Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how Farid Mammadov, the individual developer who operates LocaVibe (“LocaVibe”, “we”, “us” or “our”), collects, uses, shares and protects personal data when you use the LocaVibe app, our website at https://locavibe.dilami.pro and the partner cabinet (together, the “Service”).

We are the controller of your personal data — which means we decide why and how it is processed — for the purposes of UAE Federal Decree-Law No. 45 of 2021 on the Protection of Personal Data (the “PDPL”). Our details:

• Farid Mammadov, individual developer (not a company)
• Location: Baku, Azerbaijan
• Email: web.pro.farid@gmail.com — for privacy questions and requests, please use the subject “Privacy request”.

If we appoint a data protection officer, we’ll publish their contact details here.

This policy applies to:

• the LocaVibe iOS app (and our Android app, when it becomes available);
• our website at https://locavibe.dilami.pro, including the pages that open shared activity and meetup links;
• the partner cabinet at https://locavibe.dilami.pro/partner, including the personal data of the people who manage partner accounts; and
• your communications with us, such as support emails.

It doesn’t apply to third-party services that you reach through the Service — such as Apple, Google, map apps, partners’ websites or ticketing sites — which have their own privacy policies. Words defined in our Terms of Use have the same meaning here.

We collect personal data that you give us, data that is generated when you use the Service, and data we receive from sign-in and payment providers. Depending on how you use LocaVibe, this includes the following.

Account and sign-in data

• The sign-in method you use. In the app, you sign in using Sign in with Apple. The partner cabinet on our website uses a one-time email code.
• If you use Sign in with Apple: a unique Apple user identifier and the email address Apple shares with us, and your name if you choose to share it. If you choose “Hide My Email”, we receive an Apple private relay address instead of your real email address.
• If you sign in with an email code (in the partner cabinet, or in the app if we offer this option): your email address. We generate a six-digit one-time code and send it to that address. The code is valid for 10 minutes. We don’t use passwords.
• Account records, such as when you signed up and last signed in.

Profile data

• Your first name, date of birth and gender (woman, man or other). We use your date of birth to confirm that you’re 18 or over, and 21 or over for nightlife; other users only see your age. We use your gender for girls-only activities and show it on your profile. Your date of birth and gender can’t be changed in the app after sign-up.
• Up to 6 photos. The first photo is your avatar and must clearly show your face; we also use it for selfie verification.
• Your “about me” text (up to 300 characters), your interests, the languages you speak, your home area if you add one (for example, “Dubai Marina”) and your app language.
• Information generated about your profile: your verification status, your average rating and number of ratings, the number of meetups you’ve taken part in, your number of no-shows and whether you have LocaVibe+.

Verification selfie

If you choose to verify your profile, we collect the selfie you take with your front camera, the gesture you were asked to make, the time of your request, the moderator’s decision and any reason for rejection. Selfies are stored in a private storage area that only LocaVibe moderators can access. A moderator compares your selfie with your main profile photo by eye. We don’t use automated facial recognition, and we don’t create biometric templates or face prints.

Location data

• Device location. If you allow it (“While Using the App”), we use your device’s location to show activities near you and how far away they are. It’s sent to our servers only to find nearby activities and calculate distances. Your device location isn’t shown to other users, isn’t saved to your profile and isn’t used to build a history of your movements. We don’t access your location in the background. If you don’t allow location access, the app uses a default location in Dubai instead.
• Places you add. The place names, addresses and map coordinates of activities you create are visible to people who can see those activities.
• Location you choose to share. If you create a “Share meetup with a friend” link and choose to include your location, we store your last shared location with that link so that your trusted person can see it. If you use SOS to text your trusted contacts, your location is included in a text message sent from your phone.

Activities and participation

The activities you create (category, title, description, time, place and coordinates, group size, whether people join openly or by request, meetup language, whether the activity is girls-only and any linked event); your join requests and optional notes to hosts; approvals, declines and removals; the activities you’ve joined, left or cancelled; and your use of boosts.

Messages

The messages you send in activity group chats and in direct messages, with the time they were sent and any edits. When you delete a message, its text is wiped (subject to backups, described in How long we keep data). Messages can be 1 to 2,000 characters long, and you can send up to 30 per minute.

