How we handle your data.

0Plain-English summary

• We collect your phone number, a display name you pick, your year of birth (to confirm you are 13+), and your GPS location while sharing is on.
• Your location is visible only to members of the circles you join, according to the mode of that circle (parent / group / friend).
• We do not sell your data. We do not share it for behavioural advertising.
• Background location is used so the app keeps working when the screen is off — that is the whole point of a family safety app.
• You can pause sharing, leave a circle, or delete your entire account at any time from inside the app. Deletion is immediate.
• The free tier shows ads inside the app. Premium removes them.

1Information we collect

1.1 Account information

When you create an account we collect:

• Phone number — used for login via one-time verification code.
• Display name — chosen by you, shown to the other members of your circles.
• Avatar selection — a colour and icon you pick from the in-app library; we do not collect uploaded photos.
• Language preference — English, Arabic, or Kurdish (Sorani).
• Year of birth — the year only, never the full date — used solely to confirm you are 13 or older (see Section 9).

We do not collect: full date of birth, email address for end-user accounts, real / legal name (unless you set it as your display name), photo identification, government ID, contacts list, browsing history, or social-media identifiers.

1.2 Location data

When location sharing is enabled, CircleSpot collects your precise GPS location, including coordinates, accuracy, movement speed, and a still / walking / driving classification.

Location data is collected in the background — meaning while the app is not in the foreground and the screen may be off — when, and only when, all three of the following are true:

1. You have granted the "Allow all the time" location permission on your device.
2. Location sharing is toggled on for at least one of your circles.
3. You are an active member of that circle.

See Section 4 for the full background-location disclosure.

1.3 Device and technical information

• Battery level — used to notify circle members of low battery.
• Push notification token — used solely to deliver notifications to your device.
• Crash reports and diagnostic metadata — when the app crashes, a stack trace plus your device model, OS version, and app version are collected for debugging.
• IP address and user-agent string — recorded at login and on sensitive account operations to keep accounts safe. Never used for advertising or profiling.

2How we use it

We do not use your data for: targeted advertising of CircleSpot itself, profiling, automated decision-making with legal effect, or marketing emails / SMS.

3How we share it

3.1 With your circle members

Your location, display name, avatar, battery level, and last-seen timestamp are shared with the members of circles you voluntarily join. Visibility depends on the circle mode:

• Parent mode — the parent (circle owner) sees children's locations; children do not see anyone.
• Group mode — the leader (circle owner) sees all members; members see only the leader.
• Friend mode — every member sees every other member.

You control who sees your location by: choosing which circles to join, toggling location sharing on / off, and leaving a circle at any time.

3.2 With service providers

We share limited data with trusted third-party service providers so the App can function. This includes Google (for in-app maps, push notifications, crash diagnostics, and ad serving in the free tier) and other service providers in the categories of cloud hosting, one-time-code delivery, and error reporting. Each receives only the data required for its specific function and is bound by data-processing terms that prohibit them from using the data for any other purpose.

3.3 Internal access

Limited authorised personnel may access account and operational records when necessary for security investigation, debugging, or legal-compliance purposes. Such access is itself logged.

3.4 Legal requirements

We may disclose your information if required by law, valid legal process, or government request, or to protect the rights, safety, or property of CircleSpot, our users, or the public. Where we are legally permitted to do so, we will notify the affected user.

3.5 What we do not do

We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information to any third party. We do not "share" your personal information for cross-context behavioural advertising as defined by the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA / CPRA).

4Background location — what it does, why it's needed

CircleSpot is a real-time location-sharing app for families and close friends. To deliver the service the app must continue sending location updates while it is not in the foreground — meaning while the screen is off, while you are using another app, or while your phone is in your pocket. This is called background location access and is a separate Android permission ("Allow all the time").

4.1 The features that require background location

• Live location for circle members — a parent looking at the map needs to see their child's current position, not the position from when the child last opened the app. This is the core feature of the product.
• Low-battery alerts — the app sends a notification to circle members before a watched device dies. This requires the app to be running in the background.

4.2 When background location is not active

The app does not use background location when:

• You have not granted the "Allow all the time" location permission. With "While using the app" only, no background fixes are taken.
• You have toggled location sharing off in the app's settings.
• You are not a member of any active circle.
• You have signed out of the app.

When location sharing is paused, your circle sees a clear "paused" state — never a fake or stale location.

4.3 Proportionate use

We minimise background activity. Updates happen only when needed to keep your circle's view current, and frequency reduces automatically when you aren't moving — so the feature respects your battery and your data plan.

4.4 How to turn background location off

• Open the app and toggle off "Share my location" in your circle settings.
• Or change the location permission to "While using the app" or "Don't allow" in your device's system settings.
• Or sign out of the app — background location stops immediately on logout.

