Location Terms and Notice

Overview#

Some Bynefit features use where you are or where something is: seeing what is near you, a map of local resources, events, relief campaigns and people, and an optional location history. This Location Terms and Notice explains what location information Bynefit collects and shows, who can see it, how long it is kept, and how you control it. It forms part of the Terms of Service and the Privacy Policy. "Bynefit," "we," "us" and "our" mean Bynefit Inc.

Location is optional. You can use Bynefit without turning any of it on.

Kinds of Location Information#

Your approximate area#

If you allow it, your device sends Bynefit a coarse area so you can see what is near you. Bynefit may choose not store your exact position. Bynefit reserves the right to anonymize location information, and look up a city or town, region and country name for the center of the location square. The place name is what other people can see, never a precise point. Your device's own settings let you grant location access as never, while using the app, or always, and let you choose approximate rather than precise location, and Bynefit works with an approximate setting.

Location history (optional, off by default)#

If you are an adult and turn it on, the app can send the coarse squares your device visits, with the time and how it was captured (while the app is open, in the background, on a visit, or manually), so you can look back at them. Nothing is stored until you turn it on. Turning it on does not back-fill earlier movements. History is shown only to you. It is not shown to other people, Partners or Providers, and it does not change who can see your current area. History can be kept for more than 90 days, and a user can store up to a fixed maximum number of points.

Places that other people add#

Resources. A public local resource has an address entered by whoever submitted it. Bynefit converts public addresses into map coordinates using a public mapping service and shows a pin. Personal and Space-only resources are not pinned and their addresses are not sent for mapping.
Events. An organizer can give an event a location. An upcoming event from an active Space that is discoverable, or one you belong to, can appear as a pin.
Relief campaigns. An organizer can set an affected area as a circle. The location square is rounded so that it cannot point to one house.
Spaces. A Space can show a place name its admin chose. Spaces are not shown as pins on the map.

Other signals#

Like most services, Bynefit's servers receive your IP address and device information when you use the app or website, which can reveal a general location. We use them for security, rate limiting and troubleshooting as described in the Privacy Policy.

Who Can See Your Area#

Nobody, by default. Allowing Bynefit to store your approximate area lets you see what is near you. It does not show you to anyone else.
Only if you choose. If you choose "mutuals" (people you follow and who follow you), or "Spaces" (that group, plus people who share an active Space with you), those people can see your city or town on a map and in suggestions, together with your first name and last initial, username and account type. People see your area as the center of a square and as a place name, never your exact position.
Both ways. You can see other people's areas only while you share your own. Turning sharing off removes you from both sides at once.
Who never sees you. People you have blocked, restricted or muted, and anyone for whom you have chosen "nobody." Accounts that are banned, suspended, inactive or being deleted are never shown. An area not refreshed in the last 30 days is not shown.
Partners and Providers. Bynefit does not give your stored area or your history to Partners, Providers, hosted sites or advertisers. A Partner or hosted site may collect location through its own pages or apps, and is responsible for doing so under its own notice. See the Partner Terms and the Practice and Third-Party Provider Terms.
People can take screenshots or write down what they see. Share your area only with people you trust.

How We Use Location Information#

We use location information to show what is near you, to place pins on the map, to suggest people and Spaces nearby, to let you view your own history, to prevent abuse, and to comply with law. We do not use your location to sell it, to build advertising profiles, or to infer sensitive characteristics. We do not use history to rank content or people.

Service Providers and Maps#

Bynefit uses OpenStreetMap's service to convert the center of your square into a place name, and to convert public resource addresses into coordinates. Place names come from OpenStreetMap data, which is made available under the Open Database License, and are credited to OpenStreetMap contributors. Maps in the apps are drawn with Apple Maps on iOS and Google Maps on Android, which have their own terms and privacy practices and which may receive information such as your device's location while a map is shown.

Keeping and Deleting#

Your current area is deleted automatically if it has not been refreshed in 30 days. A new area is created the next time you allow it.
Location history points are deleted automatically at some time after 90 days.
You can delete your current area, and delete your history, at any time in the app. Deletion is permanent. You can turn history off with or without deleting it.
When you request account deletion, your current area is deleted at once, and your history is turned off and deleted. If you cancel the request, history stays off until you turn it on again.
Your area and history are included if you request a copy of your data.
Information in backups, or that we must keep to comply with the law or protect rights, may remain for a limited time.

Your Controls#

Your device's settings: allow or deny location, choose approximate or precise, choose while using or always. Bynefit respects your device choice. If you deny location, Bynefit does not store an area.
In the app: turn sharing between nobody, mutuals and Spaces, delete your area, turn history on or off and delete it.

Children and Minors#

Bynefit is not directed to children under 13 and does not knowingly collect location from them. The Terms of Service require account holders and Space administrators to be at least 18. Where Bynefit knows that an account holder is under 18, the account cannot share its area with other people and cannot use location history, and the account is never shown on the map or in nearby suggestions. A missing birthday is not treated as proof of adulthood for history, which is available only to known adults.

Safety and Emergencies#

Bynefit is not an emergency service. Do not use Bynefit to ask for or give emergency help. If you or someone else is in danger, contact your local emergency number.
Location on Bynefit is approximate, may be out of date or wrong, and is not live tracking. Maps and pins may be inaccurate. Do not rely on them for navigation, travel safety or the location of a person. Check an event or place with its organizer before you travel.
Do not use location features to follow, find, harass or locate another person who does not want to be found. Doing so breaks the Community Guidelines and may lead to removal from Bynefit. You can report a person using the in-app report tool, and you can block or mute them to hide your area from them.
Meeting someone you met through Bynefit is at your own risk. Meet in public places and tell someone where you are going. Bynefit does not check people's identity, intentions or history.

Disclosure to Others#

We share location information with service providers that help us run Bynefit and only as needed to do so, and with others when you tell us to. We may also disclose it if we believe in good faith that the law requires us to or to prevent serious harm. We do not sell location information.

Changes and Contact#

We may update these terms. Material changes, especially any new use of location or new group who can see it, will be shown in the app and sent by email before they take effect, and where the law requires it we will ask for your consent again. Questions can be sent through the Bynefit support center at bynefit.com/support.