KindaJoin

Legal

Privacy Policy

Last updated: 23 May 2026

This Privacy Policy explains how Kinda Helps Ltd ("Kinda Helps", "we", "us" or "our") collects, uses, shares, and protects personal data when you visit our website at kindahelps.com, join our waitlist or, once available, create an account and use the Kinda Helps mobile application (together, the "Service").

We are committed to handling your personal data lawfully, fairly, and transparently. If anything in this policy is unclear, please email us at privacy@kindahelps.com.

1. Who we are

Kinda Helps Ltd is the data controller for the personal data described in this policy.

  • Registered office: Grangewood Lodge, Upper Green, Wimbish, Saffron Walden, CB10 2XQ, United Kingdom
  • Email: privacy@kindahelps.com
  • Supervisory authority (UK): Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), ico.org.uk

2. Scope of this policy

This policy covers two phases of the Service:

  • The waitlist (now). Limited personal data we collect when you sign up to be notified when Kinda Helps launches near you.
  • The Kinda Helps app (forthcoming). The personal data we will collect and process once you are able to create an account and use the app. Sections that describe future processing are clearly marked.

3. Personal data we collect

3.1 Waitlist data (collected today)

  • Email address: to notify you about the launch.
  • City or location text (optional): to prioritise where we launch.
  • Technical data: IP address, browser type, device type, referrer, and pages viewed, collected automatically through cookies and similar technologies (see Section 9).

3.2 Account & profile data (once the app is available)

  • Identity data: first name, last name, date of birth, profile photo, biography, and chosen language.
  • Contact data: email address and (optionally) phone number.
  • Authentication data: if you sign in with Apple, Google, or Facebook, the unique account identifier and basic profile fields shared by that provider in line with your consent.
  • Identity verification (KYC) data: a copy of a government-issued ID document and a live selfie, used to confirm your identity. This processing is performed by our identity provider Stripe Identity. We receive only a pass/fail result and limited verification metadata; the underlying images are stored by Stripe, not by us.
  • Social profile links (optional): Instagram or Facebook profile URLs you choose to add as social proof.

3.3 Activity & content data (once the app is available)

  • Requests and offers you create or accept, including category, description, time, and meeting location.
  • Approximate and precise location. When you set your location, we store the pin you place. To other users you appear at an approximate location (randomised within a small radius). Precise location is only shared with another user once you have both confirmed a match, and you control when that happens.
  • Messages you exchange in-app with a matched user.
  • Ratings, reviews, "state of mind" tags, and any photos or videos you choose to attach after a help interaction.
  • Reports and moderation data if you report another user or are reported by another user.

3.4 Device, technical and usage data

  • IP address, approximate location derived from IP, device model, operating system and version, app version, language and locale.
  • Diagnostic data such as crash reports and performance logs (collected via Sentry).
  • Push notification tokens (Apple Push Notification Service and Firebase Cloud Messaging).
  • Cookies and similar identifiers (see Section 9).

3.5 Data we do not collect

We do not ask for payment card details on the waitlist. We do not sell your personal data. We do not use your personal data to train third-party AI models.

4. How we use your data and on what legal basis

Under UK GDPR and the EU General Data Protection Regulation, we must have a lawful basis for each purpose for which we use your personal data. The table below summarises ours.

4.1 Waitlist

  • To notify you about the launch and early access Consent. You can withdraw at any time using the unsubscribe link in any email or by emailing us.
  • To understand demand by city: Legitimate interests (running our business in an informed way). You can object at any time.
  • To keep our site secure and prevent abuse: Legitimate interests (protecting the Service).

4.2 The app

  • To create and operate your account, match you with other users, and provide the Service: Performance of a contract (our Terms of Service, to be published before launch).
  • To verify your identity (KYC): Legitimate interests (preventing fraud and protecting users in an interaction-based community) and, where required by law, compliance with a legal obligation.
  • To process certain categories of data (e.g. images of ID documents): Substantial public interest and explicit consent where required by UK GDPR Article 9.
  • To send transactional and service messages (match confirmations, security alerts): Performance of a contract.
  • To send marketing emails or push notifications Consent, which you can withdraw at any time.
  • To keep the Service safe (moderation, abuse and fraud detection): Legitimate interests and, where applicable, legal obligations.
  • To improve the Service and analyse usage: Legitimate interests, using aggregated or pseudonymised data wherever possible.
  • To comply with the law and respond to lawful requests: Legal obligation.

5. Who we share data with

We share personal data only with the categories of recipients below, and only to the extent necessary. We require all processors to handle your data securely and in line with this policy.

