MakeItHow it works
What each part of MakeItLit! does, what it uses, how long it’s kept and what you control, with the laws that cover it. We check each feature against the law at least once a year, and again whenever someone tells us something’s not right with it. Each page says when it was last checked, and by whom.
These pages describe how the app works. They aren’t legal advice, and listing a law here doesn’t mean a court or regulator has looked at the feature.
Something not right with a feature? In the app: Settings, then How it works, then “Something’s not right” on that feature. Or write to support@makeitlit.app with the feature’s name. We answer within 10 business days.
Your account · Your profile · Discover · Chats and dates · The feed · Safety · Plans and invites · Laws we’re watching
Your account
Adults only
Last checked October 1, 2026, by the MakeItLit! team
MakeItLit! is only for people 18 and over. You give your birth date when you sign up, and nobody under 18 can make an account. If we find an account belongs to someone under 18, we delete it.
What it uses
- Your birth date (other people see your age, never the date)
How long it’s kept
With your account.
What you control
If your birth date is wrong, write to us.
Laws that cover it
- Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA)
Signing in
Last checked October 1, 2026, by the MakeItLit! team
Amazon Web Services runs sign-in for us (Amazon Cognito). Your password is never stored in plain text, and we never see it. Resetting your password signs you out everywhere else. Your email address only changes when you ask us, and the address on the account is told.
What it uses
- Your username, email address and password (the password stays with the sign-in service)
How long it’s kept
Until you delete your account. An account we banned keeps its sign-in record, switched off, so it can’t simply join again.
What you control
Change your password in Settings. To change your email address, write to us.
Laws that cover it
- FTC Act, section 5 (honest claims about security)
- State data-breach notice laws
One account per person
Last checked October 1, 2026, by the MakeItLit! team
To stop fake and duplicate accounts, invite abuse and banned accounts coming back, the app makes a code from your phone’s device identifier (never the identifier itself). A new account on a phone a banned account used starts hidden until a person reviews it.
What it uses
- A code made from your phone’s device identifier
How long it’s kept
Deleted with your account. If the account was banned, 3 years; if it was hidden for review when it was deleted, 90 days.
What you control
Nobody else ever sees it.
Laws that cover it
- Connecticut’s privacy law and other state privacy laws (collect only what’s needed, keep it no longer than needed)
Seeing your data
Last checked October 1, 2026, by the MakeItLit! team
Edit profile, then Download my data, gives you a copy of what’s stored for your account: account details, your profile (private answers too), Keeps and Vanishes, mutuals, blocks, conversations and videos. Other people appear by display name only.
What it uses
- Everything stored for your account, sent only to you
How long it’s kept
The copy is made when you ask for it.
What you control
Ask for anything else, like your compatibility scores, at privacy@makeitlit.app. We answer within 45 days.
Laws that cover it
- State privacy laws (the right to see your data and take a copy)
Deleting your account
Last checked October 1, 2026, by the MakeItLit! team
Edit profile, then Delete account (or makeitlit.app/delete-account). Your profile, photos, videos, mutuals and conversations are removed at once, and we email the address on your account to confirm it: that email is your certificate of deletion.
What it uses
- Everything tied to your account
How long it’s kept
An encrypted safety copy for 7 days, then erased. Reports other people made about the account stay as a moderation record, and we keep anything a law or a court order requires.
What you control
Delete whenever you want. Deleting your account doesn’t cancel a subscription: cancel it in your store’s settings.
Laws that cover it
- State privacy laws (the right to delete)
- New York General Business Law 394-c (a deletion certificate for paid members)
Your profile
Selfie verification (the Solid badge)
Last checked October 1, 2026, by the MakeItLit! team
If you choose to verify and agree first, you take a few quick selfies doing moves we ask for (turning your head, smiling, opening your mouth or closing your eyes). Amazon Web Services checks each move and compares the face in them with your main photo. A match earns the Solid badge. It shows the selfies matched the photos; it isn’t a background or ID check.
