Privacy Policy

1. Who is responsible for your data

Effective date: 14 October 2026. This Policy explains how your information is used by the controller, the individual resident in France who runs Katchik. The controller's email is privacy@katchik.com.

There is no company. In this Policy, "Katchik", "we" and "us" mean this person. This notice covers members, people entering through the web form, support contacts and the people in a featured creator's follower list.

UK residents can contact us directly at privacy@katchik.com.

2. Information we collect and what you need to provide

• Account: your email address, your password stored only as an Argon2id hash, and the display name you choose. Email and password are needed for an account.
• TikTok identity: open_id, union_id, username, display name and avatar URL.
• Linking record: a keyed hash of your TikTok open_id and the Katchik account it was last linked to. It makes the linking credit count once per TikTok account, and stops one TikTok account taking part in an open round through two Katchik accounts. It is kept after you disconnect TikTok. When your Katchik account is erased, the link to it is removed and the hash is kept for 12 months, then deleted.
• Phone link record: a keyed code of an identifier the app reads from your phone when you link TikTok, with the phone's system (iOS or Android), the TikTok account linked from it and the Katchik account that linked it. It is kept with the linking record.
• TikTok statistics: follower, following, likes and video counts, with periodic snapshots.
• TikTok connection: granted permissions, access and refresh tokens stored encrypted on the server only, and deauthorisation events.
• Your public videos: your own public videos' captions, covers, links, posting dates and counts. These are read to assess campaign hashtags or mentions and mission completion, and to calculate stats points (videos, regularity and engagement).
• Follow checks: if you are selected, whether your TikTok account follows the round's featured creator and @katchikapp. We check this on TikTok, in the follower lists of those two accounts (for @katchikapp, Katchik's own account) or in your own following list. In a round checked against a follower list, your follow of the featured creator is checked against that list after close, whether or not you are selected. Free web entries are not checked.
• Follower lists (list-mode rounds): when a round is checked against its featured creator's follower list, the creator sends us that list from TikTok's "Download your data", or, when no export is possible, our team copies it from the creator's public profile. We read only the usernames in it and the date each follow started. TikTok offers no export of the followers alone, so the export also contains other profile data of the creator, which we do not read or keep, apart from the creator's username, read to check the file is theirs. Each username becomes a keyed code the moment the file arrives; the file itself is never kept, and no username from it is stored. We keep the codes, the number of rows, the earliest and latest follow dates and a fingerprint of the codes.
• Your username in a list-mode round: your TikTok username when the round closes and, if it changes, your new one, kept on your entry so we can find you in the list, with the answer: found or not found.
• Disputes: if you dispute a Not found answer, the screenshot of your TikTok Following list and the note you add. Only Katchik's team sees them.
• Participation: entries, points, tickets and round history.
• Invites: your invite code, who invited whom, and whether the invited player has joined a first round, which is shown to the inviter. We also record when they joined, to apply the invite cap in the Official rules.
• Notifications: your device's push token (with the phone's system and the app version), your notification choices, quiet hours and time zone, and the notices in your in-app inbox, used to send the notifications you allow and the account messages (to provide the service, Article 6(1)(b)). Partner notifications, which stay off until you turn them on, are sent with your consent (Article 6(1)(a)); you can turn them off at any time in Settings. A token that stops working is no longer used, and tokens are deleted when you delete your account.
• Friends: the requests and connections you make, shown to the friends you accept, who see your handle, photo and Katchik activity (round points, streak, wins, verified missions, rounds joined), to provide the friends features (Article 6(1)(b)). A player who knows your TikTok handle can send you a request.
• Public round records: list fingerprints, the beacon round and the accepted winner's TikTok handle and profile photo. We never publish another entrant's name.
• If you win: your TikTok handle and profile photo are published on the round's page and its public record, in the app, and in @katchikapp's announcement posts. On request, a prize winner's surname and county or region can be shared with anyone who asks, unless the winner objects at support@katchik.com.
• Brand highlights: when you open or report a highlight, linked to your account, so that partners see counts only and our team can review reports (our legitimate interests, Article 6(1)(f)); taps are deleted after 12 months.
• Free entry form: your email address, display name, country, your 18+ confirmation and the versions of the Terms and Privacy Policy you accepted, with the time, and a keyed code of your IP address (never the address itself), used to limit repeated attempts. These fields are needed to process and verify this route. We do not require a follow or an app account for entry.
• Prize claims: your name and shipping address, with your account email and country, or an email for a digital prize, used only to send the prize. They are shared only with the prize provider to deliver it, when the provider sends the prize, and deleted 24 months after delivery (Article 6(1)(b) and our legal obligations, Article 6(1)(c)); counsel confirms this period before the public launch. A claim refused or forfeited before delivery is deleted 90 days after that decision.
• Candidate checks: if you are selected, the proof of age and country you send us; we delete it once checked.
• Support: the emails and information you send to support@katchik.com or privacy@katchik.com.
• Security: IP addresses and request IDs used for rate limiting and fraud prevention.
• Product events: what happened in the app and when (sign-up, email verification, onboarding completion, TikTok linking, mission starts and mission outcomes, joining and leaving rounds, being selected, accepting or declining, prize claims, friend requests, highlight taps and reports, and turning on notifications), with your account ID.

