Privacy Policy

Last updated: June 11, 2025

1. Introduction

Welcome to Crowdroom!

Crowdroom (“we”, “us”, “our”) is a social video chat platform provided by Paton Four Pty Ltd, an Australian company. This Privacy Policy describes how we collect, use, store, and share your information when you use our services (“Service”).

Crowdroom is designed for users aged 16 and above. By using Crowdroom, you agree to this Privacy Policy.

2. What Information We Collect

We collect the following types of information:

2.1 Information You Provide

• Account & Verification Data: Your mobile phone number, email address, and birth year.
• Profile Data: Your chosen username, avatar, and country (optional).
• User Content: Group chat messages and reports you submit for moderation and safety purposes.

2.2 Information We Collect Automatically

• Usage Data: Device type, operating system, browser, IP address, session times, and your interactions within the app (e.g., features used, rooms joined).
• Technical Data: Data from cookies and local storage, which are essential for authentication, security, and remembering your preferences.

We do not record or store video or audio streams from your calls.

3. How We Use Your Information & Our Lawful Basis

We process your data based on specific legal grounds under regulations like the GDPR. We use your information to:

• Provide and maintain the Service: We process your account, profile, and usage data to operate Crowdroom.
  • Lawful Basis: Performance of a Contract.
• Verify your identity and enforce our age requirements: We use your birth year and verification data to ensure you are eligible to use the Service.
  • Lawful Basis: Performance of a Contract; Legal Obligation.
• Improve the Service: We analyze usage data to understand how our users interact with Crowdroom, allowing us to fix bugs and develop new features.
  • Lawful Basis: Legitimate Interest.
• Ensure Safety and Moderate the Platform: We use your reports and chat logs to prevent abuse, enforce our Community Guidelines, and protect our users. For users aged 16-17, we automatically enable “Safe Mode” as a protective measure.
  • Lawful Basis: Legitimate Interest; Legal Obligation.
• Comply with legal obligations: We may process your data if required by law, regulation, or a valid court order.
  • Lawful Basis: Legal Obligation.
• Communicate with you: We use your email address to send essential notifications about your account, our service, or changes to our policies.
  • Lawful Basis: Performance of a Contract.

4. How We Share Your Information

We do not sell your personal information to advertisers or data brokers.

We may share your data with:

• Service Providers: We use third-party companies for hosting and backend infrastructure (e.g., Supabase), video streaming (e.g., LiveKit), verification services (e.g., Plivo), and payment processing (Stripe). These providers are contractually bound to protect your data.
• For Legal Reasons: If required by law, we may disclose your information to law enforcement or other government bodies.
• In Business Transfers: If we are acquired by or merged with another company, your information may be transferred. You will be notified of any such change in ownership and of any choices you may have regarding your information.
• Our Moderation Team: Reports and flagged messages may be reviewed by our trained safety and moderation team to enforce our guidelines.

5. International Data Transfers

Your information may be processed and stored in countries outside your own, including Australia, the United States, and the European Union, where our service providers operate. We ensure that any such transfers are lawful and that your data is protected by implementing appropriate safeguards, such as Standard Contractual Clauses, as required by GDPR.

6. Data Retention

We retain your data only for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes for which it was collected:

• Account Data: Retained for as long as your account is active. If you delete your account, your personal data will be permanently deleted within 30 days, unless a longer retention period is required for legal or safety reasons.
• Chat and Moderation Logs: Retained for a maximum of 90 days to investigate rule violations and ensure platform safety, unless a specific incident requires longer retention for legal purposes.
• Video/Audio Streams: Never stored.

7. Your Rights and Choices

You have control over your personal information. Depending on your location, you have the right to:

• Access the personal data we hold about you.
• Correct inaccurate or incomplete data.
• Delete your account and associated data.
• Download a copy of your data in a portable format.
• Object to or restrict certain types of processing.
• Withdraw consent where we rely on it as our lawful basis.

You can exercise most of these rights directly through the “Download My Data” and “Delete My Account” options in your Crowdroom settings. For all other requests, please contact us at privacy@crowdroom.app.

7.1 Rights for Users in the EEA, UK, and Switzerland

If you are a resident of the European Economic Area, United Kingdom, or Switzerland, you have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority (a data protection authority) if you believe our processing of your personal data violates applicable law.

7.2 Rights for Users in California

We do not “sell” or “share” your personal information as those terms are defined under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). This section provides additional disclosures required by the CCPA. You have the right to know what personal information we have collected, used, and disclosed, and the right to request the deletion of your personal information.

8. Security

We take security seriously and have implemented technical and organizational measures to protect your data, including:

• Encryption of all data in transit (TLS) and at rest.
• Database-level encryption for sensitive information like your phone number, email, and birth year.
• Strict access controls for personnel, with all access logged for auditing.
• Regular reviews of our security practices.

9. Children’s Privacy

Crowdroom is strictly for users aged 16 and above. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under the age of 16. If we become aware that a user is under 16, we will immediately terminate their account and delete their data in accordance with legal requirements.

10. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. If we make material changes, we will notify you via the app or by email. Your continued use of Crowdroom after such updates constitutes your acceptance of the new policy.

11. Contact Us

For any privacy-related questions, requests, or to contact our data protection representative, please email us:

• Email: privacy@crowdroom.app
• Mail: Paton Four Pty Ltd, Level 5, 123 Pitt Street, Sydney NSW 2000, Australia