What it uses
- Your selfies and main photo, and the face measurements worked out from them (biometric data)
How long it’s kept
Face measurements are never kept. The selfies are deleted as soon as the check is done (within 1 day if they’re never checked). We keep a record that you agreed, and when.
What you control
Verifying is optional, and you can take back your OK any time: the Biometric Data Policy says how.
Laws that cover it
- Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA)
- Texas biometric identifier law (CUBI)
- Washington’s biometric identifier law and My Health My Data Act
- Colorado Privacy Act (biometric data)
Photo checks
Last checked October 1, 2026, by the MakeItLit! team
A new profile photo stays private until our automated check for nudity, violence and hate passes, and only then is shown. If you’ve agreed to face comparison, we also check that your main photo shows a face. A file we removed after an intimate-image request can’t be uploaded again.
What it uses
- Your photos
- Whether your main photo shows a face (yes or no; no measurements kept)
How long it’s kept
Your photos stay until you delete them. A new photo that’s never checked is deleted within 1 day.
What you control
Add, replace or delete photos in Edit profile.
Laws that cover it
- TAKE IT DOWN Act (removed images stay down)
- Illinois BIPA (the face check runs only after you agree)
Sensitive information
Last checked October 1, 2026, by the MakeItLit! team
Your gender and who you want to see, and, only if you add them, your private bedroom answers, “Faith” among your values, some Open book topics, your religion and your background, can reveal sensitive things about you. We ask for your OK on its own before using them, use them only to show you to the right people and for the features you add them to, and never sell them, use them for ads or use them to train AI.
What it uses
- Only what you choose to tell us
How long it’s kept
Until you take your OK back, remove them, or delete your account.
What you control
Settings, then Sensitive information: turn the optional answers off (they’re deleted at once), or take your OK back (your gender and who you want to see are deleted, and you leave Discover until you agree again).
Laws that cover it
- Connecticut Data Privacy Act (as amended in 2025)
- Colorado Privacy Act
- Other state privacy laws
- Washington My Health My Data Act
Compatibility and your type
Last checked October 1, 2026, by the MakeItLit! team
Only what you tell us: how you describe your looks, your love language, social energy, movie and music taste, religion and background, and what you’re drawn to. Nothing is worked out from your photos. Lit+ shows more of other people’s answers and whether you’re each other’s type; Lit Afterlife adds movie and music taste. Religion and background are never part of a score, and no preference ever hides anyone.
What it uses
- Your answers, compared with the other person’s
How long it’s kept
Until you change or remove them, or delete your account.
What you control
Edit profile, then Compatibility. Each field says who sees it. Your type, your background, the backgrounds you’d like to see first and whether your faith matters to you are never shown to anyone.
Laws that cover it
- Connecticut and Colorado privacy laws (sensitive data)
- California’s Unruh Civil Rights Act and other civil rights laws
Discover
Who you see first
Last checked October 1, 2026, by the MakeItLit! team
Your filters (who you want to see, ages and distance) decide who’s in your deck. Everything else only changes the order: first people who sent you a Glow and people a friend suggested, then people who fit what you asked for (your type, with Lit+; backgrounds you’d like to see first; the same faith, if it matters to you), then, on Lit Afterlife, members on a plan. After that, verified people, boosted people and people active recently.
What it uses
- Your filters and preferences, and the other person’s answers
- Plans, verification and boosts
What you control
Change your filters in Discover and your preferences in Edit profile.
Laws that cover it
- FTC Act, section 5 (placement that depends on payment is said so)
Your location and distance
Last checked October 1, 2026, by the MakeItLit! team
If you allow location, your phone’s position is rounded to about 1 km before it’s used, and only to work out distances. Nobody ever sees it. The distance others see is a number of miles, measured from a point up to 1.5 miles from you, so it can’t be used to find where you are.
