Lobster Privacy Policy

Effective Date: 3rd December 2024

1. Introduction

Welcome to the Lobster App ("the App"), provided by Lobster Global Limited ("the Company"). This Privacy Policy is designed to help you understand how we collect, use, disclose, and safeguard your personal information. By using the App, you agree to the practices described in this Privacy Policy.

Contact Information

If you have any questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact us at:

2. Data Collection

The App collects the following data from users:

Personal Information

  • Name: This is used for user identification.

  • Gender: This helps us provide a more personalized experience.

  • Date Of Birth: To ensure compliance with age restrictions.

  • Email Address: To send important updates such as changes to the privacy policy or terms of service.

  • Phone Number: To verify the user’s identity during the registration process and ensure the integrity of the platform

Profile Information

  • Lower/Higher Age Preference, Max Distance Preference: Used for personalised matching

  • Bio: Used to help connect users with others who share compatible interests and preferences

  • Interests: Collected to match users based on shared hobbies and activities

  • Lifestyle: Used to facilitate connections between users who have similar lifestyles and values

Usage Data

  • Left/Right Swipes Given/Received Count: Used to track user interactions and preferences, helping to improve match suggestions and overall app experience

  • Like/Swipe Data: Collected to better understand user preferences

  • User Activity/Login Count: Tracked to assess user engagement and optimise the app experience

Profile And Behaviour Insights

  • Profile Completion Percentage: Monitored to encourage users to complete their profile and improve overall user experience

  • Interests: Used to analyse user preferences and enhance the matching algorithm

  • Confidence Values Of User Attributes Based On Profile Pictures: Collected to improve match recommendations and personalisation

User-Uploaded Photos: Users may upload photos, typically of themselves, to use on their profiles. These photos are used to enhance user profiles and facilitate interactions within the App.

3. Location Data

We collect location data to enhance the user experience by:

  • Showing users other nearby users to facilitate connections.

  • Providing distance estimates for user matches.

The App collects real-time location data to enable location-based features, such as showing nearby users and calculating approximate distances.

Exact location data is never stored. We collect and process your exact location data temporarily, immediately transforming it into obfuscated location information.

4. Purpose of Data Collection

User data is collected solely for the following purposes:

  • To provide the core services of the App, such as matching users and facilitating interactions.

  • To improve the functionality and performance of the App.

  • To conduct analytics and research which helps improve existing features, develop new ones and enhance the user experience

5. User Consent

By signing up for the App, users explicitly consent to the collection and processing of their data as described in this Privacy Policy.

6. Withdrawal of Consent

Users can withdraw their consent at any time by deleting their account. Upon account deletion, user data is promptly deleted from our systems. Due to data backups, deleted user data will remain restorable for up to 35 days. Deleted data will only be restored in exceptional circumstances such as when required by law

7. Security Measures

We have implemented robust security measures to protect user data, including:

  • Encryption: Data transmission is secured using encryption protocols.

  • Access Control: Access to user data is restricted to authorized personnel.

  • Regular Audits: We conduct security audits to ensure data protection.

8. Data Retention

When a user deletes their account through the App, their personal data will be deleted immediately from our systems. Due to data backups, the deleted data will remain restorable for up to 35 days. Deleted data will only be restored in exceptional circumstances such as when required by law

If we ban your account after determining a violation of our terms of service or community guidelines, we may keep data relating to the account to protect our platform.

9. Children's Privacy

The App is not intended for users under 18 years old, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from individuals under this age. If you believe that we have inadvertently collected information from a minor, please contact us at safety@lobsterglobal.com.

10. GDPR Compliance

Right To Access Or To Know: You can access/review some of your account data through the App. To request a full copy of your personal data please contact us at support@lobsterglobal.com

Right To Rectify Or Correct: You can update your account data directly through the App. This includes correcting inaccurate or outdated information, such as your name, email address or preferences. If you are unable to make the necessary changes through the App, you can contact us at support@lobsterglobal.com for assistance.

Right To Erasure: You have the right to request the deletion of your personal data from our systems at any time. If you choose to delete your account, all personal data associated with your account will be erased. Please note that due to data backups, some data may remain restorable for up to 35 days. You can request account deletion directly through the App or by contacting our support team.

Right To Withdraw Consent: You have the right to withdraw your consent for the collection and processing of your data at any time. While there are no specific data collection activities that you can opt out of, you can choose to delete your account at any time. Upon account deletion, your personal data will be deleted from our system immediately, subject to retention requirements for legal/operational purposes. Please note that withdrawing consent will limit your ability to access the App. 

We are committed to complying with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and other applicable data protection laws. If you have GDPR-specific questions or requests, please contact us using the information at the top of the privacy policy.

11. What We Don’t Do

We do not sell your personal data: Your personal information is never sold or rented to third parties for marketing or any other purposes.

We do not track you for targeted advertising: We do not use your data to create targeted advertisements or share it with advertisers.

We do not engage in unauthorised data sharing: Your personal data will not be shared with unauthorised parties unless required by law or in response to a legitimate legal request.

We do not track your online activity outside the app: We do not monitor or collect data on your activities outside of the app, such as browsing behaviour or other websites or apps.

We do not allow third-party data mining or scraping: We do not permit third parties to extract, scrape or gather user data from our app.

We do not extract or store location data from EXIF metadata: We automatically remove EXIF data from uploaded media to protect user privacy

12. Data Storage And Sovereignty

All personal data collected by the App is stored within the United Kingdom and Ireland. We ensure that your data is stored securely and protected in compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). By storing data within these jurisdictions, we adhere to robust privacy protections to safeguard your personal information in line with EU and UK data protection standards.

13. Updates to this Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy to reflect changes in our data practices. We will notify users of any material changes through the App or via email.

14. Language and Accessibility

This Privacy Policy is available on our website. It can also be accessed from the app’s settings page.