Privacy Policy

1. Purpose of this policy

This Privacy Policy explains how MunchAlong collects, uses, shares, retains and protects personal information.

MunchAlong is owned and operated by OCTOPUS BOO LLC, a Montana limited liability company in the United States.

2. Information we collect

Depending on how you use MunchAlong, we may collect:

Account information

• Email address.
• Authentication details managed through Base44.
• Account status.
• Account creation and activity dates.

Profile information

• First name.
• Last name, where collected.
• Date of birth.
• Confirmation that you are at least 18.
• Profile photo.
• One-line introduction.
• Languages.
• Optional phone number and verification status, where used.

Munch information

• Munches created.
• Munches joined.
• Venue.
• Date and time.
• Duration.
• Payment arrangement.
• Languages.
• Motivations.
• Invitation text.
• Participant and capacity records.
• Cancellations and attendance history.

Location information

MunchAlong may process location information when you:

• Allow the map to centre near you.
• Search for nearby Munches.
• Select or verify a venue.
• Check in at a Munch.
• Use location-dependent safety or coordination features.

Check-In may process:

• Your location at the time of Check-In.
• Distance from the venue.
• Device-reported location accuracy.
• Check-In date and time.

MunchAlong does not need to store a continuous history of your movements to operate Check-In.

Safety, moderation and accountability information

We may collect and create:

• Safety Override records.
• Private reports.
• Temporary Separation records.
• Attendance confirmations.
• Private feedback.
• No-show counters.
• Late-cancellation counters.
• Successful Hosted and Joined counts.
• Warnings.
• Restrictions.
• Suspensions.
• Bans.
• Administrative notes and audit records.

Subscription and billing information

Stripe processes Premium payments.

MunchAlong may receive limited billing information, such as:

• Stripe customer identifier.
• Subscription identifier.
• Package.
• Subscription status.
• Start and expiry dates.
• Renewal status.
• Payment-success or payment-failure status.

MunchAlong does not store your full card number.

Technical information

We may receive:

• IP address.
• Browser and device information.
• Login and session information.
• Error and security logs.
• Cookie or local-storage identifiers.
• Referring page.
• Date and time of access.

Communication information

We may retain messages and requests sent through our contact, safety or support channels.

3. Information other users may see

Depending on whether a person has joined your Munch, other users may see limited information such as:

• First name.
• Profile photo.
• Introduction.
• Languages.
• Successful Hosted Munch count.
• Successful Joined Munch count.
• Munch details.
• Participant information visible after joining.
• Check-In or Find Each Other information when permitted.

We do not intend to display publicly:

• Date of birth.
• Email address.
• Phone number.
• Government identification.
• Private feedback.
• No-show counts.
• Late-cancellation counts.
• Safety reports.
• Moderation notes.
• Suspension history.

4. How we use information

We use personal information to:

• Create and secure accounts.
• Verify age eligibility.
• Display appropriate profile details.
• Allow users to create and join Munches.
• Show nearby Munches.
• Verify venues.
• Manage capacity.
• Support Check-In and Find Each Other.
• Process Premium subscriptions.
• Send operational communications.
• Manage account deletion.
• Track attendance and accountability.
• Investigate safety concerns.
• Moderate conduct.
• Prevent abuse.
• Enforce restrictions and bans.
• Maintain audit records.
• Improve performance and usability.
• Comply with legal obligations.
• Establish, exercise or defend legal claims.

We may use analytics tools to understand how MunchAlong is used, measure platform performance and improve features.

5. Legal basis where applicable

Depending on the law that applies, we process information based on one or more of:

• Your consent.
• Performance of our agreement with you.
• Our legitimate interests in operating and protecting MunchAlong.
• Compliance with legal obligations.
• Protection of users and the public.
• Establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims.

6. Location data

Location information is sensitive.

MunchAlong uses it only where needed for functions such as:

• Local discovery.
• Map centring.
• Venue selection.
• Check-In.
• Safety and coordination.

