Privacy Policy

Last updated: June 2026

BySide is committed to protecting your privacy. This policy explains what data we collect, how we use it, and the rights you have over it. We collect only what is strictly necessary to provide a personal safety service — nothing more.

The short version: Your location is only ever shared with people you choose, only while a session is active, and is never sold or used for advertising or tracking outside the app's core safety functions.

1. Data we collect

We collect only the minimum data required to run the service:

Location data — Your GPS coordinates, transmitted in real time only while you have an active sharing session or an active emergency alert. Location data is never collected in the background.
Trusted Contact information — Phone numbers or names you add as Trusted Contacts are stored on your device only and are never uploaded to our servers.
Device information — Basic device type and OS version, used solely for app functionality and debugging.
Session data — Start time, end time, and duration of sharing sessions, used to track your monthly usage quota.

2. How we use your data

Your data is used solely to provide the BySide service:

To transmit your live location to Trusted Contacts you have explicitly chosen to share with during an active session.
To send emergency alerts and your current location to your Trusted Contacts when you activate an alarm.
To track how many hours of live sharing you have used in the current billing month.

We do not use your data for advertising, profiling, behavioural tracking, or any purpose beyond operating the core safety features of the app.

3. Location data

Location sharing is always initiated by you. Your coordinates are only transmitted while a journey or alert is active. The moment you end a session — or it expires — location updates stop immediately and permanently.

We do not retain historical location trails. Location data is automatically deleted from our servers within 24 hours of a session ending.

4. Who can see your location

Only the Trusted Contacts you explicitly share a private link with can see your location. Links are cryptographically unguessable, expire when the session ends, and cannot be reused. We do not share your location with any third party, advertiser, or government authority, except where required by law.

5. Data retention

Live location data: Deleted within 24 hours of session end.
Session logs: Retained for up to 90 days for service operation and debugging, then permanently deleted.
App data: Stored locally on your device. Cleared when you use "Delete Account" in Settings, which removes all app data from your device.

6. Cookies and analytics

Our website uses cookies only with your consent. When you accept cookies on bysideapp.com, we use Google Analytics 4 to collect anonymous information about how visitors use the site — such as which pages are visited and how long visitors stay. This helps us improve the website.

Google Analytics sets cookies that identify your browser across visits. No data is collected until you give consent via the cookie banner. You can withdraw your consent at any time by clearing your browser's local storage or cookies for bysideapp.com.

If you decline, no analytics cookies are set and no data is sent to Google Analytics. The website works fully without cookies.

7. Third-party services

BySide uses a limited number of trusted third-party services to operate:

Google Firebase — Our backend infrastructure, used for secure real-time location transmission and push notifications. Firebase processes data on our behalf under strict data processing agreements. See Firebase's Privacy and Security documentation for details.
Google Analytics 4 — Used on our website only, with your consent, to understand visitor behaviour. See Google's Privacy Policy for details.
Apple services — App distribution (App Store) and push notifications (APNs).

We do not sell your data to any third party, ever.

8. Your rights

You have the right to:

Access the data we hold about you — contact us and we will provide a summary.
Delete your account and all associated data at any time via the app or by emailing us.
Revoke location permissions at any time via iOS Settings → BySide → Location — this immediately prevents any further location access.
Withdraw consent for any active session by ending it within the app.

To exercise any of these rights, email us at support.byside@gmail.com. We will respond within 30 days.

9. Children

BySide is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect data from children under 13. If we become aware that a child under 13 has provided personal data, we will delete it promptly.

10. Changes to this policy

If we make significant changes to this policy, we will notify you through the app before they take effect. Continued use of BySide after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

11. Contact

Questions about privacy? Contact us at support.byside@gmail.com.

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