Privacy Policy

Which apps and sites this covers

This policy applies to this website, getwhatsgrouplink.com, and to our three directory apps, all operated by the same team and all served by the same backend:

• Whatsgroup link com.social.whatsgroup.wa
• Whatsgroup join com.whatsgroup.link.join.wa
• Social Groups com.social.whatsgroup.wtsp

Together we call these the Service. Whichever app you use, the same data practices and the same deletion route apply.

Information we collect

Information you give us. When you submit a group, you enter the group name, the WhatsApp invite link, its type and category, and optionally a description, member count and country — plus an image if you pick one from your gallery. That listing is published in the app directory and on this website. We never ask for or access your contacts, your camera roll, or anything beyond what you type into the submission form.

Generated for you. Each submission gets a short recovery code, like ABC3-7XK2, so you can re-link the listing to a different device later — and so you can prove it's yours when you want it removed. It is shown once, in the app, right after the submission.

Collected automatically.

• An anonymous device identifier — a random string created on first launch. It is not your Android ID, not your GAID, and not tied to your real identity.
• App activity: which groups you viewed, joined, bookmarked or shared, and coarse counts used for “trending” and “popular” rankings.
• Diagnostics and crash data via Google Firebase, plus a push token (Firebase Cloud Messaging) only if you allow notifications.
• An advertising identifier via Google AdMob, used to serve and measure ads.

Stored only on your device. Your bookmarks live in local app storage and never leave the device. Your recovery code is only transmitted when you submit or claim a listing.

How we use information

To run the directory: publish and moderate listings, let you submit, save and re-claim groups, send notifications you opted into, keep rankings honest, detect spam and abuse, and measure what people actually use so we can improve the apps. We also use it to show ads, which is how the Service is funded.

We do not sell your personal information, and we do not rent it out.

Advertising and third parties

Google AdMob serves the ads you see and may use your advertising identifier — see Google's Privacy Policy and How ads work. In the EEA and UK we show Google's User Messaging Platform consent prompt before serving personalized ads, and you can revisit that choice in the app's settings.

Ads in our apps also run through Google's mediation layer, which lets a small number of vetted ad networks bid for the same impression. Those networks may see the same advertising identifier and basic device information in order to bid on and serve an ad.

Google Firebase provides push messaging, crash reporting and analytics. Cloudflare R2 / ImageKit store the optional image attached to a group listing. Payment providers (Razorpay for INR, Polar for USD, NOWPayments for crypto) handle promotion purchases if you buy one; we keep the order record but never your card or wallet details.

Data retention

On-device data — bookmarks, cached listings, your recovery code — stays until you clear it or uninstall the app. Uninstalling removes everything stored on the device immediately.

Server-side data — the device identifier, your submitted listings and aggregate activity counts — is kept while it is needed to operate the Service. A published listing stays live until you remove it or we take it down for breaking the Terms. Expired promotional placements are removed on schedule, and deleting a listing cascades to its images, analytics, edit requests and notifications in one pass.

Security

Everything between the apps, this website and our servers travels over HTTPS. Because there is no login, there are no passwords to leak. Your recovery code and device identifier are excluded from normal API responses, so a listing's public page can never reveal the code that controls it. Keep the code private — anyone who has it can manage that listing.

Your rights and choices

Delete a listing you submitted, instantly, without emailing us. Use the removal page with your recovery code and the exact group name. It removes the listing and its related data — images, analytics, edit requests, promotions and notifications — and cannot be undone.

Ads. Reset or limit the advertising identifier any time in Android Settings → Privacy → Ads, or opt out of personalized ads through the in-app consent prompt.

Notifications. Turn them off in your system settings whenever you like; nothing else in the app depends on them.

Anything else. To ask what we hold about a device identifier, or to exercise access, rectification, erasure or portability rights under GDPR-style law (including for users in the EEA, UK and India), email support@getwhatsgrouplink.com with the device identifier or recovery code involved. Because we are anonymous by design, we can only act on requests that reference one of those — which is also what stops other people from wiping your data.

Children

The Service is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect their data. Group listings are submitted by the public and some may contain mature (18+) content, so the apps are intended for adults. If you believe a child's data reached us, email us and we'll remove it.

International transfers

Our infrastructure and our processors' (Google, Cloudflare, ImageKit) may handle data in countries other than your own, including the United States and India. By using the Service you consent to those transfers. We rely on the standard contractual and adequacy arrangements our providers already offer rather than moving data ourselves.

Changes to this policy

We update this page as the apps change. The “Last updated” date above is the version you are reading; material changes get a more prominent notice in the app before they take effect.