Privacy Policy

Last updated: August 2026

This Privacy Policy explains how Kovio GmbH ("we", "us", "our") collects, uses, and protects your personal data when you use the Ilk website (ilkapp.com) and the Ilk mobile application. We are committed to protecting your privacy and handling your data in an open and transparent manner, in compliance with the Swiss Federal Act on Data Protection (nDSG) and the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Data Controller:
Kovio GmbH
Ussbergstrasse 4d, 8864 Reichenburg, Switzerland
Commercial Register / Reg No.: CH-130.4.037.280-3 (UID: CHE-242.027.017)
Email: office@ilkapp.com

1. Data collected on our website (ilkapp.com)

• Waitlist registration: email address, platform preference (iOS/Android), city and country (selected or detected), location coordinates (from browser geolocation or geocoding selection), location source, IP-derived location verification signals, language, and the time of your consent.
• Hosting: standard server log data (IP address, timestamp, page accessed, browser information) processed by our hosting providers for infrastructure security.

2. Data collected by the Ilk mobile app

• Account & profile: email, username, avatar configuration, bio, gender, looking-for preference, and optionally your date of birth. If you provide your date of birth, your integer age (e.g. "25") is calculated and displayed on your profile. Your exact birthdate (month and day) is never shared with other users.
• Interests: the interest categories you select, their depth in the interest tree, and strength values used for matching.
• Location: with your permission, your position is mapped to a coarse map cell (roughly neighbourhood-sized using the H3 spatial index). Ilk never stores or shows your exact coordinates to other users.
• Messages: chats are stored so they can be delivered and displayed. Chats with AI companions (always marked with an "AI" badge) are processed by our AI provider to generate replies.
• Purchases: (when the shop is enabled) processed by Apple/Google and our purchases provider; we never see your payment details.

3. Purpose and Legal Basis

We process your data for the following purposes:

• Service provision: to provide and maintain the Ilk app and website, including interest-based matching and proximity discovery (contractual necessity — GDPR Art. 6(1)(b)).
• Waitlist & beta programme: to organise beta cohorts by geography and invite you when your city opens (consent — GDPR Art. 6(1)(a)). We use this data for exactly one purpose and never for advertising or tracking.
• Communication: to send transactional notifications such as message alerts and account-related emails (legitimate interest — GDPR Art. 6(1)(f)).

4. Third-Party Services & Data Sharing

We use the following trusted third-party services to operate Ilk:

• Supabase — database, authentication, edge functions, and backend hosting.
• Vercel / Cloudflare — hosting of this website.
• Expo — app builds and push notification delivery.
• Groq — AI text generation for companion chats.
• Tavily — news search for AI companions (no personal data is sent).
• RevenueCat — purchase management (when the shop is enabled).
• OpenStreetMap Nominatim — geocoding and city search for the waitlist.

We do not sell your personal data to third parties.

5. Cookies and Tracking

This website uses only strictly necessary cookies (authentication sessions). We do not use any analytics, tracking, or marketing cookies.

6. Cross-Border Data Transfers

Your data is primarily stored and processed within the European Union via Supabase. We ensure adequate safeguards are in place for any data transfers outside the EU/Switzerland in compliance with nDSG and GDPR requirements.

7. Data Retention

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

• Waitlist emails: retained until the end of the beta programme or upon your deletion request.
• Account & profile data: retained until you request account deletion. Once you delete your account, your personal data, messages, and profile will be permanently deleted.

8. Data Security

We implement robust technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data against unauthorised access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction. Location data is always processed at a coarse granularity to preserve your privacy.

9. Your Rights (nDSG + GDPR)

You have the following rights regarding your personal data:

• Right to information: know what data we collect and how we use it.
• Right to rectification: correct inaccurate or incomplete data.
• Right to deletion: request the deletion of your personal data ("right to be forgotten").
• Right to data portability: receive a copy of your data in a structured, machine-readable format.
• Right to restriction of processing: limit how we process your data.
• Right to objection: object to our processing of your data.
• Right to withdraw consent: withdraw consent at any time.

To exercise these rights, please contact us at office@ilkapp.com. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with your supervisory authority (the FDPIC in Switzerland, or the relevant Data Protection Authority in your EU country).

10. Children's Privacy

Ilk is not intended for individuals under the age of 16. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children under 16. If we become aware that we have collected such data, we will take steps to delete it immediately.

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or legal obligations. We will notify users of significant changes, and the "Last updated" date at the top will reflect the latest version.

12. Contact

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or your data, please contact us at:
Kovio GmbH
Ussbergstrasse 4d, 8864 Reichenburg, Switzerland
Email: office@ilkapp.com

Beta Notice

The Ilk beta is pre-release software: features may change, break, or disappear, and beta data (profiles, messages, cosmetic items) may be reset before public launch. Purchases are disabled or run in sandbox mode during beta — you will not be charged real money. Please report issues via TestFlight feedback or office@ilkapp.com.

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