Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

PartyPulse ("we", "our", "us") is a mobile application that helps users discover music and nightlife events worldwide. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, share, and protect your personal information when you use the PartyPulse app and related services (collectively, the "Service").

By creating an account or using PartyPulse, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Privacy Policy and agree to the collection and use of information as described herein. If you do not agree with this policy, please do not use the Service.

PartyPulse is operated by PartyPulse Events, based in the United Kingdom. For any questions or concerns regarding this policy, contact us at support@partypulse.org.

2. Information We Collect

2.1 Account Information

When you create an account, we collect:

• Required: Username, email address, and password (stored as a secure bcrypt hash — we never store or have access to your plain-text password)
• Optional: Display name and profile photo (see Section 2.5)
• Google Sign-In: If you register or log in with Google, we receive your name, email address, and profile picture URL from Google. We do not receive or store your Google password.
• Apple Sign-In: If you register or log in with Apple, we receive the information you choose to share (typically email address and name). Apple may provide a private relay email address. We do not receive your Apple ID password.

2.2 Location Data

With your explicit permission (via your device's location permission prompt), we collect your device's approximate geographic coordinates (latitude and longitude) to:

• Show events near your current location
• Calculate distances between you and event venues
• Sort search results by proximity

Location data is collected only while the app is actively in use (foreground only). We do not track your location in the background. Your precise coordinates are sent to our server with search requests to compute distances but are not permanently stored against your user profile. Anonymised city-level location data may be retained in analytics records.

2.3 Usage and Analytics Data

We collect anonymised behavioural analytics to understand how our Service is used and to improve it. This includes:

• Search activity: Cities, genres, artists, and venues you search for
• Event interactions: Which events you view and how long you spend on each event page
• Ticket link clicks: When you tap to view tickets, we record which ticketing source was used (e.g., Ticketmaster, Skiddle) and whether it was accessed via an affiliate link
• Affiliate link activity: We record when you tap outbound ticket links that carry affiliate tracking codes (such as Skiddle's sktag parameter). This records the event ID, the ticket provider, and the timestamp. No personal data beyond your user ID is included in these records.
• General interaction patterns: Page views and navigation within the app

Analytics records may be linked to your user ID where you are logged in. If you use the app as a guest, a random anonymous identifier is used. This identifier is not linked to your name, email, or any other personal information and is not shared with third parties.

We use Google Analytics 4 (via the GA4 Measurement Protocol) to track aggregate app usage patterns. No personally identifiable information is sent to Google Analytics. Google's privacy policy applies: policies.google.com/privacy.

2.4 Spotify Data

If you voluntarily connect your Spotify account via the Settings screen, we access:

• Your top artists (from Spotify's personalisation API) to rank events featuring artists you listen to

We store your Spotify OAuth access token and refresh token securely on our server to maintain the connection. We do not access your Spotify playlists, listening history, social data, or any other Spotify data beyond your top artists. You can disconnect Spotify at any time from the Settings screen, which immediately deletes your stored Spotify tokens.

2.5 Profile Photos

You may optionally set a profile photo using your device's camera or photo library. If you choose to do so:

• The image is compressed and encoded on your device before being uploaded to our servers
• Your profile photo is stored on our servers and displayed to other PartyPulse users who view your profile or who have connected with you as friends
• We do not scan, analyse, or process the content of your photos beyond displaying them to you and other users
• You can remove your profile photo at any time by replacing it or deleting your account
• We access your camera or photo library only when you explicitly initiate the profile photo upload action. We do not access your camera or library at any other time.

Access to your camera requires NSCameraUsageDescription permission. Access to your photo library requires NSPhotoLibraryUsageDescription permission. Both are requested only when you tap to set a profile photo and only the permissions relevant to the action you choose are requested.

2.6 Social and Activity Data

PartyPulse includes social features that involve collecting and sharing the following information:

• Friend connections: When you send or accept a friend request, we store the connection between your account and the other user's account. Both users can see each other's upcoming event activity.
• Friend requests: We record pending and accepted friend requests, including who sent them and when.
• Event attendance: When you mark an event as "Going" or "Interested", this is stored against your account. Friends can see which events you have marked and vice versa.
• Event proposals: When you propose an event to a friend, we store the proposal including the event details and the identities of both parties. The recipient can dismiss proposals at any time.

