Privacy Policy

1. Data controller

The controller of this platform is the Matcher.md team, which decides the purposes and means of processing your data.

• Contact: [email protected]
• Single point of contact for personal data requests: [email protected]

For any request to exercise your rights (access, rectification, erasure, portability, objection, withdrawal of consent), write to the address above. We reply within a maximum of 30 calendar days.

2. Data we collect

Data you provide at registration:

• first name, last name, age (date of birth);
• profile photos;
• city, occupation, preferences (relationship type, interests, lifestyle);
• your Telegram identifier (Telegram ID, username).

Data you optionally provide (special categories):

• sexual orientation / gender — required for a dating service; processed only on your explicit consent (art. 8 of Law 195/2024). You may withdraw consent at any time by deleting your profile.

Data generated through usage:

• likes, dislikes, matches;
• account creation date, last activity;
• date you contacted a match (contacted_at).

Technical data collected automatically:

• IP address, device type and browser, language;
• pages visited, referrer, session duration;
• cookies and similar identifiers (see section 8).

3. What we do NOT collect

• We do not have access to your message content. All conversations between users happen exclusively on Telegram, outside Matcher.md's infrastructure.
• We do not collect banking data — the service is free.
• We do not collect data from minors (see section 10).

4. Why we process your data (purposes and legal bases)

Purpose	Legal basis (Law 195/2024 / GDPR)
Creating and managing your account	Contract performance (art. 5(1)(b))
Displaying your profile to other users	Contract performance
Matching algorithm	Contract performance
Processing sensitive data (orientation, gender)	Explicit consent (art. 8)
Traffic statistics, abuse prevention	Legitimate interest (art. 5(1)(f))
Marketing and analytics cookies	Consent (art. 5(1)(a))
Responding to your rights requests	Legal obligation

5. Who receives your data (recipients and processors)

We do not sell personal data. We share it only with providers acting on our behalf:

• Telegram Messenger LLP — for authentication and redirecting to chat (t.me/{username} when you contact a match);
• Google LLC — Google Tag Manager, Google Ads (campaign measurement), only if you accepted marketing cookies;
• Microsoft Corporation — Microsoft Clarity (session behavior analytics), only if you accepted analytics cookies;
• hosting and infrastructure providers who host the database and profile media.

6. International data transfers

Some of the providers above (Google, Microsoft, Telegram) process data outside the Republic of Moldova, including in the US and EU. Transfers rely on:

• standard contractual clauses approved by the EU Commission;
• certifications (EU-US Data Privacy Framework, where applicable);
• adequacy decisions available to the Republic of Moldova.

We ensure partners provide safeguards equivalent to those in Law 195/2024.

7. How long we keep data (retention periods)

• Active account: for as long as you use the service.
• User-deleted account: data is removed within 30 days, except items we must keep for legal obligations (security logs).
• Technical and security logs: maximum 12 months.
• Match contact records (contacted_at): kept for the lifetime of the account, to prevent spam.
• Cookie consents: 6 months, after which the banner reappears.

8. Cookies and similar technologies

We use the following categories:

• Strictly necessary (always active) — session, CSRF, language preference. The site does not function without them.
• Analytics (optional) — Microsoft Clarity, Google Tag Manager. Helps us understand how the site is used. Activated only with your consent.
• Marketing (optional) — Google Ads. For measuring advertising campaigns. Activated only with your consent.

You can change your choices at any time via the "Cookie settings" link in the footer.

We use Google Consent Mode v2: without an explicit consent, third-party scripts do not set identifying cookies.

9. Your rights

Under Law No. 195/2024 you have the following rights:

• Right of access — know what data we hold about you.
• Right to rectification — correct inaccurate data.
• Right to erasure ("right to be forgotten") — request deletion of your account and associated data.
• Right to restriction of processing.
• Right to data portability — receive your data in a structured format.
• Right to object to processing based on legitimate interest or marketing.
• Right to withdraw consent at any time, without affecting the lawfulness of prior processing.
• Right not to be subject to automated decisions with significant effects. The matching algorithm produces no such effects — it is only a suggestion.

We respond to any request within a maximum of 30 calendar days. Send your request to [email protected].

10. Minimum age

Matcher.md is intended exclusively for persons aged at least 18. If we discover an account created by a person under 18, we delete it immediately.

11. Data security

We apply technical and organizational measures appropriate to the risk:

• encrypted connections (HTTPS/TLS);
• role-based database access;
• hashed passwords;
• periodic backups;
• monitoring for unauthorized access.

12. Incident notification

In case of a personal data breach that may pose a risk to your rights, we notify the National Centre for Personal Data Protection (CNPDCP) within 72 hours and, if the risk is high, we also inform you directly.

13. Right to lodge a complaint

If you consider your rights are being infringed, you may contact the National Centre for Personal Data Protection:

• 48 Serghei Lazo str., MD-2004, Chișinău
• Tel: +373 22 811-807
• Email: [email protected]
• Web: datepersonale.md

14. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy. The last update date appears at the top of the document. Significant changes are announced on the site at least 15 days before taking effect.

15. Contact

For any question about this policy: [email protected].