Safety and Guidelines
Vavelen is for meeting new people in small groups. Safety comes before everything else, and these are our commitments.
- Every meetup is at a public place.
- Everyone has a profile photo, so you know who you're meeting.
- Groups only, never one-on-one. Women-only groups are available.
- Report or block anyone in two taps. They're never told who reported them.
- People see your area and a rounded distance, never your address.
In an Emergency
- If a meetup feels wrong, leave. You don't need to explain.
- Move to a busy spot, or ask staff at the venue for help.
- If you're in crisis or need someone to talk to, call or text 9-8-8 any time (Canada's 24/7 crisis line).
Before You Meet
- Meet at the public place listed on the event. Don't move the plan to someone's home.
- Tell a friend where you're going and when you expect to be back.
- Check your group's photos and social links in the group chat before you go.
- Get there and home on your own. You don't need to share your address.
- Leave whenever you want. You don't owe anyone an explanation.
Reporting and Blocking
You can report a person, a group or an event from any group chat or event page. Reports are private: nobody is told who reported them. A person on the Vavelen team reviews every report within 24 hours.
Blocking someone removes them from your groups and stops them being placed with you again.
Community Guidelines
- Be respectful. No harassment, insults or pressure of any kind.
- Groups, not dates. Vavelen is for friendship. Don't use it to pursue someone romantically.
- Be yourself. Use your real first name and a recent photo of your face.
- Everyone is welcome. Discrimination based on race, religion, gender, sexuality, disability, age or background is not allowed.
- Adults only. You must be 18 or older.
- Show up, or say so. If you can't make it, tell your group in the chat.
- Nothing for sale. No selling, recruiting or promoting in groups.
Breaking these guidelines can mean losing access to Vavelen.
Privacy
- We collect only what's needed to match groups: your first name, email, area, age, life stage, interests, and a profile photo. A social link is optional. Gender is optional and only used for women-only groups.
- Others see your first name, photo, area, life stage and interests, plus your social link if you add one. They never see your exact age, gender, email or address.
- Only the people in your group can read your group chat.
- Who stores it: Supabase (accounts, profiles, chats and photos), Cloudflare (hosts this website) and Google (maps, only on map pages; Google receives your IP address when a map loads).
- We never sell personal data, and there are no advertising trackers.
- Your data is kept until you delete your profile. You can delete it at any time from your profile page, which removes your profile, photo, groups and messages.
Contact
Vavelen is a student project by Andrew, Carina, Mert, Sheel and Pruthvish for Business 4558.
For anything else, use the report button inside the app. It reaches the team directly.