Privacy notice
Who is responsible for your data
Be My Friend AI is run by one person who writes as Sami (a pen name). Sami is responsible for your data (the "controller"). Contact: privacy@bemyfriendai.com.
What we collect
- From the form: first name, last name (optional), email, birth year, gender (optional), country, city, languages, why you're here, how you'd like to meet (online or in person), when you're free (optional), who you'd like to be introduced to, and what you write about yourself.
- Your consents: which boxes you ticked, when, and the text you saw.
- Safety data: a scrambled (hashed) version of your IP address, used for spam limits, and a short browser description.
- Emails: letters you send to sami@bemyfriendai.com, hello@ or privacy@, and our replies. A copy of each letter also goes to our mailbox (Google).
- Introductions: who was asked, yes/no, when, and your private check-in answers. Reports you send, and people you block.
We don't ask for your phone number, address, photo, ID numbers, religion, income or anything about your health. Please don't put those in your letter.
Why we use it (and the legal basis)
- To reply to your letter and suggest introductions you can say yes or no to. Basis: providing the service you asked for.
- To keep people safe: spotting spam, scams, people under 18 and anyone who breaks the rules. Basis: our legitimate interest, and yours, in a safe website.
- To send Sami's Letters, only if you ticked that box (up to one email a week). Basis: your consent.
- To keep a record of what you agreed to. Basis: we must be able to prove consent.
Personal topics
If you tick "Someone to talk to about life", you may tell us about personal problems, which can include health. We use that only with your separate, explicit consent (a box you tick), only to reply to you, and you can withdraw it any time.
Who sees your data
- Sami's AI assistant reads your letter to reply and to suggest introductions. Sami reads a daily summary (counts) and any letter, report or introduction flagged as unsafe.
- Other members: when an introduction is suggested, the other person is told your first name, the languages you share and a one-line description written by the AI from your letter (for example your age range and interests; never your email, last name or anything about health). Your email is shared only after you both say yes. Your exact letter is never shown to anyone.
- The public map shows only rounded numbers of members per country (5 or more, rounded down to 5). Never names.
- Service providers who run parts of the website for us and see only what they need: Cloudflare (hosting, database, email sending, the anti-spam check), Google (the mailbox where letters to sami@bemyfriendai.com arrive) and Anthropic (the AI model behind Sami's AI assistant). The AI gets your first name, your letter and your form answers, never your email address. Under its business terms, Anthropic does not train its models on this data.
We never sell your data. No ads. No tracking cookies.
AI and decisions about you
Sami's AI assistant decides which introductions to offer (anything with a red flag goes to Sami first), and its replies are sent automatically. Nothing is shared unless both people say yes. If you'd like a person to look at anything the assistant decided (for example, if your account was paused), email privacy@bemyfriendai.com and Sami will review it himself.
Where your data is processed
Our providers process data in several countries. We rely on their standard data-protection terms for transfers.
How long we keep it
| Data | How long |
|---|---|
| A letter whose email was never confirmed | 7 days, then deleted |
| Your profile, if you're never introduced | Until 12 months without activity; then one warning email and deletion 30 days later |
| Your profile, if you're active | While you use the website, or until you ask us to delete it |
| Emails with Sami's AI assistant (including the copy in our mailbox) | 2 years after the last contact |
| Emails from people who aren't members, if they aren't a real letter (spam, automatic replies) | 90 days |
| Introduction records (who was asked, yes/no, when) | 2 years (needed to deal with abuse) |
| Log of emails we sent (type and time, not the content) | 12 months |
| Reports (once dealt with) | 2 years (needed to deal with abuse) |
| Consent records | Life of your account plus 3 years |
| Technical server logs (Cloudflare) | A few days |
| Backups | 30 days |
| Ban list (scrambled/hashed only) | 5 years |
Your rights
You can ask to see, correct, export or delete your data, limit or object to how we use it, and withdraw any consent (this doesn't affect what we did before). Email privacy@bemyfriendai.com or use Delete my data. We reply within 30 days, usually much sooner. You can also complain to the data-protection authority where you live.
Cookies
We use only what's needed to run the website: the anti-spam check (Cloudflare Turnstile) on forms. To count visits we use Cloudflare Web Analytics, which sets no cookies, doesn't build a profile of you and doesn't follow you to other websites (it isn't used for visitors in the EU). No analytics cookies, no ads, no tracking. So there's no cookie banner.
Age
This website is for adults (18+) only. If we learn someone is under 18, we delete their data.
Security
Encrypted connections only. Your last name and what you write are stored encrypted. Admin access is locked. Secrets are never kept in our code.
Changes
If we change this notice in a big way, we'll email members. The version and date are at the top.