Privacy Notice

1. Who we are

Pulse is an age-verified social platform for adults. It is designed for friendships, shared experiences, expression, digital identity and community participation.

Pulse does not provide dating, matchmaking, swiping or romantic recommendations.

The controller responsible for the personal information described in this Privacy Notice is Matthew Astoria, a sole trader trading as 115 Studios and operating the Pulse service (“Pulse”, “we”, “us” or “our”).

Matthew Astoria
Sole trader trading as 115 Studios and operating Pulse
Email: pulse.115studios@gmail.com
Correspondence address: Manchester Road, Blackpool

This Privacy Notice explains what personal information Pulse collects, how it is used, who it may be shared with, how long it is kept and the rights available to you.

2. Scope of this Privacy Notice

This Privacy Notice applies when you:

• create or use a Pulse account;
• complete age verification;
• create or edit a social profile;
• use Feed, friendships, mutual-friend suggestions, relationships or messaging;
• use Pulseprint, Pulse Bonds, Echoes, Pulse Labs, communities, events or Pulse Radio;
• buy or use Pulse Coins, gifts, collectible cards, app icons or cosmetic entitlements;
• report a member or content;
• contact Help and Support; or
• otherwise interact with the Pulse application and services.

It does not replace privacy information provided by third-party services that you choose to use, such as Google Play or your device operating system.

3. Information we collect

3.1 Account and authentication information

We may collect and use:

• your email address;
• your Pulse user identifier;
• email-verification and authentication status;
• account creation and sign-in information;
• account state, including whether access is active, restricted, suspended or closed;
• security tokens and session information needed to keep you signed in; and
• records of the legal documents and versions you accepted or acknowledged.

Pulse does not receive your email-account password.

3.2 Age-verification information

Pulse is intended only for adults aged 18 or over.

To confirm eligibility, Pulse may process:

• a selfie image captured for age estimation;
• an estimated age or age-verification result;
• whether the check was approved, failed or referred for review;
• the date and source of the verification decision;
• technical information needed to secure the verification request;
• limited identity or date-of-birth evidence where a further review is required; and
• notes and decisions created during an authorised manual review.

Temporary images are handled only for the verification process and are deleted or retained according to the age-assurance workflow and applicable retention requirements.

A verification outcome may be linked to your account so the adult-only gate does not need to be repeated unnecessarily. Age-verification information is not displayed on your public profile.

Age verification is not a criminal background check, identity guarantee or endorsement of a member.

3.3 Profile and social-identity information

Depending on the features you use, we may collect:

• display name and username;
• date of birth and age for eligibility and account administration;
• profile photographs;
• biography and prompt answers;
• pronouns;
• gender identity;
• interests;
• city-level location;
• Pulseprint type;
• profile-completion and visibility settings;
• relationship status shared through the consensual Relationships feature; and
• other information you choose to add to your profile.

Pulse no longer asks members to create a dating profile or provide dating and discovery preferences.

Some information, particularly information concerning sexual orientation, sex life, health, religion, gender identity or similar sensitive matters, may be special category personal data under UK data-protection law.

Where Pulse asks you to provide or publish special category information, we rely on your explicit consent unless another lawful condition clearly applies. You can withdraw consent by removing the relevant information or disabling the feature, although this will not affect processing that was lawful before withdrawal.

3.4 Location information

Pulse may request device-location access during onboarding or when a location-based social feature is used.

We may process:

• latitude and longitude;
• location accuracy;
• the time the location was obtained;
• a city or general area derived from the device location; and
• location permission and update state.

A city or general area may be shown to other members where the profile design says it will be public. More precise coordinates and accuracy information are kept private and used only for authorised location functions.

Pulse does not currently request continuous background location access.

You can deny or withdraw device-location permission through your device settings. Some location-based features may then be unavailable or less accurate.

