Owan Dating is the dating app for Owan people, at home and abroad. It is run by Owanly ("we", "us"). This policy explains what we collect when you use Owan Dating, why, who can see it, and the choices you have.
In short: we collect what you put in your profile so other members can get to know you. We keep your email address, birthday, live selfie and private settings to ourselves. We don't sell your data, we don't show ads, and we don't use tracking or advertising tools.
1. What we collect
When you sign up
- Your email address. We email it a one-time code to check that it's yours.
- An account ID that the app creates for you.
Your profile
- Your first name, your birthday (we show only your age), and whether you are a woman or a man.
- Who you would like to meet, and what you are looking for.
- Your relationship status, whether you have children, and whether you want them.
- Your Owan roots: Owan West or East, your clan, your town or village, and how you are Owan.
- Where you live now: in Owan, elsewhere in Nigeria (state and city) or abroad (country and city).
- If you choose to add them: your height and your job.
- Your education, faith, how involved your family will be, and the Owan dialect you speak and how well.
- Your photos.
To keep members real and safe
- A live selfie, taken with your front camera. We use it to check that you are the person in your photos. You need it before you can message anyone.
- The people you block and the reports you make, with the reason you choose.
As you use the app
- The people you are interested in, your matches (you are interested in each other), and the messages you send and receive.
- Your settings: who can see you, and whether you also want to see Owan people on the other side of the world.
We don't ask for health information: no genotype, medical details, or drinking and smoking habits.
Older versions of the app could also save a private quarter, festivals, prompts and a voice intro. The app no longer asks for these. If you saved them before, they stay in your account until you delete it, and you can ask us to remove them at any time.
2. Sensitive information
Some of what you share can say something sensitive about you: your faith and who you would like to meet. You choose whether to share these when you answer:
- Faith has a Prefer not to say answer, and nothing is shown if you choose it.
- Who you would like to meet is used only to show you people, and to show you to people who would like to meet you.
By adding these to your profile, you agree to us using them in these ways. You can change or remove them at any time under You › Edit profile.
3. Who can see what
| Other members can see | Your first name, age, photos, verified tick, Owan roots, where you live (city and country), and every profile answer above, unless you chose "Prefer not to say", skipped it, or answered "I don't know". |
|---|---|
| Only the people you message | Your messages. |
| Only you and our team | Your email address, birthday, live selfie, your private settings, and who you blocked or reported. The people you block or report are not told. |
Your Who can see you setting decides whether people at home, people abroad, or everyone can find you. People you block can no longer see you or message you.
4. How we use it
- To create your account, check your email address, and keep you signed in.
- To show you to other members, and to show you people you may like. People from your own clan, and people looking for the same thing as you, may be shown to you first.
- To let people know you are interested, and to deliver your matches and messages.
- To keep the community safe: to check selfies, look into reports, and remove fake or harmful accounts.
- To answer you when you contact us.
New photos are checked on your phone, for example that the first one shows a clear face and that it isn't a copy of another photo. This check runs on your device. It doesn't send your photos anywhere.
We don't sell or rent your information, we don't show ads, and we don't use it to build advertising profiles.
5. Services we use
We use a small number of providers to run Owan Dating. They handle your information only to provide their service to us:
- Supabase for our database, sign-in and file storage, including your profile, photos, selfie and messages. Its servers may be outside Nigeria.
- An email provider, which delivers your one-time code to your inbox.
We may share information if the law requires it, or to protect a member's safety, for example in response to a lawful request from the police.
6. Permissions on your phone
- Photos: you choose photos with your phone's own picker. Owan Dating doesn't get access to your whole gallery.
- Camera: used only when you take your live selfie.
- Notifications: only if you allow them, to tell you when someone is interested in you or messages you.
Owan Dating doesn't use your GPS location. Where you live comes from what you tell us.
7. How long we keep it, and deleting your account
We keep your information for as long as you have an account.
To delete your account, open the app and go to You › Delete account. It deletes everything straight away: your profile, photos, selfie, interests in other people, matches, messages, blocks and reports, from our servers and from your phone. It can't be undone.
Because a conversation belongs to two people, deleting your account also removes your conversations from the other person's app.
If you can't open the app, follow the steps on Delete your account, or email [email protected] from the email address you signed up with, or tell us your first name and clan, so we can find your account, and we will delete it for you.
8. Your rights
Wherever you live, you can ask us to:
- give you a copy of the information we hold about you;
- correct something that is wrong (most of it you can change yourself in the app);
- delete your information (you can also do this yourself, under You › Delete account);
- stop using a sensitive answer, by removing it from your profile.
We handle your information in line with the Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023. If you live in the United Kingdom or the European Union, you also have rights under the GDPR. If you are not happy with how we have handled your information, you can complain to the Nigeria Data Protection Commission or to the data protection authority where you live.
9. Adults only
Owan Dating is only for people aged 18 and over. We check your age from your birthday when you sign up. If we learn that someone under 18 has an account, we will delete it. You can report an underage member in the app, from their profile, by choosing Under 18.
10. Keeping it safe
Your profile, photos, selfie and messages are kept in private storage. Only signed-in members can load the people they're allowed to see, and your selfie and private details are never sent to other members. No system is perfectly secure, so please don't share passwords, bank details or money requests in messages.
11. Changes
If we change how we use your information, we will update this page and its date. If the change is important, we will tell you in the app first.
12. Contact us
Privacy questions and deletion requests: [email protected]
Anything else: [email protected]