You may refuse location access, though some features may become less useful or unavailable.

Check-In decisions use the location and accuracy information supplied by your device. Device location is not always exact.

7. Profile photos

A profile photo is required before hosting or joining.

Your photo helps participants recognise one another.

It is not an identity-verification document and does not prove that every profile statement is accurate.

8. Safety override and temporary separation

When Safety Override is used, MunchAlong may create safety and moderation records.

MunchAlong may also apply a Temporary Separation that prevents users from seeing or joining each other's Munches.

For safety reasons, we might not disclose whether a separation exists, why it was applied or how long it will last.

9. Private feedback

Post-Munch feedback is private and is not displayed as a public review.

MunchAlong may use it for:

• Attendance records.
• Outcome determination.
• Moderation.
• Safety review.
• Product analysis.

Where applicable law gives a person access rights to personal information about them, MunchAlong will respond according to that law and may protect another person's identity, safety and rights where lawful.

10. How we share information

We may share limited information with service providers that help operate MunchAlong.

These include:

Base44

For application hosting, authentication, database and platform functions.

Stripe

For Premium checkout, subscription management, invoices, payments and billing.

Google Maps and Google Places

For venue search, maps, location services, place details and venue verification.

Resend

Where used, for sending transactional or operational emails.

Other service providers

For hosting, security, diagnostics, legal or professional support.

Legal and safety disclosures

We may disclose information where:

• Required by law, court order or valid legal process.
• Needed to protect a person from serious harm.
• Needed to investigate fraud, abuse or security threats.
• Needed to establish, exercise or defend legal claims.
• Connected to a merger, financing, reorganisation or sale of the business, subject to appropriate safeguards.

We do not sell personal information for money.

11. International processing

MunchAlong is accessible internationally.

Your information may be processed in countries different from the country where you live.

Those countries may have different data-protection laws.

Where required, we take reasonable steps to use lawful transfer mechanisms and appropriate safeguards.

12. Data retention

We retain personal information for as long as reasonably needed to:

• Operate your account.
• Provide the platform.
• Maintain attendance and subscription records.
• Handle disputes.
• Protect users.
• Prevent abuse.
• Enforce restrictions and bans.
• Meet tax, accounting and legal obligations.
• Establish, exercise or defend legal claims.

Different information may have different retention periods.

We may retain anonymised information for analysis and operational purposes.

13. Account deletion and anonymisation

When you delete your account, MunchAlong may remove or anonymise direct profile identifiers.

Deletion may also:

• Cancel future Munches you host.
• Remove you from future Munches you joined.
• Notify affected participants.
• End your active session.

Account deletion does not necessarily erase every record.

We may retain or anonymise:

• Safety records.
• Moderation records.
• Attendance outcomes.
• Subscription and transaction records.
• Audit logs.
• Records needed to enforce a restriction or ban.
• Information required by law.
• Information needed for legal claims.

14. Your rights

Depending on where you live, you may have the right to request:

• Access to personal information.
• Correction.
• Deletion.
• Restriction of processing.
• Objection to certain processing.
• Portability.
• Withdrawal of consent.
• Information about data sharing.
• Review of certain decisions.

These rights are subject to legal exceptions, identity verification and the rights and safety of others.

Submit a request through the Contact Us page.

15. Children

MunchAlong is for adults aged 18 and over.

We do not knowingly allow minors to create accounts.

If we reasonably believe an account belongs to a minor, we may restrict or close it.

16. Security

We use reasonable technical and organisational measures designed to protect information.

No online system is completely secure.

You are responsible for protecting your password, device and account access.

17. Cookies and similar technologies

MunchAlong uses essential cookies, local storage or similar technologies for functions such as:

• Authentication.
• Session persistence.
• Security.
• Preferences.
• Platform operation.

Read the Cookie Policy for more information.

18. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy to reflect product, legal or operational changes.

The current version will appear on this page with its updated date.

19. Contact

Privacy requests and questions may be submitted to:

connect@munchalong.com