Effective Date: October 14th 2026

Thank you for using our mobile application ("Drink$") that helps users find drink specials in their local area, connect with friends, and plan group adventures. This Privacy Policy outlines how we collect, use, store, and protect your personal information when you use our App, including the sharing of anonymous information with our business partners. By using the App, you agree to the terms and practices described in this Privacy Policy.

1. Information We Collect

1.1 Personal Information:

When you use our App, we may collect certain personal information that can be used to identify you individually, including but not limited to:

• Your name (first and last name)
• Your email address
• Your phone number, if you choose to add one (see section 1.5)
• Your birth date
• Your profile picture
• Your password (stored securely using industry-standard encryption)
• Your location information (latitude and longitude)
• Your device information (device ID for push notifications)

1.2 Location Information:

To provide you with accurate and relevant drink specials, we require access to your device's location information. This information will only be collected with your explicit permission, and you can choose to disable location services at any time. Please note that disabling location services may limit the functionality of the App.

1.3 Friend Location Sharing:

You may choose to share your real-time location with your accepted friends through the "Share Location with Friends" setting. This feature is disabled by default and requires you to explicitly opt-in. When enabled:

• Your current location will be visible to your accepted friends on the map
• You can see the locations of friends who have also opted in to share their location
• You can disable this feature at any time in Settings under Privacy
• Your location is only shared with friends you have mutually accepted, never with strangers or public users

You can also control whether you want to see friends' locations on your map through the "Show Friends on Map" setting, independent of whether you share your own location.

1.4 User-Generated Content:

When you use social features of the App, we collect and store content you create, including:

• Check-ins at venues with drink specials
• Photos and descriptions you share with check-ins
• Comments on check-ins (yours and others')
• Cheers (likes) you give to other users' check-ins
• Tags of friends in your check-ins
• Your friends list and friend requests
• Outings you create or join, including venue suggestions and group messages

1.5 Contacts and Phone Number:

Address book. If you give permission, and after an in-app notice explaining what happens, the App sends the email addresses and phone numbers in your device address book to our servers so we can check which of them belong to Drink$ accounts. Only confirmed accounts that allow themselves to be found are matched, and blocked users never match. This is optional, and you can revoke contact permission at any time in your device settings.

Contact-join alerts. If "Tell me when contacts join" is on (Settings > Privacy; it is on by default after you see the in-app notice), we also keep a keyed one-way hash (HMAC-SHA256) of those email addresses and phone numbers. We do not keep the contacts themselves or their names. We use the hashes only to notify you once when one of those people later joins or verifies their account. When you turn the setting off, the stored hashes are deleted immediately. They are also deleted when you delete your account, and stale entries may be pruned sooner. We never use them for advertising, never sell or share them, and never use them to contact the people in your address book.

Your phone number. You can optionally add a phone number in Edit Profile. We verify it with an SMS code sent by Google Firebase Authentication, which acts as our service provider. After verification we delete the Firebase record and store only the verified number. We use it only so friends who have your number in their contacts can find you. It is never shown on your profile. Only US and German numbers are supported for now. You can remove it at any time under Edit Profile > Phone number > Remove.

Android SMS code. On Android, the one-tap code feature uses Google Play services SMS User Consent. The App reads only the single message you approve, and only to fill in the code. The App does not request SMS permission.

1.6 Push Notification Tokens:

If you enable push notifications, we collect and store Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM) tokens to send you notifications about friend requests, comments, cheers, tags, nearby specials, and new followers. You can manage your notification preferences in the App settings at any time.

1.7 Anonymous Information:

When you visit pages of our business partners through the App, we may collect and share anonymous information with them. This information may include aggregated and de-identified data that does not personally identify you, such as the number of users visiting their pages, the duration of visits, and the general location of users.

1.8 Usage and Analytics Information:

We use Google Analytics for Firebase to understand how the App is used so we can improve it. This includes usage events (for example screens viewed and features used), along with device and app information (device model, operating system, app version, language), approximate location derived from IP address, and app-instance identifiers. This data is processed by Google on our behalf. We do not use it for advertising. Where required by law (for example in the EU/EEA and UK) analytics is only collected after you consent, and you can turn it off at any time under Settings > Share Usage Data.

2. How We Use Your Information

2.1 Providing and Improving the App:

We use the collected information to provide you with a personalized experience and to enhance the functionality of the App. This includes:

• Showing drink specials based on your location and preferences
• Displaying your check-ins and activity feed
• Enabling social features like friends, comments, cheers, and tags
• Coordinating group outings with friends, including venue planning and group messaging
• Providing personalized venue and special recommendations
• Matching your contacts and phone number so friends can find each other, and notifying you once when a contact later joins (see section 1.5)
• Suggesting "People you may know" based on mutual friends, shared outings, being tagged together, and checking in at the same places around the same time (the last only as a boost). Each suggestion shows a short reason, such as "4 mutual friends"
• Generating user statistics (total check-ins, places visited, friends count)
• Improving our services and features
• Analyzing usage patterns and trends

2.2 Communication and Notifications:

We may use your provided contact information to communicate with you regarding important updates, changes to the App, or to respond to your inquiries and requests. We use push notifications to send you:

• Friend requests and new follower notifications
• Alerts when friends comment on your check-ins
• Notifications when someone cheers your check-in
• Alerts when you're tagged in a check-in
• Information about nearby drink specials (if enabled)
• Outing invitations and updates from group events
• Messages and notifications related to outings you've joined
• Reminders for upcoming outings
• App updates and important announcements

You can control which types of notifications you receive through the notification settings in your account.

2.3 Business Partners:

We may share anonymous information with our business partners when you visit their pages through the App. This information helps our partners understand their audience and improve their services. The shared information will not personally identify you.