TikTok data is required for the linked app features you choose to use, including app entry and statistic-based points. The video permission is needed to verify a mission through the API and to calculate stats points, not for the web-entry form.

We obtain account and web-form information and a candidate's proof of age and country from you, TikTok information from TikTok after you authorise it, and follow-check results from TikTok if you are selected. In a round checked against a follower list, that list comes from the round's featured creator, or from their public TikTok profile when no export is possible. Support information comes from your correspondence. Security information is generated when you use the service.

The website sets no analytics or tracking cookies.

If you follow a featured creator and never used Katchik, read the notice for followers.

3. Why we use information and our lawful bases

• Provide your account and requested app features: account information, the necessary TikTok connection, participation records and invites are used to perform our contract with you under Article 6(1)(b).
• Process entries and provide prizes: entry details, ticket allocations, eligibility checks including the follow checks at selection, candidate contact and necessary prize-claim details are used to perform the round contract under Article 6(1)(b).
• Run the free entry route: to enter you in the round you asked for and to contact you if you are selected (Article 6(1)(b)), and to prevent abuse of the form with the keyed code of your IP address (our legitimate interests, Article 6(1)(f)).
• Calculate points and verify missions: the requested public-stat and public-video data are used to perform those programme features under Article 6(1)(b).
• Protect the service and investigate abuse: security logs, the linking record, proportionate entry checks and necessary support evidence are used for our legitimate interests in preventing fraud, duplicate entries, a second linking credit and technical abuse under Article 6(1)(f). When you link TikTok from the app, we record a keyed code of an identifier the app reads from your phone, never the identifier itself, so that we can limit how many TikTok accounts are linked from one phone.
• Understand how the programme is used: first-party product events recorded by our own server (sign-up, email verification, onboarding completion, TikTok linking, mission starts and outcomes, and the round, prize-claim, friend, highlight and notification events listed in section 2, with the time and your account ID) are used for our legitimate interests in measuring and improving the service under Article 6(1)(f). We use no third-party analytics or advertising SDK.
• Maintain verifiable round records: necessary proof records are used for our legitimate interests in demonstrating fair administration and resolving disputes under Article 6(1)(f).
• Publish the accepted winner's handle and profile photo: we ask for the winner's specific consent under Article 6(1)(a) before publication.
• Keep legally required records: any legally reportable prize records are kept under Article 6(1)(c), only where an identified legal obligation applies.
• Answer support requests: we use your emails to perform an existing contract where the request concerns that contract. For other enquiries, our basis is our legitimate interest in answering and resolving the enquiry under Article 6(1)(f).

We check entrants against a featured creator's follower list to run the round you joined (Article 6(1)(b)). The usernames of the other people in that list, whether or not they use Katchik, are processed on the basis of our legitimate interests (Article 6(1)(f)): running a fair round that anyone can check. We hold them only as keyed codes, for that round alone, and the notice at katchik.com/follower-notice explains their rights. A dispute screenshot is processed to decide your dispute (Article 6(1)(b)).

