TheWide Privacy Policy

Last Updated: June 9, 2025

This Privacy Policy describes how TheWide ("TheWide," "we," "us," or "our") collects, uses, and shares your information when you use our website, mobile applications, and services (collectively, "the Service").

By accessing or using the Service, you agree to the collection, use, and sharing of your information as described in this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree with our policies and practices, do not use our Service.

1. Information We Collect

We collect information to provide, maintain, and improve our Service, as well as to develop new features. The types of information we collect include:

a. Information You Provide Directly to Us:

• Account Information: When you create an account, you provide us with your username, nickname, email address, and may choose to add a bio and avatar.
• Profile Data: Information you choose to add to your public profile, such as your bio and profile picture (avatar).
• Blue Badge Verification Information: If you apply for a Blue Badge, we collect identity verification documents, which may include your ID card, proof of IT field affiliation, and a selfie photo. This information is used to verify your identity and ensure the integrity of our platform.
• Content You Create and Share: The text, images, and other media you include in your posts and comments on TheWide.
• Cashout Request Information: If you request to cash out your earned Sparks, we collect necessary payment information, which may include financial account details, payment processor IDs, and other relevant details required for transaction processing.
• Communications: Information you provide when you communicate with us directly, such as customer support inquiries via chat or email.

b. Information We Collect Automatically When You Use the Service:

• Usage Information: Details of your access to and use of the Service, including the types of content you view or interact with, the features you use, the time, frequency, and duration of your activities.
• Content Performance Data:
  • Post and Comment Quality Scores: Our system, utilizing advanced AI models, automatically analyzes the quality, relevance, and originality of your posts and comments. This generates a numerical score (e.g., 1-10) for each piece of content.
  • User Quality Scores: We calculate aggregated scores based on your content, including a globalScore, postScore (average of your posts' quality), and commentScore (average of your comments' quality).
  • Spam Activity Data: We collect information on comments and posts identified by our AI as spam. This includes the count of comments flagged as spam from your account.
  • Post Performance: We collect data on your posts' views, comments, and replies, and the quality scores of comments and replies on your posts.
• Profile View Data: We record when other users view your profile, and provide you with statistics on profile views (e.g., total, last 2 months, last 7 days, latest 10 viewers). We track unique profile viewers.
• Transaction Data: Information related to your Sparks earnings, spending, cashouts (status: sent, pending, penalty), and donations (status: donation).
• Device and Log Information: Information about the device and browser you use to access the Service, including IP address, operating system, browser type, mobile network information, and crash data.
• Cookies and Similar Technologies: We use cookies and similar tracking technologies to collect information about your interactions with the Service, authenticate your account, remember your preferences, and for analytics.

2. How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect for various purposes, including:

• To Provide and Maintain the Service: To operate and deliver the core functionalities of TheWide, including enabling you to create, share, and view content, manage your profile, and access features.
• To Personalize Your Experience: To tailor the content and features you see, and to enhance content discoverability for you and other users based on content quality and relevance.
• To Manage and Reward Sparks: To calculate and distribute Sparks based on eligible high-quality content and interactions, process cashout requests, track donations, and apply penalties in accordance with our policies.
• To Ensure Content Quality and Integrity: To analyze posts and comments using AI models for quality, relevance, and spam detection. This helps maintain a high standard of content, reduces spam, and informs Sparks rewards.
• To Verify User Identities: To process Blue Badge applications by verifying your identity and IT field affiliation using submitted documents, ensuring a trusted environment.
• To Monitor Performance and Analytics: To provide you with your individual Performance Dashboard (including global, post, and comment scores, and profile views) and to analyze overall usage trends and platform performance for improvement.
• To Communicate with You: To send you service-related messages, notifications about new relevant posts from users you follow, updates on your transactions, policy changes, and important announcements.
• For Security and Safety: To detect, prevent, and respond to potential fraud, spamming, policy violations (e.g., sharing fake projects, using fraudulent documents), and other harmful activities, protecting TheWide and its users.
• To Improve and Develop the Service: To understand user needs, debug issues, perform research, and develop new features and functionalities.
• To Comply with Legal Obligations: To meet our legal obligations, including responding to lawful requests from authorities.

3. How We Share Your Information

We may share your information in the following ways:

• With Other TheWide Users:
  • Public Profile Information: Your username, nickname, bio, and avatar are publicly visible.
  • Content: Your posts and comments are publicly visible on the Service.
  • AI Quality Scores (Partially): Your globalScore and spamActivity (count of comments flagged as spam) may be shown on your public profile to inform other users about your contribution quality. Your postScore and commentScore are primarily visible to you, the author.
  • Post Performance: Aggregated post performance metrics (based on views and quality score) are shown to all users on post cards.
• With Third-Party Service Providers: We engage third-party companies and individuals to perform services on our behalf (e.g., hosting, data analysis, payment processing for cashouts, AI content analysis). These providers have access to your information only to perform these tasks on our behalf and are obligated not to disclose or use it for other purposes.
• For Legal Reasons: We may disclose your information if required to do so by law or in the good faith belief that such action is necessary to (a) comply with a legal obligation; (b) protect and defend the rights or property of TheWide; (c) act in urgent circumstances to protect the personal safety of users of the Service or the public; or (d) protect against legal liability.
• In Case of Business Transfer: In connection with, or during negotiations of, any merger, sale of company assets, financing, or acquisition of all or a portion of our business by another company.
• With Your Consent: We may share your information with your consent or at your direction.

4. Data Retention

We retain your information for as long as necessary to provide the Service, for our legitimate business purposes, and to comply with legal obligations. The specific retention periods depend on the type of information and the purpose for which it was collected. For example, verification documents for Blue Badge may be retained for a period necessary to maintain the integrity of our verification system, while content data and transaction logs may be retained for longer periods for analytics, historical record-keeping, and compliance.

5. Your Rights and Choices

Depending on your location and applicable privacy laws, you may have the following rights regarding your personal information:

• Right to Access: Request a copy of the personal information we hold about you.
• Right to Rectification: Request correction of inaccurate or incomplete personal information.
• Right to Erasure ("Right to be Forgotten"): Request deletion of your personal information, subject to certain legal exceptions.
• Right to Object: Object to our processing of your personal information in certain circumstances.
• Right to Data Portability: Request that we transfer your personal information to another organization or directly to you, where technically feasible.
• Withdraw Consent: Where we rely on your consent to process your personal information, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the "Contact Us" details below. We may need to verify your identity before processing your request.

6. Quality Guidelines

TheWide utilizes advanced AI models to evaluate the quality and relevance of content (posts and comments) shared on our platform. This system assigns quality scores that impact your visibility and eligibility for Sparks earnings. We encourage all users to familiarize themselves with our content guidelines to understand what constitutes high-quality contributions and how to maximize your positive impact on the community.

7. Security of Your Information

We implement reasonable technical and organizational measures designed to protect your personal information from unauthorized access, use, alteration, and disclosure. However, no method of transmission over the Internet or method of electronic storage is 100% secure. Therefore, while we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee its absolute security.

8. Children's Privacy

TheWide is not intended for use by children under the age of 4 years. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under this age without parental consent. If you believe we may have collected information from a child under 4, please contact us immediately.

9. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update our Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, technologies, legal requirements, or other factors. If we make material changes, we will notify you by posting the new Privacy Policy on this page and updating the "Last Updated" date at the top. We may also notify you through other means, such as email or within the Service. We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically.

10. Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact us:

• By Email: contact@thewide.com
• Through our Service: From the Help Center, scroll to the bottom, and you'll find a chat button to reach us with in-app chat.