Privacy Policy

Locals is a location-based social app that lets you discover Places of Interest, share visits with photos and ratings, follow other people, comment, and curate lists. This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect, how we use it, when it is shared, and the choices and rights you have. By creating an account or using Locals, you agree to this policy.

1. Who we are

Locals (“Locals,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) is an independently developed iOS application. For any privacy question or request, you can reach us at hello@explore-locals.com. For the purposes of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), we act as the data controller for the personal data described below.

2. Information we collect

2.1 Information you provide

• Account information — your email address, a username, and your home country. Optionally, a full name, a short bio, and a profile picture.
• Content you create — posts (the photo, an optional caption, a star rating, labels, and the Place of Interest you tag), comments, curated lists, Places of Interest you add, and your visit history.
• Feedback — if you send feedback from within the app, we receive your message along with your app version, iOS version, and device model to help us diagnose issues.
• Safety actions — if you report or block someone, we record that so we can enforce it and review reported content.

2.2 Information collected automatically

• Precise location — only if you grant location permission. We use your location to show nearby Places of Interest on the map, to suggest places when you add a visit, and to enforce the rule that you can only post about places near you. We use location while you use the app; we do not build an ongoing location-history profile of you. Derived, coarse results (for example, which country a visit was in, used to show “flags collected” on your profile) may be stored with your account.
• Identifiers & device data — a Firebase Authentication user ID that identifies your account internally, and a push-notification device token (Firebase Cloud Messaging) so we can deliver notifications you have opted into.
• Usage & diagnostics — we use Google Analytics for Firebase to understand, in aggregate, how the app is used (for example, which screens are opened) so we can improve it. This may include general device and app-performance information.
• On-device preferences — your theme and language choices are stored locally on your device.

2.3 Summary of data types

3. How we use your information

• Create and secure your account and sign you in.
• Operate the core features: the map, feeds, posting, comments, follows, follow requests, lists, and profiles.
• Show you relevant nearby places and personalize map content based on your location.
• Send push notifications you have opted into (for example, new followers, likes, and comments), which you can control at any time.
• Keep the community safe: process reports and blocks and enforce our content moderation.
• Respond to your feedback and support requests.
• Understand aggregate usage and diagnose problems so we can improve the app.

4. How your information is shared

4.1 With other users

Locals is a social app, so some information is visible to others by design. Your username, profile picture, bio, posts, ratings, comments, and follower/following counts can be seen by other users. If you set your profile to private, your posts are visible only to people whose follow request you have approved. People you block cannot see your content, and you will not see theirs.

4.2 With service providers

We share data with vendors that process it on our behalf to run the app — principally Google Firebase (Authentication, Cloud Firestore, Cloud Storage, and Cloud Messaging) and Google Analytics for Firebase. These providers are bound to use the data only to provide their services to us. See Google's Privacy Policy and Firebase's privacy information.

4.3 For legal reasons

We may disclose information if required by law, or where we believe in good faith that it is necessary to comply with a legal obligation, protect the rights and safety of our users or the public, or investigate fraud or abuse.

4.4 What we do not do

We do not sell your personal data, and we do not share it with third parties for their own advertising.

5. Service providers

The app is built on Google Firebase. Your account data, posts, images, and related content are stored using Firebase services operated by Google. Google processes this data as our service provider under its own security and privacy commitments. We do not use any advertising or cross-app tracking SDKs.

6. Where data is stored & security

Data is stored on Google Firebase infrastructure, primarily in the European Union (region europe-west1). Because Locals is available internationally and relies on Google's global infrastructure, your information may be processed in other countries; where that happens, it is protected by appropriate safeguards. Data is encrypted in transit, and access is restricted by server-side security rules so that people can only read and write the data they are permitted to.

No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, but we take reasonable measures to protect your information.

7. Data retention

We keep your information for as long as your account is active. When you delete your account, the associated data is deleted as described below. Aggregate or de-identified analytics that cannot reasonably be linked back to you may be retained to help us understand app usage over time.

8. Your rights & choices

• Access & correction — you can view and edit your profile information in the app at any time.
• Location — you can grant or revoke location access in iOS Settings; the app works with reduced location features if you decline.
• Notifications — you can turn specific push notifications on or off in the app's notification settings, and control notifications overall in iOS Settings.
• Blocking & reporting — you can block users and report content or accounts from within the app.
• Your legal rights — depending on where you live (for example, under the GDPR or the California Consumer Privacy Act), you may have the right to access, correct, delete, or port your personal data, or to object to or restrict certain processing. You can exercise these rights, or ask us any privacy question, by emailing hello@explore-locals.com.

9. Children's privacy

Locals is not directed to children under 13 (or the minimum age of digital consent in your country, where higher), and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us and we will delete it.

10. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we will revise the “Last updated” date above. For material changes, we may also ask you to review and accept the updated terms within the app before you continue using it.

11. Contact us

If you have any questions or requests about this Privacy Policy or your personal data, contact us at hello@explore-locals.com.