Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains what information Awaire Technologies LLC (“Blips,” “we,” “us,” or “our”) collects when you use the Blips mobile application (the “App”), how we use and share it, where it is stored, and the choices and rights you have. Blips is a private-first visual journal: you capture photo and video moments that become pins on your own personal 3D globe, add a note and an optional voice recording, and choose exactly who, if anyone, can see each one.

1. Information we collect

We collect only what the App needs to work and to let you share moments with the people you choose. We group it into the categories below.

Account information

When you create an account, we collect the information needed to authenticate you and give you an identity in the App:

• Sign in with Apple: the identifier Apple provides for your account and, if you choose to share it, your name and email address. If you use Apple’s “Hide My Email” feature, we receive only a private relay email address.
• Email sign-in: if you sign in with email, your email address.
• Profile: a handle (username), an optional display name, and an optional profile photo (avatar) that you choose to add.

Moments and media

A “moment” is a saved memory that becomes a pin on your globe. Depending on the visibility you choose (see Section 5), a moment may include:

• Photos or videos you capture or select.
• A written note/caption.
• An optional voice recording.
• The capture date/time, which determines a pin’s age color.
• A place name derived from the moment’s location.

Private moments are not uploaded to us. For private moments, the photo or video stays in your device’s Photos library (and, if you use iCloud Photos, in your own iCloud). We store only a reference to that photo on your device (its local Photos identifier), plus the moment’s metadata (note, place, date, coordinates) in our database so your globe syncs across your devices. For moments you share to friends, family, or the public, the media is uploaded to our media storage so your chosen audience can open it (see Section 3).

Location information

To place a moment as a pin, we collect its location. This comes from the photo’s embedded EXIF GPS data if present, or otherwise from your device’s current location (which we request only while you are using the App). We convert coordinates into a human-readable place name using Apple’s geocoding. How precisely a location is shown depends on the visibility tier. For public moments, exact coordinates are never revealed to viewers (see Section 6).

Contacts (only when you choose)

If you decide to add a friend or family member, the App opens Apple’s system contact picker so you can select a specific person. We only receive the contact details (such as a name, phone number, or email) of the individual you actually tap. We never bulk-upload, scan, or store your address book, and we do not request Contacts access on launch, only at the moment you choose to add someone.

Social graph

To make sharing work, we store the connections you create: your friends and family groups, group memberships, friend requests and their status, shared “worlds” you create or join, and, for App Store safety compliance, any reports or blocks you submit.

Device and usage information

To operate the App securely and diagnose problems, we may process limited technical information such as your device model and operating system version, app version, general connection information, and authentication tokens (stored securely on your device). We keep private, owner-only revisit counts to power the “personal glow” feature: how warmly a pin glows on your own globe reflects how often you return to that memory. This is never shown to anyone else, never shown as a number, and we do not track who views your moments.

2. How we use information

We use the information above only to run and improve Blips, including to:

• Create and authenticate your account.
• Render your globe and its pins, and open a moment when you tap it.
• Place, name, and (for public moments) appropriately fuzz locations.
• Let you share moments with the specific friends, family, or public audience you choose, and let you view moments shared with you.
• Power the private, owner-only “personal glow” on your own globe.
• Add friends and family via contacts you explicitly select.
• Keep the service safe: moderate shared and public content, handle reports and blocks, prevent abuse, and meet legal obligations (see Security).
• Diagnose and fix technical problems and improve the App.
• Communicate with you about your account or important service changes.

We do not sell your personal information, use it to build advertising or tracking profiles, or power an algorithmic engagement feed.

3. Where your information is stored

Blips is built on infrastructure we control, so we can offer strong privacy guarantees. Different data lives in different places by design:

Media is never stored in our database, which holds structured data only. We use Apple (Sign in with Apple, Photos, geocoding), Supabase, and Cloudflare as service providers that process data on our behalf under their own security commitments.

