Identity Verification Policy

1. What verification is

Identity verification is an optional trust-and-safety feature. When you complete it and a Mekora reviewer approves your submission, a blue verified badge appears beside your name across Mekora. Verification is never required to create an account, use Discover, like people, or chat, and it does not unlock or restrict any feature. Some document types may not be available in every country.

A verified badge only confirms that a person completed our review. It does not guarantee anyone's intentions, character, or personal safety. Always follow the guidance in our Safety Center.

2. What we collect

If you start verification, we collect only what a reviewer needs to settle the check:

• Document photos: a clear photograph of the front (and back, where required) of a government-issued document — passport, driver's licence, provincial or state ID card, national identity card, permanent resident card, or residence permit.
• A live selfie: a selfie taken in-app, with one or two simple liveness prompts (for example, “blink slowly” or “turn your head”). Mekora does not run automatic face matching; a human reviewer compares your selfie to the photo on your document.
• Typed details: your full legal name, date of birth, document expiry date, and the last four digits of your document number. Only the last four digits are stored, and they are never shown on your profile.
• Country and document type: the issuing country and the kind of document you used, so we can offer the right options and keep accurate records.

We never collect your full ID number, your address (unless printed on a document photo you submit), or any biometric template. Basic image-quality checks (blur, glare, and cropped edges) run on your device to help you submit a readable photo; the images themselves are not used for anything beyond the review.

3. How we use it

• To confirm you are a real person aged 18 or over.
• To prevent fraud, duplicate accounts, and abuse of Mekora.
• To enforce our Community Guidelines and act on reports.
• To show — or remove — the verified badge on your profile.

Your verification data is never used for advertising, never sold, and never used for any purpose unrelated to identity and age verification, fraud prevention, and safety.

4. How we store it

Your document photos and selfie are uploaded to a private, access-locked storage bucket that is separate from your public profile content. Only authorised Mekora reviewers can open these files, and only through short-lived signed links that expire after two minutes. Every time a reviewer opens a document, the view is recorded against their account in a tamper-evident audit trail.

The decision (verified, not approved, action required, and so on), the reason for a decision, and the audit history are stored in our database so the badge stays accurate and the process can be reviewed. Other members can never see any of this — only the badge itself, if you have one.

5. Who can review it

Only Mekora admin reviewers can open a verification submission. Reviews are manual: a real person checks your document, compares your selfie, and records a decision. The reviewer's identity is logged with every action, and decisions can be audited after the fact.

6. How long we keep it

• Raw document and selfie photos: deleted automatically 30 days after a decision is recorded, whether the decision is approved, not approved, or action required. After deletion, only null paths remain — the images cannot be recovered.
• The decision and audit record: kept so the badge stays accurate, so we can investigate disputes, and so we can prevent repeat abuse. This record does not contain your document images or your full ID number.
• Badge validity: if your document has an expiry date, the badge is removed when that document expires. If it has no expiry date, the badge stays valid for up to two years, after which you can verify again.

7. Deleting your data

You can cancel an in-progress submission at any time before you submit, and the photos you uploaded are removed. After a decision, raw photos are purged on the 30-day schedule above. If you delete your Mekora account (see Delete your account), your verification record and any remaining documents are erased with it.

8. Your rights

You can start, pause, or cancel verification at any time. If your submission is not approved, you can appeal by contacting support, and you can submit again with corrected documents. You can ask us to explain a decision, and depending on where you live you may have the right to access or delete the verification data we hold about you. For any of these, contact support@mekoradating.com.

9. Changes to this policy

If we change how verification data is collected, stored, used, or deleted, we'll post the updated policy here and update the date above. Material changes may also be notified in-app.

10. Contact

Questions about identity verification or this policy? Contact the Mekora team at support@mekoradating.com.