Festi — Privacy Policy

Last updated: July 15, 2026

Festi ("the app", "we") is operated by Dylan Hackenbrook. This policy explains what the app collects, how it's used, and how to delete it. Questions: dhackenbrook@gmail.com.

The short version

• We don't ask for your email, phone number, or payment details.
• We don't show ads and we don't track you across other apps or websites.
• "Share my location" is on by default so friends can find you during the festival — you're asked on first launch whether to keep it on, you can turn it off anytime in the app, and only your accepted friends can ever see it.
• You can delete your account and all of its data from inside the app at any time.

What we collect

You're signed in automatically with an anonymous account (a random ID) the first time you open the app — no personal details required. Tied to that account, we store only what the features need:

• Anonymous account ID and friend code — to identify your data and let friends add you.
• Display name — optional, only if you set one.
• Favorite artists — the artists you star, to build your schedule.
• Friend connections — friend requests you send/accept.
• Precise location — "Share my location" is on by default (you're asked on first launch whether to keep it on, and can turn it off anytime), and location is only used during the festival's run. Used to show your position, current stage, and — while you're walking — your direction of travel and speed to your accepted friends (their map can also show the GPS accuracy radius of your pin, so it's honest about how precise it is), and to compute festival "badges." Collected while sharing is on, including in the background so friends keep seeing your live position even when the app isn't open. Controls: turn sharing off entirely, hide your location from individual friends, or share only when within 1 km of a venue (this "near only" option is on by default for new installs). Turning sharing off stops collection and deletes your shared position; shared positions also auto-expire after ~10 hours. On Android a persistent notification shows while it's active.
• "Meet Here" pins — if you drop a meetup pin, the location you choose and its label are shared with the friends you share location with, and auto-expire after 1 hour.
• "Find nearby" Bluetooth signal — while sharing is on (including with the app in the background), your phone broadcasts a random Bluetooth identifier that changes every ~15 minutes so a friend standing nearby can follow a hot/cold signal-strength meter to you. The identifier contains no personal data, and only your accepted friends can link it to you (the same access rules as your location). Bystanders can't identify or follow you across changes. It stops when you turn sharing off or fully quit the app.

  On phones that support it (recent iPhones, and some newer Android phones in a future update), Find Nearby can also use ultra-wideband (UWB) radio to show the precise distance — and, when possible, the direction — to the friend you're finding. To start it, the two phones exchange a random, single-use session code through our server, visible only to the two of you under the same access rules as your location. The distance itself is measured directly between the two phones and never touches our servers — we never see or store how far apart you are. The session code is useless outside that one Find, is discarded when the Find ends, and can't be linked across sessions. Precise mode only runs while both of you have the app open, and only between phones whose owners could already see each other's location.

  Because finding works best when both phones help, starting a Find also records, for as long as it is running:

  • Who you're finding — the friend you tapped Find on. Their app is told you're looking for them, so their phone can help by reporting what it hears (below).
  • What your phone hears — the Bluetooth identifier of the friend involved and how strong that signal is, so the meter still works when only one of the two phones can hear the other. No audio is involved: "hears" means Bluetooth radio signal strength, nothing more.
  • A "someone's finding you" notification — the friend you're finding is told that you're looking for them (so they can stand still, or wave). Finding a friend is never silent: they always know.

  All of it is limited to accepted friends, and it stops when the Find stops.

• "Bump to connect" location — if you tap Bump to add a friend in person, we briefly use your current GPS position, plus the moment your phones physically tap (detected by the accelerometer — only that timestamp is sent, never your motion data), to match you with another nearby person who is also bumping. Both are used only to find that match and are discarded shortly after.
• Push notification token — we store your device's push token so we can send you the notifications you've enabled: "alert when a friend joins my stage" (e.g. "Alex is at Mainstage"), and "someone's finding you" when a friend starts a Find Nearby on you.
• Derived activity stats — computed from your location only while sharing is on, and only while you're at the festival:
  • total time at the festival, and time at individual stages/venues;
  • distance walked, and the longest you stayed in one spot;
  • how long and on which nights you stay into the late-night/early-morning hours;
  • which music genres you spend your time in front of — worked out by matching the stage you're standing at against who is playing there at that moment. This is an approximation of your listening at the festival, not a record of what you actually heard;
  • how many friends you have in the app.

  Used to award festival "badges" and "achievements." These are visible to your accepted friends (badges are a friendly competition); you can stop them accruing by turning sharing off.

• Safety reports & blocks — if you block or report another user, we store that so we can keep you apart and review the report. Report reasons you submit are visible only to the app operator.

Set reminders are scheduled on your device; no personal data leaves the phone for them. Your battery level is also read on your device only, to automatically lower GPS accuracy when your battery runs low — it is never stored or sent anywhere.

How we use it

Only to provide the app's features (schedule, map, friends, meetups, reminders). We do not sell your data or use it for advertising.

Who it's shared with

• Other users: your accepted friends can see your display name, your activity stats/badges, and — while you have sharing on — your location and meetup pin. Someone you've sent or received a friend request from can see your display name so they can recognize you; no one else can read your profile. Access is enforced server-side (row-level security).
• Service providers (processors):
  • Supabase — hosts our database and authentication.
  • Mapbox — provides the maps; receives map-tile requests to render the map.
  • Expo — delivers push notifications to your device.
  • Spotify — opening an artist launches a Spotify search; that's an external service governed by Spotify's own privacy policy.

Retention & deletion

We keep your data until you delete it. To delete everything, in the app go to Settings → Account & data → Delete account & data. This permanently removes your profile, favorites, friends, shared location, meetup pin, activity stats/badges, and any blocks or reports you created. (A fresh, empty anonymous account is created so you can keep using the app.)

Location, specifically

Location is precise, on by default, and revocable at any time — toggle "Share my location" off in the app, or revoke the permission in your device settings. On first launch the app asks whether to keep sharing on before any location permission is requested, and records your answer. New installs also default to sharing only within 1 km of a venue, so you aren't broadcasting from home or your hotel unless you choose to.

Children

Festi isn't directed to children under 16. We don't knowingly collect data from them.

Changes

We may update this policy; material changes will be noted here with a new date.

Contact

Dylan Hackenbrook — dhackenbrook@gmail.com