Your social activity (which events you are attending or interested in) is visible to users you are connected to as mutual friends. It is not visible to users who are not your friends and is not publicly searchable. Disconnecting from a friend removes the visibility of your activity to that person.

2.7 Push Notification Data

If you choose to enable push notifications in Settings, we collect and store:

• Push token: A device-level token issued by Apple (APNs), used solely to deliver notifications to your device
• Notification preferences: Whether notifications are enabled and which days of the week you have selected to receive them

Notifications are used exclusively to alert you to upcoming events. You can opt out at any time via Settings → Notifications.

2.8 Information We Do Not Collect

We do not collect: payment or financial information, contacts or address book data, health or biometric data, advertising identifiers (such as Apple's IDFA or Google's GAID), or data from other apps on your device.

3. Legal Basis for Processing (GDPR)

For users in the European Economic Area (EEA), United Kingdom, and Switzerland, we process your personal data under the following legal bases:

Data Type	Legal Basis	Justification
Account information (username, email, password)	Contract performance	Necessary to create and maintain your account and provide the Service
Profile photo	Consent	You voluntarily upload a photo; you may decline without affecting service access. You can remove your photo at any time.
Social data (friends, attendance, proposals)	Contract performance	Necessary to deliver the social features you have chosen to use within the Service
Location data	Consent	Collected only after you grant device-level location permission; revocable at any time via device settings
Usage and analytics data (including affiliate tracking)	Legitimate interest	To understand usage patterns, improve the Service, and generate revenue through affiliate partnerships that allow us to continue offering the Service without charging users
Spotify data	Consent	Collected only when you explicitly connect your Spotify account; disconnectable at any time
Google / Apple Sign-In data	Contract performance	Necessary to authenticate your identity when you choose a third-party sign-in method
Push notification token and preferences	Consent	Collected only when you explicitly enable notifications; withdrawable at any time

4. How We Use Your Information

• Provide the Service: Search for events, display results, calculate distances, and show personalised recommendations
• Authentication: Verify your identity and manage your session securely
• Social features: Show your attendance and activity to mutual friends, manage friend requests, and deliver event proposals between friends
• Profile photos: Display your profile photo to you and to mutual friends throughout the app
• Personalisation: If Spotify is connected, rank events featuring artists you listen to higher in results
• Affiliate revenue: We include affiliate tracking codes in outbound ticket links (e.g., Skiddle). When you tap a ticket link, the third-party ticketing platform may attribute the referral to us. This does not result in any additional cost to you. The analytics we record help us understand which events generate ticket-link taps.
• Service improvement: Analyse aggregated, anonymised usage data to improve the user experience
• Push notifications: If you opt in, send you event alerts on the days you choose

We do not use your data for targeted advertising, sell your data to advertisers, or share individual user data with third parties for their marketing purposes.

5. Data Sharing and Third Parties

5.1 We Do Not Sell Your Data

We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information to any third party, under any circumstances.

5.2 Aggregated Analytics

We may share aggregated, anonymised analytics data that cannot be used to identify any individual user.

5.3 Third-Party Services We Interact With

To provide event data, we send search queries (city names, date ranges, artist names) to third-party ticketing APIs. These services receive your search parameters but do not receive your personal data. The ticketing services we query include:

• Ticketmaster, SeatGeek, Skiddle, Eventbrite, Bandsintown, Shotgun, DICE, Ibiza Spotlight, and various regional ticketing platforms across Europe, the Middle East, Latin America, and Asia

Affiliate partners: When you tap a ticket link, we pass an affiliate tracking parameter to the ticketing platform (e.g., sktag=15631 for Skiddle). The ticketing platform records that you arrived via our referral. They do not receive your name, email address, or any other personal data from us — only the referral code in the URL.

SoundCloud: Event detail pages may surface the artist's SoundCloud profile link. Tapping this link opens SoundCloud in your browser. We do not send any personal data to SoundCloud. SoundCloud's own privacy policy applies when you visit their platform.

Spotify: If you connect your Spotify account, we communicate with Spotify's API using OAuth tokens to retrieve your top artists. Spotify's own privacy policy applies.

Google: If you use Google Sign-In, Google's authentication service provides us with your name and email. If you use the app on the web, Google Analytics 4 receives anonymised usage data.

Apple: If you use Apple Sign-In, Apple's authentication service provides us with the information you choose to share.

