Privacy Policy

Last updated: September 22, 2026

TipsyBuddy is built to help you have a fun night out and get home safely — without giving up your privacy. This policy explains in plain language what we collect, why, and the choices you have.

1. What we store on your phone

Your drinks, settings, and preferences (like weight, home address, and emergency contact) are stored on your own device. They stay there unless you choose to share something. If you submit a support report, a local list of your submitted report numbers, titles, and statuses is also kept on your device so you can track replies.

2. What we collect when you share live

If you turn on Live Sharing in the app, we temporarily store the following so friends you invite can see it on the live tracker page:

• Your display name, venue/check-in name, and status message
• Your live GPS location and when it was last updated
• Your estimated BAC level shown in the app
• Your phone battery level
• Contact details you chose to include (such as phone number or home address for ride pickups)
• Sharing expiry time, and "wave" timestamps when friends check in on you

Live sessions expire automatically (30 minutes to 4 hours, your choice). You can stop sharing anytime in the app, which stops further updates. Only people you send the link to can view your session — there is no public directory of sessions.

3. What friends' browsers share

When someone opens your live link, their browser loads the page from our hosting provider. We do not require friends to sign up or install anything. If they tap "Send Wave," we record the time of that wave so your phone can show a notification.

4. Support & feedback reports (GitHub issue reporter)

The Android app offers an optional, in-app Support & Feedback / Report a Problem form (in Profile/Settings). It is entirely voluntary — the app works fully without it. If you choose to submit a report, the app sends it over HTTPS as JSON to our Cloudflare Worker proxy, which forwards it to the GitHub REST API and files it as an issue in the chartmann1590/TipsyBuddy repository (screenshots go to the repo's feedback-assets/ folder).

What is sent when you tap Submit:

• Report content you type: title, description, and any follow-up replies/comments you post.
• Contact info you optionally type: name and email — only if you fill those fields.
• Screenshot/image you optionally attach (max ~8 MB; PNG, JPG, or WEBP). Check it for private details before attaching.
• Diagnostics, only if you leave "Include phone/app diagnostics" checked: app version/build, package name, device brand/model/manufacturer, Android version and API level, locale, time zone, free/total storage and memory, and report timestamp. Diagnostics never include contacts, location, passwords, tokens, or credentials.

How it flows and who sees it:

• The app talks only to the Worker URL and never holds a GitHub token — the token lives only as a Worker secret and is never shipped to the app, logged, or returned to clients.
• The Worker applies best-effort per-IP rate limiting (about 60 requests/minute) using the connecting IP address (CF-Connecting-IP). The IP is used only for abuse prevention and is not stored long-term by the Worker.
• Filed issues, comments, and attached screenshots are stored by GitHub under that repository. If the repository is public, your report and attachment may be publicly visible to anyone on the internet.

Do not include passwords, private keys, medical or financial information, account credentials, or anything you do not want repository maintainers (and possibly the public) to see. The form shows this same warning before you submit.

5. How we use information

• To show your live location and status to people you invited, while sharing is on
• To provide drink tracking, estimates, and safety features in the app
• To receive, track, and respond to support/bug reports you voluntarily submit via GitHub issues
• To keep the service running, prevent abuse, and fix problems

We do not sell your personal information, and we do not use your location for advertising.

6. Service providers

• Hosting & live sync: Firebase Hosting and Firestore (Google) deliver the tracker page and pass live updates between your phone and your friends' browsers.
• Support reports: Cloudflare Workers proxy in-app feedback to the GitHub REST API; GitHub (Issues and repository storage under feedback-assets/) stores the filed issues, comments, and attached screenshots. GitHub's and Cloudflare's own privacy policies apply to that data from that point.
• Maps: OpenStreetMap tiles display the live map. Your approximate location is sent to the map tile provider as part of loading map images, as with any online map.
• Rides & calls: If you or a friend taps Uber, Lyft, or Call, you'll be sent to that service (Uber, Lyft, or your phone dialer). Their own privacy policies apply from that point.
• Ads (in the Android app): the app may show ads via Google AdMob. AdMob may collect device identifiers to serve and measure ads. You can learn more in Google's advertising privacy info.

7. Cookies

TipsyBuddy does not set any first-party tracking cookies and does not profile or sell your data. The tracker page does, however, rely on third-party services that may set cookies of their own. Your consent choice is stored in your browser's localStorage under tipsybuddy_cookie_consent_v1 (not in a cookie), so saving a choice simply dismisses the banner.

Third-party services that may set cookies when you visit the tracker page:

• Firebase (Hosting & Firestore) / Google — serves the page and streams live updates.
• OpenStreetMap tiles — serves the map tiles shown on the live map.
• Leaflet (unpkg CDN) — delivers the Leaflet CSS/JS used to render the map; only loaded if you accept optional cookies.
• Google Fonts — provides the site fonts; only loaded if you accept optional cookies.

See our full Cookie Policy for details. Change your choice anytime with the Cookie Settings link in the footer.

8. How long we keep data

Live session data is kept only to operate active sharing and for a short period afterward to handle expired links gracefully. Data on your phone stays there until you delete it in the app or uninstall the app.

Support reports you submit are stored as GitHub issues/comments and attachment files in the repository and persist under GitHub's retention until edited or deleted there. The local list of your submitted reports stays on your device until you clear app data or uninstall the app.

9. Your choices

• Don't turn on Live Sharing if you don't want to share your location — everything else in the app works without it.
• Only send live links to people you trust.
• Stop sharing anytime in the app, or let the timer expire.
• Delete drinks, history, or profile details in the app at any time.
• You can deny location permission — sharing just won't work without it.
• Don't use Report a Problem if you don't want a GitHub issue filed — leave name/email blank, uncheck diagnostics, and skip attachments to share less. Review screenshots for private details before attaching.

10. Drinking age

TipsyBuddy is intended only for adults of legal drinking age in their location. We do not knowingly collect data from children.

11. Changes to this policy

If we change this policy, we'll update the date above and post the new version on this page.

12. Contact us

Questions about privacy? Open an issue on our GitHub repository: github.com/chartmann1590/TipsyBuddy.

Related: Terms of Use • Cookie Policy