FriendsideWho we are
Friendside helps friends plan activities and coordinate shared arrangements. This policy covers the Friendside app and this information website. Contact Friendside at privacy@friendside.app for privacy and data questions, or support@friendside.app for help using the service.
Account and identity
You can use Friendside as a guest or with Sign in with Apple. Depending on your choices and the information Apple supplies, Friendside processes an account identifier, name, and email address, including an Apple private relay address. Your display name and avatar help identify you in activities you share with other people.
Account information identifies you and lets you access and synchronize your content. Signing out does not delete your account or saved information.
Activities and shared information
Friendside stores and processes the activity titles, dates, descriptions, places, itineraries, checklists, votes, participant details, and shared expense and repayment records you add to provide activity collaboration. What other participants can see or change depends on activity membership, roles, and the kind of record.
An invitation link can expose a limited activity summary to anyone who has that link. Treat invitation links as information you share with their recipients. Other participants can also retain information they have already viewed or copied.
Private payment details and purchases
Your saved default bank details are private to your Friendside account. When you choose to share payment information for a settlement, the details you share become available in that settlement context. Recording an expense or repayment does not move money; Friendside does not process bank transfers.
Apple handles in-app payments. Friendside uses purchase records and subscription status to provide personal ad-free access, restore purchases, and reflect renewal, expiry, or revocation. That access follows the App Store account used to purchase, independently of Friendside sign-in. Friendside does not receive your payment card number from Apple. See Purchases & subscriptions.
Location, maps, and weather
Location access is subject to your device permissions and the features you use. It supports your position on a map, travel and arrival features. When you enable activity location sharing, Friendside processes your precise location and arrival information and makes it available to authorized activity participants during the sharing period. Where enabled and permitted, some location updates can occur in the background.
Map, place, and weather features use Apple’s services; weather requests use activity-area coordinates and dates. You can manage location permissions in system Settings. Turning off a permission can limit the features that need it; it does not itself erase information already recorded.
Avatars, photos, and album links
When you set an avatar, Friendside uploads and saves the image you select to display it in your profile and shared activities.
Shared albums can be links to iCloud, Google Photos, or a private storage service. Friendside stores the album link, title, access note, and information about who shared it so participants can find it. The underlying album and photos remain with the source service. Removing a link from Friendside does not delete the source album. If you allow photo-library previews, selected album previews are read on your device; this does not upload your photo library to Friendside. When you choose to create an iCloud shared album or add photos and videos, Apple’s iCloud service processes the selected content.
Notifications and service protection
Friendside processes the device identifiers needed to send notifications, notification preferences, delivery records, and notification contents to deliver activity updates and reminders. You can manage notification permission in system Settings.
Friendside and its service providers also process device and app verification information, IP addresses, and necessary service logs to prevent unauthorized access and abuse. Friendside transmits account and shared activity information over encrypted connections and restricts access according to account and activity permissions.
Advertising
The free experience can display Google AdMob ads. Google’s advertising services may process IP addresses (including to estimate general location), device or app-scoped identifiers, diagnostic and performance information, and ad interactions to serve ads, measure performance, and protect the service. Friendside does not supply activity text, search terms, participant lists, Friendside account identifiers, or precise location as part of ad requests.
When advertising consent is needed, the app displays Google’s consent interface. When applicable, you can reopen Ad privacy options in Friendside Settings. Ad consent is handled separately from the optional usage-analytics setting. A personal ad-free purchase suppresses ads shown to you while the entitlement is active.
Optional usage analytics
Usage analytics is off by default. If you enable Share usage analytics, Friendside uses Google’s analytics service to understand feature use and advertising performance. This includes selected actions, ad placements, impressions, and revenue. The action and advertising data Friendside sends does not include activity text, search contents, participant lists, precise location, or your Friendside account identifier; the analytics service may also process device and app identifiers.
You can turn the setting off in Friendside Settings to stop future usage-analytics collection; this does not by itself delete data already processed by the provider. The website does not use advertising or usage-analytics tools.
Service providers and processing locations
Friendside uses the following service providers to process information needed for its features:
- Apple: Sign in with Apple, maps and weather, in-app payments, notifications, and the iCloud album features you choose to use.
- Google/Firebase: Account sign-in, data storage and synchronization, activity collaboration, notifications, advertising, and usage analytics you choose to enable.
- Cloudflare: Storage and delivery of the website and avatar images, and service protection.
External album providers handle information under their own policies when you use their services. These services may process information outside your country or region. You can read the providers’ privacy information here:
Retention, removal, and your choices
Retention varies by the type of information and its purpose. Signing out, deleting the app, or reaching the end of an activity does not automatically delete all account and shared activity information. You can use the app’s controls to remove activities, avatars, album links, or private payment settings; these controls affect the corresponding content and do not delete the entire account. Removing an album link does not delete the source photos, and other participants may retain content they previously obtained.
For questions about access, correction, retention, or deletion of your information, contact privacy@friendside.app. Handling a request requires consideration of which information it concerns and whether it includes other participants’ information.
Permissions can be changed in system Settings; optional analytics and applicable ad privacy choices can be changed in Friendside. Apple subscriptions are managed separately through Apple. Do not send passwords, verification codes, complete bank details, or unrelated private activity content by email.
Website preferences and policy updates
When you browse this website, the website service provider processes request information needed to deliver pages, such as your IP address. The website uses your browser’s preferred languages to suggest a language. It temporarily remembers in the current tab whether you have dismissed that suggestion or chosen a language, to avoid repeated prompts. This state stays in your browser and is used only for the language prompt, not for tracking or usage analytics.
This policy may be updated to reflect changes to the service and data practices. The date above identifies this version. Contact privacy@friendside.app if you have questions about its contents.