Privacy Policy

1. Information We Collect

Information You Provide:

• Account Information: Name, email address, password, date of birth
• Profile Information: Bio (up to 150 characters), photos (up to 3), interests with skill levels
• Activity Information: Activities you create, join, or participate in, including attendance records
• Equipment & Gear: Your personal gear inventory, loan availability preferences, equipment claims for activities
• Messages: Conversations with other users through our in-app messaging
• AI Interactions: Conversations with our AI assistant for activity creation and suggestions
• Reports: Safety reports you submit about other users

Information Collected Automatically:

• Location Data: Precise or approximate location via GPS, Wi-Fi, or IP address
• Device Information: Device type, operating system, browser type, unique device identifiers
• Usage Data: Pages viewed, features used, time spent on app, interaction patterns
• Log Data: IP address, access times, error logs

2. How We Use Your Information

We use your information to:

• Provide and maintain our service
• Show you nearby users and activities based on your location
• Connect you with users who share your interests
• Facilitate communication between matched users
• Send you notifications about matches, messages, and activities
• Calculate and display reliability badges based on your attendance history
• Power AI-assisted activity creation and suggestions
• Coordinate equipment sharing between activity participants
• Improve our matching algorithm and user experience
• Detect and prevent fraud, abuse, and security threats
• Comply with legal obligations
• Provide customer support

3. Location Data

• You can enable or disable location services at any time via your device settings
• Disabling location will limit your ability to use core features
• We only show approximate location to other users (e.g., "5 km away"), not exact coordinates
• Location data is stored securely and not sold to third parties

4. Information Sharing

We do not sell your personal information. We may share your information in the following circumstances:

With Other Users:

• Profile information (name, photos, bio, interests) is visible to other users
• Approximate location/distance is shown to users in discovery
• Activity participation is visible to other participants
• Your reliability badge and attendance statistics are visible on your profile
• Equipment you've marked as "Available to Loan" may be visible to activity organizers
• Equipment claims (items you're bringing to activities) are visible to activity participants
• Messages are visible to the recipient

With Service Providers:

We work with third-party service providers to deliver our services:

• Supabase: Database hosting, authentication, and real-time features
• AI Services (Anthropic Claude): Powers our AI assistant for activity creation and suggestions
• Map Services: Location and mapping functionality

These providers only have access to information necessary to perform their services and are obligated to protect your data.

For Legal Reasons:

We may disclose information if required by law, to protect our rights, to prevent fraud or abuse, or to protect the safety of users.

5. AI Features and Data

• Activity Creation: When you use the AI assistant to create activities, your conversation is processed to extract details like hobby type, location, time, and skill level
• AI Suggestions: The AI may suggest improvements to your activity descriptions based on best practices
• Conversation Storage: AI conversations are stored to maintain context and improve your experience
• Third-Party AI: We use Anthropic's Claude AI to power these features. Your conversations are sent to their servers for processing

AI-generated content is provided as suggestions only. You maintain full control over what gets published to your profile or activities.

6. Reliability Badges and Attendance

We calculate and display reliability information to help users find dependable activity partners:

• Attendance Tracking: We track whether you attend activities you RSVP to
• Reliability Badges: Based on your attendance rate, you may earn Gold (90%+), Silver (70-89%), or Bronze badges
• Public Display: Your reliability badge and attendance statistics are visible to other users
• Trust Score: Your trust score (0-5 scale) is calculated based on community interactions

This system helps maintain a trustworthy community where users can rely on each other to show up for planned activities.

7. Equipment and Gear Data

If you use our equipment coordination features:

• Gear Inventory: You can optionally add equipment to your personal inventory
• Loan Availability: You control whether your gear is marked as available for loan
• Equipment Claims: When you claim to bring equipment to an activity, this is visible to other participants
• Notes and Descriptions: Any notes you add about equipment are visible to activity participants

8. Data Security

We implement appropriate security measures to protect your information:

• Encryption of data in transit and at rest
• Secure authentication and password hashing
• Regular security audits and monitoring
• Access controls to limit who can view your data
• Row-level security policies on our database

However, no method of transmission over the internet is 100% secure. While we strive to protect your information, we cannot guarantee absolute security.

9. Your Rights and Choices

You have the right to:

• Access: Request a copy of your personal data
• Correction: Update or correct inaccurate information
• Deletion: Request deletion of your account and data
• Opt-out: Disable location services or notifications
• Data Portability: Request your data in a machine-readable format
• Object: Object to certain processing of your data

To exercise these rights, visit your account settings or contact us at support@hobbyist.app

10. Data Retention

We retain your information for as long as your account is active or as needed to provide services. If you delete your account, we will delete your personal information within 30 days, except where we are required to retain it for legal or security purposes.

11. Children's Privacy

Hobbyist is not intended for users under 18 years of age. We do not knowingly collect information from children. If we learn we have collected information from a child under 18, we will delete it immediately.

12. International Data Transfers

Your information may be transferred to and processed in countries other than your own. We ensure appropriate safeguards are in place to protect your information in compliance with applicable data protection laws.

13. Cookies and Tracking

We use cookies and similar technologies to:

• Remember your preferences and settings
• Authenticate your account
• Analyze usage patterns and improve our service
• Provide personalized content

You can control cookies through your browser settings, but disabling them may affect functionality.

14. Third-Party Links

Our service may contain links to third-party websites. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of these sites. We encourage you to read their privacy policies.

15. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of material changes via email or in-app notification. Your continued use of Hobbyist after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

16. California Privacy Rights (CCPA)

If you are a California resident, you have additional rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA):

• Right to know what personal information we collect and how it's used
• Right to request deletion of your personal information
• Right to opt-out of the "sale" of personal information (we do not sell your data)
• Right to non-discrimination for exercising your privacy rights

17. EU/UK Privacy Rights (GDPR)

If you are in the European Union or United Kingdom, you have rights under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR):

• Right to access, rectification, and erasure of your data
• Right to restrict or object to processing
• Right to data portability
• Right to withdraw consent
• Right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority

18. Contact Us

If you have questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact us: