Your privacy

Updated 2026-09-26

Contact the Who’s Out team at info@pinesystems.org.

Development release: operator details are being finalised before public launch.

What we collect and why

We store your email address, a protected password hash if you set a password, verification and account-recovery records, and the profile information you choose to provide. We use these to run your account, authenticate you and connect your plans and content across devices.

If you choose Google or Apple sign-in when available, that provider authenticates you and shares an account identifier and email address with us. We store the identifier to connect future sign-ins to your account. Apple may supply a private relay email address. We do not receive your Google or Apple password, and we do not request access to your contacts, files or messages.

We store the plans, join requests, membership decisions, saved plans, meeting-place submissions, messages and media you create, along with related timestamps. These records let us provide the service you request. We also keep security, blocking, moderation and data-request records to protect members, investigate misuse and respond to requests.

Administrators use aggregate counts of accounts, plans, participation and messaging activity to understand service usage and manage the community. The analytics dashboard does not display private message content or shared coordinates.

Account and plan features involve processing needed to provide the service. Optional email updates and location sharing are controlled by your choices. Security and moderation processing supports our interest in operating a safe service; applicable legal obligations may also require specific records to be retained.

Who can see your information

Your profile, published plans and approved meeting-place listings can be visible publicly, including to people who are not signed in. Your email address and password hash are not published in your profile. Pending listing submissions and review feedback are available to their submitter and authorised reviewers.

Group messages, attachments and shared locations are available to the host and approved participants while they retain access. A recipient may save or share what they see, so avoid posting information you do not want the group to receive. Authorised administrators can inspect reported content and the evidence preserved with a report.

Photos, voice, video and location

Photos are resized and converted to JPEG without their original metadata. Audio and video are stored in their uploaded encoding and may contain metadata. Microphone and location access require browser permission and a sharing action. Live locations update only while the page is visible; closing the page or locking your phone stops updates from that device.

Stopping or expiry clears a live share’s coordinates from the ordinary message. A fixed location message remains part of the conversation. A report may preserve the reported location separately as private moderation evidence.

Email, hosting and external services

Hostinger supplies the website hosting and configured email transport. Account emails are sent from orders@pinesystems.org. Optional plan activity emails and reminders start only after you enable them in Privacy & email settings. You can disable them there. These choices do not disable verification or password-recovery messages.

The main application loads fonts from Google Fonts, which receives the network information needed to serve those files. Opening a place’s website, a photograph’s source or a Google Maps link takes you to that provider. Maps are not loaded automatically. The app does not include advertising trackers or analytics cookies.

Cookies and storage

A necessary session cookie keeps you signed in and protects requests. Account sessions expire after inactivity or their maximum lifetime. Your browser may temporarily hold form drafts, preferences and navigation state. Account changes clear private interface state. Server security controls also process request information, such as IP addresses for rate limits.

Retention and deletion

Account content is retained while needed to operate your account and shared plans. A deletion request is reviewed by the team; submitting it does not immediately close your account or delete the records. We consider shared content, other people’s rights and any applicable retention duties when deciding what to erase, anonymise or retain, and explain the result.

Live-location coordinates expire as described above. Expired account tokens are cleaned up. Scheduled backups are rotated under the service’s backup policy; historical deployment snapshots and moderation evidence require a separate review. Restoring a backup must also reapply completed deletion decisions. Moderation evidence is not publicly accessible and must be reviewed for continued necessity.

Your choices and requests

You can edit your profile, change email choices, download a JSON copy of your information and submit or cancel a deletion request in Privacy & email settings. The download includes media metadata rather than the media files themselves; contact support for help obtaining a fuller copy.

For access, correction, erasure, restriction, objection or portability requests, contact info@pinesystems.org. We may need to confirm your identity. We aim to respond without undue delay, ordinarily within one calendar month, and will explain any applicable extension or exception. You may also contact the data-protection authority where you live or work or where an alleged infringement occurred.