What it uses
- Your approximate location (about 1 km)
How long it’s kept
Your latest approximate location, with your account. The approximate locations your phone sends are also in the 7-day activity log, for safety reports.
What you control
Turn location off in your phone’s settings.
Laws that cover it
- Connecticut’s privacy law and others like it (a location within 1,750 feet is sensitive; ours is rounded to about 1 km)
Demo profiles
Last checked October 1, 2026, by the MakeItLit! team
Where MakeItLit! has just started, you can choose to see demo profiles to try the app before many people have joined. They’re made-up people we created, marked “Demo · not a real person”, who match and reply automatically. They’re off unless you turn them on, never count toward anything you pay for, and go away once enough real people have joined or the demo period ends.
What it uses
- Messages you send them, stored like other messages
How long it’s kept
Deleted with your account.
What you control
Turn them on or off in Discover.
Laws that cover it
- FTC Act, section 5 (no made-up people passed off as real)
Chats and dates
Messages and unsend
Last checked October 1, 2026, by the MakeItLit! team
Messages go to the person you’re talking to. Some are checked automatically for abuse and scams. Unsend one and it’s gone for both of you at once. To spot bots, we look at how long a message took to type, keeping only a fingerprint (a hash) of the message, never its text.
What it uses
- What you write
- Typing time, and a fingerprint (hash) of each message
How long it’s kept
Until one of you deletes their account. A message you unsend: an encrypted safety copy for 7 days, then erased.
What you control
Unsend, block or report from the chat.
Laws that cover it
No law just for this feature. The Privacy Policy covers what it uses.
Photos in chat
Last checked October 1, 2026, by the MakeItLit! team
Normal photos stay in the chat for 30 days. Private photos only go between two adults who have both turned them on, are checked before delivery (explicit images are never delivered), open once for a few seconds and are deleted once opened. The app blocks screenshots where the phone allows it.
What it uses
- The photos you send
How long it’s kept
Normal photos: 30 days. Private photos: until opened, or 2 days. Private and blurred photos, and photos our checks block: an encrypted safety copy for 7 days. Reported photos: 180 days.
What you control
Turn private photos off in Settings.
Laws that cover it
- TAKE IT DOWN Act
- Federal law on reporting child sexual abuse material (18 U.S.C. 2258A)
High Key dates
Last checked October 1, 2026, by the MakeItLit! team
Live dates in a chat with selfies, Flickers (a few frames of a moving selfie) and voice bits. Every photo and Flicker frame you send by hand is checked for explicit content before it’s delivered. Nobody listens to voice bits unless they’re reported. Screenshots are blocked during a date.
What it uses
- Your selfies, Flickers and voice bits
How long it’s kept
Deleted when the date ends, within a day at most. An encrypted safety copy for 7 days. If you’re reported, what you sent in that date stays with the report (180 days).
What you control
A date only starts when you both say yes, and either of you can end it.
Laws that cover it
- TAKE IT DOWN Act
- Federal law on reporting child sexual abuse material (18 U.S.C. 2258A)
GIFs
Last checked October 1, 2026, by the MakeItLit! team
When you search for a GIF, your phone sends what you type straight to GIPHY, and GIPHY sees your phone’s internet address, as any website does. We don’t send GIPHY anything about you, and we don’t keep your searches. Results are rated PG-13 at most.
What it uses
- What you type in the GIF search (sent to GIPHY, not to us)
How long it’s kept
We keep nothing; GIPHY’s own privacy policy covers what it does.
Laws that cover it
No law just for this feature. The Privacy Policy covers what it uses.
The feed
The feed
Last checked October 1, 2026, by the MakeItLit! team
Short videos from members. Every video is checked for nudity, violence, hate and abuse, and ones the check refuses are taken down at once. Creators see how many views a video got, never who watched, except that a Lit Afterlife creator sees the names of people who liked them or are their mutuals and watched. Selling anything isn’t allowed.
