Privacy Policy

Laiden is a free dating and friendship app for verified university students. It is an independent project operated by Ulaş Ahmet Kıraç, who is the data controller responsible for your personal data. This policy explains what we collect, why, and the rights you have under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and Dutch data-protection law.

For any question about your data, or to exercise your rights, email support@getlaiden.com.

We collect only what we need to run Laiden. Most of it is information you give us when you sign up and build your profile; some is created as you use the app; and a little is collected automatically to keep the service working and safe.

We only use your data for the reasons below, and each has a legal basis under the GDPR:

To provide Laiden (contract). Creating your account, showing your profile, finding matches, delivering messages, and running events, so we can give you the service you signed up for.

To match you (your explicit consent). Using your gender and who you are interested in relies on your explicit consent, which you give during onboarding and can withdraw at any time.

To keep Laiden safe (legitimate interests). Moderating photos and messages, reviewing reports, preventing fraud, spam, and abuse, and protecting our users and the service. Moderation is a mix of automated checks and human review: trained moderators may review profile content (photos, bio, doodle) and, when a conversation is reported or our safety filters are triggered, the relevant messages, to enforce our guidelines and keep users safe.

To meet our legal duties (legal obligation). Responding to lawful requests from authorities and keeping any records the law requires us to keep.

To understand and improve Laiden (consent). Optional, privacy-friendly analytics and any non-essential email rely on your consent, which you can change at any time.

A dating app cannot match people without knowing a little about who they are looking for. On Laiden, your gender and the people you are interested in can reveal your sexual orientation. Under the GDPR this is “special-category” data, which gets extra protection.

We process it only on the basis of your explicit consent, which we ask for clearly during onboarding, never pre-ticked, and separately from the rest of sign-up. We keep a record of when you gave it and to which version of this notice, so we can show it was freely given.

You can withdraw this consent at any time from Settings, then Privacy & data in the app. When you withdraw, we stop using this data to match you and you are taken out of the matching pool. Withdrawing does not affect anything we did lawfully before you withdrew.

Laiden orders the profiles you see using signals such as your filters, who has already liked you, recency, and how complete a profile is. This helps surface relevant people, but you always choose who to like, message, or meet. There is no solely-automated decision that produces legal or similarly significant effects for you within the meaning of Article 22 of the GDPR.

We never sell your data and we do not use it for advertising. Other users see the parts of your profile you choose to show, such as your name, age, photos, doodle, bio, and study details, together with your activity with them, such as a match or a message.

To run Laiden we rely on a small number of trusted service providers who process data on our behalf, under contract and only on our instructions:

We store and process data within the European Economic Area (EEA) wherever we can. Some of our providers are based outside the EEA, for example in the United States. Where personal data is transferred outside the EEA, we rely on appropriate safeguards, such as the European Commission’s Standard Contractual Clauses or an adequacy decision, so that your data keeps an equivalent level of protection.

We keep your data only as long as we need it. Your profile and activity stay with us while your account is active, and are deleted when you delete your account.

Under the GDPR you have the right to:

You can download a copy of your data and delete your account directly from the app’s settings, as explained on our Account Deletion page. For anything else, email support@getlaiden.com and we will respond within the time the law allows (normally one month).

Laiden is only for adults. You must be at least 18 to use it, and we do not knowingly collect data from anyone under 18. If we learn that an account belongs to someone under 18, we remove it.

The Laiden app is mobile-first and mostly uses secure storage on your own device, rather than browser cookies, to keep you signed in and working. Our website uses a small number of essential cookies so it functions and keeps you signed in. With your consent, we may also use privacy-friendly analytics to understand how Laiden is used so we can improve it; non-essential analytics never runs without your consent, and you can change that choice at any time.

We take protecting your data seriously. Data is encrypted in transit and at rest, access is limited, photos and messages are moderated, and we test the app for security issues. No service can promise perfect security, but if a data breach ever affects your rights, we will notify the Dutch Data Protection Authority, and you where required, as the law demands, normally within 72 hours of becoming aware of it.

We may update this policy as Laiden grows. If we make a material change, we will give you reasonable notice by email or in the app before it takes effect. The date at the top shows when it was last updated.

Laiden is operated by Ulaş Ahmet Kıraç. For any privacy question, email support@getlaiden.com. If you are not happy with how we handle your data, you can also complain to the Dutch Data Protection Authority, the Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens (autoriteitpersoonsgegevens.nl).