Privacy Policy

Depending on where you live, applicable law may provide certain privacy rights. This policy describes GeoKiks practices worldwide. It is not written only for one U.S. state.

This policy does not cover websites or stores operated only by Apple, Google, or other third parties. Those companies have their own policies.

Questions: privacy@geokiks.com.

When you create or use an account, GeoKiks may process display name, username, email address and/or phone number, password or sign-in tokens, date of birth, profile photo, bio, language, region, notification settings, and an internal user ID. If you sign in with Apple or Google, GeoKiks receives the identifier and other fields that provider shares based on your choice.

GeoKiks also processes content you create: text, photos, video (including audio in video), captions, comments, replies, reactions, polls, Echo chats, direct messages where available, emergency and local issue reports, and support emails.

GeoKiks does not upload your full address book. A My People phone invite sends only the contact you pick.

GeoKiks uses location in several ways. My People location is not the same as location on a public Emergency or Echo post. Other users cannot see everyone's location.

The subsections below describe those uses. Background location is collected only when you grant Always or background permission and keep a feature that needs it turned on. GeoKiks does not always collect background location.

GeoKiks may use your approximate or precise location, when permitted, to show public content relevant to your area. This is for discovery on maps and feeds. It is not the same as sharing live location with My People.

If you attach a place or coordinates to an Emergency, Local Issue, Echo post, or similar public content, that location can be visible to other people on GeoKiks. Choose carefully before tagging a sensitive place.

If you use My People and turn sharing on, GeoKiks may process precise location, including while the app is in the background if you allowed that, plus related signals such as speed, heading, movement type, and permission or battery health needed to operate sharing.

That information is shown to accepted My People relationships who are allowed to see you. It is not shown on public Emergency or Echo feeds. You can stop sharing, change permissions, remove a person, or block them.

Daily History is built from My People sharing when the feature is on. It is for approved people, not the public. Place history is kept for a limited time. The current default is about 7 days. A note can pin an entry. Some day-journal seals can last about 30 days.

Trip History records movement while sharing is on. It uses the same limited keep time as place history (about 7 days unless pinned). It is not a public feed.

Place Alerts use saved places (for example Home, Work, School, or a custom place) and location processing to detect arrivals and departures. Notices go to people permitted by your settings. They can be late or missed.

If you start SOS, GeoKiks notifies people who can already see your live My People location. Related location may be stored to operate the alert. Lock-screen push text is not designed to include your coordinates. An active SOS lasts a limited time (currently about six hours). SOS is not public and is not used for advertising.

Follow Live Directions uses location and movement so an approved person can open a route toward you. Origin and destination may be sent to GeoKiks routing. Apple MapKit may be used as a fallback. Follow Live information is not used for advertising.

To show maps and routes, GeoKiks may send place names or coordinates to map and routing systems GeoKiks operates or to Apple, Google, or similar providers. On Android, Civic Pulse may load map styles from Mapbox. Those providers process that information under their own terms.

GeoKiks and its infrastructure providers may see your IP address. That can indicate an approximate region. It is used for security, locale, and operating the GeoKiks Services. It is not the same as My People GPS.

Echo posts, comments, questions, answers, media, reactions, Emergencies, and Local Issues are generally visible to other users according to the product. Do not post information you want to keep private.

Echo chats and direct messages, where available, are communications with the people in that thread. GeoKiks staff may access reports and, where needed for safety, security, or law, related records. Echo chat topics that go quiet are marked past after about 7 days without messages. They are not automatically deleted at that point.

GeoKiks may process IP address, device type, operating system, app version, language, time zone, internal identifiers, push tokens, diagnostics, crash information, and usage activity.

On the website, a signed-in session is stored in the browser (see the Cookie Policy). On iOS, access tokens are stored in the Keychain.

The iOS and Android apps use Google Firebase Analytics and Crashlytics to understand feature use, stability, and crashes. This can include device and app identifiers and event names. It is not a complete record of My People GPS.

The website may send limited first-party analytics events to a GeoKiks collector when that collector is configured. That collector is designed not to send names or emails, and it is designed to stay silent when the browser Do Not Track signal is set. The website does not currently offer a separate cookie preference panel.