These bases refer to the EU GDPR and the corresponding UK GDPR provisions. The two regimes are not identical, including their automated-decision rules. Consent to an optional feature is separate from acceptance of rules or a platform permission screen; your rights and our information duties still apply.

4. TikTok connection and data

Your Katchik account uses email and password. TikTok Login Kit links a TikTok account afterwards; it is not a Katchik sign-in method. We request the permissions needed for the data described above and show them in the authorisation flow.

Katchik asks TikTok for four permissions: user.info.basic (your basic profile), user.info.profile (your profile details, including your username), user.info.stats (your account statistics) and video.list (your public videos). In a round checked against a follower list, the username user.info.profile gives us is the one we look for in the featured creator's list.

We read your profile identifiers, public account statistics and, for missions and stats points, your own public video information. We use these data to identify the linked account, calculate points, verify missions and administer the features you request. We do not sell TikTok data or use it to target sponsored cards or any other advertising.

TikTok data is stored server-side in our API and database, in the United States (Railway, US East region, Virginia). Access and refresh tokens are encrypted on the server and never stored in the app.

Disconnecting TikTok revokes the token at TikTok and purges the TikTok data we hold, except the linking record and the phone link record. On deauthorisation, we stop access and purge the data when the event is received; TikTok has already revoked the access token at that point.

The optional 30-day account-deletion cancellation window does not delay a TikTok-disconnection purge. We do not keep TikTok information to meet a legal obligation unless that obligation is specifically identified and allowed by TikTok's terms.

TikTok is a separate controller and data source, not our processor. Its own policies govern its services and the information you give it directly.

5. Information sharing and disclosure

We share only information needed for the purposes stated in this Policy. A brand does not receive the participant list because it supplies a prize or has a sponsored card in the app, and a sponsored card gives its brand no access to players' personal data.

Publication with your consent. Only an accepted winner's TikTok handle and profile photo are published as personal information in the public round record and in @katchikapp's announcement posts. We obtain the publication consent described above before doing so. Other entrants' names, emails and handles are not published. The public proof also contains the list fingerprint and the beacon round.

Service providers and platform recipients. We use these service providers:

• Railway Corporation: API and database hosting.
• Cloudflare, Inc.: website hosting, DNS, forwarding of emails sent to support@katchik.com and privacy@katchik.com, and access control for our admin tools.
• Resend: transactional emails, such as password-reset links, deletion links and prize-claim reminders.
• Sentry (Functional Software, Inc.): error reports, without IP addresses, request bodies or stored values.
• Expo (650 Industries, Inc.): push notification delivery. A push carries only the notification's title, text and the screen it opens; Expo passes it to Apple's or Google's push service, which brings it to your phone.

These providers process service data on our instructions under their data processing agreements. Prize delivery details are used only to send the prize, go to the prize provider only when the provider sends it, and are deleted 24 months after delivery.

Legal requirements. We disclose information where a specific legal obligation requires it, or where a necessary and proportionate disclosure is justified to establish or defend legal claims. We assess each request and disclose only what is needed.

6. International transfers

Our providers process information outside the European Economic Area and the United Kingdom, mainly in the United States. For each one, the place of processing and the safeguard we rely on are:

• Railway Corporation (USA): API and database hosting in the US East region (Virginia). Safeguards: the EU-US Data Privacy Framework with its UK Extension, and the Standard Contractual Clauses with the UK Addendum in its data processing agreement. Follower list codes and dispute screenshots are stored with the rest of our data, under the same safeguards.
• Cloudflare, Inc. (USA): website hosting, DNS, forwarding of emails sent to support@katchik.com and privacy@katchik.com, and access control for our admin tools. Safeguards: the Data Privacy Framework and the Standard Contractual Clauses.
• Resend (USA): transactional emails (password reset, deletion links, prize-claim reminders). Safeguards: the Data Privacy Framework and the Standard Contractual Clauses.
• Sentry (Functional Software, Inc., USA): error reports stored in its EU region (Frankfurt), without IP addresses, request bodies or stored values; some account metadata stays in the US. Safeguards: the Data Privacy Framework where certified, otherwise the Standard Contractual Clauses.
• Expo (650 Industries, Inc., USA): push notification delivery, through Apple Push Notification service and Firebase Cloud Messaging (Google). Safeguards: the Data Privacy Framework and the Standard Contractual Clauses in its terms of service.

