Back to SmileyWave

SmileyWave has one job: help people smile. To do that we need a small amount of data. This page tells you exactly what, why, and for how long, in plain words, because that's how we talk.

Who we are

SmileyWave is run by ZeroWic, an independent creator. Based on planet Earth, living on a smile. ZeroWic is the "data controller" for anything described here. Questions, requests, complaints: upagainstit@zerowic.com.

Your photos, the important part

Smile detection runs inside your browser, on your device. The photo you take is analysed there and thrown away. It is never uploaded, never stored, never seen by us. What reaches our server is just two numbers: how many faces, how many smiles.

There are exactly two opt-in exceptions, both fully in your control:

• Leaderboard photo, if you're in the top 10, you can choose to add a profile photo. It's stored until you leave the top 10 (plus a 10-day grace period), then automatically deleted.
• Community share, if you explicitly choose to share a photo with the ZeroWic community, it's held for review. Unpublished photos are automatically deleted after 30 days. You can withdraw consent any time by emailing us.

What we actually store

• Account: your email address and nickname (from Google sign-in or email sign-up).
• Smiles: points, badges, and the date/time of each smile.
• Approximate location: city-level only, estimated from your internet connection, for the community smile map. Never exact GPS. You can hide your name from the map in Settings → Privacy.
• A scrambled version of your IP address (a one-way hash) to spot abuse. We never store the raw IP.

What we never do

• No ads. No selling or renting your data. To anyone. Ever.
• No tracking across other websites.
• No exact GPS storage.
• No payments. SmileyWave is free. Always.

Cookies & local storage

We use only what's needed to run the app: sign-in session (Firebase Authentication by Google), your language choice, and offline caching so the app works as a PWA. No advertising or analytics cookies.

Who helps us run this

• Firebase Authentication (Google), handles sign-in. Google may process data in the US under EU-approved safeguards (EU–US Data Privacy Framework / Standard Contractual Clauses).
• Hosting, our own server in the EU (Hostinger VPS).
• Fonts (Google Fonts), maps (OpenStreetMap/Leaflet), loaded to display the app.

How long we keep things

Your account data stays while your account exists. Delete your account (Settings → Account → Delete account) and everything goes with it, points, badges, map dots, all of it. Leaderboard photos and community-share photos follow the automatic deletion rules above.

Your rights (GDPR)

You can ask us to access, correct, export, or delete your data, or object to how we use it. Easiest path: the in-app delete button. Or email upagainstit@zerowic.com and we'll sort it. You can also complain to your local data-protection authority.

California (CCPA)

We do not sell or share your personal information. There's nothing to opt out of, but the rights above apply to you too.

Age

SmileyWave is for ages 13 and up (16+ in the EU where required). If you think a younger child has an account, tell us and we'll remove it.

Changes

If this policy changes in any meaningful way, we'll say so in the app, no silent edits.