What We Mean
QiaoDao ("we," "us," "our") is a social application that lets people send anonymous messages — bottles — drifting into a digital ocean, where strangers may discover them. This Privacy Policy describes how we collect, use, store, and protect the information you share with us when you use QiaoDao on any device or platform.
By using QiaoDao, you agree to the practices described here. If you do not agree, please refrain from using the service.
What We Collect
Information you provide
- Account details — a nickname, an avatar, an optional email address or phone number used for sign-in or account recovery.
- Profile information — birthday, gender, language, and other optional fields you choose to display.
- Content — the text, voice notes, or images placed inside the bottles you send, reply to, or save.
- Communications — anything you write to our support team or community moderators.
Information collected automatically
- Device data — device model, operating system, language, time zone, crash logs, and approximate IP-based location.
- Usage data — bottles cast and picked up, reactions, session length, and feature interactions, used to improve the experience.
- Cookies and similar technologies — small identifiers that keep you signed in and help us understand aggregate usage trends.
Information from third parties
If you sign in through a third-party service (such as Apple, Google, or WeChat), we receive a limited identifier and the basic profile details you have authorized that service to share.
How We Use It
We use the information we collect to:
- Operate the bottle-drifting and matching mechanics that make QiaoDao work.
- Personalize your experience — surfacing bottles and conversations you may enjoy.
- Keep the community safe by detecting spam, abuse, harassment, and illegal content.
- Communicate with you about updates, security notices, and changes to this policy.
- Comply with legal obligations and enforce our Terms of Service.
- Improve QiaoDao through aggregate, non-identifying analytics.
Bottles & Messages
Bottles are anonymous by design. When you cast a bottle, your nickname and selected profile details may be visible to the person who picks it up, but your account identifiers (such as email, phone number, or sign-in token) are never shared with other users.
Messages exchanged between two users in a private conversation are stored on our servers so that the conversation can continue across sessions and devices. You may delete a conversation at any time, which removes the messages from your view; the other participant retains their own copy unless they also delete it.
To protect the community, we may temporarily retain reported content for review by our moderation team, even after a user has deleted it.
Sharing & Disclosure
We disclose information only in the limited circumstances listed below:
- With other users — only the profile information and content you intentionally publish.
- With service providers — trusted vendors who help us host servers, send notifications, or analyze crashes, bound by confidentiality obligations.
- For legal reasons — when required to comply with applicable laws, valid legal process, or to protect the rights, property, or safety of users or the public.
- In a business transfer — if QiaoDao is involved in a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets, in which case we will notify you before your information is transferred.
Storage & Security
We protect your information using industry-standard practices: encryption in transit (TLS), encrypted storage for sensitive fields, restricted access for our staff, and regular security reviews. No system is perfectly secure, but we work to reduce the risks as much as possible.
We retain personal data for as long as your account remains active. If you delete your account, we erase or anonymize your personal information within a reasonable period, except where we are legally required to retain it.
Your Rights & Choices
Depending on where you live, you may have the right to:
- Access the personal information we hold about you.
- Correct information that is inaccurate or incomplete.
- Delete your account and the personal data associated with it.
- Object to or restrict certain processing activities.
- Receive a portable copy of your data.
- Withdraw any consent you have previously given.
You can exercise most of these rights directly from the app's Settings screen, or by writing to us at the contact address below. We will respond within the timeframe required by applicable law.
Children's Privacy
QiaoDao is not intended for children under the age of 13 (or the minimum age required by the laws of your country). We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has provided us with their information, please contact us so we can remove it.
International Transfers
QiaoDao operates globally. Your information may be processed in countries other than the one in which you live. When we transfer data internationally, we rely on appropriate safeguards — such as standard contractual clauses — to ensure your information remains protected.
Changes to This Policy
We may update this policy from time to time. If we make material changes, we will notify you through the app or by other reasonable means before the changes take effect. The "Last Revised" date at the top of this page always reflects the current version.