EFFECTIVE JULY 17, 2026

Privacy Policy

This plain-language policy explains what the BuddiesIRL beta collects, why it is used, and the controls you have.

What we collect

We store the account information you provide: display name, username, email address, birthday, ZIP code used for Nearby, and password security data. Your birthday is used to confirm age eligibility and may support future birthday features only when those features are introduced with appropriate sharing controls. We also store content and activity you choose to share, including circle memberships, typed venue names, plans, ride requests and offers, check-ins, SOS buddy alerts, blocks, reports, alert preferences, push-notification subscriptions, and beta feedback.

Private activity history

If private activity history is enabled in Account settings, BuddiesIRL may privately retain a limited record of moments you participated in, such as the Circle, date, activity or Plan, place, other participating members, and approximate duration. This groundwork is intended for a future opt-in Memory Lane feature. There is no public Memory Lane page in this beta, these records are not posted to a feed, and they are not used for likes, comments, streaks, or popularity scores. You can turn future collection off or delete your saved participation history at any time. A future participant-facing release will include additional visibility controls before anyone can view this history.

What we do not collect

BuddiesIRL does not request or store precise GPS location. Your password is not stored as readable text; a salted one-way password hash is stored instead. Operational rate limits use a shortened one-way fingerprint rather than retaining a raw IP address.

How information is shared

Private-circle content is shown to members of that circle. Nearby content can be shown to other beta users in the same ZIP-area circle, including people you do not know. SOS alerts and ride activity are shared with the relevant circle or recipient. Reports are visible to the super-admin for moderation. Your exact birthday is not shown to Circle members or posted in activity feeds.

Why we use it

We use this information to operate accounts and circles, deliver plans and alerts, provide safety and moderation tools, prevent abuse, diagnose errors, back up beta data, and improve the service from feedback. We count a small set of product events—such as account creation, notification setup, Circle joins, and Beacons shared—to understand whether the beta helps people reach an in-person plan. We do not use session replay or record browsing content.

Retention and service providers

Active plans automatically expire after the sitewide plan lifetime, currently six hours. Circle activity, inactive Beacons, and product-event counts are generally removed after 30 days. Successful notification-delivery records are generally removed after 30 days, failed delivery diagnostics after 90 days, and expired sessions and recovery tokens during scheduled maintenance. Beta feedback may include the current page, app build, browser description, and a generated request ID so technical problems can be reproduced. Accounts and their related records remain until deletion or moderation requires removal; limited moderation history may be retained to document a decision. Encrypted recovery snapshots are kept as seven recent daily copies plus four older weekly copies and may temporarily retain information already removed from the live service until those snapshots expire. The beta uses hosting, database, object-storage, push-notification, optional email-delivery, and Google Maps Platform providers that process information to run the service. Nearby ZIP codes may be sent to Google Maps to retrieve public venue recommendations. Google’s handling of that request is governed by the Google Privacy Policy.

Your choices

You can change alert preferences, control or delete private activity history, block and unblock users, download your personal data, change your email or password, permanently delete your account, and leave any private Circle from Account settings. When an owner leaves, ownership passes to an active leader or moderator, or otherwise to the longest-standing remaining member. Circles with no remaining members are archived instead of erased.

Security and limits

We use HTTPS, password hashing, secure session cookies, rate limits, restricted administrator tools, and operational logging. No internet service can promise perfect security. Because this is a beta, avoid sharing home addresses, sensitive personal information, or anything you would not want circle members to see.

Children, changes, and contact

BuddiesIRL is only for adults age 18 or older. We may update this policy as the beta changes and will revise the effective date. Signed-in users can contact the beta operator through Send beta feedback in the app; account and privacy questions can also be sent to hello@buddiesirl.app.

This beta policy is intended to be understandable and accurate; it is not a substitute for legal advice before a larger public launch.