3.5 Content and communications

We process content you create, send or receive through Pulse, including:

• Feed posts, photographs, comments, replies and reactions;
• profile content;
• private messages and conversation metadata;
• friendship and relationship requests and responses;
• Pulse Bonds, Echoes and Bond timeline content;
• Pulse Labs contributions;
• community and event participation;
• Found Love proposals and shared posts;
• gifts and gift messages;
• reports, blocks and safety-related information;
• support tickets and replies; and
• content-publication, audience and consent settings.

The audience for content depends on the feature and privacy choices attached to it. Content may be visible publicly, to friends, to a particular connection, to members of a Bond, to a community, or only to you.

3.6 Social graph and connection information

We may process:

• friendships and member-declared relationships;
• incoming, outgoing, accepted, declined, cancelled or ended requests;
• mutual-friend information;
• dismissed social suggestions;
• blocked accounts;
• conversation-access states;
• Bond access and connection histories; and
• actions needed to create, maintain or end a connection.

Social suggestions are based on trusted friendship context and other permitted social signals. They are not dating or romantic recommendations.

3.7 Pulseprint and personalisation information

If you use Pulseprint, we may process:

• questionnaire answers;
• draft and submission status;
• calculated scores and dimensions;
• your resulting Pulseprint type;
• eligibility and retake dates; and
• the public type displayed on your profile.

Pulseprint calculations and social ordering may involve automated scoring or ranking. They personalise the service and do not, by themselves, make legal or similarly significant decisions about you.

3.8 Purchase, wallet and digital-item information

Where you make or receive a purchase or digital item, we may process:

• product identifiers;
• purchase tokens and transaction identifiers supplied by the payment platform;
• purchase status, refund, reversal and chargeback information;
• Pulse Coin balances;
• immutable wallet-ledger entries;
• gifts sent and received;
• collectible-card ownership and mint numbers;
• app-icon ownership and activation;
• cosmetic entitlements and preferences; and
• authorised administrative corrections or grants.

Pulse does not receive or store your full payment-card number. Payments made through Google Play are processed by Google under Google’s own terms and privacy information.

3.9 Notifications and device information

We may process:

• push-notification registration tokens;
• notification categories and preferences;
• whether a notification was opened;
• device platform, operating-system and app-version information;
• device and application identifiers;
• network and request information, which may include an IP address;
• diagnostic, error and performance information; and
• security information used to prevent abuse and protect sessions.

You can manage Pulse notification categories in the app and disable operating-system notifications through device settings.

3.10 App Lock and local preferences

Pulse App Lock is an optional device-local privacy feature.

Pulse does not receive, read or store your fingerprint, face template, device PIN, pattern or passcode. Local authentication is handled by the operating system, which returns only an authentication result to the app.

The App Lock enabled state and grace-period preference are stored locally on the device for the relevant Pulse account. Other appearance, accessibility and playback preferences may also be stored locally.

Clearing the app’s data or uninstalling Pulse may remove local preferences.

3.11 Safety, moderation and support information

If content, conduct or an account is reported, or if you contact support, we may process:

• the report or support-ticket contents;
• the reported content and surrounding context;
• relevant account, message and connection information;
• evidence supplied by members;
• blocks and safety restrictions;
• moderation, support and appeal decisions;
• staff assignments and internal notes;
• audit and security records; and
• communications needed to handle the matter.

3.12 Legacy dating and matchmaking records

Earlier beta versions of Pulse contained dating and matchmaking functions. Those functions have been retired.

Historical beta records may temporarily remain in protected systems while Pulse completes a controlled migration and deletion process. These records may include former dating-profile fields, preferences, discovery decisions, synthetic test matches, match access records and related notification metadata.

Pulse does not use these records to create new matches, swipes, romantic recommendations or dating suggestions.

Legacy records may be retained temporarily where needed to:

• preserve account and message integrity during migration;
• prevent broken or unauthorised conversation access;
• investigate safety, fraud or abuse;
• preserve immutable audit or test evidence;
• resolve disputes; or
• complete an authorised, allowlisted deletion process.

Where a legacy record is no longer required, Pulse will delete it, anonymise it or place it beyond normal operational use.

