Tap In — Privacy Policy

Tap In ("we," "us," "our") is a social app for finding bars and restaurants, tapping into them when you're actually there, and sharing that with friends. This policy explains what information we collect, how we use it, who can see it, and the choices you have.

Tap In is for people 13 and older. It is not directed at children under 13, and we don't knowingly collect information from anyone under 13. If you believe a child under 13 has created an account, contact us and we'll remove it.

Some of the places listed on Tap In, such as bars and breweries, serve alcohol. Tap In doesn't sell alcohol and doesn't check anyone's age to enter a venue; each venue checks ID itself, and people under the legal drinking age should not drink alcohol.

Information we collect

• Account info: your email address, the username and display name you choose, an optional profile photo, the "vibe" types you pick, and your invite code.
• Location: we ask for your device location only while you're using the app: to show bars near you and how far away they are, when you tap into a bar, and when you post another photo from a venue (to confirm you're still there). We never collect your location in the background and we don't build a location history. When you tap in, we save that tap-in's coordinates together with the bar and the time, so the check-in can be verified.
• Check-ins and activity: which bars and restaurants you tap into and when, the places you favorite, the ratings (1 to 10) you give, and which stories you've viewed. Your streaks and badges are worked out on your phone from your check-in history.
• Photos and videos: anything you post with a check-in, including optional captions, drink tags and a custom drink name and ingredients, plus a bar owner's daily story. Check-in photos and stories expire from view after 24 hours.
• Messages: the direct and group messages you send and receive, group names, and whether you've read them. This includes the automatic drink-ingredient messages a bar sends when you tap a drink tag.
• Friends, blocks and reports: who you send and receive friend requests with, who you're mutually connected to, who you've blocked, and any reports you submit.
• Diagnostic information: if the app runs into an error, we record the error message, your app version, and your device type and operating system, linked to your account so we can find and fix the problem.
• Push notification token: a device identifier used to deliver notifications. You can turn notifications off in the app or in your device settings at any time.
• Bar and restaurant owners: your listing details (name, address, map pin, hours, type, promotions, specialty drinks, menu photos and story) and, if you choose to enter it, your average spend per guest. Payment is processed entirely by Stripe. We never see or store your card details; we keep only a Stripe customer and subscription reference so we know your subscription status.

How we use this information

• To confirm you're physically at a venue before letting you tap in or post from it.
• To show your check-ins, photos and activity to your mutual friends, and to deliver your messages.
• To send notifications you've allowed: friend requests, friends tapping in or posting, messages, promotions from bars you've favorited, and, for owners, story reminders, billing alerts and a weekly recap.
• To show a bar's average rating, and to give bar owners summary numbers about their venue (see below).
• To find and fix problems with the app.
• To keep Tap In safe: reviewing reports, blocking users and suspending accounts that break the rules.
• To process and manage bar owner subscriptions through Stripe.
• We do not sell your personal information.

Who can see your data

• Your check-ins and photos: visible only to you and your mutual friends, never to the public and never to people who haven't mutually accepted you.
• How many people are at a place: everyone can see how many people are currently tapped in at a bar or restaurant, as a number only. Names are shown only to mutual friends.
• Your messages: visible only to the people in that conversation.
• Your ratings: other people see only a bar's average rating and how many ratings it has, not who gave which rating.
• Favorites: your mutual friends can see which bars and restaurants you've favorited. Bars only see how many people have favorited them, not who.
• Story views: the person or bar that posted a story sees how many people viewed it, not who.
• Bar and restaurant owners: owners see summary numbers about their own venue, such as how many people tapped in, how many came back, their busiest days and hours, which drinks guests tag, how many people favorited them, story view counts, and how many friends of their guests could see those tap-ins. They do not receive guests' names, friend lists, precise locations or messages.
• Public venue content: a bar or restaurant's listing, hours, promotions, menu and story are public, since they represent the venue and not an individual.
• Legal and safety: we may disclose information if the law requires it or to protect the safety of our users.

Data retention and deletion

You can delete your account at any time from the Profile tab in the app. Deleting your account permanently removes your profile and login, your tap-ins, photos and videos, your profile photo, and your friend connections. If you own a claimed bar or restaurant listing, it's returned to unclaimed status (not deleted) so other users' history referencing that venue stays intact, and any active subscription is canceled.

If you no longer have the app, email us from the address on your account and we'll delete it within 7 days. Stripe may keep payment records for as long as the law requires.

Your choices

• Change which notifications you receive in the app's notification settings, or in your device settings.
• Turn off location access in your device settings. You won't be able to tap in or post from a venue without it.
• Block or report anyone from a chat or their profile.
• Ask us for a copy of your information, or to correct it, by emailing the address below.

Third-party services

We use Supabase for our database, login and file storage, Stripe for payment processing, Expo, Apple and Google Firebase for push notifications, and Google Maps (Android) and Apple Maps (iPhone) for map display. Each of these services processes data only as needed to provide its function to Tap In.

Security

We protect your information with encrypted connections and access rules that keep friends-only content friends-only. No system is perfectly secure, so we can't guarantee absolute security.

Changes to this policy

If this policy changes in a meaningful way, we'll update the date at the top of this page.