This policy explains how Olea processes your personal data under the Turkish Personal Data Protection Law No. 6698 (“KVKK”) and, where it applies to you, the EU General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”). It covers the Olea mobile app and this website, and complements the KVKK information notice (Aydınlatma Metni) shown inside the app.
At a glance
- We collect only what the service needs — account, profile, coarse city-level location, photos, and your messages. Your exact location is never stored.
- Because Olea is about meeting people, some data you share may reveal sensitive information (e.g. sexual orientation). We process it only with your explicit consent, which you can withdraw anytime.
- We never sell your data, show ads, or track you across other apps.
- You can access, export, or delete everything from Settings, and complain to the KVKK Board.
- Olea is for adults 18 and over only.
01Who is responsible for your data
Olea (the “App”, “we”, “us”) is the data controller for the personal data described in this policy. Olea is operated from Türkiye. You can reach us, including for any data-protection request, at hello@theoleaapp.com. You may request the controller’s full registered identity at that address.
02Definitions
- Personal data — any information relating to an identified or identifiable person.
- Processing — any operation performed on personal data (collection, storage, use, sharing, deletion).
- Data controller — the party that determines the purposes and means of processing (Olea).
- Data processor — a party that processes data on the controller’s behalf and instructions (e.g. our hosting provider).
- Explicit consent (açık rıza) — freely given, specific, informed consent to a defined processing activity.
- Special-category (sensitive) data — data such as health, biometrics, religious or philosophical beliefs, and sexual life or orientation, which receive heightened legal protection.
03The personal data we process
Account & identity
- Email address and name obtained from Sign in with Apple or Google, and an account identifier we generate. We do not collect a password, and we do not ask for your phone number.
Profile
- Display name; date of birth (only your age is shown to others, never your birth date); gender; short bio; connection intent (romance, friendship, networking, conversation); interests; and, if you choose to add them, occupation, height, goal, preferred meeting time, mood stickers, and an Instagram handle used for member vetting.
Photos & verification
- Profile photos you select from your library, and — if you choose to verify — an identity-verification selfie (see §4).
Location
- An approximate location blurred to about 1 km on your device, and your city. Your exact GPS location is never sent or stored.
Activity & communications
- Matching preferences (age range, distance, gender, intent, notification settings); date invitations you send or receive (venue, time, who pays, reservation, an optional note) and confirmed meetings; and chat messages exchanged with a match after a meeting is confirmed.
Safety & compliance
- Blocks you set and reports you submit; a record of the legal notices and consents you accepted (with version and time); and technical, usage, and security logs necessary to run and protect the service.
Subscription
- Your membership status. Payments are processed by Apple through the App Store — we never receive your card or payment-instrument details.
04Sensitive (special-category) data
Because Olea helps people meet, some information you provide — or that can be inferred from how you use the App, such as your gender and the genders you wish to meet, which may indicate your sexual orientation — may constitute special-category personal data under KVKK Art. 6 and GDPR Art. 9. Photos or text you choose to share may also reveal such data.
We process any special-category data solely on the basis of your explicit consent, which you provide by choosing to share it and by using the matching features. You control this data and may withdraw consent at any time by editing or removing the relevant information, or by deleting your account.
Your identity-verification selfie is reviewed only by a person to confirm you are real; it is not used for automated facial recognition or biometric identification, and it is deleted once verification is complete.