What it uses
- Your videos
- Views (watching a video for a few seconds counts as one)
How long it’s kept
A video you delete: 30 days so you can restore it, then gone. A refused video: kept encrypted for our safety team for 180 days. View counts: 90 days.
What you control
Delete or restore your videos, and report any video.
Laws that cover it
- TAKE IT DOWN Act
- Federal law on reporting child sexual abuse material (18 U.S.C. 2258A)
- FTC Endorsement Guides (no hidden ads)
Ads on the free plan
Last checked October 1, 2026, by the MakeItLit! team
On the free plan, ads from Google (AdMob) show between videos in the feed, and when you choose to watch one for a reward. They’re never personalized: we don’t give Google your profile, matches, messages or anything else about you. Google’s ad software on your phone collects what it needs to show and count ads and stop fraud, under Google’s own privacy policy. Paid plans have no ads in the feed.
What it uses
- Nothing from us; Google’s software uses your phone’s advertising ID, an approximate location from its internet address, and which ads you see and tap
What you control
Where the law requires it, you’re asked first. A paid plan, or an invite reward, turns feed ads off.
Laws that cover it
- Connecticut’s privacy law and other state privacy laws (we don’t do targeted advertising)
Safety
Reports, hiding and bans
Last checked October 1, 2026, by the MakeItLit! team
Report anyone from their profile or a chat; our safety team reviews it. If we hide your profile or suspend your account, we tell you why in the app (the kind of reports, never who made them), and you can ask for a review once per decision. A person reviews it, not the one who made the decision.
What it uses
- What a report says, and what was reported
How long it’s kept
Until the report is resolved, and longer when the law requires. Decisions, and what you write when you ask for a review, stay with the moderation record.
What you control
Report, block, and ask for a review.
Laws that cover it
- Colorado’s online dating safety law (C.R.S. 6-1-731.5)
- Connecticut’s online dating law (harassment reports)
No background checks
Last checked October 1, 2026, by the MakeItLit! team
MAKEITLIT! DOES NOT CONDUCT CRIMINAL BACKGROUND SCREENINGS OR CRIMINAL BACKGROUND CHECKS ON ITS MEMBERS. You see this before you can message anyone, with safety tips, and on every profile. The Solid badge isn’t a background or ID check.
What it uses
- Nothing: it’s a notice
What you control
Read the Safety center before meeting anyone.
Laws that cover it
- New Jersey Internet Dating Safety Act
- Illinois Internet Dating Safety Act
- Texas Business and Commerce Code, chapter 106
- New York General Business Law 394-cc
- Utah Code 13-67
- Connecticut’s online dating law
Fraud-ban alerts
Last checked October 1, 2026, by the MakeItLit! team
If we ban an account for fraud or a false identity, everyone it sent a message to is told right away: in the app, by notification and by email. The alert gives its name, username and main photo, when it last messaged you, why it was banned, and how to spot and report scams.
What it uses
- The banned account’s name, username and main photo, and when it last messaged you
How long it’s kept
The alert stays in your app with your account. Our record of who was told, when and how: 3 years.
Laws that cover it
- Arizona A.R.S. 44-7157
- Colorado C.R.S. 6-1-731
- New York General Business Law 394-c
- Utah Code 13-67-105
We’re watching
Bill · United States (Congress)
Romance Scam Prevention Act (H.R. 2481)
A federal bill about online dating services telling members when someone who contacted them was banned for fraud. It would take effect a year after it becomes law.
Passed the House (June 23, 2025) and the Senate without changes (September 23, 2026); not yet sent to the President (as of October 1, 2026)
What could change: We already tell everyone a fraud-banned account messaged, in the app, by notification and by email. If it becomes law, we’ll check the alerts against its final wording before it takes effect.
Removing intimate images
Last checked October 1, 2026, by the MakeItLit! team
If an intimate image of you was shared without your consent, whether or not you use MakeItLit!, ask us to remove it: “Remove an image” in the Safety center (no account needed), or makeitlit.app/takedown. We act on valid requests within 48 hours, remove the identical copies we find, and email you what we did, or why not. A removed file can’t be uploaded again.