5Advertising

The free tier of CircleSpot displays ads through Google AdMob. The only ad format currently used is App Open — a single ad shown when you return to the app after it was in the background.

When AdMob serves an ad it may, per its own policies, use:

• Your device's Advertising ID (a resettable identifier you control in your device settings)
• Your IP address
• Approximate geographic region (typically country / city level) derived from the above
• Information about the ad request itself (app version, device type, etc.)

We do not pass your precise GPS location, phone number, year of birth, display name, or any circle data to AdMob. Google AdMob's processing of the data above is governed by Google's own privacy policy, available at policies.google.com/privacy.

You can reset your device's Advertising ID at any time (Settings → Privacy → Ads on Android), or opt out of personalised ads entirely from the same screen.

To remove all ads: upgrade to Premium inside the app. Premium accounts see no ads.

6Storage and retention

6.1 Where we store data

Your data is stored on secure cloud servers in the European Union. All communication between the App and our servers is encrypted in transit using HTTPS.

6.2 How long we keep things

We keep your data only as long as needed to provide the service and to meet legal obligations. Location history is automatically deleted shortly after it is no longer needed for your circle's live view. Account information is kept until you delete your account.

6.3 Retention after account deletion

When you delete your account, your personal data is removed immediately. A limited subset of security log records may be retained briefly for fraud-prevention and security-investigation purposes, with your identifying user reference removed so the records cannot be used to re-identify you. If you would like these records purged sooner, contact us (Section 11).

7Your rights and controls

7.1 In-app controls (available to everyone)

• Pause sharing — one tap in the app, anywhere. Your circle sees a "paused" state — never a fake location.
• Leave a circle — your data is removed from that circle's view.
• Revoke permission — change location permission in your device settings to stop all tracking, even if the app is still installed.
• Delete your account — Settings → Delete my account. Immediate and not reversible. See Section 8.

7.2 Data Protection Rights (GDPR / UK GDPR)

If you are in the European Union, the United Kingdom, or another GDPR-aligned jurisdiction, you have the right to:

• Access — request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• Correction — request correction of inaccurate data.
• Deletion — request deletion of your data ("right to be forgotten").
• Restriction — request that we limit how we process your data.
• Portability — request your data in a structured, machine-readable format.
• Object — object to processing based on Legitimate Interest.
• Lodge a complaint with your local supervisory authority.

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at the address in Section 11. We will respond within 30 days. For verification, we will ask you to confirm the phone number on the account.

7.3 California Privacy Rights (CCPA / CPRA)

If you are a California resident, you have the right to:

• Know what personal information we collect, use, share, and disclose about you.
• Delete the personal information we have collected about you.
• Correct inaccurate personal information.
• Opt out of the sale or sharing of your personal information — note: we do not sell or share personal information for cross-context behavioural advertising, so there is nothing to opt out of.
• Non-discrimination for exercising any of the above rights.

8Account and data deletion

8.1 In the app

Open the app and tap Settings → Delete my account. Confirming this permanently removes your profile, your circles, your location history, your subscription record, and your push-notification setup. The deletion takes effect immediately and is not reversible. Members of any circles you joined will see you disappear from their map.

8.2 Without installing the app

If you cannot or do not want to install the app to delete your account, you can request deletion by email. See our public Account deletion page for the exact procedure and turnaround.

8.3 Data export

You can request a copy of your data by emailing the address in Section 11. We will deliver the export in a structured, machine-readable format (JSON or CSV) within 30 days, in accordance with GDPR Article 20.

9Children & families (13+)

CircleSpot is intended for users 13 years of age and older. During sign-up every user must confirm their year of birth on an age-gate screen. Accounts that compute to under 13 are rejected before any further data is collected. We do not collect a full date of birth — only the year.

We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you become aware that a child under 13 has provided us with information (for example by misrepresenting their age on the age gate), contact us at the address in Section 11 and we will delete the account and all associated data.

In Parent mode, an adult (the circle owner) may add a child age 13 or older as a member. The child sets up their own account, confirms their age on the same gate as any other user, and controls their own sharing toggle. The Play Console target audience for CircleSpot is "13+ / Adults"; the app is not enrolled in Google Play's Families programme.

10Security

We protect your data using industry-standard encryption in transit and at rest, strong authentication, and access controls appropriate to the sensitivity of the data we hold. No system is perfectly secure. If you suspect a security issue, please contact us — see Section 11.

11Changes & contact

11.1 Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of material changes by updating the "Last updated" date at the top of this page and, for significant changes, by an in-app notification. Your continued use of the App after an update constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

11.2 Contact

If you have questions about this policy, want to exercise your data rights, or need to report a concern:

• Email: privacy@getcirclespot.com (privacy / data rights / GDPR / CCPA requests)
• Email: support@getcirclespot.com (general support)
• Website: contact page

We will respond to verified data-rights requests within 30 days.