Effective date: March 16, 2026

Privacy Policy

SONO is operated by Shatara Creative Studio LLC. This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect, how we use it, when we share it, and what choices you have. If you have questions, contact us at support@trysono.com.

1. Who we are

SONO is a social platform designed to help people find a +1 for real life experiences such as coffee, walks, workouts, study sessions, and local events. In this policy, “SONO,” “we,” “our,” and “us” refer to Shatara Creative Studio LLC as the operator of SONO.

2. Information we collect

• Account and profile data: name, email address, phone number (collected for account authentication and profile verification), profile photo, age or date of birth, city, interests, preferences, and account credentials.
• Profile verification information: If you choose to verify your profile, we collect your phone number for one-time passcode (OTP) verification and a selfie/photo submitted for manual profile verification. The selfie is temporarily stored in Firebase Storage and is accessible to authorized SONO team members through our administrative panel for manual review. It is deleted after the verification request is approved or rejected. SONO does not use the selfie for facial recognition, biometric identification, facial matching, AI face analysis, or creation of biometric templates.
• User activity data: experiences you browse, pings you send, matches you make, messages you exchange, reports you submit, and settings you choose.
• Location information: With your permission, SONO may collect approximate location (such as city or neighborhood), precise location information while using the app, and meetup location information associated with activities you create or join. Location information may be used to show nearby activities and users, improve matching, enhance safety features, prevent fraud and abuse, and support future safety and verification tools. You can manage location permissions through your device settings.
• Authentication providers: We may receive authentication information from identity providers such as Apple Sign In and Google Sign In when you choose to create or access your account using those services.
• Device and usage data: IP address, browser type, device identifiers, operating system, crash logs, analytics events, and app performance information.
• Support communications: information you provide when you email us or contact us for help.

Content You Share

Information you submit through SONO may include:

• Profile information and profile photos
• Activity titles and descriptions
• Messages
• Interests and preferences
• Reports and feedback submitted to SONO

This information may be visible to other users depending on your settings and interactions within the platform.

3. How we use information

• To provide, operate, and improve SONO.
• To create and manage accounts, profiles, pings, matches, and messaging.
• To authenticate accounts and phone numbers using one-time passcodes (OTP).
• To review and complete profile verification requests.
• To display a Verified Badge on profiles that successfully complete verification.
• To personalize the experience and surface relevant experiences or users.
• To support safety, moderation, abuse prevention, and investigations.
• To communicate with you about the product, updates, support, and operational messages.
• To analyze usage trends, diagnose issues, and improve performance.
• To comply with legal obligations and enforce our Terms.

Automated Systems

SONO may use automated systems and algorithms to:

• Recommend activities
• Improve matching
• Detect fraud or abuse
• Support moderation and safety efforts
• Improve platform performance

These systems are designed to improve the user experience and safety of the platform.

4. When we share information

We do not sell personal information. We may share information in the following circumstances:

• With other users: profile details, interests, approximate location, and content you choose to share through the platform.
• With vendors and service providers: hosting providers, analytics tools, customer support tools, and security vendors that help us run SONO.
• For legal reasons: when required by law, subpoena, court order, or to protect rights, safety, and property.
• Business transfers: if SONO or Shatara Creative Studio LLC is involved in a merger, acquisition, financing, or asset sale.

We may also disclose information when reasonably necessary to protect the safety of users or others, investigate threats, harassment, abuse, or unlawful conduct, respond to emergencies involving risk of harm, or comply with legal obligations and law enforcement requests.

Service Providers

SONO may use trusted third-party service providers to operate and improve the platform, including providers for:

• Authentication and phone number verification (including OTP delivery)
• Hosting and cloud infrastructure
• Analytics
• Crash reporting
• Customer support
• Email delivery
• Payment processing (if applicable)

These providers may process information on our behalf under contractual obligations designed to protect your information.

Verification Infrastructure

SONO uses Firebase Storage to temporarily store verification selfies while Profile Verification requests are awaiting manual review. Firebase provides the infrastructure used to store the verification selfies for SONO. Verification selfies are not shared with other users and are not used for advertising or marketing.

