Crewda is operated by Nikata Technologies Private Limited, India ("Crewda", "we", "us", or "our"). This Privacy Policy explains what personal data we collect, why we use it, when it is visible to other people or shared with service providers, and the choices available to you when you use the Crewda mobile application, website, and related services (the "Service").
This Policy is a privacy notice. Your use of the Service is also governed by our Terms of Service.
1. Data we collect
Account and authentication
- Your phone number, Firebase Authentication user identifier, sign-in and security records, and information generated by phone verification, reCAPTCHA, device attestation, and fraud-prevention checks.
Profile information
- Your name, date of birth, age bracket, gender, profession, languages, interests, profile description, "host's vibe" description, city or area, profile image, verification and host-approval status, ratings, and optional Instagram username/profile URL.
- Your profile image is optional during onboarding but is required before you can join a paid hangout or submit an in-app request for hosting rights. Basic profile-photo quality checks use on-device face detection to check for one reasonably visible face. This is not identity verification, and Crewda does not use it to infer age, gender, ethnicity, attractiveness, or identity.
Location and hangout information
- Location you enter or permit the app to obtain, including approximate and precise device location, area, city, restaurant or venue, latitude and longitude, place identifiers, map links, and distance information.
- Hangout details such as lunch or dinner, date and time, language, age bracket, fee, host, members, seat availability, gender-reservation status, booking and cancellation status, attendance, challenge progress, ratings, leave/removal/cancellation reasons, and reports that a hangout did not happen.
- In the normal app experience, people who have not joined a hangout are shown its area and city, the host's public details, and seat availability. The exact restaurant or map pin and other guest profiles are intended to become visible to the host and joined guests. A host may initially publish only an area and add the restaurant later. Shared invitation cards are designed to show area and city rather than the exact venue.
Photos, camera, and selfie verification
- Profile photos, hangout selfies or moments you choose to capture, and a verification selfie when you use selfie verification.
- Selfie verification uses Google ML Kit face detection on your device to perform a liveness prompt. The live camera frames are processed on the device. After the prompt is completed, the app automatically captures and uploads a verification image to Crewda's Firebase/Google Cloud storage for safety, fraud prevention, and account integrity. Crewda does not create or store a facial recognition template, does not compare the image to a government identity document, and does not use it for advertising.
- Selfie verification is normally required before joining a paid hangout and is required before submitting an in-app hosting-rights application. A host whom Crewda separately reviews and directly approves does not need to repeat selfie verification merely because they are an approved host.
Communications and user-generated content
- Group and direct chat messages, card-game responses when entered, profile text, ratings, support requests, reports, block actions, moderation decisions, and related timestamps and metadata.
- Push-notification tokens and notification preferences. We may send transactional push or local notifications about chats, payments, refunds, booking changes, hangouts, safety, verification, ratings, and challenge progress.
Restaurant discovery and reservations
- When a host uses Swiggy Dineout, the app may transmit the selected/search area or coordinates, restaurant queries, desired date and time, party size, selected restaurant, slot and offer identifiers, and booking or payment instructions to Swiggy. Swiggy may return restaurant names, images, addresses, coordinates, cuisine, price information, ratings, offers, available slots, booking charges, reservation status, booking/order identifiers, and related details.
- Swiggy sign-in occurs through Swiggy's authentication flow. A Swiggy access token is cached on the device so the feature can work and is cleared when you sign out of Crewda. Crewda does not ask for or store your Swiggy password or OTP. Crewda may store the selected restaurant, reservation name, reservation date/time, whether the reservation was paid, booking/order identifier, status, and cost information in Firebase so the host and joined guests can see and manage the hangout.
Payments, refunds, and host payouts
- For guest payments, we process the organising fee, currency, hangout, payer and host identifiers, payment/order/refund references, status, timestamps, host share, platform share, disputes, and payout holds. We may provide your name, phone number, or email to Razorpay to prefill checkout where available.
- Razorpay processes card, UPI, wallet, bank, OTP, and other payment credentials. Crewda does not receive or store your full card number, UPI PIN, banking password, or payment OTP. We receive provider references and status information needed to verify payments and issue refunds.
- Approved hosts may privately provide an account-holder name, bank account details, IFSC, or UPI ID for manual payouts. We store payout calculations, transfers, holds, adjustments, and payment status. Host payout details are private and are not shown on public profiles or to guests.
Device, diagnostics, analytics, and attribution
- App version, device and operating-system information, IP/network information, app-instance and device identifiers, security signals, crash and performance data, feature interactions, search activity, and diagnostic logs.
- We use Firebase Analytics for product analytics and Meta App Events/Facebook SDK for install, activation, registration, attribution, and campaign measurement. Android configuration may allow Meta to receive a resettable advertising identifier under Android device controls. On iOS and iPadOS, Crewda configures Meta advertiser-ID collection and automatic event logging as disabled before activation, does not request IDFA, and limits events to analytics and conversion measurement. We do not send selfie images, chat contents, payout details, or precise hangout locations to Meta.
Legacy information
- Current lunch and dinner hangouts use standard artwork. Older legacy hangouts may retain previously generated cover images and related metadata. Those images are illustrative and are not evidence of actual participants or venues.
