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Pigeon · Legal

Privacy Policy

Pigeon is built around messages that travel with care. This policy explains what information we collect, how we use it, and the choices you have when using Pigeon.

Last updated: September 30, 2026

1. Information we collect

We collect information you provide and information needed to operate the app.

Account details
Your email address, display name, sign-in credentials (or a Google Sign-In OAuth token if you register via Google), date of birth (used to verify that you are at least 18), account status, and account creation date.
Profile details
Information you choose to add, such as a photo, mood, country, city, bio, interests, languages, sex, connection preferences (for example, whether you are open to friendship, language exchange, deep conversations, or romantic connections), and who you are open to meeting.
Messages
The messages you send and receive, attached pictures you choose to include, the delivery method you choose, and delivery details such as status, timing, and read state. If you ask for a message or bottle to be translated, we also store the translation so you can read it again without paying for it twice; it is deleted alongside the message it came from.
Bottle messages
Bottle messages you cast, bottles shown to you, replies, expiration status, and activity such as views and replies.
Location information
Location details you provide or permit, such as country, city, timezone, or approximate coordinates, used to estimate distance and delivery times, show whether it is day or night where you are, and support discovery features. Whether it is day or night is worked out on your device; your location is not sent to any weather service.
Subscription details
If you buy Pigeon Premium, we store the subscription state we need to give you what you paid for: your plan, whether it is active and auto-renewing, the current period's start and expiry, and the purchase and order identifiers Google Play gives us so we can verify the purchase and recognise renewals. Your payment is made to Google Play, not to Pigeon — we never receive or store your card details.
Safety information
Reports, blocks, moderation decisions, and related context when needed to investigate abuse, enforce our rules, or protect users.
Technical information
Device type, operating system version, app version, network information, push notification device token (provided by Firebase Cloud Messaging), crash reports, diagnostics, and related reliability data collected automatically to operate and maintain the service. The Android app can read your device's Google Advertising ID for ads and, if you have turned analytics on, for campaign attribution. You can reset or delete it at any time in your device's Android settings.
App usage analytics
If you turn analytics on, we use Google Analytics for Firebase to understand how the app is used, such as which screens and features are opened, onboarding and profile setup step completion, account activation actions, session length, and general engagement trends, and we use AppsFlyer to measure which advertising campaign or link an install came from. Analytics and attribution are off unless you switch them on in Settings → Privacy → Share anonymous app analytics, and you can switch them off again at any time. These events never include message content, profile bio text, email addresses, exact date of birth, or exact location.
Age verification signals
At registration, we use Google Play's AgeSignals service to confirm that you meet the minimum age requirement. This process exchanges age signals with Google in accordance with Google's privacy policy.
Profile visit data
When another user views your profile, we record that visit so you can see who has viewed your profile recently.
Recent activity and online presence
If “Show when I’m here” is enabled, the Android app sends a lightweight activity signal approximately once per minute while Pigeon is open in the foreground. We associate the signal with your account and update your latest activity timestamp. Eligible users may then see your profile in “Here now” for approximately two minutes after the latest signal. We do not show an exact last-seen time.

2. How we use information

We use your information to:

  • Create, authenticate, and secure your account
  • Send, deliver, display, and organize your messages
  • Estimate delivery timing and support distance-based features
  • Show discovery profiles and bottle messages based on your settings and interests
  • Show eligible users who are currently using Pigeon in the “Here now” discovery section when their online-presence setting is enabled
  • Remember your inbox, replies, profile, and preferences
  • Support privacy controls such as discoverability and distance-visibility settings
  • Verify your age at registration using Google Play's AgeSignals service
  • Send push notifications about message delivery events via Firebase Cloud Messaging
  • Process profile photos and message pictures you choose to upload
  • Show you who has recently viewed your profile
  • Review reports, prevent abuse, and enforce our safety rules
  • Comply with legal obligations, including mandatory reporting of child sexual abuse material to NCMEC
  • Translate a message or bottle into your language when you ask for a translation
  • Provide, renew, and verify Pigeon Premium subscriptions purchased through Google Play
  • Understand app usage, onboarding drop-off, activation, and technical issues to improve the service, using Google Analytics for Firebase, if you have turned analytics on
  • Measure which advertising campaign or link brought you to Pigeon, using AppsFlyer, if you have turned analytics on

We do not sell your personal information. We do not use your messages for advertising.

