Non-member Privacy Notice

This notice explains how Hinge may collect, use, and retain the personal data of individuals who are not Hinge members (“non-members”), in connection with certain optional Hinge features.

Why We Collect Non-member Personal Data

As a non-member, Hinge may collect and process your personal data in the following circumstances:

1. Block List: If an existing Hinge member uses the optional Block List feature and blocks you, Hinge will collect and process your contact information–as it appears in the contact list of the blocking member’s device–at their direction, to help prevent you from seeing each other’s profiles on Hinge.
2. Friend's Take: If a Hinge member invites you to submit a written, photo, audio, or video endorsement about them for possible inclusion on their Hinge profile, Hinge will process the information you choose to submit (your endorsement content, optional name, and relationship to the member), as well as associated technical and usage data (as described in greater detail in this notice and in the FAQ linked above) to operate the feature and promote the safety and security of the Hinge service.

Non-member Personal Data We May Collect

As a non-member, Hinge may collect the following data about you:

• In connection with a Hinge member’s use of the optional Block List feature:
  • Your contact information, including your name, phone number, or email address, as they appear in the contact list of the Hinge member’s device. We do not collect additional profile data about you when you are blocked; we only collect and retain enough information to enforce the block.
• In connection with the optional Friend’s Take feature:
  • The content you voluntarily submit, such as your text, photo, video, or voice endorsement, the optional name that you include with your endorsement, and your relationship to the Hinge member;
  • Technical data about the device(s) you use to access the Friend's Take website, such as the device type, device language, browser, and IP address;
  • Usage data regarding your activity on the Friend's Take website, such as when you accessed it, information shown to you, actions you took, and, if applicable, that you submitted an endorsement and when; and
  • Customer support data, including the data necessary to address any Customer Care inquiries you may submit, reports that other users may submit regarding your endorsement content, and moderation records.

Why and How We Use Non-Member Personal Data

Hinge will use the non-member personal data described above for the following purposes, as applicable:

• In connection with the Block List:
  • To operate the feature, in performance of our contract with the member who initiates the block: we process your data at the blocking member’s direction to enforce blocks and help prevent you from seeing each other’s profiles on Hinge;
  • For our legitimate interest in improving the feature, including through machine learning and other technologies; and
  • For compliance with legal obligations that apply to Hinge.
• In connection with Friend's Take: 
  • With your consent, regarding any endorsement content you choose to submit;
  • To operate the feature, in performance of our contract with the Hinge member who requests an endorsement (i.e., by serving the web experience to the non-member from whom the member requests an endorsement, transmitting endorsements to the requesting member for review, and displaying approved endorsement content on their profile if they so choose);
  • For our legitimate interests in ensuring the security and integrity of the Hinge service and its members, preventing abuse, and improving the feature, including through machine learning and other technologies; and
  • For compliance with legal obligations that apply to Hinge, such as taking down illicit content.

We may share non-member personal data with service providers that help us operate and improve the applicable feature, as well as with other Hinge members. For example, we will share a non-member’s Friend's Take with: (i) the member who requested the endorsement; and (ii) with other members who see the endorsement on the requesting member’s profile, if the requesting member opts to add the endorsement to their profile.

Our Friend's Take website uses Cloudflare Turnstile to help protect against spam submissions. Please refer to Cloudflare Turnstile’s Privacy Addendum for more information.

We do not use non-member personal data for unrelated purposes, such as targeted advertising or to train models unrelated to the feature for which the data is collected, nor do we share it with other Match Group entities for unrelated purposes.

Cross-Border Data Transfers

Because Hinge operates a global service, the sharing of your personal information, as described above, may involve cross-border transfers to the United States of America and other countries that may have different laws about data processing. When we transfer personal data outside of the EEA, the United Kingdom, Switzerland or other countries whose data protection laws have been deemed adequate by the European Commission or other competent governmental bodies, we typically rely on what are called standard contract clauses. These standard contractual clauses are commitments between companies transferring personal data, binding them to protect the privacy and security of your data. Contact us for a copy.

Retention and Deletion of Non-Member Data

We retain non-members’ personal information for the period necessary to achieve the purpose(s) for which the information was collected, as follows:

• Block List: The non-member’s contact information is retained for the life of the account of the Hinge member who blocked them, to enforce the Block List. If the blocking member deletes their account or removes the block, we will delete the non-member’s contact information from Block List records within 90 days.
• Friend's Take:
  • When a Hinge member deletes an endorsement, Hinge deletes the endorsement within 90 days.
  • Otherwise, Hinge retains an endorsement for the life of the requesting member’s account, to operate the feature and allow the member to rotate endorsements on and off their profile, as they see fit.

We retain limited data for longer periods, as necessary for safety, security, or legal compliance.

Your Choices and Rights

Non-members who wish to exercise their rights regarding the personal data that Hinge collects and processes about them (e.g., to access, correct, or delete their personal data or object to Hinge’s processing of the data) may do so by contacting Hinge Support with a clear description of the request.

Notwithstanding the above, please note that Hinge’s ability to respond to non-members’ privacy requests may be limited in practice, given the limited data we collect from and about them. Additionally, in some cases, Hinge may be required to inform the Hinge member of a non-member’s request (e.g., if a non-member requests the deletion of a previously provided Social Endorsement, as described further in the Friend's Take FAQ).

Data Security and Protection

We implement reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect non-user information from unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, or destruction. Please see our Security Help Center for additional information.

If You Become a Hinge User

If you subsequently create a Hinge account using contact details that were previously processed in your capacity as a non-user (e.g., a blocked phone number or email address processed in connection with Block List), we may link that contact information to your Hinge user account to continue to provide the feature. 

Contact and Further Information

If you have questions about how your non-user information is processed, or if you would like to exercise your privacy rights, please submit a request. 

You can also consult the full Hinge Privacy Policy at: https://hinge.co/privacy