2. How we use data
We use personal data to:
- create, authenticate, secure, and support accounts;
- build profiles, calculate profile strength, verify eligibility, and display information in the places described in the app;
- find and rank nearby lunch and dinner hangouts, enforce table capacity and reserved-seat rules, process joins, and show the correct area or venue;
- run chats, notifications, invitations, restaurant discovery and reservations, card games, ratings, the 10 Meal Challenge, and other requested features;
- conduct selfie verification, host review, moderation, report handling, blocking, fraud prevention, and safety investigations;
- create and verify Razorpay payments, issue eligible refunds, calculate host earnings, place dispute or no-show holds, and record manual host payouts;
- measure app performance, installs, attribution, and feature usage; troubleshoot errors; and improve the Service;
- comply with law, preserve evidence, enforce our Terms, and protect users, Crewda, and others.
We do not sell personal data, facial images, or facial templates. We do not use selfie verification data for advertising or behavioural profiling.
3. When data is visible or shared
Other Crewda users
- Information presented as public in the app may include your name, profile image, age bracket, gender, profession, languages, interests, description, broad location, verification/host badge, host rating, and, for hosts who provide it, Instagram profile.
- Before someone joins a hangout, the app is designed to show the host and broad area/city but not other guests or the exact venue. After joining, the host and joined guests may see the guest list, participant profiles, group chat, reservation name/status, and exact venue. Information you post in a direct chat is visible to that chat's participants.
Service providers
- Google Firebase/Google Cloud provides authentication, Firestore, Cloud Functions, Storage, notifications, analytics, app attestation, and infrastructure. Google Maps/Places may process location queries and venue information. Google ML Kit provides on-device face detection.
- Razorpay processes guest checkout and refunds. Swiggy Dineout provides restaurant discovery, authentication, reservation, and related payment flows. Meta provides app-event analytics and attribution. Apple and Google provide operating-system, app-store, notification, and device services.
- These providers process data under their own privacy notices and our instructions or arrangements with them. We require providers handling Crewda data to use appropriate security and privacy protections and, where Apple policy requires, protection equivalent to that described in this Policy.
User-directed sharing and external links
- When you share an invitation, open Instagram, Google Maps, Swiggy, Razorpay, a UPI app, or another external service, that provider receives information you choose to send or that is needed to complete the action and handles it under its own terms and privacy policy.
Legal, safety, and business reasons
- We may disclose information when reasonably necessary to comply with law or legal process; investigate fraud, threats, harassment, abuse, safety incidents, or a hangout that allegedly did not happen; protect rights and safety; enforce agreements; or complete a merger, financing, reorganisation, or sale subject to appropriate safeguards.
4. Your choices and rights
- You can update editable profile fields in the app. For non-editable fields, use Write to Us. You can omit optional fields such as Instagram and interests, although some core features require a profile image, profession, and verification.
- You can deny or revoke camera, photo-library, location, and notification permissions in device settings. Crewda offers manual area selection where location permission is not granted. Features that need a denied permission may not work.
- You can report content or users, block users, leave eligible hangouts, and contact support. You can sign out to clear the locally cached Swiggy access token.
- Depending on applicable law, you may request access, correction, deletion, a copy of your data, restriction, or withdrawal of consent. Contact us using Section 10. Withdrawal does not affect processing already lawfully completed and may make a feature unavailable.
5. Retention and account deletion
We keep data only for as long as reasonably needed for the purposes in this Policy:
- Account, profile, active hangout, and communication data is generally retained while your account is active and as needed to provide the Service.
- Payment, refund, payout, reservation, tax, accounting, dispute, and transaction records are retained for the period required by applicable law and legitimate business-record obligations.
- Reports, blocks, moderation records, departure/cancellation reasons, fraud signals, and safety evidence may be retained for as long as reasonably necessary to investigate, prevent repeat abuse, resolve disputes, protect users, or comply with law.
- Analytics and diagnostic data is retained according to our configured provider retention periods. Limited copies may remain temporarily in encrypted or access-controlled backups until they expire through the normal backup cycle.
- Verification images are retained while the account is active for safety, fraud prevention, and integrity. They are not retained for advertising.
You can request account deletion from Profile → Delete account in the app or at https://crewda.in/requestdelete/. We ordinarily complete verified deletion requests within one week. Account data, including verification images, is deleted or de-identified unless limited information must be kept for an unresolved payment/refund/payout, fraud or safety investigation, legal claim, tax/accounting obligation, or other legal requirement. Data retained for an exception is isolated or access-restricted where practical and deleted when the reason ends. Content already shared with other people may be removed, de-identified, or retained where necessary for their conversation history, safety, or legal records.
6. Security
We use access controls, Firebase security features, encrypted network transport, provider security controls, monitoring, and other reasonable technical and organisational measures. No service can guarantee absolute security. Do not send passwords, OTPs, UPI PINs, or full card details to Crewda support or other users.
7. Age requirement
Crewda is for adults aged 18 or older. We do not knowingly allow children to create accounts. If you believe a child is using the Service, contact us promptly.
8. International processing
Our providers may process data in India and other countries. Where required, we use appropriate contractual, technical, or legal safeguards for international transfers.
9. Changes to this Policy
We may update this Policy as the Service, providers, or law changes. We will publish the new effective date and provide additional notice or obtain consent where required. Material changes apply prospectively unless law permits otherwise.
10. Contact
Controller: Nikata Technologies Private Limited, India, operating the Crewda brand.
Privacy and support email: hello@crewda.in
Parent-company email: info@nikata.in
In-app: Write to Us
Support: https://crewda.in/support/
Account deletion: https://crewda.in/requestdelete/