Privacy Policy

Draft — last updated 2026-09-04. This has not yet had formal legal review.

This page describes, in plain language, what The World Awaits actually collects and why, based on a direct review of the app's code. It is written to be accurate, not aspirational — but it is still a draft and should get a legal review pass before being treated as your final, binding policy.

The World Awaits ("we," "us," "the app") is operated by Nomatic Studios. This policy explains what information we collect when you use the app, why we collect it, and how you can control it.

Information we collect

Account & profile information

When you create an account, we collect your email address, username, and birth date (to confirm you're 18 or older — the app is not available to anyone younger). Your profile may also include a bio, photos, interests, languages, relationship goals, and answers to optional prompt questions you choose to fill in.

Photos and verification

Profile photos are stored so they can be shown to other users. If you complete identity verification, we also store the selfie you take for that purpose. On iOS, that comparison happens entirely on your device using Apple's on-device face-recognition tools — the selfie itself is stored, but the comparison is not performed by us or any third party. On Android, the selfie and your main profile photo are sent to a third-party identity-verification service to confirm they match and that the selfie is a real, live photo (not a photo of a photo, a mask, etc.).

Location

The app requires location access to function. We use your device's location only to determine the country you're currently in, which is shown on your profile and used to keep location claims across the community honest. We do not store or transmit your precise GPS coordinates — only the resulting country name ever leaves your device.

Messages and calls

Messages, photos, videos, and voice notes you send in chat are stored so conversations can be delivered and displayed. Voice and video calls are transmitted live between you and the other person and are not recorded or stored by us — we only keep basic metadata about a call (who called whom, when, and how it ended).

Purchases

If you subscribe to Premium or make an in-app purchase, the transaction is handled by Apple's App Store (or, on Android, Google Play) — we do not see or store your payment details. We do store which products you've purchased and when, so we can grant the corresponding features.

Device and usage information

We collect a device push-notification token so we can deliver notifications, and basic usage information like when you were last active, to keep features like "online now" accurate and to enforce app-wide safety measures (see below).

Advertising

Free accounts may see ads served through Google's AdMob platform. AdMob may use device identifiers to serve and measure ads. We do not otherwise share your profile information with advertisers.

How we use your information

To create and display your profile to other users, and show you theirs.
To operate matching, messaging, and calling features.
To verify your identity and location, and enforce our trust and safety measures — including a live block on VPN usage while using the app, since we require an honest, unspoofed location.
To review reports of abuse, harassment, or policy violations, and to take action (including suspending or banning accounts) when necessary.
To process purchases and grant the features you've paid for.
To respond to support requests you send us.

Who we share information with

We don't sell your personal information. We work with the following third parties to run the app:

Google Firebase — hosts our database, authentication, file storage, and push notifications.
A third-party identity verification provider (Android only) — processes verification selfies to confirm liveness and a photo match, as described above.
Agora — provides the real-time infrastructure for voice and video calls.
Google AdMob — serves ads to free-tier users.
Apple / Google — process in-app purchases and subscriptions.

We may also disclose information if required by law, or to protect the safety of our users.

Your choices

Deactivate your account at any time from Options — this hides your profile until you log back in.
Delete your account permanently from Options — this removes your profile and cannot be undone.
Block or report any user directly from their profile or a conversation.
Contact us at [email protected] with any question about your data.

Children's privacy

The World Awaits is intended for users 18 and older. We do not knowingly collect information from anyone under 18.

Changes to this policy

If this policy changes in a meaningful way, we'll update the date at the top of this page.

Contact us

Questions about this policy or your data can be sent to [email protected].