Privacy Policy
Last updated: November 2, 2026
This Privacy Policy explains how Withly LLC ("Withly," "we," "our," or "us") collects, uses, shares and protects information when you use the Withly mobile app (the "App"). It also covers this website.
The short version
- We collect what we need to verify you're a student, match you into Circles and deliver your messages.
- Your birthday, gender, languages and matching choices are private. They are used for matching and are never shown to other users.
- Your school name comes from your college email, so it can't be faked. Other students see your first name, photo, school, majors and interests; in Circles, only your first name and photo.
- Circle messages and custom interests are checked by an automated safety service (OpenAI). Google Gemini helps the Circle host write questions; it never sees your messages.
- Circles and their messages are deleted after about 24 hours unless members choose to keep them.
- We do not sell your personal information and we do not show ads.
- You can delete your account in the App at any time (how to delete your account).
1. Information we collect
Information you give us
| Type | Examples | Who can see it |
|---|
| Account | College email address and password (handled by Google Firebase Authentication; we never see your password) | Only you. Your email is not shown to other users. |
| School | Your school name is set from your college email address (for example, evenfield.edu → Evenfield University). If we don't recognize the address, the name you type is shown and saved, without your name or email, in a list we review to add new schools. | Other Withly users, as part of your profile. |
| Public profile | Name, profile photo, school, majors and interests | Other Withly users see your first name, photo, school, majors and interests. Your full name is shown only if you let students find you by name (Me > Who can find me by name). In Circles, members see only your first name and photo, and a chat started from a Circle shows first names until both people have replied. |
| Custom interests | Interests you type yourself (not from our list) | Other users, once they pass an automated check. An interest that doesn't pass stays visible only to you, marked "Only you can see this one". New custom interests are counted, without your name or email, so popular ones can be added to the list. |
| Private matching settings | Birthday (to confirm you are 18+), gender, undergraduate or graduate level, your main and second circle language, who you'd like to meet, and whether you prefer your own campus or others | No one. Used only to form Circles. |
| App settings | Whether you join Circles every night, who can find you by name, muted chats, and whether you tapped "I'm in" for tonight's Circle or asked to join one after 8pm | Only you. Used to form Circles. |
| Your content | Messages, photos, voice messages, videos, files and reactions you send in Circles and Chats | The people in that Circle or chat. |
| Circle votes | Whether you chose to keep a Circle | No one. Votes are private; only the result is used. |
| Reports, blocks and support | Reports you file, people you block, emails you send us | Withly staff only. Blocked users are not told. |
Information collected automatically
- Time zone, so your Circle opens at 8pm your local time.
- Notification token for your device, so we can send push notifications. You can turn notifications off in your phone's settings.
- Matching history: which students you have already met, so we can avoid repeating the same people.
- Activity information such as read receipts, last message times and basic technical logs (for example, errors) needed to run and secure the App.
- Website analytics: this website uses Google Analytics to understand visits. The App does not use advertising trackers.
2. How we use information
- To verify that you are a college student aged 18 or older, and to create and secure your account.
- To form Circles each night based on your school, interests, languages and preferences, and to avoid matching you with people you have blocked or already met.
- To deliver messages and notifications, and to show read status in chats.
- To keep Withly safe: checking Circle messages for harmful content, reviewing reports, and enforcing our Terms of Service.
- To let other students find you by name in Chats, if you allow it: students at your school by default, students at any college if you choose, or nobody (Me > Who can find me by name).
- To maintain, fix and improve the App, and to communicate with you about your account.
- To comply with the law.
We do not sell your personal information, do not share it for targeted advertising, and do not use your messages to train AI models.
3. Service providers
We use a small number of providers to run the App. They process information on our behalf and only for that purpose:
- Google Firebase / Google Cloud (United States): accounts, database, file storage, server functions and push notifications.
- Apple Push Notification service: delivers notifications to iPhones.
- OpenAI moderation service: the text of messages sent in Circles, and custom interests you add to your profile, are sent to OpenAI's automated moderation service to detect harmful content. Only the text is sent, not your name, email or profile, and OpenAI does not use it to train its models.
- Google Gemini: helps the Circle host write tonight's question and icebreakers for quiet Circles. It receives the Circle's language, its prompt, an interest members share and, when the host greets people who share that interest, their first names. It never receives your messages, email, photo or private settings.
4. When we share information
- With other users, as described in the table above.
- For safety and legal reasons: if required by law, or if we believe in good faith that disclosure is needed to protect someone's safety, prevent fraud or abuse, or protect our rights.
- Business transfers: if Withly LLC is involved in a merger, acquisition or sale of assets, information may be transferred as part of that deal, subject to this policy.
We do not share your individual information or messages with your college or university.
5. How long we keep information
- Circles: about 24 hours after a Circle opens, it ends. If fewer than 2 members chose to keep it, the Circle, its messages, its media and its votes are deleted. If it is kept, it becomes a group chat with the members who kept it.
- Chats: kept until the chat is deleted or every member leaves.
- Account: kept while your account is active.
- Reports: kept as long as needed to keep the community safe and meet legal obligations.
6. Deleting your account
You can delete your account at any time in the App: Me > Account settings > Delete account (step-by-step: how to delete your account). This permanently deletes your account, profile, photo, private matching settings and matching history, and removes you from your Circles and Chats. Messages you already sent in chats that other people are still in remain visible to them, shown as from "Deleted User". You can also ask us to delete your data by emailing us.
To keep people safe, block records are kept after an account is deleted: the email addresses of the person who blocked and the person who was blocked. This stops a blocked person from getting around a block by deleting their account and signing up again. Reports may also be kept, as described above.
7. Your choices and rights
- Edit your profile and matching settings at any time in the App.
- Pause Circles by turning off "Join every night."
- Choose who can find you by name: nobody, students at your school, or students at any college.
- Block or report any user.
- Depending on where you live (for example, California), you may have the right to know, access, correct or delete your personal information. Email us to make a request; we will not discriminate against you for using these rights.
8. Security
Information is encrypted in transit and stored with Google Cloud, which encrypts data at rest. Access to user data is restricted by security rules so that, for example, your private matching settings can only be read by you and our server. No system is perfectly secure, so we cannot guarantee absolute security.
9. Age requirement
Withly is only for people 18 and older. We do not knowingly collect information from anyone under 18. If we learn that someone under 18 has created an account, we will delete it.
10. Where information is processed
Withly is operated from the United States, and information is stored and processed in the United States.
11. Changes to this policy
We may update this policy from time to time. If we make important changes, we will update the date above and, when appropriate, notify you in the App.
12. Contact
Withly LLC, Georgia, USA. Questions or requests: mohebbi@withly.co.