Privacy · Face check
Biometric Data Policy
One private selfie proves you're the person in your photos. This page is the written notice you agree to before it runs.
In plain words
- About 5 seconds of video, matched only to your three profile photos. Never shown on your profile.
- Processed by Amazon Web Services for us. The video and the frame used for matching are deleted after the check; we keep the result, never the scan.
- Used for nothing else: not identity, not age, not ads, not training.
- You agree by ticking "I agree to the face check and the Biometric Data Policy". Belavo cannot be used without the check.
1. What the face check is
Before you join Belavo you record a short video selfie (about 5 seconds) inside the app, following on-screen prompts to center your face and turn your head. The check does two things:
- Liveness. It confirms that a live person is in front of the camera, not a photo, a screen, a mask or a replayed video.
- Match. It compares your face with the three profile photos you uploaded and confirms that they show you.
The face check confirms that your photos are of you. It does not confirm your name, age, address or legal identity, and it is not used to recognize or find you anywhere else. Every member completes it; the teal "verified" mark on a profile means this check passed.
2. What biometric information is collected
During the check, our service provider Amazon Web Services, Inc. ("AWS"), using Amazon Rekognition Face Liveness and Amazon Rekognition CompareFaces, processes your selfie video and your profile photos and derives measurements of facial geometry from them in order to produce two numbers: a liveness confidence score and a face-match similarity score. Those measurements of facial geometry are "biometric information" and "biometric identifiers" under laws such as the California Consumer Privacy Act, the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act and the Texas Capture or Use of Biometric Identifier Act. This notice is given in writing so that you know what is collected, why, and for how long, before it happens.
3. Why we collect it
Solely to confirm that you are the person in your profile photos, so that every member on Belavo is a real, verified person and nobody can use another person's photos. We do not use biometric information:
- to identify you by name or to search for you in any database;
- to estimate your age, gender, ethnicity, emotion or any other characteristic;
- for advertising, marketing or profiling of any kind;
- to train, improve or evaluate any machine-learning model;
- for any purpose other than the one stated here.
We do not sell, lease, trade or otherwise profit from biometric information, and we do not disclose it to anyone except AWS, which acts only as our service provider under a written contract that prohibits it from using the information for its own purposes. We have opted out of AWS's use of content processed by Amazon Rekognition to develop or improve its services.
4. Retention and destruction schedule
| Item | Kept |
|---|---|
| Selfie video | Not stored by Belavo. Streamed to Amazon Rekognition for the duration of the check only; the check session and all data associated with it expire within minutes of completion. |
| Reference frame (one still from the video) | Used once to compare with your three profile photos, then deleted from our systems immediately after the comparison completes, and in every case within 24 hours. |
| Audit frames | Not collected. |
| Facial geometry, templates or face vectors | Never stored by Belavo. The comparison is run without creating a stored face template or a face collection. |
| Result (verified or not), liveness and match scores, date of the check | Kept while your account exists, then deleted within 30 days after your account is erased. |
| Your consent record (date, time, version of this policy) | Kept while your account exists plus 3 years, to evidence compliance. |
In every case, biometric information is permanently destroyed when the purpose for collecting it has been satisfied, and no later than one year after your last interaction with Belavo, as Illinois law requires, whichever is first. If we ever need to keep biometric information longer, we will tell you in writing first and ask for your consent again.
5. Your consent
We run the face check only after you tick "I agree to the face check and the Biometric Data Policy" on the face-check screen. That tick is your written release and consent to the collection, processing and retention described on this page. We record the date, time and version of this policy you agreed to. You may refuse, but Belavo cannot be used without the check. You may withdraw consent at any time by deleting your account, which also deletes your face-check result on the schedule above.
6. Your profile photos
The three photos you upload are part of your profile. They are compared with your selfie during the check, but they are not themselves biometric information and are governed by the Privacy Policy. If you replace your profile photos, we may ask you to repeat the face check.
7. Security
Biometric information is transmitted only over encrypted connections and processed in encrypted systems. The reference frame is encrypted with an encryption key that Belavo controls and is stored in an isolated location that only the automated check can reach. Access is limited to the automated process and to the engineers responsible for operating it, and every access is logged. We protect biometric information with the same or greater care than we use for our most confidential information, and at least to the standard that a reasonable business in our industry would use.
8. Re-checks and failed checks
If the check does not pass, you can try again; nothing from the failed attempt is kept except the result. We may ask you to repeat the check if you change your profile photos, if a report suggests your photos are not you, or if we detect suspicious activity on your account. The same rules on this page apply each time.
9. Changes
If we change what the face check collects, how long it is kept, or who processes it, we will publish a new version of this policy and ask members to agree to it before their next check. We will not apply a material change to information already collected without your consent.
10. Questions
Write to [email protected], or to Dopin LLC d/b/a Belavo, 254 Chapman Rd, Ste 208 #25323, Newark, DE 19702.