Ratings and no-shows

The ratings (1 to 5 stars) and “wasn’t there” marks that you give and receive in the 72 hours after a meetup, and the totals calculated from them.

Reports and blocks

Reports you submit (what or whom you report, the reason and any details you add), reports about you or your content, the decisions our moderators make, and the list of users you’ve blocked.

Safety features

• Share meetup with a friend. When you create a link, we store the link, the activity it relates to, when it was created and when it expires or is revoked, and — only if you choose — your last shared location.
• SOS. The trusted contacts you add are stored only on your device and are never uploaded to us. Calls to 999 or 998 and text messages to your trusted contacts are made by your phone, not by our servers.

Device data and notifications

Your device’s push notification token and platform, which we need to send you notifications through Expo’s push service and the Apple Push Notification service; your notification settings; and your in-app notification history.

Subscription data

If you subscribe to LocaVibe+: your subscription status, the product you bought, purchase, renewal and expiry dates, Apple transaction identifiers and purchase receipts, and the app user ID that links your purchase to your account. Payments are processed by Apple; we never receive your card details.

Partner and payment data

If you manage a partner account: the email address you use to sign in to the partner cabinet; the business profile you submit (business name, category, description, website, Instagram, phone number, email address, address, map location and logo); the events and promotions you submit and their moderation status; and payment records — your Stripe customer ID, checkout and payment IDs, amounts and dates. Card payments are processed by Stripe; we never receive or store your full card details.

Website and cookies

Our website uses only strictly necessary cookies: one that remembers your language and, if you sign in to the partner or moderator web cabinet, authentication session cookies. We don’t currently use analytics or advertising cookies. See Cookies on our website.

Technical and log data

When you use the Service, our servers and service providers automatically record technical information such as your IP address, device and browser type, the date and time of requests, error reports and security events. We use it to operate and secure the Service and to fix problems. To find and fix crashes, errors and slow screens, the app sends diagnostic data to Sentry, our crash-reporting provider: crash and error reports and, for a sample of app sessions, performance data such as how long screens and network requests take. This data includes technical details such as your device model, iOS version, app version, a random installation identifier and what went wrong. We don’t attach your name, email address, profile, photos or messages to it.

Support communications

If you contact us, we keep your messages, any attachments you send and our replies.

Sensitive personal data

We don’t ask for sensitive personal data, such as information about your religion, health, political opinions or criminal record. Please don’t include it in your profile or messages. Your profile photos and verification selfie show your face, but we don’t process them with technology that uniquely identifies people; selfies are only looked at by our moderators.

We use personal data only for the purposes below, and only where we have a legal basis under the PDPL. Our legal bases are:

• Contract — the processing is needed to provide the Service under our Terms of Use, or to take steps you ask for;
• Consent — where you’ve given it; you can withdraw it at any time;
• Legal obligation — to comply with the laws that apply to us;
• Vital interests — to protect your safety or someone else’s; and
• Legitimate interests, to the extent recognised by applicable law — for example, keeping the Service safe and preventing abuse, always balanced against your rights.

We don’t sell your personal data, we don’t use it for third-party advertising and we don’t build advertising profiles. We currently send only service emails, such as sign-in codes — no marketing emails. If we ever want to send you marketing, we’ll ask for your consent where the law requires it, and you’ll be able to opt out at any time.

Where we rely on consent, you can withdraw it at any time — for example, by turning off location access or notifications in your iPhone settings, or by asking us to cancel a pending verification request. Withdrawing consent doesn’t affect processing that took place before.

