Privacy Policy

This Policy applies to personal information we process when you access or use GeoKiks services, create or manage an account, upload or view content, enable location or notifications, contact support, participate in surveys or research (where you consent), or interact with our safety, mapping, ranking, and social features.

This Policy does not govern websites or services operated solely by third parties (for example, an app store checkout page, a map provider’s standalone terms, or an advertiser’s landing page). Those parties process data under their own policies. Where we integrate third-party SDKs, widgets, or APIs, additional disclosures appear in “Infrastructure providers, SDKs, and app storefronts.”

GeoKiks seeks to align with applicable privacy, consumer, and safety laws. Your rights may vary depending on your country, state, or region, and some rights apply only after identity verification or to residents of specific jurisdictions. Where local law provides stronger protections, we apply those requirements to the extent required. Nothing in this Policy limits non-waivable statutory rights where applicable.

When you create or maintain an account, we process information you provide or that is required for the Services, which may include name (or display name), username or handle, email address and/or telephone number, password (stored using one-way hashing or delegated authentication), date of birth or age band where required, profile photo, bio or description, language and region preferences, notification preferences, and verification-related information where we offer verification or age assurance.

We process account identifiers (including internal user IDs) to authenticate you, sync settings across devices, enforce our Terms, prevent fraud and account takeover, recover accounts, and comply with legal process. Usernames and public profile fields may be visible to other users according to product settings and the nature of the field.

If you sign in through single sign-on (for example Apple or Google), we receive information that the provider makes available (such as a stable identifier and, depending on your choices, email or name) subject to that provider’s privacy policy and authorization screen.

Business or organizational accounts (if offered) may require additional information such as affiliation, verification documents, or contact persons for billing or support. We process such data for the stated relationship and applicable contracts.

We collect User Content that you upload, capture, or create through the Services, including photos, videos, audio (for example voiceover, ambient audio, or speech where recording is enabled and permitted by platform policy), text (captions, titles, descriptions), stickers, links, polls, or other media types we support.

User Content may include technical metadata generated or embedded by devices or software, such as date and time, camera or app settings, file format, resolution, and, where you attach it, location coordinates or place names (see “Location information”). Metadata may be used for integrity checks, abuse detection, ranking, transcoding, accessibility features, and troubleshooting.

We process User Content to host, transmit, display, distribute, and store it; to moderate for policy violations; to apply safety classifiers and spam defenses; to generate thumbnails or previews; to enable search or maps presentation; and to improve recommendation and personalization systems, subject to this Policy and applicable law.

If you delete content or your account, we will delete or de-identify personal information as described in “Data retention” and “Your privacy rights”, subject to backup windows, legal holds, and mandatory retention.

We process information about comments, replies, mentions, likes, reactions, saves, shares, follows, blocks, mutes, reports, invitations, and similar engagement signals. This information may be visible to content creators, recipients, moderators, or the public depending on product design and settings.

Engagement signals may be used to rank feeds and notifications, detect spam or manipulation, measure performance, train or tune recommendation systems (including through aggregated or de-identified analytics), and enforce our policies.

If you interact with others’ content, we may associate your account identifier and timestamp with those actions. Depending on settings, certain interactions may appear on activity feeds or notifications.

We may process derived metrics (for example engagement rates) for product analytics, integrity investigations, or partner reporting where contractually required. We do not sell your personal information for money as a primary business; where “sale” or “sharing” concepts apply under U.S. state law, we provide disclosures and choices as described in “Your privacy rights by region.”

Why we collect location. GeoKiks is designed as a location-aware social and civic platform. Subject to your permissions and settings, we collect and use location-related information to: show and rank geographically relevant posts; place content on maps; annotate emergencies, local issues, and alerts with geographic context; support community reporting tied to real-world places; enable routing and directions integrations; operate My People and related proximity features; detect abnormal access or policy violations (for example impossible travel); comply with law; and improve product quality and safety workflows.

Categories of location data may include: precise location (for example from GPS, GNSS, or high-accuracy fused location); approximate or coarse location (for example derived from cellular, Wi‑Fi, or IP); region or city selected manually in-app; location inferred from IP address; geo-tags you add to content; place names you select from search; and, where you grant OS-level permission, background location for features that continue to operate when the app is not in the foreground (for example optional ongoing sharing with trusted contacts). Background collection occurs only where allowed by the operating system and your explicit choices.

How location affects feeds and maps. We may use location to determine which posts appear in your Home Feed, Emergencies, Local Issues, Public Alerts, or GeoDrop experiences; to sort or re-rank items by proximity, recency, and relevance; to anchor media on map visualizations; and to match content to geographic tiles or administrative boundaries for discovery and moderation. Location may combine with non-location signals (for example safety flags, engagement, settings) as described in “Recommendation systems, feeds, and personalization.”

