How We Protect You

Your profile is only ever visible to logged-in Aura members — never indexed by search engines, never surfaced in a public web search, and never shown to anyone who is not signed in. Within Aura, your strongest control is Block: block an account and the two of you disappear from each other completely — discovery, search, who's-viewed-me, and chat all go dark in both directions, and the blocked account is never told. You can block proactively, before any contact, if you recognize someone you would rather not encounter. Aura also runs no public activity feed — there is no timeline or post history attached to your profile for anyone to scroll.

Private photos on Aura are delivered through time-limited signed URLs generated by our servers — there is no direct access to the underlying storage. This means that even if someone captures a URL, it expires and becomes invalid within minutes. We cannot prevent someone from taking a screenshot, but we can and do make it technically difficult to directly download or share photos by URL. You can revoke photo access for any couple at any time, instantly — even after access has been granted. This is not a setting buried in a menu. It is a first-class feature available in one tap.

This is one of the most common concerns couples bring to us, and we take it seriously. If you recognize an account you would rather not encounter, you can block it proactively — blocking is bidirectional, so you vanish from each other's discovery, search, who's-viewed-me, and chat, and they are never notified. Aura also runs no public activity feed: there is no timeline or post history that could reveal you are here. Your profile is never indexed by search engines and is only ever visible to signed-in members. Discretion is not an afterthought on Aura — it is load-bearing architecture.

Yes, intentionally. Push notifications from Aura use generic text — they will never display a sender name, a match detail, or anything that identifies the context of the notification on your lock screen. The app icon is abstract and non-descriptive. The app can be configured to require biometric or PIN authentication before opening, independent of your phone lock. App name in your app library is simply "Aura." We have thought carefully about the scenario where someone else glances at your screen or your notification bar, and designed against it at every layer.

No. Full stop. Aura does not sell, license, or monetize user data to any third party. Our business model is subscription revenue — we are paid directly by couples who find value in the platform, not by advertisers or data brokers who want access to your information. We have no advertising relationships. We run no advertising pixels. The product is Aura. You are not the product.

We collect what we need to run the platform and nothing we do not. This includes: account credentials (email, authentication tokens), profile information you provide (names, location at city level, preferences, photos you upload), interaction data (connections, messages, photo access grants), and standard app analytics (crash reports, performance data — no behavioral ad tracking). We do not collect precise GPS location, we do not access your contacts, and we do not build advertising profiles. Our full Privacy Policy details everything collected, how it is used, and how long it is retained.

Yes. You can request complete account deletion by contacting support. Once you do, your profile is removed from discovery, all your photos are deleted from storage, and your personal data is permanently purged from our systems within 30 days. Anonymized, non-identifiable analytics data may be retained for platform improvement. You will receive email confirmation when deletion is complete. We will never put a survey or a multi-step retention gauntlet between you and leaving.

Aura uses your location at the city level to surface relevant couples and events in your area. We do not track your precise GPS location in the background, and we do not store a history of your movements. When you set up your profile, you choose your city. When browsing events or nearby couples, the app uses approximate location (not precise GPS) to calculate distances and surface relevant results. Location access can be set to "while using the app" on both iOS and Android — we do not request background location permissions.

No. Aura profiles are never indexed by search engines. Profile pages are behind authentication — they are not accessible to any crawler or unauthenticated visitor. There is no public-facing URL for any user profile on Aura. This is a deliberate architectural decision, not a setting you need to configure.

Aura confirms a real, of-age adult is behind every paid account through a one-time identity check at upgrade — a government ID plus a single liveness check against that document, done once. It is never matched against your profile photos and never repeated on your content. There is deliberately no "verified couple" badge and no "verified-only" filter, because the people who most value discretion often use non-identifiable photos, and a public badge would quietly recode privacy as something suspicious. Impersonation is handled where it actually shows up: any member can report an account in one tap, and accounts found misrepresenting who they are are permanently removed. The trust signal lives in the architecture, not in a badge.

This is one of the most persistent problems on every lifestyle platform, and Aura addresses it without the theater of a "verified couple" badge. Every paid account completes a one-time, document-based identity check at upgrade that confirms a real, of-age adult stands behind it — not a photo match against profile pictures, and never a public badge or a "verified-only" filter that would punish members who keep their photos discreet. Misrepresentation is caught where it surfaces: any member can report an account in one tap, reports are reviewed quickly, and accounts found to be misrepresenting who they are — including a single person posing as a couple — are permanently removed and barred from returning. Honesty about who you are is a community standard, not a setting.

Reports of consent violations are treated as priority cases and reviewed by our safety team within 24 hours. Depending on severity, the response ranges from a formal warning and temporary suspension to permanent account removal and, where appropriate, referral to relevant authorities. We maintain a zero-tolerance policy for coercion, harassment, non-consensual image sharing, or any behavior that violates a member's stated limits. Members who are permanently banned from Aura are prohibited from creating new accounts. Reporting is anonymous — the person you report is never notified who made the report.

Every profile and conversation has a Report option, one tap away. You can report for harassment, a fake profile, suspected underage use, non-consensual content, spam, or anything else that concerns you. Each report includes a short description so our team has the context to act, and you can attach a photo as evidence if it helps. Reports go straight to our safety team — and for the platform's first 90 days, the founder personally reviews every one. You will get a confirmation that your report was received. Reporting is private: the person you report is never told who filed it, and you can block the account in the same step so there is no further contact while we review.

Age is confirmed at two points. Every member affirms they are 18 or older at account creation, with date of birth recorded and locked — only your age is ever shown, never your birth date. When a member upgrades to a paid tier, the same one-time, document-based identity check that confirms a real adult holds the account also confirms they are of age. Any account confirmed or suspected to belong to a minor is immediately suspended and reported as required by law. We cooperate fully with law enforcement, and the platform is designed to keep minors off it in the first place. This is a bright line with zero tolerance and no exceptions.

Yes. Blocking removes a couple from your discovery feed, prevents them from viewing your profile, and removes any existing connection or conversation. Blocked accounts are never notified that they have been blocked — they simply no longer see you on the platform. You can block proactively — before any contact occurs — if you recognize an account you would prefer not to encounter on the platform. Blocks are permanent until you choose to remove them and can be managed from your account settings.

Aura's community standards are built around three pillars: consent, honesty, and discretion. Consent means every interaction is explicitly agreed to — no pressure, no assumption, no pushing past stated limits. Honesty means profiles accurately represent who you are — real photos, accurate descriptions, transparent preferences. Discretion means what happens on Aura stays on Aura — no sharing of other members' information, photos, or identities outside the platform without explicit permission. Violations of any of these standards result in account action up to and including permanent removal. The full community standards are published in our Terms of Service.

Technical and social mechanisms both. On the technical side, private photos are delivered through time-limited signed URLs that cannot be directly linked or shared in a functional way — the URL itself expires within minutes. Photos cannot be downloaded through the standard interface. On the social side, non-consensual sharing of another member's photos results in immediate permanent account termination and, depending on jurisdiction and circumstances, may constitute a legal violation that we will support affected members in pursuing. We are also building watermarking for private photos that embeds invisible account-identifying metadata — deterrence through traceability.

We collect minimal data by design — the less we hold, the less there is to expose. In the event of a confirmed breach, we will notify affected members within 72 hours, and sooner where applicable US state law requires it. Notification will include a clear description of what was accessed, what was not, and what specific actions affected members should take. We do not hold payment card numbers — all payment processing is handled by our PCI-compliant processor, not stored in our systems. Breach response procedures are tested regularly as part of our security operations.