3. Sharing information

We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information. We may share limited information only in these situations:

  • Service providers who help us host, store, secure, deliver email, or operate Pigeon under confidentiality obligations.
  • Google / Firebase for push notifications (Firebase Cloud Messaging), crash reporting and diagnostics (Firebase Crashlytics), app usage analytics (Google Analytics for Firebase), age verification at registration (Google Play AgeSignals), optional Google Sign-In authentication, and Google Play services used by the Android app. Google's privacy policy governs data processed through these services.
  • Cloudflare for profile photo and message picture storage and content delivery.
  • OpenAI for translation, and only when you ask for one. When you tap to translate a message or bottle, the text of that message is sent to OpenAI to be screened for safety and translated into your chosen language. Nothing is translated unless you request it, we do not send messages for translation in the background, and translated text is never used for advertising. Language detection and our own content moderation run on Pigeon's servers and do not involve OpenAI.
  • Google AdMob for the optional rewarded ads you can choose to watch to earn an extra bottle or unlock translations, and for a single sponsored card in the Discover tab. AdMob receives device and network information needed to serve an ad and, for rewarded ads, an identifier for your Pigeon account so the reward can be credited to you. AdMob may use your device's Advertising ID to show ads more relevant to you, subject to the consent choices described in section 4. We never send your messages, profile, or location to AdMob, and Premium members are not shown ads.
  • Google Play Billing for Pigeon Premium subscriptions. Google processes the payment and gives us back the purchase and order identifiers we need to confirm the subscription and keep it in sync.
  • AppsFlyer, and through it the advertising network that showed you an ad (currently AppLovin), so we can tell which campaigns and links bring people to Pigeon. This is limited to install and account-creation events, happens only if you have turned analytics on, and never includes your messages, profile text, or location.
  • Legal or safety obligations when required by law, a valid court order or legal process, or to protect the safety of users or the public — including mandatory reports to NCMEC for child sexual abuse material.
  • Business transfers in connection with a merger, acquisition, reorganization, or sale of assets, where the acquiring entity agrees to honor this policy.

4. Cookies and similar technologies

Pigeon uses only essential session-related storage to keep you signed in and remember your settings. We also record limited app-share and download events, such as platform, share source, destination URL, timestamp, and user agent, so we can understand whether shared app links are being opened and routed correctly.

The Android app uses Google Analytics for Firebase to measure app usage, such as screens viewed, onboarding and profile setup progress, account activation actions, and session activity, so we can understand how Pigeon is used and improve it. We do not send message content, profile bio text, email addresses, exact date of birth, or exact location in analytics events. This analytics data is used for product measurement only.

Pigeon itself does not build a profile of you for ad targeting and never uses your messages, profile, or location for advertising. The optional rewarded ads you can choose to watch, and the sponsored card in the Discover tab, are served by Google AdMob, which may use your device's Google Advertising ID to personalize them. If you are in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, or Switzerland, we ask for your consent before any ad is requested, and you can refuse personalized ads and still watch non-personalized ones. Where local law gives you an ad privacy choice, you can change it at any time inSettings → Privacy → Ad privacy choices. Anyone can reset or delete the Advertising ID in their device's Android settings. Premium members are never shown ads.

We do measure advertising attribution. If you have turned analytics on, AppsFlyer records that an install or a completed registration came from a particular campaign or link and reports that back to the advertising network that showed the ad (currently AppLovin), so we can tell which campaigns bring people to Pigeon. That is the extent of it: install and account-creation events only, never message content, profile text, or location, and nothing at all unless you have switched analytics on in Settings → Privacy → Share anonymous app analytics.

If we introduce behavioral advertising, cross-app tracking, or other non-essential tracking beyond what is described here, we will update this policy and, where required by law, obtain your consent.

5. Retention and deletion

We keep information for as long as needed to provide Pigeon, maintain your inbox and profile, comply with legal obligations, resolve disputes, and keep the service safe.

Your latest account activity timestamp is retained while your account is active and is replaced when newer account activity is recorded. “Here now” uses only a short activity window: your profile stops appearing there approximately two minutes after the latest foreground signal, or immediately after Pigeon applies your decision to disable “Show when I’m here.” Disabling presence prevents the timestamp from being used to show you in “Here now”; sign-in and other account operations may still update the timestamp for security, reliability, and account administration.

When you request account deletion, your account is scheduled for permanent deletion after a 7-day grace period. During these 7 days your account and data remain intact, and you may cancel the deletion by signing back in. After 7 days we permanently delete or anonymize your personal account and profile information. Stored translations are deleted with the message they belong to: when both people have deleted a conversation, and when a sender deletes their account and the text of their sent messages is erased.