  • Other Kinda Helps users: the profile and activity information you choose to publish (name, photo, ratings, and any content you post). Precise location is shared only with users you have matched with.
  • Hosting and infrastructure: Amazon Web Services (eu-west-1), Supabase (EU region), and Vercel (for the website).
  • Identity verification: Stripe Identity (Stripe Payments Europe, Limited).
  • Push notifications: Apple Push Notification Service and Google Firebase Cloud Messaging.
  • Maps and geocoding: Mapbox.
  • Crash and error monitoring: Sentry.
  • Email delivery: Loops (Loops Email Inc.) for transactional and waitlist emails.
  • Authentication providers you choose to use: Apple, Google, and Meta (Facebook).
  • Professional advisers (lawyers, accountants, auditors) under appropriate confidentiality obligations.
  • Authorities where required by law, court order, or to protect the rights, property, or safety of Kinda Helps, our users, or others.
  • A successor entity in the event of a merger, acquisition, or reorganisation. We will notify you of any such change.

6. International transfers

We aim to store personal data in the UK or the European Economic Area (EEA). Some of our processors (for example, push notification providers and crash monitoring) may process limited personal data outside the UK and EEA, including in the United States. When personal data is transferred internationally, we rely on one or more of the following safeguards:

  • The UK International Data Transfer Agreement, the UK Addendum to the EU Standard Contractual Clauses, or the EU Standard Contractual Clauses, supplemented where necessary by additional technical and organisational measures.
  • Adequacy decisions, where the destination country has been recognised as providing an adequate level of data protection.

You can request a copy of the safeguards in place by emailing privacy@kindahelps.com.

7. How long we keep data

  • Waitlist email and city: until you ask us to delete them, or until 24 months after we either invite you to the app or formally close the waitlist, whichever is sooner.
  • Account and profile data: for as long as your account is active, plus a short retention period after closure for legal, accounting, and abuse-prevention purposes (typically up to 6 years to align with UK statutory limitation periods).
  • Identity verification results: retained for as long as your account is active and for up to 5 years afterwards to support fraud prevention and legal obligations.
  • Messages, ratings, and content: retained for the lifetime of your account. Some content may remain visible to other users after deletion (e.g. ratings you left).
  • Diagnostic and log data: typically retained for up to 90 days.

8. Your rights

Under UK and EU data protection law, you have the following rights in relation to your personal data. You can exercise them by emailing privacy@kindahelps.com.

  • Access: receive a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
  • Rectification: ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete data.
  • Erasure: ask us to delete your personal data ("right to be forgotten").
  • Restriction: ask us to limit how we use your data.
  • Objection: object to processing based on legitimate interests, including for direct marketing.
  • Portability: receive your data in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format and have it transmitted to another controller where technically feasible.
  • Withdraw consent: where we rely on consent, you can withdraw it at any time without affecting the lawfulness of processing carried out before withdrawal.
  • Lodge a complaint with the ICO (ico.org.uk) or your local EU supervisory authority.

We will respond within one month of receiving a verifiable request. We may ask for proof of identity to protect your data.

9. Cookies and similar technologies

Our website uses a small number of cookies and similar technologies. The categories we may use are:

  • Strictly necessary: required for the site to function (e.g. remembering that you have submitted the waitlist form).
  • Analytics: to understand how visitors find and use the site, in an aggregated way. We use a privacy-friendly, cookieless analytics provider where possible.

You can control non-essential cookies through your browser settings or, where applicable, through our cookie banner.

10. Security

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data, including encryption in transit (TLS), encryption at rest for sensitive fields, access controls, monitoring, and a least-privilege policy for our team. No method of transmission over the internet is 100% secure; if you believe you've found a vulnerability, please email security@kindahelps.com.

11. Children

Kinda Helps is intended for adults aged 18 and over. We do not knowingly collect personal data from anyone under 18. If you believe a child has provided us with their personal data, please contact us and we will delete it.

12. Automated decision-making

We do not make decisions about you that produce legal or similarly significant effects on you based solely on automated processing. Identity verification (KYC) is performed by Stripe Identity using automated checks, but a human review is available where the automated result is inconclusive or contested.

13. California and other US residents

If you are a resident of California or another US state with similar privacy laws (e.g. Colorado, Virginia), you may have additional rights, including the right to know what personal data we collect, the right to delete it, and the right to opt out of the "sale" or "sharing" of personal data. We do not sell or share personal data as those terms are defined under US privacy laws. To exercise your rights, contact us at privacy@kindahelps.com.

14. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. If we make material changes, we will let you know by email (if you've given us your address) or by a prominent notice on the website before the change takes effect. The "Last updated" date at the top of this page always shows when the policy was last revised.

15. Contact us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or how we handle your personal data, please get in touch:

  • Email: privacy@kindahelps.com
  • Post: Kinda Helps Ltd, Grangewood Lodge, Upper Green, Wimbish, Saffron Walden, CB10 2XQ, United Kingdom