• Other signed-in users can see your profile: first name, age, gender, “about me”, photos, interests, languages, home area, verified badge, average rating and number of ratings, number of meetups, number of no-shows and your LocaVibe+ badge. Profiles aren’t shown to people who aren’t signed in.
• Activities you host — including their place and position on the map — are visible to signed-in users who are eligible to see them (girls-only activities only to women, nightlife only to users aged 21 and over), together with your profile as the host. People viewing an activity can also see who is going.
• Hosts see your profile and your optional note when you ask to join their activity.
• Group chats are visible to the approved participants of the activity, with each sender’s name and photo. Direct messages are visible only to you and the other person.
• Ratings are shown only as totals. People can’t see how you rated them individually.
• Reports are confidential. We don’t tell the person you report who reported them.
• Trusted people. If you or another participant creates a “Share meetup with a friend” link, anyone who has the link can see the activity’s title, category, place and time (in Dubai time), the first names of the host and participants and of the person who shared it and, if that person chose to share it, their last location. The link stops working 6 hours after the activity ends, or earlier if it’s revoked.
• Anyone on the web. Activity links (such as https://locavibe.dilami.pro/a/…) open a page that doesn’t show personal data about the host or participants. Published events and approved partner profiles are public.
• Our moderators can access the information they need to review reports, verification requests, partner profiles and events. They can read chat messages only when those messages have been reported.

We share personal data only as described in this policy:

• With other users and people you choose, as described in What other people can see.
• With service providers that process data on our behalf under contracts requiring them to protect it and to use it only to provide their services to us (see the table below).
• For legal and safety reasons — when required by law, a court order or a request from a competent UAE authority, or when we believe in good faith that it’s necessary to protect someone’s safety, prevent fraud or enforce our Terms.
• If the Service changes hands — for example, if we set up a company to operate LocaVibe or sell the Service, personal data may be transferred to the new operator, who must continue to protect it in line with this policy. We’ll tell you before this happens.
• With your consent or at your direction.

Our main service providers are:

Apple and Stripe also process some data as independent controllers under their own privacy policies — for example, when Apple authenticates your Apple ID or processes your App Store payment.

Some of our service providers store or process personal data outside the UAE — for example, in the European Union, the United States, India or other countries where they or their sub-processors operate. Our main database is hosted by Supabase in the data-centre region closest to the UAE that is available to us. We operate the Service from Azerbaijan, so personal data is also accessed from there, for example to answer support requests and moderate content.

When we transfer personal data outside the UAE, we do so in line with the PDPL: to countries whose level of data protection is recognised as adequate or, otherwise, with appropriate safeguards — such as contractual commitments that require the recipient to protect the data to the standard required by UAE law — or in other cases the PDPL allows, for example where the transfer is necessary to perform our contract with you or you’ve given your express consent. You can ask us for more information about these safeguards.

We keep personal data only for as long as we need it for the purposes described in this policy, and then delete or anonymise it.

We may keep specific data for longer where the law requires it, or where it’s needed to establish, exercise or defend legal claims or to respond to a request from a competent authority.

• Data sent between the app, the website and our servers is encrypted in transit (HTTPS/TLS), and our hosting provider encrypts stored data at rest.
• Access controls, including row-level security in our database, make sure that each user can access only the data they’re allowed to see.
• Verification selfies are kept in a private storage area that only our moderators can access.
• Anyone who helps us run the Service, such as moderators, gets only the access they need for their role (the principle of least privilege) and is bound by confidentiality obligations.
• We don’t use passwords. Sign-in codes expire after 10 minutes, and we limit how fast messages can be sent to prevent spam and abuse.
• Our service providers are bound by confidentiality and security obligations.

No system is completely secure, so please also protect your devices and the Apple ID and email account you use to sign in.

Data breaches. If we become aware of a personal data breach that is likely to affect the privacy, confidentiality or security of your personal data, we’ll notify the UAE Data Office and, where required, you, in line with the PDPL, and we’ll take steps to contain the breach and reduce its impact.

Under the PDPL, you have the right to:

• access your personal data and receive information about how we process it, including the purposes, the recipients and how long we keep it;
• correct personal data that is inaccurate or incomplete;
• erase your personal data;
• restrict our processing in certain circumstances — for example, while we check whether your data is accurate;
• object to or ask us to stop certain processing — for example, direct marketing, or processing that is no longer necessary for the purpose it was collected for;
• data portability — receive your personal data in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format, and ask us to transmit it to another controller where technically feasible;
• withdraw your consent at any time, where we rely on it; and
• not be subject to decisions based solely on automated processing that have legal or similarly significant effects on you. We don’t make such decisions — see Automated processing.

