Privacy Policy
This policy explains what data the Family Locator app (the “App”), published by BJSC (“we”), collects, how it is used, who can see it, and what rights you have. The App lets family members share their location with each other after they have agreed to it. By using the App, you agree to the practices described below.
1. Summary
- Your location is shared only with members of the circles you have joined. Nobody can join your circle without an invite code from a member or without accepting an invitation.
- You can pause sharing at any time, for all circles or for one circle. While sharing is paused, our server discards the locations your device sends.
- Location history is deleted automatically: members can look back 24 hours on the free plan, or up to 30 days with VIP.
- You can delete your account in the App (Settings → Delete account). This deletes your account, devices and location data.
- We do not sell your data, and we do not use your location for advertising.
- The App shows ads from Google AdMob. Personalized ads are shown only with your consent.
2. Data we collect
2.1. Account
You can use the App as a guest (no name, email or password is required; the App creates an account with a default display name), or sign in with:
- Email and password — your email address and a password. We store only a one-way hash of the password (bcrypt), never the password itself.
- Google — your Google account identifier, email address, name and profile photo link, as provided by Google.
- Sign in with Apple (iOS) — your Apple identifier, the email address Apple shares with us (which may be a private relay address), and your name if you choose to share it the first time you sign in.
You can change your display name in the App. Your name and profile photo are shown to members of your circles. If you sign in after using the App as a guest, your guest data is moved to the account you sign in to.
2.2. Phone number (optional)
You may add your phone number so family members who know it can find you and send you an invitation. The number is verified by Firebase Authentication (Google), which sends a code by SMS. We store the verified number and the time it was verified. When you invite someone by phone number, we store the number you entered with the invitation. You can remove your number at any time in Settings → My phone number.
2.3. Location
When you allow location access and sharing is on, the App collects your device’s location and sends it to our server: latitude and longitude, accuracy, speed, heading, altitude, time, battery level and whether the device is charging. This is used to:
- show your current location and recent route to the members of your circles;
- notify the members you choose when you arrive at or leave a place saved in your circle (such as home or school);
- let a circle member view your location live for a short time — while this happens, the App shows you that you are being viewed live and by whom;
- send your location to all members of your circles when you press SOS;
- tell members when your battery is low or when your device has not reported a location for a long time.
Background location: these features only work if the App can read your location when it is closed or not in use. The App asks for this permission (“Allow all the time” on Android, “Always” on iOS) only after explaining why. On Android, a permanent notification is shown while location is collected in the background. You can stop background collection at any time by pausing sharing in the App or by changing the location permission in your device settings.
We do not use your location for advertising, and we do not share it with advertisers.
2.4. Circles, invitations and places
The names of your circles, their members and roles (owner or member), the date you joined, and whether you are sharing your location in each circle. Invite codes are 6 characters, can be used once, and expire after 24 hours. For invitations by phone number we keep who sent the invitation, to whom, for which circle, and whether it was accepted or declined. For places we store the name, the optional address you type, the center point on the map, the radius, and which members receive arrival and departure alerts.
2.5. Device and push notifications
When you sign in, the App registers your device with our server: platform (iOS/Android), a random installation identifier generated by the App, app version, operating system version, device model, and the time the device was last seen. If you allow notifications, we also store a notification token issued by Firebase Cloud Messaging to send you invitations, arrival and departure alerts, SOS alerts and live-view requests.
2.6. VIP purchases
Payments are processed by the Apple App Store or Google Play; we never receive your card number or payment details. The App sends the purchase information that Apple or Google provides to our server so that it can verify the purchase directly with them, and we store your VIP status, its expiry date and the transaction identifiers.
2.7. Advertising
The App uses Google AdMob to show ads and Google User Messaging Platform to ask for your consent where the law requires it (such as the European Union, the United Kingdom and Switzerland). Google may collect your device’s advertising identifier (IDFA on iOS — only if you allow tracking when the App asks; Advertising ID on Android), IP address, device information and ad interactions. We do not give Google your location, circles or account details. How Google uses data: policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites.
2.8. Feedback and ratings
If you send feedback or rate the App from inside the App, we receive your message or rating, the email address you choose to leave (optional), and — if you allow it — the app version, operating system, device model and language. These messages are delivered to a private channel on Discord that only our team reads.
2.9. Maps and technical logs
Maps are displayed with the Google Maps SDK; Google receives the map area being displayed, your IP address and device information to deliver map tiles. As with any Internet service, our servers and infrastructure providers may record IP addresses and request times to operate the service, prevent abuse and troubleshoot problems. We do not write coordinates into our server logs.
2.10. Data that stays on your device
Your language, appearance and notification settings, the circle you last selected, and a copy of your profile are stored on your device. Your sign-in token is stored in the device’s secure storage (Keychain on iOS, encrypted storage on Android). When background location cannot reach our server (for example without a network connection), locations are kept on the device temporarily and sent later.
3. Who can see your data
- Members of your circles see your name, profile photo, current location, battery level, route history (within the history period of their plan), places, and arrival and departure alerts — but only while you are sharing in that circle.
- On the free plan a member can view a limited number of people; the others are shown as locked until that member upgrades. Locking only hides data from the viewer; it does not change what you share.
- You always see when someone is viewing you live.
- Our team’s admin tools show account and aggregate statistics; they do not show maps or the coordinates of users.
4. How we use data
- To provide the App: accounts, circles, invitations, location sharing, history, places and alerts, live view and SOS.
- To send notifications you need (invitations, alerts, SOS).
- To verify purchases and apply plan limits (number of people you can view, live views per day, history length, number of places, ads).
- To keep the service secure: rate limits, preventing abuse, revoking lost devices.
- To show ads that keep the free version available.
- To answer your feedback and support requests.
For users in the EU / UK, our legal bases are: performing the service you request (accounts, location sharing, alerts, VIP), legitimate interests (security, abuse prevention), and your consent (location access, personalized ads, push notifications). You can withdraw consent at any time as described in section 8.
5. Retention
| Data | How long it is kept on our servers |
|---|---|
| Location history, arrival/departure and SOS records | Deleted automatically when it is older than the longest history period offered (currently 30 days). What a member can see is limited by their plan: 24 hours on the free plan, 30 days with VIP. |
| Latest location | Replaced each time your device sends a new location; deleted with your account. |
| Invite codes | 24 hours, or until used. |
| Account, phone number, circles, invitations and places | Until you delete them or delete your account. Places and invitations are also deleted when their circle is deleted. |
| Device record and notification token | Until you sign out on that device, the token expires, or you delete your account. |
| VIP status and transaction identifiers | While your account exists and for as long as required for accounting and dispute resolution. |
| Feedback messages | As long as needed to handle the feedback. |
6. Third parties that receive data
We share data only with providers needed for the App to work:
- Our server hosting provider — runs our API, database and real-time service.
- Cloudflare — network delivery for our website and services.
- Google Firebase — phone number verification (Firebase Authentication) and push notifications (Firebase Cloud Messaging).
- Google Maps Platform — displaying maps.
- Google and Apple sign-in — only if you choose to sign in with them.
- Google AdMob and User Messaging Platform — advertising and consent management.
- Apple and Google — payment processing and purchase verification.
- Discord — delivery of feedback you send from the App.
We may disclose data when required by law. We do not sell or rent personal data. Data may be processed in countries other than the one you live in; the providers above protect data according to their own standards.
7. Security
All connections between the App and our servers are encrypted (HTTPS/TLS). Passwords are stored only as bcrypt hashes; sign-in refresh tokens and device tokens are stored only as hashes, and a lost device can be revoked. Every request to read a location checks that the person asking is in the same circle and that you are sharing. Location data is stored on our servers so it can be shown to your circle; it is not end-to-end encrypted. No system is perfectly secure, but we take reasonable measures to protect your data.
8. Your rights and choices
- Pause sharing: Settings → Share my location (all circles), or turn off sharing for one circle in Settings → My circles. You can also leave a circle at any time.
- Revoke location or notification access: in your device settings.
- Edit your data: change your name, phone number, circles and places in the App.
- Delete your account: in the App, Settings → Delete account. This permanently deletes your account, sign-in methods, password hash, phone number, registered devices and tokens, your latest location and location history, your circle memberships, the invitations you sent or received, and your alert settings. In a circle you own, ownership passes to the member who joined earliest; if you are the only member, the circle and its places are deleted. Places you created in a circle that still has other members stay in that circle without your name. Deleting your account does not cancel a VIP subscription — cancel it in the App Store or Google Play.
- If you cannot use the App: email bucajsc.com@gmail.com from the email address of your account (or tell us how you signed in) to request access, correction or deletion. We may ask for information to confirm the account is yours, and we respond within 30 days.
- Withdraw ad consent: in the App, Settings → Ad privacy (shown in regions where the law requires it). On iOS, you can turn off tracking in Settings → Privacy & Security → Tracking.
Depending on where you live (for example GDPR in Europe, CCPA in California, Decree 13/2023/ND-CP in Vietnam), you may have additional rights to object, restrict processing, receive a copy of your data, and lodge a complaint with a data protection authority.
9. Children
The App is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal data from children under 13 (or the minimum age required in your country). If you believe a child under that age has created an account, please contact us and we will delete it.
10. Changes to this policy
When this policy changes, we will update this page and the effective date at the top. Significant changes will be announced in the App.
11. Contact
BJSC · Email: bucajsc.com@gmail.com · Website: bjscstudio.com/family_locator