Privacy Policy

Introduction

Halfway helps you find places between you and your friends so you can meet in the middle and easily turn those spots into events you can manage and join. We value your privacy and are committed to being transparent about how we collect, use, and share your information.

Data We Collect

Account Data

Email (if provided by your sign-in provider), user ID, and authentication metadata.

Profile & Social

Display name, username, bio, profile image, follower/following counts, follow requests, and privacy settings (e.g., discoverability and location sharing).

Location Data

Your device location when you use location features, your saved "anchor location," meet points you choose to share, and map interactions needed for midpoints and routes.

Live Location

Live location is an optional feature that is off unless you turn it on. When you start a live session you choose how long it runs: 1 hour, 4 hours, 12 hours, or until you turn it off. While a session is running we collect your device coordinates, the accuracy of the reading, the time it was taken, and when the session is due to end. Positions update as you move, roughly every 25 metres, and are rate‑limited before upload.

Live location is shared only with your mutual followers, meaning people you follow who also follow you back. It is never shown to anyone else, whatever your other location settings say. Anyone on your "Hide From" list is excluded even if you follow each other.

If you grant the "Always" location permission and have live sharing turned on, updates continue while the app is in the background, and iOS displays its background location indicator. With the "While Using" permission, updates only happen while Halfway is open. Granting "Always" on its own does not start background collection; a live session has to be running as well.

Your live position stops being shown as current after 12 minutes and disappears from other people's views after 1 hour. The stored record is deleted automatically within 1 hour by a server‑side expiry policy, and immediately when you end a session. Live positions are not retained as a location history.

Content You Provide

Favorites, meetups and participation status, photos and captions you post to meetups, comments on those posts, messages you send in-app, and lists you create and share.

Invite Codes

When you share a friend or meetup invite link, we create a short code tied to your account. We record who created it, whether it was redeemed, and by whom, so invite links stay single-use and we can mitigate abuse.

Device & App

Device model, OS version, language, time zone, and app version.

Diagnostics

Application error events from production builds (title, message, and stack trace) may be relayed to a private internal Slack channel for operational monitoring. We do not currently use third‑party crash reporting SDKs, third‑party advertising SDKs, or cross‑app ad tracking.

Notifications

A device push token to deliver notifications you opt into (meetup invites/updates, follows).

Guest Mode

You can browse Halfway as a guest without creating an account. In guest mode we collect device and app metadata and, if you grant permission, your location for map and midpoint features. We do not collect a profile, email, or content you create. Guest mode is read‑only and write actions (creating meetups, posting, messaging, following) are blocked. If you later create an account, your guest session is replaced and the anonymous user record is removed.

How We Use Data

• Core Features: Authenticate you; enable profiles, follows, invites, attendance responses; calculate midpoints and routes; show nearby places.
• Location & Anchors: Calculate and display meeting points and routes; show your saved anchor location to others according to your settings.
• Live Location: While you have a live session running, show your current position and distance to your mutual followers, and use it in place of your anchor when calculating midpoints. We do not use live positions to build a location history, profile your movements, or target advertising.
• Personalization: Remember preferences (e.g., units, map type) and surface relevant suggestions.
• Notifications: Send push or in‑app notifications for invites, attendance responses, cancellations, and follows according to your preferences.
• Safety & Integrity: Prevent spam/abuse and enforce our Terms.
• Reliability: Diagnose crashes and improve performance and accessibility.

Data Sharing

With Other Users

What you choose to share (profile, follows, meetups, anchors) is visible based on your privacy controls.

Your anchor is the spot you save, and it is shared as you saved it. We do not blur it or reduce it to a city or region. Who can see it depends on three settings: turning off "Share location" hides it from everyone; turning off "Show it to people who haven't followed you back" limits it to mutual followers; and adding someone to your "Hide From" list removes their access entirely. With sharing on and no restrictions applied, any signed‑in Halfway user can see your anchor and use it to calculate a midpoint with you.

Live location is separate and is always limited to mutual followers, as described above.

Service Providers

• Maps & Places: Google Maps Platform (Maps SDK, Places API, and Directions API) for map display, place details, search, photos, and routing. These services process map, place, and route queries under Google's policies.
• Backend: Firebase (Auth, Firestore, Cloud Functions, Cloud Messaging, Storage) processes and stores app data on our behalf.
• Diagnostics: Slack receives operational error events from production builds. No user profile data or content is sent, only error metadata.

Legal

We may disclose information to comply with law or protect safety, rights, or property.

No Sale/Ads

We do not sell personal data. We do not use third‑party advertising networks or cross‑app ad tracking.

Location and Storage

• Session Use: Real‑time location is processed when features require it (e.g., map, midpoint).
• Live Location: Stored only while a session is active and deleted automatically within 1 hour by a server‑side expiry policy, or immediately when you end the session. Only the most recent position is kept; we do not accumulate a trail.
• Saved Data: Anchors, favorites, profiles, follows, meetups, and notifications are stored in Firebase so you can access them across devices.
• Media: Profile images are stored in Firebase Storage.
• Local Data: Certain preferences and caches are stored on your device.
• Retention: We keep data for as long as your account is active or as needed to provide the service. You can delete anchors, favorites, and your account at any time; we then delete associated data subject to legal and operational requirements.
• International Transfers: Firebase and Apple services may process data in other countries with appropriate safeguards.

Your Choices and Rights

• Permissions: Control Location and Notifications in iOS Settings at any time. Downgrading Location from "Always" to "While Using" stops background updates without turning the feature off.
• Live Location: Start it only when you want to, pick how long it lasts, and end it at any time from the app. Ending a session deletes the stored position. If you do nothing, the session ends by itself at the time you picked, unless you chose to keep it running until turned off.
• Social & Discovery: Choose whether non‑friends can find you; manage mutual‑follower visibility and "Hide From" lists; adjust notification categories.
• Access/Export/Delete: Request a copy of your data by emailing us at jimi@akagawa.in (no in‑app export is currently available). You can delete your account in‑app; this removes your Auth account and stored data, subject to legal and operational requirements.
• Opt‑Out: You can disable non‑essential notifications.
• Region‑Specific Rights: Where applicable (e.g., EEA/UK), you may have rights to access, correct, delete, port, or object/restrict processing, and to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority.

Children's Privacy

Halfway is not directed to children under 13 (or the minimum age in your country). We do not knowingly collect personal data from children under that age.

Security

We use technical and organizational measures such as encryption in transit, access controls, and monitoring. No method of transmission or storage is 100% secure.

Changes

We may update this policy to reflect product or legal changes. We will post updates here and revise the "Last updated" date. For material changes, we may provide an in‑app notice.

Contact

Email: jimi@akagawa.in
GitHub: https://github.com/ai-studio-inc
Company: Akagawa Innovations
Website: https://akagawa-innovations-website.vercel.app/

App Store disclosure notes (for transparency)

• Data Types: Contact info (account email/ID), user content (profile, anchors, meetups), identifiers (device push token), diagnostics (crash logs), and usage basics tied to your account only as needed to provide features.
• Location: Precise location, linked to your account, used for app functionality. Collected in the background only while a live session is running and you have granted the "Always" permission.
• Tracking: No cross‑app tracking or third‑party ads; ATT prompt is not requested.