1. The short version
- Wanees is only for adults aged 18 and over.
- Other members never see your location. They see only a rough distance, such as "1-3 km".
- We keep your precise location history for 90 days and a log of how you use the app for 12 months.
- Authorized Wanees staff may review profiles, messages, photos, voice notes, location and activity to keep the community safe. Every such access is recorded in an internal audit log.
- We use service providers to run Wanees, some of them outside Saudi Arabia. Our main database is in Frankfurt, Germany.
- You can delete your account in the app at any time, or from getwanees.com/en/delete-account.
- We do not sell your personal data.
2. Who we are
Wanees is provided by The First Cloud Company for IT (شركة السحابة الأولى لتقنية المعلومات), based in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia ("Wanees", "we", "us"). We decide how and why your personal data is processed, which makes us the controller of that data under Saudi Arabia's Personal Data Protection Law (PDPL).
For anything about your privacy, including requests to use your rights, email privacy@getwanees.com.
This policy covers the Wanees mobile app, the website getwanees.com and our support channels. Please read it together with our Terms of Use.
3. What we collect
We collect the following when you use Wanees:
- Phone number. Used to create your account and to sign you in with one-time codes sent by text message. Each number can hold one account. Your number is never shown to other members.
- Profile. Your name, date of birth, gender, photos, bio, interests, what you are looking for on Wanees (your intents, such as friends or activity partners), your current status (such as "Up for coffee") and, if you add them, the languages you speak and your district.
- Preferences and settings. Who you want to see (Show me), your age range and distance, notification settings and similar choices.
- Precise location. Your device's precise location, collected while the app is in use and only if you allow it. See Your location.
- Messages and media. The text messages, photos and voice notes you send in chats, and when they were sent and read.
- Plans and rooms. The plans and Majlis rooms you create or join, including the activity, place, time and audience rules you set, your join requests and your check-ins.
- Verification. If you ask for the verified badge, our team reviews your profile and photos. See Verification.
- Ask Wanees. The questions you ask Ask Wanees and the suggestions it gives you.
- Purchases. The coins and other items you buy, the price, the date and the store's transaction reference, and how you spend your coins. Apple or Google takes your payment; we never receive your card details.
- Reports and blocks. Reports you make, reports other members make about you, the people you block and the outcome of any review.
- Support. What you tell us when you contact us, and our replies.
- Device and app information. Your device model, operating system, app version, language, time zone, IP address, push notification token and crash reports.
- Activity log. A record of how you use the app, such as the screens you open, the people you like or pass, matches, the plans and rooms you join and the features you use, with the time of each action.
4. Your location
Wanees is about meeting people nearby, so location is central to how it works. This is exactly how we handle it:
- We collect your precise location from your device only while the app is open and in use, and only after you give permission. You can turn it off at any time in your device settings, but Discover, nearby plans and check-ins will not work without it.
- We keep your precise location for our records, and use it to show you nearby members and plans, to confirm check-ins at a plan's place, to power Share my plan and to keep members safe, for example when we investigate a report.
- We keep a history of your location for 90 days. Older entries are deleted automatically.
- Other members never see your location, your address or a point on a map. They see only an approximate distance, such as "Under 1 km" or "1-3 km".
- Authorized staff can view location data only for the reasons in Staff access and the audit log, and each access is recorded.
5. How we use your information
- To match you and show nearby members, based on your location, status, interests, intents and preferences such as Show me, age range and distance.
- To run chat, plans and rooms, including delivering messages, voice notes and live audio, applying who can join, and sending the notifications you have turned on.
- To keep the community safe, including moderating photos and messages, reviewing reports, enforcing our Terms of Use and responding to emergencies.
- To prevent fraud and abuse, such as fake accounts, spam, scams, requests for money, purchase fraud and people returning after a ban.
- To provide support when you contact us.
- To meet our legal obligations, such as keeping financial records and responding to lawful requests from competent authorities.
- To improve Wanees, for example by fixing crashes, measuring which features work and tuning how nearby members and plans are ranked.
We process your personal data with your consent, which you give when you create an account and when you grant permissions such as location, and where processing is necessary to provide the service you asked for, to comply with the law, or for our legitimate interest in keeping Wanees safe and working without overriding your rights. Where we rely on consent, you can withdraw it at any time (see Your rights).
6. Staff access and the audit log
Authorized Wanees staff may review profiles, messages, photos, voice notes, location and activity to keep the community safe, investigate reports, provide support and meet legal requests.
- Access is limited to staff whose role needs it, and staff must sign in with multi-factor authentication.
