Odo Privacy Policy
This policy describes how Ethercom Tech Ghana Ltd. ("Ethercom", "we", "us") collects, uses, and shares personal data when you use the Odo mobile application ("Odo", "the app"). If you do not agree with this policy, do not use Odo.
Contact: privacy@ethercomtech.com
1. Who we are
Odo is a dating and social app operated by Ethercom Tech Ghana Ltd., a company registered in Ghana. We are the data controller for the personal data we process about you.
2. Data we collect
Account & profile
- Phone number (required, for sign-in and identity)
- Email (optional)
- Display name, date of birth, gender, who you're looking for
- Bio, interests, faith, language preference
- Region and city
- Profile photos and primary-photo selection
- Voice intro recording (optional)
- Favorite song from the Apple Music catalog (optional)
Identity verification
- Selfie photos you take during selfie verification: one looking straight at the camera and a few turning your head, so we can check you're a real, live person
- Face data derived from those photos (face position, angle and a similarity score against your profile photos), computed by Amazon Rekognition. This is biometric data; we use it only to verify you. The head-turn photos are deleted once the check is done; the straight-on selfie is kept so our team can review the verification
- Instagram username (if you choose to link)
- Verification codes sent to your Instagram DM by our team
- University email address and verification code if you opt into university verification
Location
- Approximate location derived from device GPS, used to show people near you and to compute distance. We do not store your raw GPS coordinates beyond the most recent reading.
- Date mode (optional): while you have date mode on, your precise location is sent every 30 seconds or so and shown on a private page to the trusted contacts you choose. If you allow location "Always", this carries on while Odo is closed or your phone is locked; iOS shows a blue location indicator while it does. Sharing stops when you tap "I'm safe" or 12 hours after the date started. The page stops showing any details 12 hours after the date ends.
Date mode
- The trusted contacts you add (their name and phone number), who you're meeting (if you pick a match), where, and your check-in time
- These are visible only to you in the app, and to the people you send your date link to
Activity
- Swipes (like, pass, super-like)
- Matches and unmatches
- Conversations and message contents, including voice notes and photos you take in chat
- theBar (optional): that you've joined, the tags you pick, and your theBar swipes and matches
- The days you open Odo (for your streak)
- Stories you post and stories you view
- Reports you submit and reports submitted against you
- Subscription and purchase status
Device & technical
- Push notification token (Expo + Apple Push Notification Service)
- App crash reports and stack traces (via Sentry)
- Basic analytics events (sign-ups, swipes, messages, app opens) recorded in our own database
- If you don't have Odo Gold and ads are on: what Google's ad service collects from your device to show ads and count views and clicks (your IP address, device type and how you interact with an ad), and a record each time you choose to watch a video for a message credit
Payments
- Subscription and in-app purchase records via Apple App Store and our payments provider RevenueCat. We never see or store your card details.
- Odo Gold gifts: who bought a gift, who received it, and when it starts and ends
3. How we use your data
- To create and operate your account
- To match you with other users near you who fit your stated preferences
- To verify you are a real person aged 18 or older (Odo is strictly 18+)
- To screen photos and stories for nudity, violence, and other prohibited content (via Sightengine)
- To check every photo taken in chat before it's delivered (via Sightengine). A photo that fails isn't sent; if it shows nudity, gore or hate symbols, it's kept and reported to our safety team for review
- To check that your verification selfie is a live person who matches your profile photos (via Amazon Rekognition)
- To share your date with the trusted contacts you choose, when you turn on date mode
- To deliver push notifications for matches and messages
- To send transactional emails (e.g. university verification codes) via Resend
- To respond to user reports and enforce our Community Guidelines
- To process subscription payments via Apple StoreKit and RevenueCat
- To show ads to members without Odo Gold (via Google AdMob). Ads are not personalised, and Odo Gold members don't see ads
- To detect crashes and fix bugs (via Sentry, with PII-stripping)
- To prevent fraud, abuse, and underage access
4. Who we share data with
We do not sell your personal data. We share specific data with the following service providers strictly to operate Odo:
- Supabase (Auth, database, storage, realtime, edge functions) — hosts substantially all data for the app
- Apple App Store and RevenueCat — process subscription and consumable IAP purchases; we receive entitlement status only
- Sightengine — receives image URLs (profile photos, stories, and photos taken in chat) to scan for prohibited content; returns a moderation verdict
- Amazon Web Services (Amazon Rekognition) — receives your verification selfies to detect a face and compare it with your profile photos; returns the result. Amazon processes these images on our behalf
- Your trusted contacts — when you send them your date link, they see your name, who you're meeting, where, your check-in time and your live location until the date ends
- OpenStreetMap — the date page's map loads map tiles for the area around your location
- Sentry — receives anonymized crash reports (no PII; configured with sendDefaultPii: false)
- Resend — receives the recipient email and verification code so we can send the .edu verification email
- Apple iTunes Search — receives the search query you type when picking a favorite song
- Google (AdMob) — shows ads to members without Odo Gold. Google receives your device's IP address, device type and how you interact with an ad. It doesn't receive your profile, photos, messages or precise location. Ads are not personalised, and we don't ask to track you across other apps, so Apple's advertising identifier isn't shared
- Expo Push Service / Apple Push Notification Service — receive your device push token and notification payloads (e.g. "New match!")
We may disclose data when legally required (subpoena, court order, request from a government authority with jurisdiction over us) or when necessary to protect users from imminent harm.
We may share aggregate, de-identified usage statistics publicly without restriction.
5. International transfers
Some of our service providers (Supabase, Sentry, Resend, RevenueCat, Amazon Web Services, Sightengine, Google, Apple) operate servers outside Ghana, including in the United States and Europe. By using Odo you consent to your data being processed in those jurisdictions. Where applicable, we rely on Standard Contractual Clauses or equivalent safeguards.
6. Your rights
You can:
- Access the data we hold about you by contacting privacy@ethercomtech.com
- Correct inaccurate data — most fields are editable in-app
- Delete your account and all associated data via Settings → Delete Account, or by request to privacy@ethercomtech.com. Deletion cascades to your photos, stories, matches, conversations, swipes, reports, and subscription record. Some anonymized analytics may be retained to operate the service.
- Pause your profile (hides you from discovery without deleting data)
- Withdraw consent for optional features at any time (e.g. removing your university email, disabling push notifications, turning off date mode, or setting location back to "While Using" in iOS Settings)
- Lodge a complaint with the Data Protection Commission of Ghana
7. Retention
We retain your data while your account is active. After account deletion, most data is removed within 30 days. We may retain certain records longer where required by law (e.g. payment records for tax purposes), or to enforce safety actions (e.g. ban evasion prevention).
8. Children
Odo is for users aged 18 and older. We do not knowingly collect data from anyone under 18. If you believe we have collected data from someone under 18, contact us and we will delete it.
9. Security
We use industry-standard practices: encrypted-in-transit (HTTPS/TLS), Postgres row-level security, server-side authentication, scoped storage buckets, screen-capture deterrents on sensitive views, and regular security review. No system is perfectly secure; you use Odo at your own risk.
10. Changes to this policy
We will update the "Effective" date and notify you in-app when we make material changes. Continued use of Odo after a change constitutes acceptance.
11. Contact
privacy@ethercomtech.com — for privacy questions or requests.
support@ethercomtech.com — for general support.
Ethercom Tech Ghana Ltd., Accra, Ghana.