What it uses
- Your name, email, typed signature and what you tell us
How long it’s kept
The request and what we did, as a record. Removed images: kept encrypted for our safety team, then deleted after 90 days (a year when reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children). A fingerprint of each removed file stays so it can’t come back.
Laws that cover it
- TAKE IT DOWN Act
- Digital Millennium Copyright Act (copyright)
- Federal law on reporting child sexual abuse material (18 U.S.C. 2258A)
Encrypted safety copies
Last checked October 1, 2026, by the MakeItLit! team
Things that disappear (a message you unsend, a view-once photo, a High Key selfie or voice bit, your account when you delete it) disappear for everyone at once, but we keep an encrypted copy for 7 days for safety reports and lawful requests. Opening it takes several logged steps: a case opened by our safety team, with two-step sign-in, and every access recorded. A 7-day activity log (time, internet address and app details of each request, and approximate locations) is kept for the same reason.
What it uses
- What disappeared, and the activity log
How long it’s kept
7 days, then erased; longer only when a case preserves it for the authorities.
Laws that cover it
- Federal law on preserving records for the authorities (18 U.S.C. 2703(f))
- Federal law on reporting child sexual abuse material (18 U.S.C. 2258A)
Plans and invites
Lit+ and Lit Afterlife
Last checked October 1, 2026, by the MakeItLit! team
Monthly subscriptions through the App Store or Google Play. The price, that it renews automatically every month, and how to cancel are shown above the buy button. Cancel at least 24 hours before the renewal date in your store’s settings (or Settings, then Manage subscription). Your price stays the same while you stay subscribed; if it ever has to change, we tell you 7 to 30 days before. New York members have extra rights, in the Bill of Rights linked next to the buy button.
What it uses
- Your plan, its renewal dates and what the store charged (the store handles payment)
- The terms shown when you subscribed, word for word
How long it’s kept
Your plan, with your account. The record of what you agreed to: 3 years, or 1 year after the subscription ends, whichever is longer.
What you control
Cancel any time; your plan runs to the end of the month you paid for. We email you the terms when you subscribe, a note each time it renews and once a year, and a note when you cancel.
Laws that cover it
- California’s automatic renewal law (Business and Professions Code 17602)
- New York General Business Law 527-a
- Restore Online Shoppers’ Confidence Act (ROSCA)
- Other states’ automatic-renewal laws (including Colorado, Massachusetts and Minnesota)
- New York General Business Law 394-c (New York members)
Invites and rewards
Last checked October 1, 2026, by the MakeItLit! team
When a friend joins with your invite code in their first 7 days, verifies, and is still using MakeItLit! a week later, you get 7 days with no feed ads, a 24-hour boost and that day’s likes refilled, up to 5 times a month. Your friend gets nothing for joining. You see how many people joined with your code, never who.
What it uses
- The code someone joined with, and how many joined with yours
How long it’s kept
With your account.
What you control
If you share your code publicly, say that you get a reward when someone uses it.
Laws that cover it
- FTC Endorsement Guides (say when you get a reward)
Laws we’re watching
New laws, rules and court cases that could change a feature. We follow them so a feature can change in time. A court case listed here is one MakeItLit! isn’t part of, and listing it doesn’t mean a feature breaks any law: it means we’re watching how it’s decided.
Bill · United States (Congress)
Romance Scam Prevention Act (H.R. 2481)
A federal bill about online dating services telling members when someone who contacted them was banned for fraud. It would take effect a year after it becomes law.
Passed the House (June 23, 2025) and the Senate without changes (September 23, 2026); not yet sent to the President (as of October 1, 2026)
Fraud-ban alerts: We already tell everyone a fraud-banned account messaged, in the app, by notification and by email. If it becomes law, we’ll check the alerts against its final wording before it takes effect.