- Every time a staff member opens sensitive data such as messages, photos, voice notes, exact location or activity, the access is recorded in an internal audit log. Audit log entries cannot be edited or deleted.
- Because our team may need to review chats for safety, messages on Wanees are not end-to-end encrypted. They are encrypted in transit and stored securely.
7. Verification
The verified badge is optional. If you ask for it, our team reviews your profile and photos to confirm the photos are of you, and adds the blue badge when they are. We keep only the result.
8. AI features
We use Google Gemini, an AI service from Google, for two things:
- Helping moderate content. Photos, text and other content may be checked automatically for things our rules do not allow, such as nudity, harassment, scams or requests for money. Flagged content may be hidden or sent to our team for review.
- Powering Ask Wanees. When you use Ask Wanees, we send your question and the context needed to answer it, such as your status, interests and nearby plans and Spots. We do not send your phone number.
Google processes this content on our behalf to provide these features.
9. What other members see
Other members can see your name, your age (not your date of birth), photos, bio, interests, intents, status, the languages you speak, whether you are verified and a rough distance band. Members you chat with see the messages, photos and voice notes you send them. Members in a plan or room with you can see that you joined, and people in a Majlis room hear you when you speak.
Your phone number, date of birth, exact location and activity log are never shown to other members.
11. Transfers outside the Kingdom
Some of our service providers process data outside Saudi Arabia, including our main database in Frankfurt, Germany. When we transfer personal data outside the Kingdom, we do so in line with the PDPL and its regulations on transfers, with appropriate safeguards such as contractual commitments that require each provider to protect your data to the standard the law requires. We transfer only the data each provider needs for its service.
12. How long we keep it
- Account and profile data: for as long as your account exists.
- Precise location history: 90 days, then deleted automatically.
- Activity log: 12 months, then deleted.
- After you delete your account: your profile disappears from Wanees straight away, and we delete your personal data within 30 days. We keep only what the law requires us to keep, such as purchase records for accounting and tax, or information needed for an open investigation, a legal claim or a request from a competent authority, and only for as long as required.
- Audit log: records of staff access show who accessed an account and when. We keep them for accountability, including after an account is deleted.
13. Your rights
Under Saudi Arabia's Personal Data Protection Law, you have the right to:
- Be informed about how your personal data is collected and used, which is what this policy is for.
- Access your personal data and get a copy of it in a clear, readable format.
- Correct data that is inaccurate, incomplete or out of date. You can edit most of your profile yourself in the app.
- Have your data deleted when it is no longer needed, including by deleting your account.
- Withdraw your consent at any time, for example by turning off location permission or deleting your account. This does not affect processing that happened before.
- Complain to the Saudi Data and AI Authority (SDAIA) if you believe we have mishandled your data.
To make a request, email privacy@getwanees.com and include the mobile number on your account. To protect your account, we may ask you to confirm a code we send to that number. We reply within the time the law sets.
14. Deleting your account
You can delete your account at any time in the app: open Me, then Settings, then Delete account. If you no longer have the app, follow the steps at getwanees.com/en/delete-account.
Your profile is removed from Wanees straight away and the rest of your data is deleted as described in How long we keep it. If you have an active subscription, cancel it in your App Store or Google Play settings, because deleting your account does not cancel it.
15. Adults only
Wanees is only for people aged 18 and over. We check age at sign-up and do not knowingly collect data from anyone under 18. If we learn that an account belongs to someone under 18, we close it and delete its data. If you think a minor is using Wanees, report the profile in the app or email support@getwanees.com.
16. How we protect your data
- Data is encrypted in transit and at rest.
- Database rules stop members from reading other members' data directly. The app receives only the safe fields it needs, such as a distance band instead of a location.
- Staff access is limited by role, requires multi-factor authentication and is recorded in the audit log.
- Keys for the services we use are kept in a secure vault, never inside the app.
No system is perfectly secure. If a breach affects your personal data, we will notify you and the competent authority as the law requires.
17. Your choices
- Turn location or notifications on or off in your device settings.
- Change Show me, your age range and distance in the app's Settings.
- Pause your profile to disappear from Discover while keeping your chats.
- Block anyone, at any time.
18. This website
getwanees.com does not use cookies, analytics or advertising trackers. Like any website, our hosting provider processes your IP address and basic request details to deliver the pages and protect the site from abuse.
19. Changes to this policy
We may update this policy when Wanees or the law changes. We will change the date at the top, and if a change is significant we will tell you in the app before it takes effect.
20. Contact us
- Privacy questions and requests: privacy@getwanees.com
- Everything else: support@getwanees.com
- The First Cloud Company for IT, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia