1. The Information We Collect

We collect only the data we need to provide a safe, functional, and enjoyable experience. When you use TrekMeet, we may collect:

• Account Information: We store your name, email address, account identifier, profile photo and optional bio. You can sign in with Google, Apple, or email and password. Firebase Authentication handles sign-in.
• Profile & Identity: To complete your profile, we ask for your first name, your age range and at least one outdoor activity. For your age range, you tell us whether you are 16 or 17, or 18 or over. TrekMeet is for people aged 16 and over, and we ask so that members aged 16 and 17 get the safer settings. We rely on your answer and do not verify your age. Earlier versions of the app asked for a date of birth to work out the age range; the date itself was never stored, and the current version does not ask for it. You can also add details such as your gender, home area and preferred pace. Your emergency contact is stored locally on your device.
• Event & Plan Data: We store events you create, RSVP to or save, solo plans you create, and feedback you provide on events or organisers. We also store walk summaries such as distance, duration and elevation. The App Store and Google Play call these walk summaries “Fitness” data. TrekMeet does not read Apple Health, Google Fit or your phone’s motion sensors. Imported GPX files are stored on your device, and their filename and local file-path metadata are synced with the event.
• Searches: When you search for a member, or for a walk someone has shared with you, the words you type are sent to our servers to find matches. We do not keep them after the results come back, and we do not keep a history of your searches. When you search for a place, the words you type are sent to Nominatim, which is run by the OpenStreetMap Foundation and keeps request details under its own privacy policy.
• Social & Connections Data: Follows, Trail Bonds (mutual connections), people you have blocked, and any reports you submit. Used to enforce your privacy preferences and community safety. The App Store and Google Play call this kind of information “Contacts”. TrekMeet never reads the contacts or address book on your phone.
• Moderation Records: When content is reported, we keep a snapshot of the reported content for review. For chat messages this includes the reported message and up to five surrounding messages, so a reviewer can see the context. Moderation records are kept for up to 12 months, unless we need to keep them longer to meet a legal obligation or for a serious safety matter.
• Chat & Messaging Content: Messages you send in TrekMeet chats — group and event conversations, and direct messages. Stored to deliver the conversation and display history when you re-open a thread.
• Location Data: We use your location for the things you ask for: showing treks near you, placing you on the trail map, setting your home-base area, showing your position on the offline map, and calculating sunset times for where you are. Continuous location recording starts only when you start a trek — one you are recording, or one you have chosen to share live with your group. While that trek is running we keep measuring even when your screen is off or the app is in the background, because that is the only way the distance and the route come out right. A permanent notification sits on your phone the whole time this is happening. It cannot be swiped away, and it ends when you end the trek. We have not asked for Android’s separate “background location” permission and we do not use it, so the app can reach your location only while you are using it or while a trek you started is running.
• Push Notification Tokens: After sign-in, we register a device notification token linked to your account so we can deliver notifications you have turned on. The token can be registered even when your phone is not allowing notification display. Your app notification settings and your phone’s permission controls determine which notifications you see.
• Device & Usage Information: Firebase services collect crash reports, device and app information, session information and pseudonymous installation identifiers to help us diagnose faults and keep the app working. Firebase Remote Config also helps us manage app settings and supported versions.
• Beta Bug Reports: When you send a bug report during the beta, the app attaches your app version, device model, operating system version, and connection state. You see what is attached before you send it.
• Media & Photos: We store photos you upload for your profile, groups, events, Journey records and chats. When you add a photo, the app uses the image you choose from your camera or photo library. Chat images are sent to Google Cloud Vision SafeSearch for an automatic check before being made available in chat.
• Mailing List: If you join our mailing list on trekmeet.com, we store your email address, your name if you choose to give it, and a record of when you signed up and which wording you agreed to. We keep that record so we can show your consent was given. Every email we send carries a one-click unsubscribe link.
• Cookies (web only): We use minimal, essential cookies on trekmeet.com to keep you logged in and remember preferences. We do not use cookies for advertising or third-party tracking.

2. How We Use Your Information

Your data is used to make TrekMeet work well for you. Specifically, we use it to:

• Help you discover and join outdoor events that match your interests.
• Provide organisers with the information they need to run safe, well-managed events.
• Deliver location-sharing features. Live Trek, breadcrumb sharing, and the SOS tools.
• Power social features such as Connections, Trail Bonds, and group chat — respecting the privacy controls you set.
• Review new groups before they go live — a person checks the group’s name, description, and settings against our Community Guidelines.
• Apply those guidelines across the community — accounts that breach them may be suspended or closed, and we keep a record of enforcement decisions.
• Send you important updates, event reminders, and social notifications (which you can toggle in Settings at any time).
• Improve the performance, reliability, and design of the app and website.
• Foster authentic community connections based on shared interests and trust.

TrekMeet does not monitor treks and does not dispatch emergency services. SOS places calls and shares links from your phone. In an emergency, call 000.

3. When We Share Information

Transparency is a core value. We only share your information in a few necessary circumstances:

• With Event Organisers: Your name and RSVP status are shared with organisers of events you join, so they can manage their attendees.
• With Other Members: Your display name, profile photo and the details shown on your profile can be seen by other members, including people you have not connected with. You control message permissions in Settings (Anyone / Trail Bonds / Off). When you belong to a group, the app on each other member’s phone also keeps a copy of some details from your profile so the group works offline. That copy includes details the app does not show on any screen: your age range, your gender if you gave it, the map position of your home base, your messaging and privacy settings, and whether your account is suspended.
• With Your Followers: When you choose to share a Journey record with your followers, signed-in followers can see its shared title, photo or route image, and any walk statistics you include. Blocking and account restrictions can limit access to this feed.
• Through Public Share Links: Anyone who has an active share link can open its public web preview without signing in. Shared plan and walk previews may show your name, title, place, description, selected image and shared walk statistics. Public group-event previews may also show the event date and organising group; private-group links show a limited preview. When you share a public profile, its web page can show your name, photo, bio, activities, pace, Founding Member badge and summary trek statistics.
• Through Image Links: Uploaded photos and shared route images use public media URLs. Anyone who obtains one of those URLs can view the image without signing in, including an image used in a chat or a record shared with followers.
• With Service Providers: We use trusted infrastructure partners to operate TrekMeet:
  • Firebase Auth (Google): Sign-in, identity, and authentication. When you sign in with Google on an iPhone, Google’s sign-in software also sends Google technical details about the sign-in, and Google uses these and your Google account ID to analyse its own sign-in service. This is why the App Store lists “Analytics” for your user ID.
  • Supabase (PostgreSQL): Cloud database and file storage for syncing your account, plans, events, groups, connections, and messages across devices, and for storing photos you upload. Protected by row-level security.
  • PowerSync: The bidirectional sync engine that keeps your offline-first device data in sync with Supabase.
  • Firestore (Google): Real-time channels for the “Live Trek” GPS feature (location breadcrumbs).
  • Firebase Cloud Messaging (Google): Delivers notifications using a device token linked to your account.
  • Firebase Crashlytics, Installations, Sessions and Remote Config (Google): Process crash reports, device and app information, session information and pseudonymous installation identifiers for diagnostics and app configuration.
  • Google Cloud Vision SafeSearch: Receives chat image content for automated screening before an image is made available in chat.
  • RevenueCat: We use RevenueCat to manage Explorer subscriptions through the App Store or Google Play. At sign-in it receives your TrekMeet account identifier, even if you have not purchased. It also receives device type, operating system, last app activity, store receipts or purchase tokens and subscription status to confirm purchases, maintain access and understand subscription use. Apple or Google takes payment; TrekMeet and RevenueCat do not receive your card details for these purchases. RevenueCat stores customer data in the United States and uses service providers there. Contact support@trekmeet.com for access, correction or deletion; some records may be retained for legal obligations or disputes. Account deletion does not cancel subscriptions; cancel through the store.
  • Zoho Desk: We use Zoho Desk to manage support and general enquiries. Zoho processes the contact details, messages and attachments you send us, together with our replies and notes, on our behalf. Our help-desk data is hosted in Zoho’s Australian region, while Zoho and its service providers may also process information overseas as described in Zoho’s Privacy Policy.
  • Hostinger: Hosts email for every TrekMeet email address. It processes contact details, messages, attachments and mail-routing information to receive, store and deliver our email.
  • Anthropic: Processes email content and related sender information that we provide to prepare replies and summaries.
  • OpenAI: Processes email content and related sender information that we provide to prepare replies and summaries.
  • Resend (Resend, Inc., USA): Email delivery. When you join our mailing list, or when we send you a service or update email, your email address, your name (if provided) and your subscription status are processed by Resend on servers in the United States, under a data processing agreement incorporating Standard Contractual Clauses. Consent and unsubscribe records stay in our own systems; unsubscribe requests take effect within 48 hours.
  • Cloudflare: Delivers TrekMeet’s own map tiles, styles, and fonts, and runs the spam check (Cloudflare Turnstile) on our website sign-up form. Cloudflare sees standard connection details (such as your IP address) when map tiles load and when that check runs; no account details are shared.
  • MapTiler: Satellite imagery for the satellite map layer. We do not share your account details with MapTiler.
  • Open-Meteo: Receives coordinates for the location whose weather forecast you request.
  • Nominatim (OpenStreetMap Foundation): Receives place names you search for to find locations, or coordinates to turn a location into a place name.
  Open-Meteo and Nominatim also receive connection information such as your IP address. Their own privacy and retention policies apply to these requests: Open-Meteo and OpenStreetMap Foundation.
• AI assistance with email: Email sent to TrekMeet may be processed with AI assistance — by Anthropic and OpenAI, the providers of the assistants we use — to prepare replies and summaries; a person reviews and sends every reply.
• For Legal Reasons: We may share information if compelled by law, such as in response to a valid court order or to protect the safety of our community.

