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Talk Mate policies

Privacy Policy

This notice describes the information Talk Mate processes, why it is needed, and the choices available to you.

Last updated: November 5, 2026

1. Information we process

Account and eligibility data: real first and last name (as on your passport), nickname, email, date of birth, phone number, whether you use WhatsApp or KakaoTalk on it, KakaoTalk ID, Instagram (optional), gender, nationality, status (e.g. international student), authentication identifiers, university, Student ID, roster, team and role. Team-matching profile: languages you speak and want to learn and your level, interests, four balance answers, and optionally department, year, time in Korea and a one-line intro. Content and activity: chats, bookings, attendance check-ins, mission submissions and photos, reviews, reports, points and support requests. Payments: gathering registrations, amounts and Stripe payment references (we never see full card numbers). Technical data: device, browser, app version and logs. We do not collect advertising identifiers.

2. Why we use information

We use information to create and secure accounts, verify program eligibility, assign teams, provide chat and program features, manage attendance and activities, send notifications, respond to support, prevent abuse, investigate reports, meet legal duties, and prepare authorized program or language-institute reports. In particular: your real name and phone number are used for gathering rosters, check-in, and contact on the day of an event; your gender is used to arrange rooms and groups on trips and for anonymised program statistics; and your nationality is used to match mentors and conversation partners, for anonymised reports to partner universities, and for statistics. Your matching profile is used to form teams that fit you, at events and during the program. Your phone number, KakaoTalk ID and messenger answer are used to contact you about sessions, gatherings and events.

3. Advertising (optional consent)

To send advertising we use your name, email address, app push token, app language, university and the gatherings you joined. We use them for as long as your consent lasts — or, for offers about similar gatherings, for six months after the last gathering you joined — and stop when you withdraw or delete your account. Emails are delivered by Amazon Web Services (Amazon SES, Seoul region) and push notifications by Google Firebase Cloud Messaging; they process this data only to deliver our messages. As the law requires, we keep a record of when you gave or withdrew consent. Refusing or withdrawing consent never limits the service. We never sell your contact details or give them to partners for their own marketing.

4. When information is shared

Information may be shared only as needed with authorized university or program staff, language institutes receiving program reports, vendors that provide hosting, authentication, email, push notifications, analytics, or payments, and authorities when required by law or necessary to protect rights and safety. KOPLE (partner trip organiser): for KOPLE trips you register for, with your consent, we share your name, email, and phone number for the participant list and for contact on the day. Gender and nationality are never shared with KOPLE. Stripe processes payments for paid gatherings. We do not sell personal information. Emails are delivered through Amazon Web Services (Amazon SES, Seoul region), which processes your email address only to send them.

5. Retention and deletion

We keep information while your account exists and the program needs it, and delete it without delay when you delete your account, except where law requires us to keep it: contract, payment and refund records 5 years, consumer complaints and dispute records 3 years (Act on Consumer Protection in Electronic Commerce), and access logs 3 months (Protection of Communications Secrets Act). Team-matching answers are deleted with your account.

6. How information is protected

We use reasonable technical and organizational safeguards, including access controls, authentication, restricted administrative access, monitoring, and service-provider protections. No online service can guarantee absolute security, so please protect your credentials and report suspicious activity.

7. Your choices and rights

Depending on applicable law, you may request access, correction, deletion, restriction, portability, or withdrawal of consent, and may object to certain processing. We may need to verify your identity and may retain information where law requires it. Contact us to make a request or raise a privacy concern.

8. Cookies and local storage

Talk Mate uses cookies or similar local storage that are necessary for sign-in, security, language and interface preferences, and core app functionality. Disabling required storage may prevent the service from working correctly.

9. Analytics, session replay, and error reporting

To understand how the service is used and to find and fix problems, Talk Mate uses PostHog (product analytics and session replay) and Sentry (error reporting). These tools collect usage events such as screens visited and features used, technical error reports, device and browser details, and approximate region. Session replay records how the interface is used during a visit; text typed into input fields is masked, and private chat conversations are excluded from recordings. Within these tools you are identified only by an internal identifier together with your role, university, and language — not by your name or email address. This data is processed on our behalf by PostHog Inc. and Functional Software, Inc. (Sentry) on servers in the United States under contractual safeguards, and is used solely to improve and secure the service.

10. Service providers and international processing

We use these processors, which may process data in the United States and other countries where they run infrastructure: Supabase (database, sign-in, file storage, chat), Vercel (hosting), Stripe (payments and refunds), Amazon Web Services (email), Google Firebase and Apple (push notifications), Google and Apple (social sign-in), PostHog (analytics and session replay) and Sentry (error reports). Data is sent encrypted over the network when you use the service. These transfers are needed to run the service; if you do not agree, you cannot use it. Contact dev@localit.kr for details.

11. Age

Talk Mate is for people aged 14 or older. We do not knowingly collect information from younger children; contact us if you believe a child under 14 has signed up.

12. Data protection contact

Privacy officer: LocalIt Inc. (주식회사 로컬잇), dev@localit.kr. You can also contact the Personal Information Infringement Report Center (privacy.kisa.or.kr, 118).

13. Changes to this policy

We may update these terms and this privacy notice when the service, program, or law changes. We will publish the updated date and provide additional notice when a material change requires it.

Contact the Talk Mate program team at

dev@localit.kr
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