Choosing a European region does not remove every international transfer, which is why each provider above carries a safeguard. You can ask for a copy or an explanation of these safeguards at privacy@katchik.com, with confidential information protected where necessary.

7. How long we keep information

We keep information only for its stated purpose and for as long as the law requires:

• Account data: while the account exists; erased 30 days after a confirmed deletion request, unless a valid earlier erasure request applies.
• TikTok identifiers, profile and permissions: while connected; purged at disconnection or deauthorisation.
• Linking record (keyed hash of your TikTok open_id, and the Katchik account it was last linked to): kept after you disconnect TikTok; at erasure the account link is removed, and the hash is kept 12 months, then deleted.
• Phone link record (keyed code of a phone identifier, with the TikTok account linked from it): kept with the linking record after you disconnect TikTok; at erasure the account link is removed, and the code is kept 12 months, then deleted.
• TikTok access and refresh tokens: while connected; a replaced token is deleted when it is replaced.
• Statistics snapshots: 90 days, or sooner at disconnection, deauthorisation or account erasure.
• Scoring inputs (totals worked out for each scoring window from your statistics and public videos): no longer than statistics snapshots, so 90 days at most, or sooner at disconnection, deauthorisation or account erasure.
• Mission evidence (captions, covers, links, counts and the outcome): 12 months after verification, or sooner at disconnection, deauthorisation or account erasure.
• Deauthorisation events: 90 days.
• Entries, points, tickets and round history: while the account exists.
• Invite links between accounts: while both accounts exist; removed when either is erased.
• Free entry form: an unconfirmed, duplicate or refused entry is deleted 7 days after its round closes; the keyed code of your IP address is deleted 30 days after the round closes; a confirmed entry is deleted 90 days after the round closes, unless it was selected and passed the checks, in which case it is kept with the round's winner record.
• Proof of age and country from a candidate: deleted once checked, including any copy sent by email; only the result of the check is kept with the round history.
• Public list fingerprints and beacon records: as long as the round's public record exists. They hold no name.
• Public winner handle and photo: as long as the round's public record exists. If you delete your account after a win, the round's public record keeps your public entry id and your handle as the winner, since it proves how the round was decided, and your photo is removed; we delete @katchikapp's announcement posts that name you within 30 days of your request.
• Support emails: 2 years after the last message.
• Security logs with IP addresses and request IDs: up to 30 days.
• Product events: 365 days, or sooner at account erasure.
• Backups: none are kept during the closed beta. Once backups are enabled, daily copies are kept 6 days and weekly copies 27 days, so deleted data leaves backups within 30 days.
• Password-reset and deletion links: a password-reset link lasts 1 hour and a deletion link 24 hours; expired links are deleted daily.
• Push tokens, notification choices and inbox notices: while the account exists; a token that stops working is no longer used.
• Friend requests and connections: until either of you removes them, or either account is erased.
• Highlight taps: 12 months.
• Prize claims: 24 months after delivery; counsel confirms this period before the public launch. A claim refused or forfeited before delivery: 90 days after that decision.
• Follower list codes and their key: deleted 30 days after the round ends (when the next round opens on its winner, or when it is cancelled or voided), and at the latest 60 days after its result. The file itself is never kept.
• Dispute screenshots and notes: deleted with the follower list codes, or with your account if you delete it first.
• Usernames on list-mode entries: your TikTok username at the close and any new one, deleted with the follower list codes, or with your account if you delete it first. The answer, found or not found, stays with the round history.

If a particular legal obligation requires keeping a limited record beyond ordinary deletion, we isolate it, restrict its use and tell you the category, the reason and the period.

8. Automated scoring and selection

App points depend on linking TikTok, completed missions, invites and your TikTok activity since the previous round's selection, which is compared with accounts of a similar size and capped. The values it is compared with may be based on members' statistics. The formula version, caps and each mission's and invite's points are published for each round. An invite earns its points once per invited person, when that person joins their first round, and for at most 5 invited people in any 7 days. Each round point held at close is one ticket, every eligible entrant has at least 100 tickets, and the Official rules explain how a free entry's tickets are counted. A free entry is matched to the Katchik account with the same confirmed email, so that one person holds one entry per round.

The system seals the entry list and uses public drand quicknet randomness to produce a deterministic ticket-weighted selection. Its practical effect is to set the order in which candidates are considered. A candidate must still accept within 48 hours and pass the stated checks, including the follow checks, before becoming the winner.

A person makes each follow check, by looking on TikTok at the featured creator's follower list or at the candidate's own following list; a follow we cannot see on either counts as not followed, and we never ask a candidate for a screen recording or a data export. If a check fails, we move to the next candidate. You can also challenge incorrect data or eligibility treatment at privacy@katchik.com.

In a round checked against a follower list, the list replaces that person's check of your follow of the featured creator: every app entry is matched with the list after close, and you see your own answer in the app, Eligible or Not found. A Not found answer can be disputed once within 24 hours with a screenshot of your Following list, and a person decides every dispute before the seal.

For UK residents, UK GDPR Articles 22A to 22D apply: you can ask for information about such a decision, make representations, obtain human intervention and contest the decision.

9. Security

Passwords are hashed with Argon2id, every connection uses HTTPS, sign-in tokens expire after 15 minutes and are rotated, a replayed token revokes its whole session family, our admin tools sit behind Cloudflare Access, and error reports exclude IP addresses, request bodies and stored values. TikTok access and refresh tokens are encrypted and held on the server only.

No security measure can promise that an incident will never occur.

10. Links to other websites

TikTok applies its own privacy notice to its services. Following an external link does not mean that the service behind it acts as Katchik's processor.

Only TikTok is connected for social-platform data. We do not request data from other social accounts.

11. Children's privacy

Katchik accounts and entries are for people aged 18 or older. Contact us if you believe someone under 18 has created an account or entered a round, so we can investigate and take appropriate action.

12. Deleting personal information

Request account deletion in the app, under Settings > Delete account, confirmed with your password, or at katchik.com/delete-account through an emailed link. You have 30 days to cancel the request by logging in again. After the window, account data, points, missions, round history and the TikTok connection are erased; the linking record and the phone link record are kept for 12 months after erasure, as described above.

Published proofs keep fingerprints only, without personal account links; a winner's handle stays on the round's public record, as section 7 explains. Legally required records, if any, are handled as described under retention, not kept as an active app profile.

Disconnecting TikTok revokes the token at TikTok and purges our TikTok data, except the linking record and the phone link record, without waiting for account deletion. Deauthorisation triggers the same purge when we receive the event. Disconnecting does not erase your TikTok account.

If you entered on the web without a Katchik account, email privacy@katchik.com to request erasure or to use another right. You may also ask for earlier erasure rather than wait for the optional cancellation window.

13. Your rights

Depending on the processing and applicable law, you can request access, correction, erasure, restriction and portability. You can object to processing based on legitimate interests and withdraw consent at any time, without affecting the lawfulness of earlier consent-based processing.

Use the account and connection tools, katchik.com/delete-account, or email privacy@katchik.com. We may ask for proportionate information to confirm your identity. Requests are generally answered within one month; if the law allows us longer, we tell you why.

You can complain to the CNIL, the UK ICO, or the supervisory authority where you live or work or where an alleged infringement occurred. Contacting us first can help resolve an issue, but does not remove your right to complain.

14. Changes to this Privacy Policy

We date each new version and explain material changes by email and with a notice in the app before the change applies. A new notice does not by itself authorise a new use of data or replace consent where consent is required.

15. Contact us

Contact the controller at privacy@katchik.com. For anything that is not about personal data, write to support@katchik.com. See also the Terms of Service, the Official rules and the legal notice.