Location Data Disclosure
Exactly when your location is collected, who can see it, how precise it is, and how to turn each part off.
Last updated: August 29, 2026
Why this has its own page
Location is not a side feature of ValidMeet, it is the product. You deserve a straight answer about who can see where you are, and it should not be buried in a privacy policy. This page is that answer.
Everything here describes what the app actually does today. If we change it, we change this page in the same release and tell you in the app.
When we collect it
- While the app is open. Your device reports your position while the map is on screen. Close or background the app and this ordinary map collection stops.
- Usual-location samples while the app is open. About every 45 minutes while the map is sending your position, we keep a precise point so we can estimate where you usually are and suggest an introduction venue nearby. These samples are not live tracking, do not run in the background, and other members never see them. They are deleted after 14 days.
- Background only during a safety share. If you send a Share My Meetup link, location can keep updating while the phone is locked or another app is open — the same kind of session as turn-by-turn navigation. iOS shows the system location indicator; Android shows a persistent notification. This is not Always-on tracking. It starts only when you start a share, and it stops when you end the share, 5 minutes after the meetup ends if you do not stop it, you force-quit the app, or after 48 hours. The other person ending the meetup does not stop your share.
- More often while travelling. Once you are en route to a meetup, the app sends your position to ValidMeet every few seconds. Those updates are used only if you started a safety share, so the trusted contact with your link can see you moving, including if you leave the venue. They are never sent to the person you matched with.
- When you file a report. If you report someone, we store a one-time snapshot of your position and the meetup venue, if we have them. That is a single pin, not a GPS trail. Other members never see it. We use it to review the report and, if required, to share it with law enforcement.
What other people see
Your location reaches another person only in the cases below. Other members never see your usual-location sample history.
| Situation | What they see | Precision |
|---|---|---|
| You place a beacon and someone is nearby | The actual location of the beacon, so they can come to it | Exact |
| You place a beacon and someone is far away | A shifted pin in the general area, marked as not joinable | Approximate, offset by roughly 100 to 300 metres |
| You match with someone, or we send you an introduction | The public venue you are both heading to, plus whether you have arrived. Not your live position, not your route, not your usual-location samples, and not whether you are moving | Venue only. They never see your position |
| You send a safety share link | Your live position on a map, updating as you move. Only the trusted contact you sent the link to, never the other member by default | Exact, by design |
Outside those cases, other members see nothing about where you are. Being "online" is visible; being anywhere in particular is not. Members cannot see your position on the map, and there is no way for anyone to look up your location.
A report you file can include a one-time location snapshot. That snapshot stays with ValidMeet. It is not a fifth case of another person seeing where you are.
Beacons in detail
A beacon is a public invitation to a place, so it has to show a real place. Members near enough to actually join see where it is. Members browsing from far away see a deliberately shifted pin and cannot join, which lets you see that a city has activity without exposing precise spots to people who are not going.
A beacon disappears from the live map when it expires. Its location is deleted from our database within 30 days after expiry. You can delete a beacon yourself at any time.
Group event previews use the same approximate offset until the event is close to starting.
Safety shares in detail
The Share My Meetup feature exists to make you safer, and it works by being precise. When you start a share, we create a link and you choose who receives it. Anyone who opens that link sees your live location and your destination. The person you matched with does not get this link unless you send it to them.
- The link is unlisted, but anyone who has it can open it. Only send it to people you trust.
- It ends when you end it, 5 minutes after the meetup finishes if you do not stop it (a short safety-track window so a trusted contact can still see you moving), or after 48 hours, whichever comes first. The person you matched with cannot turn your share off.
- Once it ends, the link stops working and the stored location is deleted.
- You can stop a share at any moment from the shield, or from the sharing control on the map.
Who else receives it
If you file a report, the snapshot is visible to ValidMeet safety staff. We may share it with law enforcement when legally required or when someone is in danger. Other members never see it.
To put a map on your screen and find real venues, coordinates are sent to Mapbox and to Google Maps Platform. They process it to answer the request. We do not send them your name or profile.
For product analytics we record roughly where searches happen, rounded to about a kilometre. That is coarse enough that it describes a neighbourhood, not a person.
We do not sell location data, we do not share it with advertisers or data brokers, and there are no advertising trackers in the app.
How long we keep it
| Data | Kept for |
|---|---|
| Search location while matching | Minutes. Deleted as soon as the search ends |
| Beacon location | Visible until expiry or deletion; deleted from our database within 30 days after expiry |
| Safety share location | Until the share ends, at most 48 hours |
| Last known position | Overwritten continuously, cleared after 30 days of inactivity |
| Usual-location samples | About every 45 minutes while the app is open; deleted after 14 days. Never shown to other members |
| Report location snapshot | Kept with the report. Deleted when the report is deleted, including when the account is deleted |
| Coarse analytics location | Up to 12 months, rounded to roughly one kilometre |
Your controls
- Turn it off entirely. Revoke location permission in your device settings. The app still opens, but nearly nothing will work.
- Approximate only. On iOS you can grant approximate location. Beacons and matching will be much less useful, but messaging and groups still work.
- Stop sharing a meetup. End any active share from the shield icon or from the sharing control on the map. Background location and the system indicator stop immediately.
- Delete a beacon. Remove it from the map and its location goes with it.
- Delete everything. Deleting your account removes all stored location data.
Questions about any of this: privacy@validmeet.com.