Risks of public geo-tagged content. When you publish precise or identifiable location with content, others may be able to infer where you were, patterns of movement, places you frequent, or places associated with vulnerable individuals. Public geo-tagged posts may be copied, screenshot, embedded, or indexed outside GeoKiks. You should carefully choose visibility settings, avoid attaching precise locations to sensitive visits when publishing broadly, and respect others’ privacy (see our Community Guidelines). GeoKiks does not guarantee that any control eliminates all re-sharing or third-party indexing.

Visibility controls. Depending on the product, you may control who can see your approximate or precise location on a post, whether location appears on a map, whether your presence is shared with My People, and device permissions for precise/background location. If you revoke permissions, some features may degrade or become unavailable.

We retain location data as described in “Data retention.” We may aggregate or de-identify location information for analytics after removing or obscuring identifiers where feasible and permitted.

We process social graph information, including follows, follower lists, connection requests, blocked and muted accounts, and My People or similar trusted-connection relationships. We use this information to deliver content and notifications, suggest connections, prevent unwanted contact, detect abuse and spam, and rank experiences.

If you choose to upload, sync, or match address-book contacts (where the product supports it), we process contact information only for the disclosed purposes (for example invite flows or friend suggestions), consistent with platform permission prompts and applicable law. You may disconnect contact uploads where the operating system and product allow.

When another user invites you or references a phone/email token, we may process hashed or tokenized identifiers for matching without retaining unnecessary raw contact content where feasible.

We automatically collect device and app information, which may include device identifiers (such as device IDs where permitted, vendor identifiers, or resettable advertising IDs), operating system and version, hardware model, browser type and version (for web), screen parameters, time zone, language, carrier or ISP, network type (Wi‑Fi/cellular), and IP address.

IP addresses may be used for security (rate limiting, bot mitigation), approximate geolocation at city or regional level, regulatory compliance (for example restricting content by jurisdiction where required), diagnostics, and service delivery (routing traffic to nearby infrastructure).

We collect crash logs, error reports, performance traces, and related diagnostics to maintain reliability. Crash data may contain memory state excerpts or stack traces; we minimize contents where practicable and treat diagnostics under internal access controls.

On mobile, advertising identifiers (such as Apple’s IDFA or Android’s GAID/Advertising ID) may be accessed where permitted for ads personalization and measurement in accordance with platform policies and your device settings. You can often limit ad tracking or reset identifiers through OS controls.

We do not use device identifiers to sell personal information in the colloquial “data broker” sense; we process identifiers to operate and secure the Services and, where applicable, deliver ads subject to consent or opt-out frameworks.

On websites and web apps, we use cookies, local storage, session storage, pixels, tags, and similar technologies for essential operation, preferences, analytics, security, and, where applicable, advertising. Mobile apps may use analogous technologies via SDKs and local caches.

For detailed categorization (including essential, session, security, analytics, advertising, and functional), consent expectations, browser controls, mobile equivalents, retention, and global opt-out signals, see our Cookie Policy.

We process usage events such as screen views, taps, session duration, scroll or impression signals where implemented, navigation paths, feature toggles, upload successes/failures, and configuration changes. We use this information to improve UX, prioritize engineering, detect bugs, and evaluate integrity risks (for example coordinated inauthentic behavior).

We may aggregate metrics across users to create statistical reports. Where required by law, non-essential analytics may depend on consent or opt-out mechanisms described in our Cookie Policy and regional notices.

We may conduct A/B tests or experiments on a subset of users; where legally required, such tests involving material privacy impacts will be governed by additional notice or consent rules.

GeoKiks uses automated systems to rank, recommend, order, filter, or annotate content in experiences such as the Home Feed, Emergencies, Local Issues, GeoDrop, Public Alerts, discovery services, and suggestions for accounts or posts. These systems may incorporate machine-learned models and rule-based logic; subject to applicable law, we do not publicly disclose proprietary model architecture or trade-secret weightings (see our Transparency policy for high-level factors).

Signals may include, as applicable: location relevance (proximity, city, or region); recency; engagement predictions (based on historical interactions); explicit preferences (follow graph, mutes, topic choices); safety classifiers and integrity scores; spam or abuse risk; language; quality indicators; and platform goals (for example reducing harmful viral patterns).

Personalization may adjust ordering or recommendations over time based on your activity and stated settings. You may have controls (for example Following-only modes, mute, not interested style controls where offered) that influence what you see.

Automated recommendations can produce errors, bias, or unintended prominence of content. We provide reporting, appeals where available, and human escalation pathways for severe safety issues as described in our moderation policies.

