Privacy policy
Effective October 17, 2026. The short version: we collect only what it takes to run your groups, we don't show ads, we don't sell or rent your data, and we don't track you around the web.
What we collect
- Account details: your email address and the name you choose.
- What you post: posts, replies, listings, and the contact details you choose to share with each group.
- Group details: which groups you belong to, your role, and when you joined.
- Security records: the IP address and browser or device type used when you sign in and when you post. We keep these to prevent abuse and because we may need them for reports the law requires (see below).
- Reports you file, and reports filed about your content.
- Billing details, if you pay for a group's plan: your name, email, billing address and payment details are handled by our payment processor, Stripe. We keep only a reference to the Stripe customer and the plan, and never see or store full card numbers.
What we don't do
- We don't show ads, and we don't sell, rent or trade your information.
- We don't use tracking pixels, analytics trackers or advertising cookies.
- We don't browse groups, and we don't run software that reads or rates your posts.
Cookies
We use one cookie to keep you signed in, and a second one only for Frendivo's own administrators. That's all.
Who else handles your data
- Purelymail sends our emails (sign-in links and notifications), so it handles your email address and the text of those emails.
- Google Fonts supplies the typefaces on our pages, so your browser contacts Google's servers and shares your IP address with them when pages load.
- Stripe processes payments for paid plans. When you pay, Stripe handles your card details under its own privacy policy (stripe.com/privacy); we never see them.
Frendivo runs on servers we operate ourselves, not on a big cloud platform.
When we disclose information
- To other members: what you post and the contact details you choose to share are visible to the members of that group.
- When the law requires it: we respond to valid legal process as described in our law-enforcement guidelines. Content requires a search warrant. We notify affected users unless we're legally prohibited from doing so.
- Child safety: we report apparent child sexual exploitation to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, as federal law requires, including the related account information and IP addresses.
- Emergencies: when we believe in good faith that someone faces imminent danger of death or serious injury.
Images, once photo sharing opens
Posts are text-only for now. When photos open, every uploaded image will be checked against fingerprints of known child sexual abuse images. That check compares a fingerprint only: it can't see, describe or judge what's in your photos. See our free-speech promise.
How long we keep things
- Posts and replies: until you or a moderator delete them, or the group is deleted.
- IP and device records: 180 days.
- Backups: 7 days, after which deleted data is gone from them too.
- Copyright (DMCA) notices and counter-notices: 5 years after the last action on them.
- Child-safety reports and their evidence: 1 year after we report them to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, as federal law requires.
- Records named in a police preservation request: at least 95 days from the request or its latest extension.
- Records under any other legal hold: until the matter is over.
Sealed records of accounts we close
This applies only to an account that Frendivo closes for posting illegal content or for repeat copyright infringement. It does not apply to anyone else's posts, and it doesn't change how long we keep ordinary posts.
At the moment we close such an account, we seal a copy of its account details, posts, replies and private messages into one encrypted file. Photos are recorded only by their fingerprint, never copied. None of Frendivo's tools can open the file or show its password, and nobody at Frendivo reads it. It exists only for law enforcement and for court proceedings, and it is released only as the law allows, such as in answer to a search warrant. We keep it for 1 year (5 years for copyright cases), or longer only while a legal hold requires it, and then delete it.
We do the same, sealed and unread, when we receive a subpoena or court order naming an account. Those can only reach account records, never content, and we send only the records. But a search warrant may follow, so we freeze the account's content as it stood for 18 months. It is released only if a search warrant for it arrives, and is deleted after 18 months otherwise.
Your choices
- Edit or delete your own posts and replies at any time.
- Leave any group, change what contact details each group sees, or close your account from your account page.
- Email privacy@frendivo.com to get a copy of your data or to have your account and content deleted entirely.
Children
Frendivo is not for children under 13, and we don't knowingly collect information from them. If you believe a child under 13 has an account, tell us at privacy@frendivo.com and we'll delete it.
Security
Connections to Frendivo are encrypted. There are no passwords to steal: sign-in links work once and expire after 20 minutes. Administrator access requires a second factor, and every administrator action is permanently logged.
Changes and contact
If we change this policy significantly, we'll tell you by email or on the site first. Questions: privacy@frendivo.com.