5. Legal bases for processing

Depending on where you live, we may process personal information based on your consent, our legitimate interests in operating and improving SONO, the performance of a contract with you, and compliance with legal obligations.

6. Safety, Trust & Reliability

We may collect and process information related to safety, trust, and platform integrity, including:

• Reports, complaints, and safety concerns submitted by users
• Blocking and moderation actions
• Reliability indicators based on confirmations, cancellations, participation history, and other platform interactions
• Investigations of suspected abuse, fraud, harassment, unsafe conduct, or violations of our Terms

We may use this information to improve safety, enforce platform rules, prevent misuse, and maintain trust within the SONO community.

SONO may create and display trust, safety, or reliability indicators based on platform interactions, including activity participation, confirmations, cancellations, reports, and related engagement signals. These indicators are intended to help maintain a safe and reliable community experience.

Profile Verification & Verification Selfies

SONO offers an optional Profile Verification feature designed to help confirm that profiles belong to real people and support trust and safety on the platform.

When a user chooses to verify their profile, SONO collects:

• The user's phone number for one-time passcode (OTP) verification.
• A selfie/photo submitted by the user for profile verification.

• Purpose: the verification selfie is used solely by SONO to manually review and confirm the authenticity of the user's profile.
• Manual review: verification selfies are reviewed by authorized SONO team members through the SONO administrative panel.
• No biometric processing: SONO does not use verification selfies for facial recognition, biometric identification, facial matching, AI face analysis, or creation of biometric templates.
• Storage: verification selfies are temporarily stored in Firebase Storage while the verification request is awaiting review.
• Sharing: verification selfies are not shared with other users and are not sold or used for advertising or marketing.
• Retention and deletion: a verification selfie is deleted from Firebase Storage after the verification request is either approved or rejected. The selfie is not retained as part of the user's public profile.
• Verification result: the outcome of the verification, including verified status and the Verified Badge, may remain associated with the user's account after the original selfie has been deleted.

7. Cookies and analytics

We may use cookies, pixels, local storage, and similar tools to remember preferences, understand traffic, and improve product performance. We may also use analytics providers to understand how users interact with our website and app.

8. Data retention

We keep information for as long as reasonably necessary to operate SONO, comply with legal obligations, resolve disputes, enforce our agreements, and maintain safety records. Retention periods may vary depending on the type of data and the purpose for which it was collected.

Verification Selfies

Verification selfies are temporarily retained only while a Profile Verification request is awaiting manual review. The selfie is deleted from Firebase Storage after the request is approved or rejected.

The verification result, such as verified status or the Verified Badge, may be retained as part of the user's account record. The original verification selfie is not retained as part of the user's public profile.

Account Deletion

When you request account deletion:

• Your profile will no longer be visible to other users
• We may delete or anonymize certain personal information
• Some information may be retained for legal compliance, fraud prevention, safety investigations, dispute resolution, and platform security purposes
• Backup systems may retain certain information for a limited period before deletion

Verification selfies are separately deleted after the Profile Verification request is approved or rejected and are not retained as part of the user's public profile.

9. Security

We use reasonable administrative, technical, and organizational safeguards designed to protect personal information. No method of storage or transmission is completely secure, so we cannot guarantee absolute security.

10. Your rights and choices

• You may request access to, correction of, or deletion of certain personal information.
• You may ask us to stop using certain information where legally available.
• You may opt out of marketing communications by using unsubscribe links or contacting us.
• You may control location permissions through your device settings.

Your Rights

You may request:

• A copy of your personal information
• Correction of inaccurate information
• Deletion of eligible information
• Information about how your data is processed

To submit a privacy request, email support@trysono.com.

11. Children's Privacy

You must be at least 18 years old to create a SONO account or use the platform. If we learn that a user under 18 has provided personal information, we may remove the account and associated information.

12. International transfers

Your information may be processed and stored in the United States or other countries where our service providers operate. These locations may have data protection laws that differ from those in your country.

13. Third party links

SONO may link to third party services such as Instagram, TikTok, or other external services. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of those third parties.

14. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. If we make material changes, we may provide notice through the website, the app, or by other appropriate means. The updated version will include a new effective date.

15. Contact us

For privacy questions, requests, or concerns, contact us at support@trysono.com.