Legal
Privacy Policy
The short version
- We collect only what we need to run comments, accounts, plans and payouts.
- Your comments, display name and handle are public on the video page. Your optional email or phone is shown only to that video's creator.
- We do not sell personal information and we do not use advertising trackers.
- We store network addresses only in a scrambled (hashed) form, to count unique visitors and stop fraud.
- You can ask to see, correct or delete your information at any time.
1. Who we are
Your Comments is run by [Company legal name], [Registered address in New Zealand], New Zealand ("we", "us"). We are responsible for personal information collected through the Service under the Privacy Act 2020 (New Zealand). Our Privacy Officer is [Privacy Officer name], and you can reach them at [Privacy email].
If you live in another country, its privacy laws may also give you rights, and we will respect them.
2. What we collect
| Who | Information | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Everyone | Pages and videos opened, a random device ID kept in your browser, a hashed (scrambled) version of your network address, browser type, and time of visit. | Counting unique visitors, rate limits, blocking bots and fake visits, keeping the Service secure. |
| Commenters (guest or with an account) | Display name, optional handle, optional email or phone number, your comments, and the scores our system gives them. Comments that our filter blocks are kept so creators and we can see what was stopped. | Showing your comment, abuse filtering, positivity and idea scores, letting the creator reach out to you if you chose to leave contact details. |
| Account holders | Email address, password (stored only as a secure hash), name, role (commenter or creator), and account status. If you sign in with Google or Apple, we receive your name, email and an account ID from them. | Logging you in, keeping your score across videos, and managing your account. |
| Creators | Your videos (links, titles, questions), notes and labels you add about commenters, plan and payment records (amount, currency, reference you give, dates), earnings ledger, and payout details you enter (for example a UPI ID, bank details or PayPal email). | Running your dashboard, checking plan payments, calculating earnings and paying you. |
| People who contact us or report content | Your message, the reported comment and reason, and your contact details. Language requests may include an optional email. | Answering you, moderation and safety. |
We do not ask for sensitive information such as health or religious beliefs. Please do not put it in comments.
3. How we use it
- To provide the Service: showing videos and comments, accounts, creator dashboards, plans and payouts.
- To keep it safe: automated abuse filtering, handling reports, preventing spam, fraud and fake traffic, and enforcing our Terms.
- To work out positivity and idea scores, and to show creators their top positive commenters and unique ideas. These scores are produced automatically. They do not have legal effects, and you can ask a person to review any decision about your account.
- To contact you about your account, plan, payouts, or important changes.
- To meet legal, tax and accounting obligations.
- To improve the Service using overall, non-identifying statistics.
4. Who can see it and who we share it with
- The public: your comments, display name, handle and member badge on the video page.
- The creator of the video: your comments, scores, and any email or phone you chose to add. Creators can export this list. They are expected to use it only to engage with their audience and to follow privacy law.
- Our service providers: our hosting provider (servers located in [Hosting location]), and Google or Apple if you choose to sign in with them. They may only use the information to provide their service to us.
- Payment and payout partners: banks, UPI apps or PayPal, only as needed to receive plan payments or send you a payout.
- When the law requires it: to the Police, courts or regulators, or to protect someone's safety.
- If the business changes hands: to a buyer, who must keep protecting it as this policy describes.
We do not sell personal information, and we do not share it with advertisers.
5. Information sent overseas
Our servers and some service providers are outside New Zealand, and many of our creators and viewers are in India and other countries. When we send personal information overseas, we take reasonable steps (as required by Information Privacy Principle 12) to make sure it is protected in a way that is comparable to New Zealand law, for example by using reputable providers bound by contract.
6. Embedded videos
Video pages may include a YouTube player. When it loads, YouTube (Google) may collect information and set cookies under its own privacy policy. Instagram videos are opened through a link to Instagram.
7. How long we keep it
- Account information: while your account is open, and up to 90 days after you close it (except as below).
- Comments: until you or the creator deletes them, the video is removed, or your account is deleted.
- Hashed visit records used for counting and fraud checks: removed automatically after a short period, except totals that contain no personal information.
- Plan payments, earnings and payout records: 7 years, because New Zealand tax law requires us to keep business records.
- Records about serious abuse or bans: as long as needed to stop the same person coming back.
8. How we protect it
We use HTTPS, store passwords only as salted hashes, scramble network addresses before storing them, limit who can access the owner tools, and apply rate limits. No system is perfectly secure. If a privacy breach is likely to cause serious harm, we will tell the people affected and the Office of the Privacy Commissioner, as the Privacy Act 2020 requires.
9. Your rights
Under the Privacy Act 2020 you can ask us to:
- confirm whether we hold personal information about you and give you a copy;
- correct information that is wrong; and
- delete your account and comments (we may keep some records where the law requires it).
You can change your name, handle and contact details in "My profile". For anything else, email [Privacy email]. We will reply within 20 working days. It is free.
If you are not happy with our answer, you can complain to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner at privacy.org.nz.
10. Children
The Service is not meant for children under 13. If you are under 16, please ask a parent or guardian before using it. If you believe a child under 13 has given us information, contact us and we will delete it.
11. Cookies
We use a small number of essential cookies and browser storage items. See our Cookie Policy.
12. Changes
We may update this policy. If the change is important, we will tell you on the Service or by email. The effective date at the top shows the latest version.