breach occurs and the Australian Notifiable Data Breaches scheme applies, we will notify affected individuals and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner where required by law.
We may also provide breach notifications where another applicable law requires us to do so.
16. Minors and Child Safety
Shabyar is strictly for people aged 18 and over.
We do not knowingly permit people under 18 to create or maintain a Shabyar account.
If we reasonably determine that a member is under 18, we may suspend or remove the account and delete associated information, subject to information we are legally permitted or required to preserve.
If you believe someone under 18 is using Shabyar, contact us at admin@shabyar.com.
Child sexual abuse and exploitation
Shabyar has zero tolerance for child sexual abuse, exploitation or sexual content involving minors.
Where we become aware of suspected child sexual abuse material, grooming, exploitation or other conduct requiring or permitting a report, we may preserve relevant records and report the matter to law enforcement, child-safety organisations or another competent authority as required or authorised by law.
This safety-related preservation may override an ordinary account-deletion request where necessary or required by law.
See the relevant child-safety and reporting provisions in our Terms of Service.
17. Third-Party Services and Links
The Platform may interact with or link to services operated by third parties, such as:
- the Apple App Store
- Google Play
- Google sign-in or other sign-in providers
- payment or subscription platforms
- websites linked by other members
- advertising services or external content opened from an advertisement.
These third parties operate independently from Shabyar and may collect information under their own privacy policies and terms.
This Privacy Policy does not control how an independent third party handles information that you provide directly to it or that it lawfully collects through its own service.
We encourage you to review the privacy policy of a third-party service before providing it with personal information.
18. Changes to This Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy when:
- our Platform or features change
- the service providers we use change
- our privacy practices change
- security or operational requirements change
- applicable law or regulatory guidance changes.
When we update the policy, we will update the Last updated or Effective date at the top.
Where a change materially affects how we collect, use or disclose your personal information, we will take reasonable steps to bring that change to your attention, such as through an in-App notice or email where appropriate.
If a new use of your information requires consent under applicable law, we will seek that consent rather than treating continued use of Shabyar by itself as consent to the new processing.
Changes will take effect on the stated effective date unless otherwise explained.
19. Contact Us
For questions about this Privacy Policy, privacy requests, account-deletion assistance or privacy complaints, contact:
PP Tech Solutions Pty Ltd (ABN 27 673 804 969), trading as Shabyar, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Email: admin@shabyar.com
Privacy and account-deletion requests should include enough information for us to identify the relevant account and understand your request. Please do not send passwords or unnecessary identity documents by email.
Questions? Email admin@shabyar.com.