Privacy Policy

This policy explains what OurBestie collects about you, why, who else sees it, and how to make us delete it. We have tried to write it in plain English. Where a section only applies once the app has launched, it says so.

1. Who we are

OurBestie is operated by [LEGAL ENTITY NAME], a [COMPANY TYPE] registered in [COUNTRY / STATE] with its registered office at [REGISTERED ADDRESS]. In this policy, "OurBestie", "we", "us" and "our" mean that company. "You" means anyone who visits ourbestie.app, joins the waitlist, or uses the OurBestie app.

For the purposes of the UK and EU General Data Protection Regulation, we are the data controller for the information described here. [IF THE ENTITY IS OUTSIDE THE EU/UK: name your Article 27 representative here.]

2. What we collect

2.1 When you use this website

Right now, the website does four things with data, and no more than four:

• Waitlist sign-ups. The "Join the waitlist" buttons open a form hosted by Tally. Whatever you type into that form — at minimum your email address — is collected by Tally on our behalf and stored in our Tally account.
• Analytics, only if you allow it. We use Google Analytics to see which pages people actually read — page views, referring site, approximate location, browser and device type. It is not loaded until you accept it: if you decline, or simply ignore the banner, this site never contacts Google at all. If you accept, it sets two first-party cookies (_ga and _ga_<stream id>) that last up to two years and let it tell a returning visit from a new one. We do not use it for advertising, and we do not combine it with anything else we hold. [Confirm in the GA admin that Google Signals and ads personalisation are both OFF — the sentence above depends on it.]
• Page speed. Our host measures how quickly pages load — how long the largest image took to paint, and the like. It runs on every visit, sets no cookie and records nothing about who you are.
• Server logs. Our hosting provider records standard request logs, including IP address, for security and abuse prevention. These rotate out automatically.

The two analytics cookies above are the only cookies this website sets, and only if you allow them. There are no advertising cookies, no social media pixels, no ad network tags and no session recorders on any page. You can change your mind whenever you like: reopen the cookie choice. Declining after you accepted stops analytics loading from your next page view onward; to clear what is already stored, delete this site's cookies in your browser.

If your browser or extension sends a Global Privacy Control signal, we treat that as a refusal and never ask — you will not see the banner at all.

2.2 When you use the OurBestie app

This section describes the app and takes effect when the app launches.

• Account details — your name or display name, email address, date of birth, and profile photo.
• Profile content — anything you choose to add: bio, interests, languages, travel history.
• Trip and group content — trips you create or join, plans, dates, and messages you send to other members.
• Approximate location — the city or region you are in or heading to. As stated on our FAQ, we do not collect or display precise, real-time GPS coordinates to other users.
• Device and usage data — device model, operating system, app version, crash reports, and which features you use.
• Support correspondence — anything you send us when you contact support, including reports about other members.

[Confirm this list against the app's final data model and the App Store / Google Play data-safety declarations before launch — the three must agree.]

3. Why we collect it

We only process your information where we have a lawful basis to do so:

• To provide the service — creating your account, showing you trips, delivering your messages. Lawful basis: performance of a contract with you.
• To keep people safe — investigating reports, enforcing our Community Guidelines, detecting fraud and abuse. Lawful basis: legitimate interests, and in places our legal obligations.
• To improve the product — understanding which features are used and where people get stuck, in aggregate. Lawful basis: legitimate interests.
• To tell you when we launch — if you joined the waitlist, we will email you about the launch and major milestones, and nothing else. Lawful basis: your consent, which you can withdraw from any email with one click.
• To meet our legal obligations — responding to lawful requests and keeping records we are required to keep. Lawful basis: legal obligation.

We do not sell your personal information, and we do not share it with advertisers or data brokers. We do not use your trip content or messages to train machine learning models sold or licensed to third parties.

4. Who we share it with

We share information with a small set of service providers who process it strictly on our instructions, and who are contractually bound to protect it:

• Tally — hosts the waitlist form and stores its responses.
• [HOSTING PROVIDER] — serves this website and stores server logs.
• Google — Google Analytics, which runs only for visitors who accept it. Google Ireland Limited is our provider for the UK and EEA; data may be processed by Google LLC in the United States under the transfer safeguards in Google's terms.
• [EMAIL PROVIDER] — sends the launch announcement to waitlist members.
• [APP BACKEND / CLOUD PROVIDER — add before app launch]

Other members of the app see what you choose to make visible: your profile, the trips you join, and the messages you send to them. Assume anything you post to a group can be read and screenshotted by everyone in that group.

We may also disclose information where we are legally required to, where it is necessary to protect someone's safety, or as part of a merger or acquisition — in which case we will tell you before your information becomes subject to a different privacy policy.

5. How long we keep it

• Waitlist emails — until we launch and send the announcement, or until you unsubscribe, whichever comes first. If we have not launched within [24 months], we delete the list.
• Account data — for as long as your account is open, and for [30 days] after you delete it, to allow for accidental deletion and to complete any open safety investigation.
• Safety and moderation records — kept longer where necessary to stop a banned member returning, or to comply with a legal obligation.
• Server logs and analytics — [retention period].

6. Your rights and choices

Depending on where you live, you have some or all of the following rights. We honour these requests for everyone, wherever they live, rather than checking your jurisdiction first.

• Access — ask for a copy of what we hold about you.
• Correction — have anything inaccurate fixed.
• Deletion — have your information erased.
• Portability — receive your data in a machine-readable format.
• Objection and restriction — object to processing based on our legitimate interests, or ask us to pause it.
• Withdraw consent — unsubscribe from our emails at any time, with no effect on anything you already received, and turn website analytics back off whenever you like with the cookie choice.

To exercise any of these, email privacy@ourbestie.app. We will respond within 30 days. Once the app is live you will also be able to delete your account and all associated data from within the app itself, without emailing anyone.

If you are in the EU or UK and you think we have got this wrong, you have the right to complain to your local data protection authority. We would rather you told us first so we can fix it.

California residents: we do not sell or share personal information as those terms are defined by the CCPA/CPRA, and we will not discriminate against you for exercising any of the rights above.

7. How we protect it

Everything is served over HTTPS. Access to production data is limited to the people who need it to do their jobs and is protected by multi-factor authentication. We keep our dependencies patched and review what we expose.

No system is perfectly secure, and we will not pretend otherwise. If a breach affects your personal information and is likely to result in a risk to your rights, we will notify you and the relevant regulator within the timeframes the law requires.

8. Age limits

OurBestie is for adults. You must be 18 or older to join the waitlist or use the app. The app helps people arrange to meet in person, and we are not willing to put minors in that position.

We do not knowingly collect information from anyone under 18. If you believe a minor has given us their information, email privacy@ourbestie.app and we will delete it. [Confirm 18 is the age you want. It is stricter than the 16 some comparable apps use, and it is the harder line to walk back later than it is to relax.]

9. International transfers

OurBestie is used in every country we can reach, and our service providers operate globally. That means your information may be processed outside the country you live in, including in the [United States].

Where we move personal data out of the UK or European Economic Area, we rely on the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses, the UK International Data Transfer Addendum, or an adequacy decision covering the destination country.

10. Changes to this policy

We will update this page when what we do changes. The "last updated" date at the top always reflects the current version. If a change materially affects your rights, we will tell waitlist members and account holders by email before it takes effect — we will not rely on you noticing a new date.

11. Contact us

Privacy questions and requests: privacy@ourbestie.app
Everything else: hello@ourbestie.app
Post: [REGISTERED ADDRESS]

See also our Terms & Conditions, Community Guidelines and Safety Tips.