4. How we obtain information

We obtain information:

• directly from you;
• from your use of Pulse features;
• from other members when they interact with you or report content;
• from your device and operating system;
• from authentication, hosting, payment, notification and age-verification providers;
• from authorised Pulse staff actions; and
• from lawful authorities or other sources where necessary for safety or legal compliance.

5. Why we use information

We use personal information to:

• create and secure accounts;
• enforce the adult-only access gate;
• provide profiles, Feed, friendships, messaging, Bonds, Echoes, communities, events and other social features;
• operate Pulseprint and permitted personalisation;
• process purchases, wallets, gifts and digital entitlements;
• deliver notifications;
• provide support;
• prevent fraud, abuse and security incidents;
• investigate reports and enforce rules;
• maintain records and audit trails;
• improve reliability and performance;
• comply with legal obligations; and
• establish, exercise or defend legal claims.

Pulse does not sell personal information to advertisers and does not use personal information to operate a dating or matchmaking service.

6. Lawful bases

Depending on the purpose, Pulse relies on one or more of the following lawful bases:

• contract, where processing is necessary to provide the service you requested or administer your account;
• legal obligation, where processing is required by law;
• legitimate interests, including securing the service, preventing fraud, operating support, improving reliability and protecting members, where those interests are not overridden by your rights;
• consent, where you make an optional choice that depends on consent; and
• vital interests, in limited emergencies where processing is necessary to protect life.

Where special category personal data is processed, Pulse also identifies an additional condition required by applicable law, such as explicit consent or the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims.

You may contact Pulse for more information about the lawful basis used for a particular activity.

7. Who information may be shared with

7.1 Other members

Information is shared with other members according to the feature and audience you choose. This may include:

• public profile information;
• Feed content and reactions;
• friendship and mutual-friend context;
• messages and shared conversation content;
• Bond, Echo and shared-history content visible to the relevant members;
• relationship status where both members have chosen to publish it;
• community or event participation; and
• gifts, cards and other social activity shown by the relevant feature.

Other members may capture information using screenshots, screen recordings or another device. Pulse cannot completely prevent this.

7.2 Service providers

We use providers for authentication, cloud hosting, server functions, databases, file storage, push notifications, payment processing, purchase verification, camera, location, age verification, diagnostics, security and media delivery.

These providers process information under their own legal obligations and contractual arrangements with Pulse.

Current core providers include Google services used for Firebase infrastructure, Android notifications and Google Play purchases.

7.3 Pulse staff and administrators

Authorised staff may access information through Pulse: Round Table where necessary for age-verification review, reports, member safety, support, account administration, finance and wallet corrections, staff management, broadcasts, audits or security investigations.

Access is role-restricted and significant administrative actions are recorded.

7.4 Authorities and legal disclosures

We may disclose information where required by law, court order or binding regulatory request; to law-enforcement or emergency services where lawful and necessary; to protect rights, safety or property; to investigate suspected criminal activity; or to establish, exercise or defend legal claims.

7.5 Business changes

If Pulse or the business operating it is reorganised, sold or transferred, relevant information may be disclosed to professional advisers and a prospective or actual successor, subject to appropriate confidentiality and data-protection safeguards.

8. International transfers

Some technology providers may process information outside the United Kingdom.

Where a restricted international transfer occurs, Pulse will use an available lawful transfer mechanism, such as UK adequacy regulations, the UK International Data Transfer Agreement, the UK Addendum to approved standard contractual clauses, or another safeguard permitted by UK data-protection law.

Where required, Pulse will assess whether the transfer provides an appropriate level of protection and apply supplementary measures.

9. How long information is kept

We keep personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes described in this Notice.