Safety-related records — including reports, blocks, and moderation actions — may be retained longer as required by law or to protect against ongoing abuse. Messages you received are no longer accessible to your deleted account. Message records for messages you sent to other users may remain in their inboxes, but Pigeon removes your message content and attached pictures and replaces them with a notice that the message was deleted because the account was deleted.

If an account is removed by Pigeon for safety, moderation, legal, or administrative enforcement reasons, deletion or anonymization may happen immediately, without the 7-day grace period.

6. Your choices and rights

You have the right to:

  • Access the personal information we hold about you
  • Correct inaccurate or incomplete information
  • Delete your account and associated personal data
  • Object to or restrict certain uses of your information
  • Port your data in a structured, commonly used format

You can turn off online-presence visibility at any time under Settings → Privacy → Show when I’m here. Turning it off stops foreground presence signals and prevents your profile from appearing in “Here now.” You can continue using Pigeon and viewing other eligible profiles while your own presence is hidden.

Pigeon includes an in-app account deletion feature and provides account deletion instructions at pigeonsocial.app/account-deletion. To exercise any of these rights, request a copy of your data, or submit any other privacy request, contact us at [email protected]. We will respond within 30 days, or as required by applicable law.

7. California residents

If you are a California resident, the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) grant you additional rights:

  • Right to know what personal information we collect, use, disclose, or sell.
  • Right to delete personal information we have collected from you, subject to exceptions.
  • Right to correct inaccurate personal information we hold about you.
  • Right to opt out of sale or sharing of personal information. We do not sell or share personal information as defined by the CCPA/CPRA.
  • Right to non-discrimination for exercising your privacy rights.

Pigeon collects the categories of personal information described in Section 1. We collect this information for the business purposes described in Section 2. We do not sell or share personal information with third parties for cross-context behavioral advertising.

To exercise your California rights, contact us at [email protected] with the subject line "California Privacy Request."

8. EEA and UK residents

If you are in the European Economic Area (EEA) or United Kingdom, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) or UK GDPR applies to our processing of your personal data. Pigeon acts as the data controller for your personal data.

We process your data on the following legal bases:

  • Contract — processing necessary to provide you with the Pigeon service you have requested (e.g., delivering messages and maintaining your account).
  • Legitimate interests — processing necessary for fraud prevention, security, abuse prevention, service improvement, and helping people find eligible users who are actively available to connect, where those interests are not overridden by your rights. You may object to the online-presence use at any time by disabling “Show when I’m here.”
  • Legal obligation — processing required by applicable law, including mandatory reporting obligations (e.g., CSAM reporting to authorities).
  • Consent — for optional features where we request your explicit consent (e.g., location access).

Connection preferences you provide — including who you are open to meeting and what type of connection you are seeking (such as romantic connections) — may constitute special-category personal data under GDPR Article 9 to the extent they reveal sexual orientation or intimate life preferences. We process this data solely on the basis of your explicit consent, which you give by voluntarily entering and saving this information in your profile. You may withdraw consent at any time by updating or removing this information from your profile, or by deleting your account.

In addition to the rights in Section 6, you have the right to lodge a complaint with your local supervisory authority (e.g., your national data protection authority). To find your authority, visit edpb.europa.eu (opens in a new tab).

9. International data transfers

Pigeon is operated from the United States. If you access Pigeon from outside the United States, your information may be transferred to and processed in the United States, which may have different data protection laws than your country.

Where required by law, we implement appropriate safeguards for international transfers of personal data, such as Standard Contractual Clauses approved by the European Commission. By using Pigeon, you acknowledge that your information may be transferred and processed in the United States.

10. Children

Pigeon is intended only for users who are at least 18 years old. We do not knowingly collect, solicit, or retain personal information from anyone under 18. We do not direct Pigeon to children, and our service is not designed to appeal to children under 13.

If we learn that someone under 18 has created an account, we will promptly delete that account and its associated data. If you believe a child has registered on Pigeon, contact us at [email protected].

11. Security

We use reasonable technical and organizational safeguards to protect your information, including encrypted connections (TLS), hashed credentials, and access controls. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security. We will notify affected users and relevant authorities of data breaches where required by applicable law.

12. Changes to this policy

If we make material changes to this policy, we will update this page and the "Last updated" date, and may also notify users through the app or by email. Your continued use of Pigeon after changes become effective constitutes your acceptance of the updated policy.

13. Contact

For privacy questions, data requests, or concerns about this policy, contact us at [email protected].