4. What we do NOT do

This is central to what Blips is. We do not:

• Show advertising of any kind.
• Track you across other apps or websites, and we do not use third-party advertising or cross-app tracking SDKs.
• Sell or rent your personal information, and we do not “share” it for cross-context behavioral advertising as those terms are defined under U.S. state privacy laws.
• Show likes, follower counts, view counts, or any engagement metrics. They do not exist in the product.
• Track who views your moments.
• Upload or read your private photos and videos.
• Bulk-upload or store your address book.
• Reveal your exact location to the public.

5. Sharing & visibility tiers

You control who can open each moment through a per-moment visibility setting. Your caption and your voice recording can each carry their own independent visibility, so you can, for example, share a photo publicly while keeping its note private.

Public moments are visible to other people using Blips, including people you do not know. If you set a moment to Public, its photo/video, and any caption or voice you also set to public, can be discovered and viewed by strangers (subject to the location fuzzing in Section 6 and to content moderation in Section 15). Only make a moment public if you are comfortable with anyone seeing it. You can change a moment’s visibility or remove it from the public tier at any time.

Access is enforced on the server with Row-Level Security, and shared media is served only through short-lived signed links after an access check. A moment someone adds you to (a group memory or shared world) appears on your globe and in your feed. We share your information with other people only as directed by your visibility choices, and with our service providers as described in Section 3. We may also disclose information if required by law or to protect the rights, safety, and security of our users, the public, or Blips.

6. Location & public fuzzing

For private, friends, and family moments, the exact location is shown only to you and the people you shared with. For public moments, exact coordinates never leave our server: public viewers receive only coarsened, approximate coordinates (rounded to roughly an 11 km grid) and a capped zoom level, so a stranger can never resolve your home or precise location. Public content is also served only after it passes content moderation (see Section 15).

7. Device permissions

The App asks for the following iOS permissions, each requested in context and only when needed:

• Camera: to capture photos and videos.
• Microphone: to record optional voice notes.
• Photo Library: to save captures and reference/select media.
• Location (While Using the App): to place a moment when a photo has no embedded location.
• Contacts: only when you choose to add a friend or family member, via the system picker.

You can grant or revoke any of these at any time in iOS Settings. If you deny a permission, the related feature simply won’t be available, and the App will show a graceful explanation.

8. Cookies & similar technologies

Blips is a native mobile app, not a website, so we do not use browser advertising cookies. We also do not use third-party advertising, analytics, or cross-app tracking SDKs, and we do not use Apple’s Advertising Identifier (IDFA) or ask you to opt into cross-app tracking. The only local storage and identifiers we rely on are the ones the App needs to function, for example:

• Authentication tokens stored securely in your device’s Keychain to keep you signed in.
• Local app storage and caches on your device that hold your globe, drafts, and cached media so the App loads quickly and works offline.
• Standard software components (SDKs) from our infrastructure providers (Apple, Supabase, and Cloudflare) that are used only to deliver the App’s own features, such as sign-in, storage, and media delivery, and not for advertising or cross-app tracking.

Because we do not deploy tracking or advertising technologies, there is no advertising-cookie consent banner to manage. You can clear the App’s local data by deleting and reinstalling the App, and you can sign out to clear stored tokens.

9. Service providers & sub-processors

We rely on a small set of trusted infrastructure providers that process data on our behalf and under contract, only to deliver Blips. We do not authorize them to use your information for their own advertising. Our current core providers are:

These providers act as our processors (or “service providers” and “sub-processors” under applicable law) and are bound by confidentiality and data-protection obligations. Each maintains its own security program and privacy commitments. If we add or change a core provider that materially affects how your personal data is handled, we will update this policy. We may also disclose information to professional advisors (such as lawyers or accountants) and to authorities as described in Sections 5 and 15.