05Why we process your data — and our legal bases
- Create and secure your account; authenticate you
- Performance of a contract — KVKK Art. 5/2-c · GDPR Art. 6(1)(b)
- Provide the core service — matching, invitations, meetings, and chat
- Performance of a contract — KVKK Art. 5/2-c · GDPR Art. 6(1)(b)
- Process the sensitive data that dating features can reveal
- Your explicit consent — KVKK Art. 6/2 · GDPR Art. 9(2)(a)
- Use your approximate location to match you locally
- Your explicit consent — KVKK Art. 5/1 · GDPR Art. 6(1)(a)
- Send promotional notifications (optional)
- Your explicit consent — withdrawable at any time
- Keep the community safe — moderation, fraud and abuse prevention
- Legitimate interests — KVKK Art. 5/2-f · GDPR Art. 6(1)(f)
- Handle reports and cooperate with lawful requests
- Legal obligation — KVKK Art. 5/2-ç · GDPR Art. 6(1)(c)
- Manage subscriptions and keep financial records
- Contract & legal obligation (tax / accounting law)
06How we collect your data
- Directly from you — when you apply, build your profile, upload photos, set preferences, send invitations, and message matches.
- Automatically — your approximate location (with your consent) and technical/usage data needed to run and secure the service.
- From third parties — your email and name from Apple or Google when you sign in, and your subscription status from Apple / RevenueCat when you subscribe.
08What other members see
Eligible members can see your display name, age (not your birth date), a city-level distance, bio, connection intent, interests, and — if you added them — occupation, height, goal, preferred meeting time, and mood stickers, together with your approved photos. They never see your exact location, birth date, email, or contact details.
09International transfers
Some of our providers (for example, our hosting provider) may process data on servers located outside Türkiye. Where this involves a cross-border transfer, we make it in accordance with KVKK Art. 9 — on the basis of your explicit consent where required and/or under appropriate safeguards, such as data-processing agreements and standard contractual clauses with our providers. For users in the EEA, transfers outside the EEA rely on appropriate safeguards under Chapter V of the GDPR.
10How long we keep your data
We keep personal data only as long as necessary for the purposes above:
- Account, profile, photos, and messages — while your account is active; deleted when you delete your account (typically within 30 days), except where we must keep them by law.
- Verification selfies — kept only as long as needed to complete verification, then deleted.
- Safety records (blocks, reports) — kept for the applicable legal limitation period to protect our community.
- Financial and subscription records — kept as required by Turkish tax and commercial law (up to 10 years).
- Consent records — kept as long as needed to demonstrate compliance.
11Your rights
Under KVKK Art. 11 (and, for EEA users, GDPR Art. 15–22) you have the right to:
- learn whether we process your data and request information about it;
- learn the purpose of processing and whether it is used accordingly;
- know the third parties to whom data is transferred, at home or abroad;
- request correction of incomplete or inaccurate data, and erasure or destruction of your data;
- request that corrections and erasures be notified to third parties;
- object to outcomes produced solely by automated analysis;
- claim compensation for damage caused by unlawful processing.
EEA users additionally have rights to data portability, to restrict processing, and to withdraw consent at any time.
How to exercise them: use “Export my data” and “Delete my account” in the app’s Settings, or email hello@theoleaapp.com. We respond within the statutory period (30 days under KVKK).
12Automated decisions & profiling
We use automated processing to suggest people you might like to meet, based on your city, distance, and the filters you set. These are suggestions only — you decide who to invite. We do not make decisions producing legal or similarly significant effects on you by solely automated means.
13How we protect your data
Data is encrypted in transit, protected by row-level access controls, and photos are served through short-lived signed links. Access is restricted, verification and profile photos are human-reviewed, and private files are reachable only by authorised server functions. No system is perfectly secure, but if a breach affects your data we will act in line with our legal obligations, including notifying you and the authorities where required.
14Children
Olea is only for people aged 18 and over. We collect date of birth and enforce the age limit, and we do not knowingly process data from anyone under 18. If we learn that we have, we delete it.
16Changes to this policy
We may update this policy as the App and the law evolve. If we make a material change, we will notify you in the app and update the effective date and version above. Continuing to use Olea after an update means you accept the revised policy.
17Contact & complaints
For any privacy question, or to exercise your rights, contact us at hello@theoleaapp.com. We respond as promptly as we can.
You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Turkish Data Protection Authority (Kişisel Verileri Koruma Kurumu — the KVKK Board). If you are in the EEA, you may complain to your local supervisory authority.