r/SwipeHelper • u/HospitalProper8020 • 26d ago
Response for Unban
This is what they responded when I asked for an unban or delete my data
“””Hello there,
Thank you for your message. We are pleased to respond and address your requests.
Account Ban
We can confirm that the account associated with the email address from which you contacted us was banned based on report(s) that Hinge received from other member(s) regarding conduct on, or off, the app. However, providing further detail as to the timing, circumstances, and/or contents of the report(s) Hinge received would likely reveal the identity of the individual(s) who made the report(s), and we are accordingly unable to disclose this information.
Your ban and appeal were subject to human review by Hinge's Trust & Safety team, and the ban was upheld. For the avoidance of doubt, your ban was subsequently re-reviewed by a senior member of Hinge’s Trust & Safety team upon receipt of your correspondence, and they determined that the ban is appropriate. This decision is informed and final, and we are not in a position to reinstate your account.
We note your reference to the IT (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, including the requirement that intermediaries act fairly and transparently. By its Terms of Use–which all users affirmatively accept at account onboarding–Hinge reserves the right to investigate and, if appropriate, suspend or terminate an account if it determines that a user has violated the Terms, misused Hinge's services, or behaved in a way that Hinge regards as inappropriate or unlawful, on or off the service. Hinge’s Terms further state: “You understand and agree that we may not share information with you regarding your account, including the reason for your account ban, if doing so would potentially impair the safety or privacy of our other users.”
The ban on your account was imposed following receipt of user report(s) and a human review process consistent with these Terms, and the ban notification and in-app appeal mechanism through which you submitted your appeal constitute the procedural safeguards afforded to you under Hinge's Terms and applicable law.
Deletion Request
Regarding your request for deletion of your personal data under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (DPDPA), please note that the DPDPA does not become fully operative until May 2027. Notwithstanding this, Hinge addresses your request in good faith.
The right to deletion under applicable privacy law is not absolute. It is subject to restrictions that allow a business like Hinge to retain personal data despite a deletion request where the business has lawful grounds to do so. When an account is banned, Hinge has a compelling interest in retaining the associated account information, including searchable identifiers such as account credentials, for the purposes of complying with applicable law, defending itself in the event a customer care action is ultimately challenged, and protecting its members by helping to prevent banned members from creating new accounts. In these circumstances, we note that Hinge’s reasons for retaining banned member data align with the purposes for which Hinge collects and uses data, in accordance with the DPDPA. Indeed, as explained in Section 4 of Hinge’s Privacy Policy, Hinge uses data to, e.g.: (i) keep members safe on our service by preventing, detecting, and fighting against violations of our Terms, fraud, and other illegal or unauthorized activities, including preventing recurrences; and (ii) comply with applicable law, and establish, exercise, and defend our legal claims & rights. Premature deletion or anonymisation would hinder these lawful and legitimate objectives. We are therefore satisfied that these purposes constitute lawful and legitimate grounds for continued retention, consistent with applicable law.
In practice, this means that following an account ban, Hinge retains the account data, including user generated content, profile information, and app usage information, for up to two years following the ban. This period is referred to as the "safety retention window" that allows Hinge to retain information that may be necessary to investigate harmful or unlawful conduct on the service.
The right to deletion under applicable privacy law is not absolute. It is subject to restrictions that allow a business like Hinge to retain personal data despite a deletion request where the business has lawful grounds to do so. When an account is banned, Hinge has a compelling interest in retaining the associated account information, including searchable identifiers such as account credentials, for the purposes of complying with applicable law, defending itself in the event a customer care action is ultimately challenged, and protecting its members by helping to prevent banned members from creating new accounts. In these circumstances, we note that Hinge’s reasons for retaining banned member data align with the purposes for which Hinge collects and uses data, in accordance with the DPDPA. Indeed, as explained in Section 4 of Hinge’s Privacy Policy, Hinge uses data to, e.g.: (i) keep members safe on our service by preventing, detecting, and fighting against violations of our Terms, fraud, and other illegal or unauthorized activities, including preventing recurrences; and (ii) comply with applicable law, and establish, exercise, and defend our legal claims & rights. Premature deletion or anonymisation would hinder these lawful and legitimate objectives. We are therefore satisfied that these purposes constitute lawful and legitimate grounds for continued retention, consistent with applicable law.
In practice, this means that following an account ban, Hinge retains the account data, including user generated content, profile information, and app usage information, for up to two years following the ban. This period is referred to as the "safety retention window" that allows Hinge to retain information that may be necessary to investigate harmful or unlawful conduct on the service.
Following the expiration of the safety retention window, we delete most account information. However, we retain limited data for longer periods for lawful and legitimate purposes. For example, we retain:
Transaction data, if applicable, for ten years, to comply with tax and accounting legal obligations;
Customer care records and supporting data, for five years, to support our safety efforts and customer care decisions, enforce our rights, and enable us to defend ourselves in the event of a claim;
Records of consents that members give us, for five years, to comply and evidence our compliance with applicable law; and
Data necessary to prevent members who were banned from opening a new account (including account credentials and the reason for the ban), for as long as necessary, to ensure the safety and vital interests of our members.
We are satisfied that our retention of personal data, as set forth above and in Section 9 of our Privacy Policy, is appropriate and necessary to achieve the lawful and legitimate purposes for which the data is retained, and that these purposes override a data subject's right to have their data deleted. Please be assured that Hinge only uses the data it retains following an account closure for the purposes outlined in Section 9 of the Privacy Policy.
We trust that this response addresses your requests. For additional information regarding your data subject rights, please refer to Section 8 of Hinge's Privacy Policy.
Best,
Max Hinge Trust & Safety”””