10. Automated decision-making & profiling

We do not use your personal data to build advertising or behavioral profiles, and we do not make decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects about you based solely on automated processing. The only automated processing we perform is content moderation: shared and public media may be screened by automated content filtering, including on-device sensitive-content analysis and automated scanning of shared/public media for child sexual abuse material (CSAM), before it becomes visible. This is used to keep the service safe, not to evaluate you as a person. Automated screening can result in content being blocked, removed, or held for review, and, in the case of apparent CSAM, in reporting as described in Section 15. Where a moderation action significantly affects you, you can contact us at getblips@gmail.com to ask a person to review it.

11. Notifications & communications

We use your contact details and device to send you communications related to the App. These fall into two groups:

• Service and transactional messages that are part of using Blips, such as account, security, friend-request, moderation, and legal-update messages. These are necessary to provide the App.
• Optional messages, such as product news, tips, or feature announcements, which are opt-in or opt-out and never required.

You control push notifications in your device’s system settings and can turn them off at any time. You can unsubscribe from optional emails using the link in the message or by contacting getblips@gmail.com. We do not use your contact details to send you third-party advertising, and we do not sell or share them for marketing.

12. Your rights & choices

Regardless of where you live, you can:

• Access and review your moments and profile in the App.
• Edit or delete any individual moment, note, or voice recording.
• Change visibility of a moment at any time, or remove it from the public/shared tiers.
• Export your data: contact us and we will provide a copy of the personal information we hold about you.
• Delete your account and associated data (see Section 13).
• Manage device permissions in iOS Settings.

Depending on your location, you may have additional rights described in Sections 17 (GDPR), 18 (California), and 19 (other U.S. states). To exercise any right, contact us at getblips@gmail.com. We will not discriminate against you for exercising your rights.

13. Account & data deletion

You can delete your account from within the App, or by emailing getblips@gmail.com. When you delete your account, we delete your profile, your moment metadata, your social graph (groups, friendships, memberships), and the shared/public media we host for you, subject to the limited retention described in Section 14. Because private moment media lives in your own Photos library and was never uploaded to us, it remains under your control on your device, and deleting your account does not delete your own photos from your device or iCloud.

14. Data retention

We keep your information only for as long as we need it to provide the App, and then we delete or anonymize it. The main retention periods are:

Inactive accounts. If your account stays inactive for an extended period, we may notify you and then delete it and its associated data. We generally treat an account as eligible for deletion after a prolonged period of inactivity, and we may apply a shorter period for users in the EEA/UK than for users elsewhere, consistent with data-minimization requirements. When you request account deletion, we may apply a short grace period before permanent deletion so you can cancel by mistake, after which the deletion is final.

We may retain certain information longer where necessary to comply with legal obligations, resolve disputes, enforce our agreements, or address safety and abuse.

15. Security

We take practical, layered measures to protect your information:

• Private media never reaches our servers, so it cannot be breached from us.
• Row-Level Security (default-deny) on every database table means users can access only what they are explicitly allowed to see.
• Shared media sits in a private storage bucket with unguessable keys and is served only through single-use, time-limited signed links after an access check.
• Sign in with Apple means there are no passwords for us to store or leak; sessions use short-lived tokens verified on each request.
• Encryption in transit (TLS) everywhere, tokens stored in the device Keychain, and we never log media or coordinates.
• Content moderation screens shared and public media for prohibited content before it becomes visible, including on-device sensitive-content analysis and automated scanning of shared/public media for child sexual abuse material (CSAM).

No method of transmission or storage is perfectly secure, but we work to protect your information and to promptly address vulnerabilities.

Child safety and CSAM reporting

We have zero tolerance for content that sexually exploits children. If we obtain actual knowledge of apparent child sexual abuse material on the service, U.S. federal law (18 U.S.C. § 2258A) requires us to report it to the CyberTipline of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC), and to preserve the related content and account information for the period the law requires. NCMEC may forward reports to law enforcement. In these cases we may disclose the reported content and associated information (such as account details, the report, and relevant metadata) to NCMEC and law enforcement as permitted or required by law.

