manderlust

Last updated 4 November 2026.

This policy explains what personal data manderlust collects, why, who it is shared with, and the choices you have. manderlust is run by [Company name] (“we”), [Registered address], which is the controller of your data. Questions and requests go to [contact email].

What we collect

Your account: your email address, the handle you choose (@you, which anyone signed in can see), and how you sign in. A password is stored only as a one-way hash; a passkey only as its public key, never anything that could be used to sign in as you.
From Google or Apple, if you sign in with them: an identifier for your Google or Apple account, your email address, whether that provider has verified it, and your name — used once, to suggest a handle, and not kept. We ask for nothing else: not your contacts, your photos, your calendar or any other Google or Apple data.
When you join: when you accepted the Terms and the community guidelines, and whether you asked for news and city guides by email.
Your profile: the photos you upload and the details you choose to add — every one optional. Each detail is shown only if you switch it on; each photo only through an album you chose to show (Everyone, Friends, Followers, Friends & followers or No one), after it has been checked. Deleting a photo deletes it for good. Your gender, orientation, role, position, what you’re looking for, kinks and sexual preferences are only saved with your explicit consent, which you can withdraw at any time; withdrawing it deletes them. If you add your date of birth it is used only to show your age, if you choose to, and is never shown itself; it does not count as an age check.
Your location, while you appear on the people map: once each time you sign in, we place your pin at a random point near your position — at most as far as the location blur you chose in Privacy (50 m to 5 km; 100 m unless you change it) — and save only that point, never your position. We do not track you as you move, and turning the map off in Privacy deletes the pin. The location Explore uses to centre the map stays in your browser.
The 18+ check: the result of the check and when it was made, from the age-verification partner who carries it out.
Images you upload: the file, its name, size, type and a fingerprint of its contents, and the network (IP) address it was uploaded from, so abuse can be traced.
Technical data: your IP address and browser details in our security logs, and the cookies listed below.

How we use it

To run the service: create your account, sign you in, show your profile to the members you allow, and show places and people on the map.
To keep people safe: images are checked for nudity automatically, on our own servers, so explicit images are only shown to verified adults who chose to see them; staff can review and remove content.
To secure the service: detect and stop abuse, spam and attempts to break into accounts.
To email you what you need: sign-in codes, invitations, and notices about your account — and news and city guides only if you asked for them, which you can stop at any time.

We do not sell your data, show advertising, or use your data to profile you for anybody else. The legal bases we rely on are the contract with you (to provide the service), your consent (orientation, sex life and the other special-category details on your profile, appearing on the people map, seeing explicit images), our legitimate interest in keeping the service safe and secure, and our legal obligations.

Google user data

manderlust’s use and transfer of information received from Google APIs adheres to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements. We use your Google account identifier, email address and name only to create your manderlust account and sign you in to it. We do not use them for advertising, do not sell them, do not transfer them to anybody else except as needed to run the service (such as our hosting providers), and no person reads them except to keep the service secure, to comply with the law, or at your request.

Who we share it with

Other members see what you choose to put on your profile, and your approximate area if you turn on the people map.
Service providers who run parts of manderlust for us under contract: hosting, database and file storage, and email delivery. They may only use your data to provide that service to us.
The age-verification partner, when you start the 18+ check.
Services your browser contacts directly: map tiles come from our map provider (Protomaps or OpenStreetMap), and when you have not shared your device’s location, Explore asks geojs.io or ipapi.co for an approximate location from your network address. These services see your IP address as any website you visit does.
Authorities, when the law requires it.

How long we keep it

We keep your account data while your account exists. When you close your account it stops working at once, and 30 days later we delete it with your profile, photos and location. We keep only what we must for security or by law — such as records of staff actions on content — for as long as that requires. Security logs are kept for a limited period.

Your rights

You can see and change your profile, photos, map visibility and content preferences at any time, on Profile, Media and Privacy. Under Account you can download a copy of your data, pause your account, or close it and have its data deleted. To correct something you can’t change yourself, or to restrict or object to how we use your data, write to [contact email]. If you signed in with Google, you can also remove manderlust’s access from your Google Account’s security settings. You have the right to complain to your data-protection authority.

Cookies

We only set cookies the service needs to work, and none for tracking or advertising:

ml_session and ml_web_session keep you signed in; ml_web_flow lasts the ten minutes a sign-in takes.
ml_theme remembers light or dark, and ml_nav whether the sidebar is collapsed.
Your browser’s own storage also remembers how you chose to set your location on Explore, and keeps a sign-up in progress until you finish it or close the tab. Neither leaves your device.

Age

manderlust is for adults. You must be 18 or over to have an account, and we delete accounts we learn belong to anybody younger.

Transfers abroad

Our providers may process data outside your country. Where they do, we rely on the safeguards the law requires, such as standard contractual clauses.

Changes

If we change this policy we will update the date above, and tell you in the app or by email before a significant change takes effect.

Privacy policy