2.4 Aggregated Data:

We may aggregate and anonymize the collected information to generate statistical or analytical insights. This aggregated data will not personally identify you and may be used for research, marketing, or other business purposes.

3. Data Sharing and Disclosure

3.1 Public Information:

Depending on your privacy settings, certain information may be visible to other users:

• Public Check-ins: If you choose "Public" privacy, your check-ins, photos, comments, and profile information may be visible to all users of the App
• Friends Only: If you choose "Friends Only" privacy, your check-ins and activity are only visible to users you've accepted as friends
• Profile Information: Your name and profile picture are visible to other users to facilitate social interactions
• Friends List: Your friends may be visible to other users depending on your privacy settings

You can control your default check-in privacy setting in the App settings.

3.2 Third-Party Service Providers:

We may engage third-party service providers who assist us in providing the App and its related services, including:

• Firebase (Google): For push notifications, analytics, and authentication services
• Google Firebase Authentication: To send and check the SMS code that verifies your phone number. We delete the Firebase record after verification (see section 1.5)
• Google Play services (Android): SMS User Consent, which lets you approve a single verification message so the App can fill in the code (see section 1.5)
• Cloud Storage Providers: For storing profile pictures and check-in photos
• Email Service Providers: For sending transactional emails (password resets, account confirmations)
• Mapping Services: For displaying venues on maps and providing navigation
• OpenAI: For content moderation services to help maintain a safe and respectful community (see section 3.2.1 below)
• Google Analytics for Firebase: For usage analytics that help us understand and improve the App (see section 1.8). Data is processed by Google and is not used for advertising.

These providers may have access to your personal information only to the extent necessary for performing their designated tasks. We ensure that such service providers are obligated to maintain the confidentiality and security of your information.

3.2.1 Content Moderation:

To maintain a safe and respectful community, we use OpenAI's content moderation services to automatically review user-generated content, including:

• Check-in descriptions and photos
• Comments on check-ins
• Outing messages and group communications
• Other user-submitted text and images

When you post content, it is sent to OpenAI's moderation API for analysis to detect potentially harmful, offensive, or inappropriate content. OpenAI analyzes the content but does not store it permanently. The analysis helps us identify content that may violate our community guidelines. Content flagged by the moderation system may be automatically hidden, require manual review, or result in account restrictions depending on the severity and frequency of violations.

By using the App and posting content, you consent to this automated content review process. For more information about OpenAI's data handling practices, please visit OpenAI's Privacy Policy.

3.3 Legal Requirements:

We may disclose your personal information if required to do so by law or in response to a valid legal request, such as a court order, government investigation, or as otherwise required by applicable law.

3.4 Business Transfers:

In the event of a merger, acquisition, or sale of our company assets, your personal information may be transferred as part of the transaction. We will notify you via email or a prominent notice in the App of any such change in ownership or control.

4. Data Security

We take appropriate technical and organizational measures to safeguard your personal information from unauthorized access, use, or disclosure, including:

• Secure HTTPS connections for all data transmission
• Encrypted password storage using industry-standard hashing algorithms
• Secure authentication tokens with expiration
• Regular security audits and updates
• Access controls limiting who can view your personal information

However, please note that no method of transmission over the internet or electronic storage is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

5. Your Rights and Choices

You have the following rights regarding your personal information:

• Access: You can view and edit your profile information at any time in the App
• Privacy Controls: You can choose your default check-in privacy (Public or Friends Only)
• Friend Location Sharing: You can enable or disable sharing your location with friends at any time in Settings
• Notification Preferences: You can enable or disable specific types of push notifications
• Location Services: You can disable location access in your device settings (may limit functionality)
• Usage Analytics: You can turn off analytics at any time under Settings > Share Usage Data; where required by law we ask for your consent before collecting it
• Contact Access: You can revoke contact permissions at any time through device settings
• Contact-Join Alerts: Turn off Settings > Privacy > Tell me when contacts join to stop the alerts; the stored hashes of your contacts are deleted immediately
• Being Found: Turn off Settings > Privacy > Let people find me from their contacts so nobody can find you by email or phone through contact matching; you are also excluded from "contact joined" notifications sent to others
• People You May Know: Turn off Settings > Privacy > Show me in People you may know to stop appearing in other people's suggestions, and dismiss any suggestion you don't want to see again
• Your Phone Number: Remove it at any time under Edit Profile > Phone number > Remove
• Account Deletion: You can request deletion of your account through the App settings
• Data Export: You can request a copy of your personal data by contacting us

6. Data Retention

We retain your personal information for as long as your account is active or as needed to provide you services. Hashed contact details are kept only until you turn off "Tell me when contacts join" or delete your account, and stale entries may be pruned sooner. Your phone number is kept until you remove it or delete your account. If you delete your account, we will delete or anonymize your personal information within 30 days, except where we are required to retain it for legal or regulatory purposes. Check-ins, comments, and other user-generated content may be retained in anonymized form for analytical purposes.

You can delete your account at any time — see how to delete your account for the steps and a full list of what is deleted and what is kept.

7. Children's Privacy

Our App is not intended for individuals under the age of 18. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If we become aware that we have inadvertently collected personal information from a child, we will take steps to delete it promptly.

8. Changes to this Privacy Policy

We reserve the right to modify or update this Privacy Policy at any time. If we make any material changes, we will notify you by email or through a notice within the App. Your continued use of the App after the changes will signify your acceptance of the updated Privacy Policy.

9. Contact Us

If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or the App's privacy practices, please contact us at support@drinksnearme.app.

By using the App, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Privacy Policy and consent to the collection, use, and disclosure of your personal information as described herein, including the sharing of anonymous information with our business partners.