4. Your Choices & Controls

You are in control of your data. You can:

• Access and Edit: Update your profile information and privacy preferences directly in the app under Settings. You can request a copy of your personal information at support@trekmeet.com.
• Privacy Settings: Choose who can message you (Anyone / Trail Bonds / Off), toggle online status, last-seen, and precise-location visibility (“Ghost Mode”).
• Notification Preferences: Enable or disable categories of notifications (events, social, safety, system) in Settings.
• Location Permissions: Manage location access via your device settings at any time. The app asks for location the first time you use something that needs it — recording a walk, sharing a Live Trek, the trail map, or treks near you — and it never asks for the separate background-location permission.
• Block & Report: Block any user or report content via the in-app menus. Reports are reviewed against our Community Guidelines. Blocked users cannot contact you or appear in your search results.
• Delete Your Account: You have the right to permanently delete your account and all associated data.
  • In-App: Go to Settings > Account > Delete Account and confirm your identity when asked. Once our server confirms your deletion request, your account is closed and its database personal information is removed or de-identified, apart from the enforcement records described below. Deleting uploaded files and your sign-in account may take further steps. If the connection drops or a step fails after closure, reconnect and choose “Finish deleting” in the app to retry.
  • Web Portal: If you cannot access the app, request deletion at trekmeet.com/delete-account. Web requests are processed manually and completed within 7 days.
  If your account was ever the subject of a report or a moderation decision, we keep those enforcement records — including a reference to the deleted account — after deletion, for safety and legal purposes. They are not visible to other members and are not used for anything else.

For any requests or concerns, please contact us at support@trekmeet.com. We’re here to help.

5. Data Storage & Security

TrekMeet is built local-first: your events, plans, groups, and offline maps live on your device, in the app’s private storage. Cloud sync uses Supabase and PowerSync to keep account and community data available across devices. Access depends on the feature and its audience, including the member profiles, follower feed, public share previews and image links described in Section 3.

Location points shared during a Live Trek are kept only briefly to power the live map — they are automatically deleted within 30 days at the latest, and typically within a day of being recorded. If you discard a trek, its data is deleted immediately. The route you record on a walk is stored on your device and is not uploaded to our servers. If you choose to share that walk, the share link carries a shortened copy of the route that leaves out where it started and where it ended. Authentication is handled by Firebase Auth using Google, Apple, or email and password. All data in transit is protected by TLS. Data held by our cloud providers is encrypted at rest on their servers.

We follow security best practices to protect your information from unauthorised access or misuse. No system is perfectly secure, but we treat your data the way we would want our own treated.

6. Children’s Privacy

TrekMeet is intended for users aged 16 and older. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 16. If you believe a child under 16 has created a profile, contact support@trekmeet.com and we will remove it.

7. Updates to This Policy

We may update this policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, infrastructure, or relevant law. When we make material changes, we will note them at the top of this page and update the “Last updated” date. For significant changes, we will also notify you in the app or by email.

8. Contact Us

Have questions or feedback about your privacy?

Email: hello@trekmeet.com (general) · support@trekmeet.com (privacy and moderation)
Based in: Sydney, Australia