📸 About Socius

Socius is a social media application inspired by Instagram — designed for sharing moments, discovering communities, and connecting with friends. It supports photo posts, stories, comments, likes, direct messaging, and friend connections. Powered by Firebase and available on Android and iOS.

📦 Information We Collect

When you use Socius, we may collect the following:

• Your name, email address, and profile photo provided during registration
• Posts, stories, comments, and other content you share
• Messages sent through our direct messaging feature
• Friends, followers, and blocked user relationships
• Device information including IP address and operating system
• Usage data such as pages visited, time spent, and interactions
• Profile information including display name, bio, and profile photo

Socius does not collect precise GPS location data and does not use AI to profile or analyze your personal data.

🔧 How We Use Your Information

• To create and manage your Socius account
• To display your posts, stories, and profile to other users
• To deliver private messages between users
• To manage friend and follower relationships
• To send important service-related notifications
• To improve and maintain app performance and stability

💬 Posts, Stories & Messages

Content you post publicly on Socius (posts, stories, comments) is visible to other users as intended. Private direct messages are stored securely in Firebase Firestore and are never read, sold, or shared with any third parties. Message data is used solely to deliver your communications within the app.

🚪 Opt-Out Rights

You may stop all data collection by uninstalling the Socius app using the standard uninstall process on your device or via the app marketplace. To request deletion of your data, visit our Account Deletion page.

🗃️ Data Retention

We retain your data for as long as your account is active and for a reasonable period thereafter to comply with legal obligations. Upon account deletion, all personally identifiable data is permanently removed within 7 business days.

👶 Children's Privacy

Socius is not intended for anyone under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If we discover that a child under 13 has provided personal information, it will be immediately deleted. Please contact us at sales@elsner.com if you believe your child has submitted personal data.

🔐 Security

We implement physical, electronic, and procedural safeguards to protect your information. All authentication is handled securely via Firebase Authentication with industry-standard encryption. Database access is governed by strict Firebase Security Rules ensuring users can only access their own data.

✏️ Changes to This Policy

This Privacy Policy may be updated from time to time. We will notify you of significant changes by updating this page with a new effective date. Continued use of Socius after changes are posted constitutes your acceptance of the updated policy.

📧 Contact Us