1. Introduction
The Journey of Us (“we”, “us”, “our”) is a mobile application that helps users discover where their life journeys have intersected with the people they care about. This Privacy Policy explains what data we collect, how we use it, and your rights regarding your information.
2. What Data We Collect
2.1 Photo Metadata (Location & Time)
When you scan your photo library, we extract only the following metadata:
- GPS coordinates (latitude, longitude, altitude)
- Timestamp (date and time the photo was taken)
- A one-way hash of the photo file (to avoid duplicate processing)
We never access, upload, view, or store your actual photos. Photo content stays entirely on your device. Only the metadata listed above is transmitted to our servers.
2.2 Account Information
- Email address (via Clerk authentication)
- Display name
- Avatar URL (optional, from your social login provider)
2.3 Group & Social Data
- Groups you create or join
- Group memberships and roles
- Consent grants for data sharing within groups
2.4 Usage Data
- App interactions and feature usage (via PostHog analytics)
- Error reports and crash logs (via Sentry)
- Push notification tokens (via Expo)
3. How We Process Your Data
3.1 H3 Hexagonal Indexing
Your location metadata is converted into H3 hexagonal grid cells at multiple resolutions. This allows us to efficiently compare locations across users without storing precise GPS coordinates in comparison results:
- Resolution 9 (~174m edge): Fine-grained record indexing
- Resolution 7 (~1.2km edge): Visit session comparison
- Resolution 4 (~22km edge): Broad regional matching
3.2 Comparison Engine
When you join a group, your H3-indexed visit sessions are compared against other group members to identify spatial and temporal overlaps (“discoveries”). Discoveries are classified into tiers:
- Gold: Same place, close in time (within hours)
- Silver: Same neighborhood, within days or weeks
- Bronze: Same region, within months
3.3 AI Processing
With your opt-in consent:
- Location estimation (GeoSpy API): For photos missing GPS data, AI estimates the location from visual landmarks. Only the photo is sent temporarily for processing; it is not stored.
- Scene classification (on-device ONNX model): Classifies scene types locally on your device. No data leaves your phone.
- Narration (Anthropic Claude API): Generates text narration scripts from discovery metadata. No photos are sent.
- Voice synthesis (ElevenLabs API): Converts narration scripts to audio. Opt-in only.
4. What We Store Server-Side
| Data | Storage | Encryption |
|---|---|---|
| User profiles | PostgreSQL (Railway) | At rest (AES-256) |
| Metadata records (lat, lng, timestamp, H3 cells) | PostgreSQL | At rest |
| Discoveries and journey scores | PostgreSQL | At rest |
| Photo swap images (opt-in) | Cloudflare R2 | AES-256, signed URLs |
| Session cache | Redis | In-memory, ephemeral |
5. Third-Party Services
| Service | Purpose | Data Shared |
|---|---|---|
| Clerk | Authentication | Email, social login profile |
| Mapbox | Map rendering | Viewport coordinates (client-side only) |
| Anthropic (Claude) | AI narration scripts | Discovery metadata (no photos) |
| ElevenLabs | Voice synthesis | Narration text (opt-in) |
| GeoSpy | Location estimation | Individual photos (opt-in, not stored) |
| Sentry | Error tracking | Stack traces, device info |
| PostHog | Analytics | Anonymized usage events |
| RevenueCat | Subscriptions | Purchase records |
| Stripe | Payments | Payment method (PCI compliant) |
| Expo | Push notifications | Push tokens |
6. Your Rights
6.1 Data Export
You can export all your data at any time through the app's settings. The export includes all metadata records, discoveries, groups, and profile information in a machine-readable JSON format.
6.2 Data Deletion
You can delete your account and all associated data through the app's settings. Upon deletion:
- All metadata records are permanently removed
- All visit sessions are deleted
- Your participation in discoveries is anonymized
- Group memberships are removed
- Photo swap images are deleted from R2 storage
- The deletion is irreversible
6.3 GDPR Rights (EU Users)
Under the General Data Protection Regulation, you have the right to:
- Access: Request a copy of all data we hold about you
- Rectification: Correct inaccurate personal data
- Erasure: Request deletion of your data (“right to be forgotten”)
- Portability: Receive your data in a structured, machine-readable format
- Restriction: Limit how we process your data
- Objection: Object to processing based on legitimate interests
To exercise any of these rights, contact us at privacy@thejourneyofus.app.
7. Exclusion Zones
You can create Exclusion Zones to mark locations as private (e.g., home, workplace). When an exclusion zone is active:
- No metadata records within that zone are shared with groups
- No discoveries are generated for that area
- Other users are never informed that a zone exists or that data was filtered
- Zones can be created, modified, or deleted at any time
8. Data Retention
- Active accounts: Data is retained for as long as your account is active
- Deleted accounts: All personal data is permanently deleted within 30 days of account deletion
- Analytics data: Anonymized analytics are retained for up to 24 months
- Error logs: Retained for 90 days
9. Security
- All data in transit is encrypted via TLS 1.3
- All data at rest is encrypted (AES-256)
- Photo swap images use signed URLs with expiration
- Authentication is handled by Clerk with industry-standard security practices
- Source hashes are one-way (SHA-256) and cannot be reversed to identify photos
10. Children’s Privacy
The Journey of Us is not intended for children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child under 13 has provided us with personal data, please contact us and we will promptly delete it.
11. Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of material changes via in-app notification and update the “Last updated” date above.
12. Contact Us
For privacy-related questions or to exercise your data rights:
- Email: privacy@thejourneyofus.app
- Website: https://thejourneyofus.app/privacy
- Support: https://thejourneyofus.app/support