GeoKiks may display advertisements within the Services or sponsor certain placements. Ad delivery and measurement may rely on contextual information (for example geography derived from IP or coarse location), device/advertising identifiers where permitted, campaign IDs, and conversion or attribution events.

Partners may include networks such as Google AdMob or other demand-side providers. Partners process data under their policies and contracts with us; we require appropriate data protection terms where feasible.

You may have rights to limit targeted advertising or certain sales/sharing under local law; see “Your privacy rights by region” and our Cookie Policy for signals such as GPC where recognized.

We use your contact information and device tokens to send transactional messages (security alerts, account confirmations, policy updates where required), product notifications (for example new followers, comments, or alerts, subject to in-app settings), and support correspondence.

Push notifications require platform permission and may use push tokens processed by Apple (APNs) or Google (FCM) under their infrastructure. You can disable push through OS settings or in-app controls where available.

Where law requires prior consent for marketing emails or SMS, we obtain consent separately from transactional messages. You may opt out of non-transactional marketing using unsubscribe links or account settings, subject to processing necessary to honor your request.

In addition to section-specific purposes above, we use personal information to: provide and maintain the Services; authenticate users; personalize content and interfaces; communicate with you; moderate and enforce policies; detect and prevent fraud, abuse, spam, and security incidents; debug and improve reliability; conduct analytics and research (where permitted); comply with law and respond to legal process; establish, exercise, or defend legal claims; and fulfill agreements with partners or enterprise customers where applicable.

We may de-identify or aggregate information so that it cannot reasonably be linked to you, and use such information for measurement, product development, and reporting. We do not attempt to re-identify de-identified information except as permitted by law or with appropriate safeguards.

Automated decision-making may occur in spam filters, safety classifiers, and recommendation ranking. Where GDPR-style laws grant rights related to solely automated decisions with legal or similarly significant effects, we honor applicable requirements (including human review mechanisms) when those situations arise.

We disclose information: to other users through profiles, public posts, comments, messages (where messaging exists), and social actions consistent with settings; to service providers who process data on our instructions (see below); for legal, safety, and integrity reasons as described in “Legal, safety, and law enforcement disclosures”; and in connection with a merger, acquisition, financing, or sale of assets, subject to confidentiality when legally permitted.

Service providers and subprocessors may support hosting, content delivery networks (CDNs), cloud storage, database services, transcoding, email delivery, customer support tooling, analytics, advertising technology, fraud prevention, security monitoring, payment processors (if payments exist), and professional advisors. Contracts require confidentiality, security, and processing limits appropriate to the processing’s risk.

CDN and storage providers may process or temporarily cache content and metadata in edge locations closer to users for performance. This can involve cross-border processing as described in “International data transfers.”

We do not sell personal information for monetary consideration in the traditional sense of a data marketplace. Where “sale,” “sharing,” or “targeted advertising” definitions apply under U.S. state law, we provide notices and opt-outs as required.

Our iOS and Android applications integrate platform SDKs and APIs required for notifications, maps, sign-in, payments (if any), analytics, advertising mediation, crash reporting, and device capabilities. Examples of categories include Apple frameworks (for example Sign in with Apple, APNs, MapKit where used) and Google frameworks (for example FCM, Play services, Maps APIs where used). Third-party SDK providers may collect technical data subject to their documentation and your device settings.

When you download our apps from the Apple App Store or Google Play, Apple or Google may process payment, download, refund, and account information as the distribution platform. Their terms and privacy policies apply to store-level processing.

Maps and routing features may call third-party map, geocoding, or routing providers. Queries may transmit route endpoints, IP addresses, or correlation IDs needed to return directions. See in-product notices where we identify third-party map providers.

We evaluate SDKs for security and privacy alignment and update integrations as vendors or regulations require. A current list of subprocessor categories (and, where applicable, named vendors) may be published on our website or provided upon request where customary.

Content you set to public may be viewable by anyone on or off GeoKiks, including through sharing links, embeds, screenshots, archives, or third-party search engines where not restricted by robots rules or technical controls. Usernames and bios may appear alongside posts in discovery surfaces.

We may provide share URLs or embed functionality that causes content to be distributed outside the app. You are responsible for the sensitivity of what you publish, including location, images of others, and identifying details.

If you change a post from public to restricted, copies may persist elsewhere (for example caches, reposts, or other users’ devices). GeoKiks cannot control all copies once information has been shared broadly.

If you use My People or similar features, we process relationship identifiers, permission states, and location or presence signals necessary to show trusted views (for example relative proximity, arrival notifications where offered, or map pins). Misuse of these features for stalking, coercion, or monitoring without consent violates our Terms and Community Guidelines and may trigger enforcement.