The iOS and Android apps may show third-party ads (currently Google AdMob) in some feeds. Advertising identifiers and ad-request data may be processed when the platform allows it. On iOS, personalized ads depend on your App Tracking Transparency choice. On Android, the advertising ID permission and device settings apply.

First-party ad serving uses city, state, and country keys, not live GPS. GeoKiks does not use My People relationships, precise My People location, Daily History, Trip History, SOS, private messages, or Follow Live Directions to show ads.

The website does not currently run AdMob or similar display ads. GeoKiks does not sell your personal information for money. GeoKiks does not claim that advertising partners never receive any identifier. See device advertising settings to limit ads.

Other users, according to whether content is public or shared through My People.

Hosting and cloud providers, including Amazon Web Services, for storage, delivery, and some media scanning.

Maps and routing providers, as described above.

Analytics and crash reporting: Google Firebase Analytics and Crashlytics in the mobile apps.

Push notifications: Apple (APNs) and Google (FCM).

Sign-in and abuse prevention: Apple, Google (including sign-in and, on the web, reCAPTCHA where used).

Advertising: Google AdMob in the mobile apps.

Payments: Apple App Store and Google Play for subscriptions. GeoKiks does not store your full card number.

Support and moderation: GeoKiks staff using admin tools. Those tools show account identifiers such as name, email, phone, and moderation queues. They are not built as a live My People GPS viewer.

Authorities, when legally required or when GeoKiks believes disclosure is necessary to prevent serious harm, as allowed by law.

Username, profile photo, bio, Echo posts, comments, public Emergencies, and Local Issues can be visible to other people. My People location, SOS, Daily History, Trip History, Place Alerts, and Follow Live Directions are not public feeds.

Live My People location is stored as the latest point needed to operate sharing.

Place and trip history: about 7 days, unless you pin a note. Some day-journal seals: about 30 days.

Active SOS: currently about 6 hours.

Echo chat topics: marked past after about 7 days without messages; they are not automatically deleted then.

Account records last while the account is open, then follow the Delete Account process. Backups, security logs, and records needed for law, fraud, or disputes can last longer.

GeoKiks does not use a single 30-day or 90-day wipe for all systems.

You can request deletion in the iOS or Android app under Settings. After you confirm, the account is deactivated and hidden from ordinary use. There is a 30-day pending period.

Some stored content, media, messages, location records, backups, and security logs may remain after that period. GeoKiks also keeps information when needed for legal obligations, fraud and security, disputes, or required records. Deleting the account does not always cancel an Apple or Google subscription. See https://geokiks.com/legal/delete-account.

Depending on where you live, applicable law may provide rights to access, correct, delete, or receive a copy of personal information, to object to or restrict certain processing, to withdraw consent, to opt out of certain advertising, or to complain to a regulator.

You can edit profile fields in the app, control location and My People settings on the device, and request account deletion in Settings. For other requests, email privacy@geokiks.com. GeoKiks will ask enough information to verify that the request is yours.

A full machine-readable export is not currently available in the product. GeoKiks will help where the law requires and the systems allow. GeoKiks does not promise rights it cannot carry out.

GeoKiks is used globally. Information may be processed in the United States and in other countries where GeoKiks, hosting providers, and vendors operate. That may be a different country from the one where you live.

Those countries may have different data protection rules. GeoKiks does not promise that your information stays only in your country.

GeoKiks is for people 13 years or older. Sign-up is designed to block younger ages when a date of birth is provided. GeoKiks does not offer a kids app or a parent-managed child account.

If someone 13 to 17 creates an account, they currently receive the same GeoKiks Services as adults, including Echo, messages, public geotagged posts, My People, SOS, and ads in the mobile apps. GeoKiks does not currently require parental consent, limit teen DMs, or turn off ads solely because an account is 13 to 17.

GeoKiks does not claim that these practices meet every children's privacy law in every country. See the Child Safety policy.

GeoKiks uses HTTPS for traffic in transit. Access tokens on iOS are stored in the Keychain. Access to admin tools is limited to GeoKiks staff who need it.

GeoKiks does not claim that the GeoKiks Services cannot be breached, or that any system is perfectly protected.

GeoKiks may update this policy. The Last updated date will change when we do.

Privacy: privacy@geokiks.com. Account help: support@geokiks.com.