The main retention criteria are:

• account and active-profile information is generally kept while the account remains active;
• content is generally kept until you delete it, the relevant feature or connection ends, the account is deleted, or Pulse removes it under its rules;
• private connection and conversation records may remain where needed to preserve another participant’s account history, enforce access rules or investigate safety issues;
• age-verification outcomes are kept while needed to enforce the adult-only gate and prevent unnecessary repeated verification;
• purchase, wallet, refund, accounting and transaction records are kept for financial, fraud-prevention and legal purposes;
• reports, moderation records, blocks, audit records and support material are kept according to seriousness, recurrence risk, limitation periods and legal obligations;
• notification tokens are kept while valid and associated with an active signed-in device;
• local App Lock and preference data remains on the device until changed, cleared or removed with app data;
• legacy beta dating and matching records are retained only during controlled compatibility, safety, audit and deletion work;
• backups are overwritten or deleted on a rolling schedule; and
• information may be retained longer where a legal hold, dispute, investigation, safeguarding need or binding legal obligation applies.

When information is no longer needed, we delete it, anonymise it or place it beyond normal operational use.

10. Account deletion

You may request account deletion through the available in-app or support process.

Deleting an account is intended to remove or anonymise active profile information and stop normal use of the service.

Some information may remain where necessary for payment, tax or accounting records, fraud prevention, safety and moderation history, support and complaint handling, enforcement against repeat abuse, legal claims, regulatory obligations or rolling backups awaiting scheduled overwrite.

Where another member has an independent copy of shared content or a legitimate record of a transaction or conversation, account deletion may not remove every reference from that other member’s records.

11. Security

Pulse uses technical and organisational safeguards designed to reduce unauthorised access, alteration, loss or disclosure.

These include authenticated access, separate public and private data projections, database and storage rules, trusted server-side operations, role-based administrative access, audit records, encrypted network connections provided by platform services, secure operating-system authentication and access limitation.

No internet service can guarantee absolute security.

You are responsible for protecting your credentials and device. Contact Pulse promptly if you believe your account or information has been compromised.

12. Your data-protection rights

Depending on the circumstances and lawful basis used, you may have the right to:

• be informed about how your information is used;
• request access to your personal information;
• ask for inaccurate or incomplete information to be corrected;
• ask for information to be erased;
• ask for processing to be restricted;
• object to processing based on legitimate interests;
• receive certain information in a portable format;
• withdraw consent;
• raise concerns about automated processing; and
• complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office.

These rights are not absolute. Pulse may need to retain information to comply with law, protect other people, investigate serious abuse or defend a legal claim.

To exercise a right, contact pulse.115studios@gmail.com or use Help and Support.

Pulse may ask for information needed to verify your identity before acting on a request. We will respond within the period required by applicable law and explain if an exemption or extension applies.

13. Automated processing and personalisation

Pulse may use deterministic or automated systems to calculate Pulseprint results, rank mutual-friend suggestions, order content, detect technical abuse or assist safety review.

These processes support the service and do not, by themselves, make legal or similarly significant decisions about you.

Pulse does not use automated processing to create dating matches or romantic recommendations.

14. Complaints

Please contact Pulse first if you have a concern about the use of personal information:

Email: pulse.115studios@gmail.com
Correspondence address: Manchester Road, Blackpool

You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office, the United Kingdom’s data-protection regulator.

15. Members under 18

Pulse is intended only for people aged 18 or over.

If we reasonably believe an account belongs to someone under 18, we may restrict or close it and take steps to delete or retain information as required for safety, fraud prevention and legal compliance.

If you believe a person under 18 is using Pulse, report the account through Pulse’s safety or support tools.

16. Changes to this Privacy Notice

Pulse may update this Notice when features, data uses, providers, transfer arrangements, retention practices, legal requirements or wording change.

Each version will have a version number and effective date.

For material changes, Pulse will provide reasonable notice and may require members to review and acknowledge the updated legal bundle before continuing to use the service.

The latest accessible version will remain available inside About Pulse.

17. Contact

For privacy questions, rights requests or complaints, contact:

Matthew Astoria
Sole trader trading as 115 Studios and operating Pulse
Email: pulse.115studios@gmail.com
Correspondence address: Manchester Road, Blackpool