Both parties should understand frequency, precision, and duration of sharing. Disabling permissions or removing a connection stops new sharing prospectively, but prior messages or logs may be retained for a period consistent with retention schedules and safety needs.

We may process alert metadata, reporter reputation, corroboration signals, duplicate detection, and severity indicators to prioritize Emergencies, Public Alerts, or Local Issues content in timelines or map layers. Processing supports reducing harmful misinformation and improving discoverability of verified-sounding signals where feasible.

GeoKiks is not a government alerting authority and does not guarantee timeliness, accuracy, or completeness of user or third-party alerts. Always follow official instructions and local emergency services when in danger.

We may preserve or disclose information when we have a good-faith belief it is necessary to: comply with law, regulation, or legal process; respond to lawful requests from public authorities (including national security or law enforcement requests subject to jurisdictional rules); protect the vital interests of any person; detect or stop fraud, abuse, or security incidents; or enforce our Terms and policies.

Our Law Enforcement Request Policy describes requirements for requests, user notice where permitted, international procedures, and limitations. Nothing in this Policy waives legal privileges or protections where they apply.

We retain personal information for as long as necessary to provide the Services, fulfill the purposes described in this Policy, comply with legal, tax, accounting, or regulatory obligations, resolve disputes, enforce agreements, and detect fraud or abuse.

Factors include: whether you maintain an active account; whether content is public and mirrored in backups; whether data is subject to litigation hold; whether mandatory reporting or child safety obligations require retention; and whether de-identification is feasible.

Backup systems may retain residual copies for a limited period after deletion. Some server-side logs may persist longer for security and integrity monitoring, subject to minimization.

Deletion rights are described in “Your privacy rights by region.” Certain information may be exempt from deletion where retention is necessary under applicable law.

You may delete your account or request deletion of certain personal information through in-app tools or by contacting privacy@geokiks.com. Portability (machine-readable export) may be offered where required by law or product design.

After deletion, residual information may remain in aggregated analytics, logs stripped of direct identifiers where feasible, or legal archives where retention is required. Financial or transaction records may be kept for compliance periods.

GeoKiks may process and store personal information in the United States and in other countries where we or our service providers operate data centers, support teams, or CDN nodes. Those countries may have different data protection laws than your own.

Where required (for example EEA/UK to U.S. transfers), we implement appropriate safeguards such as Standard Contractual Clauses, UK Addendum, or other lawful transfer mechanisms, supplemented by technical and organizational measures where appropriate.

Depending on your residence, you may have rights to access, rectify, delete, restrict or object to certain processing, portability, withdraw consent, opt out of sale/sharing or targeted advertising, appeal denials, or limit use of sensitive personal information. GeoKiks does not falsely claim certification for every global regime; we endeavor to honor applicable requirements after reasonable verification.

EU/EEA and UK: Legal bases may include contract, legitimate interests (balanced against your rights), legal obligation, and consent where required. You may lodge a complaint with your supervisory authority.

California (CCPA/CPRA): Residents may have rights to know, delete, correct, opt out of certain sharing for cross-context behavioral advertising, and limit sensitive information use in defined cases. We do not discriminate for exercising rights.

Brazil (LGPD), Canada (PIPEDA and provincial laws), India (DPDP), Australia, and other jurisdictions may provide analogous rights, subject to local scope and exceptions.

To submit requests, email privacy@geokiks.com or use in-product privacy tools where available. Authorized agents may submit requests where validated under applicable rules.

GeoKiks is not directed to children under the minimum age required by our Terms and applicable law. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children without verifiable parental or guardian consent where such consent is legally required.

If you believe we have collected information from a child without appropriate authority, contact privacy@geokiks.com. We will take steps to delete information subject to legal exceptions and safety preservation duties.

Parents and guardians may have access, deletion, or restriction rights for minors as described in our Child Safety & Minor Protection Policy and applicable statutes.

We maintain security measures designed to protect personal information, including access controls, encryption in transit where appropriate, monitoring, patching, vendor reviews, and incident response procedures. No system is perfectly secure; you should use strong authentication, keep devices updated, and report suspected account compromise promptly.

If we become aware of a breach affecting personal data subject to notification laws, we will provide notices as required.

We may modify this Policy to reflect changes to our practices, technologies, or legal requirements. We will update the “Last updated” date and, where required, provide additional notice (for example email, banner, or consent flow). Continued use after the effective date may constitute acceptance where permitted by law.

For privacy questions, rights requests, and data-protection inquiries: privacy@geokiks.com. For general legal notices: legal@geokiks.com. For operational support unrelated to data rights: support@geokiks.com.

If you are a data protection authority or regulator, please use the appropriate regulatory intake process and copy privacy@geokiks.com where appropriate.