How to exercise your rights

• In the app: you can view and edit most of your profile at any time (name, photos, “about me”, interests, languages, home area and app language), edit or delete your messages, change permissions in your iPhone settings, and delete your account in Profile → Settings → Delete account.
• By email: for anything else — including getting a copy of your data, correcting your date of birth or gender, or objecting to processing — email web.pro.farid@gmail.com with the subject “Privacy request”. Please write from the email address linked to your account, so we can confirm that it’s you. We may ask for more information to verify your identity.

We’ll respond within 30 days. If a request is complex, we may need more time where the law allows, and we’ll tell you why. Exercising your rights is free of charge. In some cases the law allows or requires us to decline or limit a request — for example, if it would affect other people’s rights or if we must keep the data to comply with the law — and we’ll explain our reasons.

Complaints

If you’re unhappy with how we’ve handled your personal data, please contact us first so that we can try to put it right. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the UAE Data Office.

LocaVibe is only for people aged 18 and over, and nightlife activities are only for people aged 21 and over. We don’t knowingly collect personal data from anyone under 18. We ask for your date of birth when you sign up, and users can report profiles that look under 18.

If we learn that an account belongs to someone under 18, we remove the account and delete its personal data, except for information we need to keep to protect others or to comply with the law. If you believe that a person under 18 is using LocaVibe, please report their profile in the app or contact us.

We use some automated tools to keep the Service working and safe:

• Banned-words filter. Names, bios, activities, messages, events and partner profiles are automatically checked against a list of banned words in English, Russian, Arabic and Hindi. If your text contains a banned word, it isn’t published, and you can rephrase it. If you think the filter made a mistake, contact us.
• Automatic hiding after reports. When three different users report the same activity, message or user, it’s automatically hidden until a moderator has reviewed it. If the moderator finds no violation, it’s restored.
• Anti-spam limits. We limit how many messages can be sent per minute, and how many activities and pending requests free users can have.
• Access rules. Your age and gender automatically determine whether you can see nightlife (21+) and girls-only activities.
• Feed order. Activities boosted by LocaVibe+ members in the last 24 hours are shown first, followed by other activities in order of start time and distance. Partner promotions are shown separately and labelled “Promo”.

Decisions that significantly affect you — such as suspending or banning an account, rejecting a verification request, or rejecting a partner profile or event — are made by our human moderators, not solely by automated means.

The app asks for your permission before accessing the features below. You can change your choices at any time in your iPhone’s Settings.

• Notifications — about join requests and new participants, approvals and declines, new messages, activities starting in 30 minutes, cancellations, reminders to rate a meetup, your verification result and, for partner accounts, event moderation decisions. We may also send optional notifications about new activities nearby that match your interests (no more than 2 a day). Notifications are delivered through Expo’s push service and the Apple Push Notification service. To turn them off, go to your iPhone’s Settings → Notifications → LocaVibe.
• Location (“While Using the App”) — to show nearby activities and distances. Without it, the app uses a default location in Dubai.
• Camera — to take profile photos and your verification selfie.
• Photos — to choose profile photos from your library. We only receive the photos you select.
• Contacts — to choose trusted contacts for SOS from your address book. They’re stored only on your device and never leave it.

We only send service emails, such as sign-in codes. We don’t currently send marketing emails.

Our website uses only cookies that are strictly necessary for it to work. We don’t currently use analytics or advertising cookies, and we don’t allow third parties to set tracking cookies on our website. If we add analytics in the future, we’ll update this section first and ask for your consent where required.

You can block or delete cookies in your browser settings, but parts of the website — such as signing in to the partner cabinet — may then stop working.

More details, including how we remember that you closed the cookie notice, are in our Cookie Policy.

We may update this policy from time to time. The date at the top of this page shows when it was last updated. If we make material changes, we’ll tell you in advance through the app, by email or on our website and, where the law requires your consent to a change, we’ll ask for it.

For questions about this policy or your personal data, email web.pro.farid@gmail.com with the subject “Privacy request”. LocaVibe is operated by:

Farid Mammadov (individual developer)
Baku, Azerbaijan