Privacy Policy

1. Who we are

Qindred is operated by Neel Patel and Justin Trop (referred to in this policy as "Qindred", "we", "us", or "our").

We are the data controller for the personal data collected through this website and our membership service. If you have any questions about this policy or how we handle your data, please contact us at hello@qindredcommunity.com.

2. Who this policy applies to

This policy applies to all visitors to our website at qindredcommunity.com and all members of the Qindred community. Our service is intended for adults aged 18 and over. We do not knowingly collect personal data from anyone under the age of 18.

3. What data we collect and why

a) Data you provide directly

When you join Qindred or use our services, we collect:

• Your name and email address — to set up and manage your membership and communicate with you
• Payment information — processed securely by Stripe. We do not store your card details directly
• Your WhatsApp number — to coordinate weekly dinners and send you opt-in messages
• Questionnaire responses — including information about your personality, values, lifestyle, dietary preferences, and budget — to match you with compatible dinner companions

b) Sensitive personal data

Qindred is a community built for LGBTQ+ people. Membership of Qindred may reveal information about your sexual orientation, gender identity, or other aspects of your personal identity that constitute special category data under UK GDPR. We process this data with the highest level of care and on the basis of your explicit consent, given when you join Qindred and agree to this Privacy Policy.

You have the right to withdraw this consent at any time by cancelling your membership and requesting deletion of your data. We will never share, sell, or disclose information about your identity to any third party except where strictly required by law.

c) Data collected automatically

When you visit our website we may collect:

• Your IP address and approximate location
• Browser type and device information
• Pages visited, time spent on the site, and how you navigated to us
• Where you came from (referral source)

This data is collected via cookies and analytics tools including Google Analytics 4 and Hotjar. Please see our Cookie Policy for more information.

4. The legal basis for processing your data

We process your personal data on the following legal bases under UK GDPR:

• Contract — processing your name, email, and payment information is necessary to provide the Qindred membership service
• Explicit consent — for sensitive personal data that may reveal your sexual orientation, gender identity, or other aspects of personal identity, we rely on your explicit consent given at the point of joining
• Legitimate interests — for analytics and website improvement, where our interests in improving the service are not overridden by your rights
• Legal obligation — for retaining financial records as required by HMRC

5. How we use your data

We use your personal data to:

• Set up and manage your Qindred membership
• Match you with compatible dinner companions
• Coordinate weekly Wednesday dinners and monthly gatherings via WhatsApp
• Send you membership communications including confirmation emails and updates
• Process your subscription payments via Stripe
• Improve our website and understand how members find and use it
• Comply with our legal and financial obligations

We will never use your data for purposes incompatible with those listed above, and we will never sell your data to third parties.

6. Who we share your data with

We share your data only with trusted third party service providers who process it on our behalf under strict data processing agreements:

• Stripe — payment processing. Stripe's privacy policy is available at stripe.com/gb/privacy
• Loops — email communications. Loops' privacy policy is available at loops.so/privacy
• Airtable — membership management and matching. Airtable's privacy policy is available at airtable.com/privacy
• Google Analytics — website analytics. Google's privacy policy is available at policies.google.com/privacy
• Hotjar — website behaviour analytics. Hotjar's privacy policy is available at hotjar.com/legal/policies/privacy

All third parties are required to process your data only for the purposes we specify and in accordance with UK GDPR.

7. International data transfers

We do not transfer your personal data outside the United Kingdom. All data is stored and processed within the UK by us and our third party service providers.

8. How long we keep your data

We retain your personal data for 6 years from the date of collection or last interaction, in line with HMRC requirements for financial records and our legitimate interests in maintaining accurate membership records. After this period your data will be securely deleted.

If you request deletion of your data before this period has expired we will delete all data that we are not legally required to retain, and restrict processing of any data we are required to keep.

9. Your rights

Under UK GDPR you have the following rights:

• Right of access — to request a copy of the personal data we hold about you
• Right to rectification — to request correction of inaccurate or incomplete data
• Right to erasure — to request deletion of your personal data where there is no legitimate reason for us to continue processing it
• Right to restrict processing — to request that we limit how we use your data
• Right to data portability — to receive your data in a structured, commonly used format
• Right to object — to object to processing based on legitimate interests
• Right to withdraw consent — where processing is based on consent, to withdraw that consent at any time. Withdrawal does not affect the lawfulness of processing before withdrawal

To exercise any of these rights please contact us at hello@qindredcommunity.com. We will respond within 30 days.

If you are unhappy with how we handle your data you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk.

10. How we protect your data

We take the security of your personal data seriously. We implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your data against unauthorised access, loss, or disclosure. These include encrypted data transmission, access controls, and regular security reviews of our third party providers.

Given the sensitive nature of the data we process we apply enhanced security measures and strictly limit access to personal data to those who need it to provide the Qindred service.

11. Cookies

We use cookies on our website. Please see our Cookie Policy for full details of the cookies we use and how to manage them.

12. Children

Our service is for adults aged 18 and over. We do not knowingly collect personal data from anyone under 18. If you believe we have inadvertently collected data from a minor please contact us immediately at hello@qindredcommunity.com and we will delete it promptly.

13. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify members of any significant changes by email. The date at the top of this policy indicates when it was last updated. Continued use of Qindred after changes are notified constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

14. Contact us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or how we handle your data please contact us at:

hello@qindredcommunity.com
Neel Patel and Justin Trop
London, United Kingdom