16. Children

Blips is not directed to children. You must be at least 13 years old to use the App (or 16, or the minimum age of digital consent in your country, where local law requires a higher age, for example in parts of the European Economic Area). We do not knowingly collect personal information from children below the applicable age. If you believe a child has provided us information, contact us at getblips@gmail.com and we will delete it.

17. Your rights in the EEA and UK (GDPR)

If you are in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, or Switzerland, Awaire Technologies LLC is the controller of your personal data. We process it on these legal bases: to perform our contract with you (providing the App), your consent (e.g., camera, microphone, location, and contacts access, which you can withdraw at any time without affecting prior processing), our legitimate interests (securing and improving the App, preventing abuse), and to comply with legal obligations (e.g., CSAM reporting). You have the right to access, rectify, erase, restrict, or object to processing, the right to data portability, and the right to withdraw consent. To exercise these rights, contact getblips@gmail.com.

Complaints and supervisory authorities. You have the right to lodge a complaint with your local data-protection supervisory authority. In the UK, that is the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO); in the EEA, it is the authority in your country of residence (for example, in France the CNIL). We ask that you contact us first so we can try to resolve your concern directly.

EU representative. Where we are required to designate a representative in the EU or UK under Article 27 of the GDPR, we will identify that representative here. Until then, please direct all requests to getblips@gmail.com. International transfers of EEA/UK personal data are described in Section 20.

18. Your rights in California (CCPA/CPRA)

If you are a California resident, you have the right to know what personal information we collect and how we use it, to request access to or deletion of it, to correct it, and to be free from discrimination for exercising your rights. We do not sell or share your personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising.

Sensitive personal information. Some information we process, in particular your precise geolocation and the contents of your photos, videos, and voice recordings, is treated as “sensitive personal information” under the CPRA. We collect and use it only to provide the App you have asked for (placing your moments, letting you share them with the audiences you choose, and keeping the service safe) and for the limited purposes permitted by law. We do not use or disclose sensitive personal information to infer characteristics about you, for advertising, or for any purpose beyond providing the App, so the CPRA “limit the use of my sensitive personal information” right does not change how we handle it. The categories of information we collect and our purposes are described throughout this policy. To submit a request, contact getblips@gmail.com; we may need to verify your identity before responding, and you may use an authorized agent.

19. Other U.S. state privacy rights

If you are a resident of a U.S. state with a comprehensive privacy law, such as Virginia, Colorado, Connecticut, Utah, Texas, Oregon, Montana, and others as they take effect, you may have rights similar to those described for California, including the rights to confirm whether we process your personal data, to access and obtain a copy of it, to correct or delete it, and, where applicable, to opt out of targeted advertising, the sale of personal data, and certain profiling. As explained throughout this policy, we do not sell your personal data, we do not share it for targeted or cross-context behavioral advertising, and we do not use it for profiling that produces legal or similarly significant effects, so those opt-outs do not change how we handle your data. We honor recognized opt-out preference signals, such as the Global Privacy Control, where required, and we do not track you across other sites or apps in any event. To exercise your rights, contact getblips@gmail.com; we may need to verify your identity and will respond within the time required by your state’s law. If we deny a request, you may appeal by replying to our response, and we will inform you of the outcome.

20. International data transfers

We and our service providers may process and store information in countries other than where you live, including the United States, where Awaire Technologies LLC is based. Laws in those countries may differ from those in your country. Where we transfer personal data from the EEA, the UK, or Switzerland to a country that has not been recognized as providing an adequate level of protection, we rely on appropriate safeguards, in particular the European Commission’s Standard Contractual Clauses (and the UK International Data Transfer Addendum or Swiss equivalents where applicable), together with additional technical and organizational measures. You can contact us at getblips@gmail.com for more information about these safeguards.

21. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we make material changes, we will update the “Effective date” above and, where appropriate, notify you in the App. Your continued use of Blips after an update means you accept the revised policy.

22. Contact us

Questions about this policy or your data? Reach us at:

• Email: getblips@gmail.com
• Awaire Technologies LLC
• [COMPANY MAILING ADDRESS]