Privacy Policy
Friend Circles App — Last updated: February 17, 2026
1. Introduction
Friend Circles ("we", "our", or "the App") is committed to protecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, and safeguard your information when you use our mobile application.
2. Information We Collect
We collect the following types of information to provide and improve the App:
- Account Information: Email address and name when you create an account via Firebase Authentication.
- Profile Information: Name, profession, skills, interests, hobbies, and profile photo that you voluntarily add to your profile.
- Phone Number: Optionally provided by you to enable WhatsApp integration with circle members. Your phone number is never displayed publicly.
- Ratings & Recommendations: Your ratings, wishlists, and reviews of movies, series, books, places, apps, and products.
- Location Data: When you choose to broadcast your location to your circles. Location sharing is always opt-in and only visible to selected circle members.
- Microphone / Audio: When you use the voice search feature to search for topics or people within your circles. Audio is processed in real-time for speech-to-text conversion and is not stored or transmitted to any server.
- Contacts: With your permission, we access your device contacts solely to help you find and invite friends to the App.
3. How We Use Your Information
- To create and manage your account and profile.
- To enable circle creation, joining, and member discovery.
- To provide social recommendations from trusted friends.
- To send push notifications about circle activity (invites, ratings, broadcasts).
- To enable voice-based search using speech recognition.
- To display relevant advertisements via Google AdMob.
4. Microphone Permission
The App requests microphone access (RECORD_AUDIO) solely for the voice search feature. When you tap the microphone icon in the network search bar, your speech is converted to text locally on your device. We do not record, store, or transmit any audio data.
5. Data Storage & Security
Your data is stored securely using Google Firebase (Cloud Firestore and Firebase Storage). We implement appropriate security measures to protect your information from unauthorized access, alteration, or destruction.
6. Third-Party Services
The App uses the following third-party services, each with their own privacy policies:
7. Data Sharing
We do not sell, trade, or share your personal information with third parties, except:
- Information you explicitly share within your circles (ratings, recommendations, broadcasts).
- Profile information visible to your circle members (name, profession, skills, interests).
- As required by law or to protect our rights.
8. Your Rights
- You can update or delete your profile information at any time within the App.
- You can control notification preferences from the Settings screen.
- You can delete your account from the Settings screen, which removes all your data.
- You can revoke microphone, contacts, and location permissions from your device settings at any time.
9. Children's Privacy
The App is not intended for children under 13 years of age. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13.
10. Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Changes will be posted on this page with an updated revision date.
11. Contact Us
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact us at:
Email: learn2livefully2@gmail.com