Buddies privacy notice

Your account

To sign in, you give us your email address and we email you a code. There are no passwords. When you join, you choose a display name, confirm that you're 18 or older, and accept the community guidelines; we record which version you accepted. You can also add a short “how I work” line.

Your display name is shared with any other Neuroantics app you use, so you only set it once.

To keep you signed in, Buddies sets a sign-in cookie on your device. Buddies can't work without it.

In rooms

When you join a room, we keep that you were there, when, the session's length and, if you chose one, the kind of work. The people in that room see your display name, your “how I work” line, the line you check in with, your messages and reactions, and how your session went, if you say.

Room messages are deleted 30 days after the session ends. Your check-in lines and how your sessions went stay with your account, as your own history, until you delete it.

People sometimes mention how they're doing, including their health. We never analyse messages for that. Only the people in the room read them, unless someone reports a message (see Safety, below).

An automatic filter checks display names, “how I work” lines, check-ins and messages for slurs, sexual content, harassment, links and contact details before anyone sees them. It runs in our own systems: nothing you write is sent to an outside service to be judged.

Drop-ins

If you say you'll come to a drop-in, others see only how many people plan to come, never who. We delete these plans 30 days after the drop-in.

Friends and private sessions

If you invite friends, or accept someone's invitation, we keep that connection and the invitation links. Friends see each other's display names and the private sessions they schedule. When you start or open a session, your friends may get a reminder with your display name in it.

Removing a friend, or leaving someone's friends, ends the connection.

Your wins and your week

The wins you add to your wins jar, and the days you've shown up, are only ever shown to you. They stay until you remove them or delete your account. The breathing exercise saves nothing at all.

Reminders: emails and notifications

If reminders are on, we email you before a drop-in you said you'd come to or a private session you're part of, and when a friend starts a session. You can turn each kind off in Settings, or with the link in any reminder. We keep a record of each reminder for 60 days, so we never send the same one twice and stay within our sending limits.

If you turn on notifications on a device, we keep that device's notification address, and reminders go there instead of by email. Notifications are delivered through the push service run by your browser's maker. They're encrypted, so that service can't read them. Turning notifications off on the device removes its address.

Safety: blocks, reports and moderation

If you block someone, we keep that, so you're never put in a room together. They're never told.

If you report someone, we keep your report and a snapshot of the conversation it was about, so our moderators can review it. The snapshot is deleted 30 days after the report is closed. If you delete your account, your report stays without your name, so the person you reported can still be reviewed.

If our moderators act on your account (a warning, a suspension or a ban), we keep that record with your account.

Signing in safely

To keep out automated sign-ups, the sign-in page uses a bot-protection service. When you ask for a code, it checks technical details of your browser and connection for a moment, and tells us only whether you seem to be a person.

Plans and payments

If you subscribe to a paid plan, our online reseller handles the payment, and its checkout and receipts show its name. It processes your payment details; we never see your card. We receive only what we need to know whether your subscription is active.

On your device

Buddies uses no analytics and no tracking of any kind. Besides the sign-in cookie, and the light or dark theme cookie if you choose one, it keeps a few small notes on your device, such as having dismissed a tip. Installing Buddies as an app doesn't change what we collect.

Who handles the data

We use a small number of service providers to run Buddies: hosting, a database, email delivery, bot protection on sign-in, and, for paid plans, our online reseller. Notifications go through your browser maker's push service. Providers process personal data only on our instructions, under agreements that require them to keep it secure. If you would like to know which providers hold your data, ask us and we will tell you.

Some providers may process data outside the country you live in. Where they do, we make sure it stays protected to the same standard, through contractual safeguards.

A few Neuroantics staff can see account and safety records when running Buddies needs it, for example to review a report. Their access needs a second sign-in step.

Why we use it

We use your data to run Buddies for you, to keep it safe for everyone in it, and to send the reminders you've chosen. We process personal data in line with the data protection laws that apply to us.

Your choices and rights

In Settings you can change your display name and “how I work” line, turn reminders and notifications off, and unblock people. You can remove wins from your wins jar at any time.

You can delete your account in Settings at any time. It deletes your account and everything in this notice that belongs to it, straight away, except reports you made, which stay without your name.

You can also ask us for a copy of your data, or anything else about it, through the contact form: choose “Privacy request”. We reply within one month. Wherever you are, these rights are yours.

Changes

If we change this notice in a way that matters, we'll tell you in Buddies, and update the date at the top.

• Neuroantics privacy notice