5.4 Data Processors

Our Service is hosted on Replit, Inc. (infrastructure and hosting provider, based in the United States). Replit processes data on our behalf solely for the purpose of hosting and running the Service.

5.5 Legal Requirements

We may disclose your personal data if required by law, in response to valid legal process, or to protect the rights, property, or safety of PartyPulse, our users, or the public.

6. International Data Transfers

Our servers are hosted by Replit, Inc. in the United States. If you are accessing the Service from the EEA, United Kingdom, or Switzerland, your data is transferred to and processed in the United States. We rely on applicable data protection frameworks and, where required, Standard Contractual Clauses approved by the European Commission.

7. Data Retention

Data Type	Retention Period
Account data (username, email, profile)	Retained while your account is active. Deleted within 30 days of account deletion.
Profile photo	Deleted immediately upon account deletion. You may also remove it at any time by replacing it.
Social data (friends, attendance, proposals)	Deleted immediately upon account deletion via cascade deletion.
Password hash	Deleted immediately upon account deletion.
Spotify tokens	Deleted immediately when you disconnect Spotify or delete your account.
Analytics data (including affiliate tracking)	Retained in anonymised form for up to 24 months. After 24 months, permanently deleted.
Location coordinates	Not permanently stored. Used only during active search requests and discarded immediately afterwards.
Push notification token and preferences	Deleted immediately when you disable notifications or delete your account.

When you delete your account, all personal data is deleted immediately. Social connections, event attendance records, and proposals are cascade-deleted at the same time.

8. Data Security

• Encryption in transit: All data is transmitted via HTTPS/TLS encryption
• Password security: Passwords are hashed using bcrypt and are never stored in plain text
• Authentication tokens: JWT tokens are signed with secure server-side secrets and have expiration times
• Profile photos: Stored on our servers and transmitted only over HTTPS. Photos are displayed only to mutual friends, never publicly.
• Access control: Admin functions are protected by role-based access control
• Minimal data collection: We only collect data necessary for the Service to function

No method of electronic transmission or storage is 100% secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security.

9. Your Rights

For All Users:

• Access: Request a copy of the personal data we hold about you
• Deletion: Delete your account and all associated data directly in the app (see below)
• Remove profile photo: Replace or remove your profile photo at any time from the Profile tab
• Disconnect services: Disconnect Spotify at any time from Settings
• Revoke location access: Disable location permissions at any time via device settings
• Unfriend: Remove any friend connection at any time, which immediately stops that user from seeing your activity

How to Delete Your Account

You can permanently delete your account directly from within the app:

1. Open PartyPulse
2. Tap the Profile tab at the bottom of the screen
3. Tap the Settings icon (top right)
4. Scroll to the Account section
5. Tap Delete Account and confirm

Deletion is immediate. All your data — including your profile photo, friend connections, event attendance, and proposals — is deleted at the same time. This cannot be undone.

If you cannot access the app, email support@partypulse.org and we will delete your account manually.

Additional Rights for EEA, UK, and Swiss Users (GDPR):

• Rectification: Request correction of inaccurate personal data
• Restriction: Request restriction of processing in certain circumstances
• Objection: Object to processing based on legitimate interest
• Data portability: Request your data in a structured, machine-readable format
• Withdraw consent: Where processing is based on consent, withdraw it at any time
• Lodge a complaint: You have the right to complain to your local data protection authority. EU supervisory authorities: edpb.europa.eu

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at support@partypulse.org. We respond within 30 days.

10. Children's Privacy

PartyPulse is not intended for users under 16 years of age. We enforce a minimum age requirement of 16 during registration. If you believe a child under 16 has provided us with personal information, contact us at support@partypulse.org and we will promptly delete it.

11. Third-Party Links and Affiliate Disclosure

The Service contains links to third-party websites (such as ticket purchasing pages on Ticketmaster, Skiddle, and others). Some of these links include affiliate tracking codes that may result in PartyPulse receiving a referral commission if you purchase a ticket. This does not affect the price you pay. We are not responsible for the privacy practices or content of these external sites.

12. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we make material changes:

• We will update the "Last updated" date at the top of this page
• We will notify you via an in-app notification for significant changes
• Continued use of the Service after the effective date constitutes acceptance of the updated policy

13. Contact Us

If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy, contact us:

Email: support@partypulse.org

Website: partypulse.org

We aim to respond to all enquiries within 30 days.