Privacy Policy

Effective date: 1 May 2026  ·  Last updated: 29 June 2026

This Privacy Policy explains how GoMingle ("we", "us", "the app") collects, uses, and protects your personal data when you use the GoMingle Android application and related services at gomingle.eu.

GoMingle is operated by José Nuno Alves, based in Belgium.

By using GoMingle you agree to the practices described in this policy.

1. Information We Collect

We collect the following information when you use GoMingle:

1.1 Information you provide directly

• Account information — email address, password (stored encrypted by Firebase Authentication, never visible to us).
• Profile information — first name, date of birth, profile photo, optional bio, selected interests.
• Event content — event titles, descriptions, photos, locations, meeting points you create or join.
• Comments — text content you post on events.
• Reports — content you flag and the reason you provide.

1.2 Information collected automatically

• Approximate location — your device location is used to show you events nearby. Location is requested only with your explicit permission and can be denied at any time. If denied, the app defaults to Brussels city centre or a city you choose manually in Settings.
• Device information — device type and Android version, used for diagnostics and crash reports.

1.3 Information from third-party services

• Google Places — when you search for an event location, your search query is sent to Google Places API. Google's privacy practices apply.

1.4 Usage analytics (only with your consent)

With your explicit opt-in consent, we collect anonymous product-usage events — for example, signing up, completing onboarding, creating an event, joining an event, viewing an event, or sharing one — to understand how GoMingle is used and improve it. These events are tied to a random analytics identifier and never include your messages, comments, the identities of other attendees, or any other personal content.

We ask for your permission the first time you sign in. Analytics stays completely off until you agree — if you decline, nothing is collected. You can turn analytics on or off at any time in Settings › Privacy. Our legal basis for this processing is your consent.

2. How We Use Your Information

We use your information to:

• Create and maintain your account
• Show you events relevant to your location and interests
• Display your profile to other users in events you create or join
• Allow you to communicate with other users via event comments
• Send you transactional emails (verification, password reset)
• Send you push notifications about activity on your events (you can disable this in app Settings)
• Investigate reports and enforce our Terms of Service
• Improve the app and fix bugs
• Understand how the app is used — only with your consent — to improve it (see Section 1.4)

We do not sell your personal data. We do not use your data for advertising.

3. Information Visible to Other Users

When you use GoMingle, other users can see:

• Your first name
• Your age (calculated from your date of birth — your full date of birth is never displayed)
• Your profile photo
• Your bio (if you provided one)
• Your interests
• Events you have created
• Events you are attending
• Past events you organised or attended
• Comments you post
• Trust badges (Super Host, Ambassador) where applicable

Your email address, password, and exact date of birth are never visible to other users.

4. Third-Party Services

GoMingle uses the following third-party services to operate. Each service has its own privacy policy:

• Firebase Authentication (Google) — account login and password management
• Cloud Firestore (Google) — database storing your profile, events, and comments
• Cloud Storage for Firebase (Google) — storing your profile and event photos
• Firebase Cloud Messaging (Google) — push notifications
• Google Places API (Google) — location search
• Google Play Services (Google) — app distribution and updates
• PostHog (PostHog, EU Cloud) — privacy-friendly product analytics, active only with your consent (see Section 1.4)

Data is stored on Google Cloud servers, which may be located outside the European Economic Area. Google maintains GDPR compliance for EEA data through Standard Contractual Clauses. Analytics data collected through PostHog (only with your consent) is processed and stored on servers within the European Union (Frankfurt, Germany).

5. Data Retention

• Active accounts — we retain your data while your account exists.
• Deleted accounts — when you delete your account from within the app, your profile, events, and personal data are removed. Comments you posted are anonymised (your name and photo are removed) but the comment text is retained to preserve event conversation context.
• Reports — we retain reports you submit for the purpose of investigating abuse, even after the reported user's account is deleted.
• Backups — Firebase maintains automated backups for up to 30 days after data deletion.

6. Your Rights Under GDPR

If you are in the European Economic Area, you have the following rights regarding your personal data:

• Right of access — you can see all the data we hold about you within the app (your profile screen).
• Right of rectification — you can edit your profile at any time.
• Right of erasure — you can delete your account at any time using the in-app account deletion flow or via gomingle.eu/delete-account.
• Right to data portability — you can request an export of your data by emailing hello@gomingle.eu.
• Right to object — you can disable notifications in Settings.
• Right to withdraw consent — where we rely on your consent (for example, usage analytics), you can withdraw it at any time in Settings › Privacy. Withdrawing does not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before you withdrew.
• Right to lodge a complaint — you can contact the Belgian Data Protection Authority (Autorité de protection des données / Gegevensbeschermingsautoriteit) if you believe your rights have been violated.

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at hello@gomingle.eu.

7. Children's Privacy and Child Safety

GoMingle is strictly intended for users aged 18 and over. We do not knowingly collect data from minors. If you become aware that a minor is using GoMingle, please contact us at hello@gomingle.eu and we will remove the account immediately.

GoMingle has a zero-tolerance policy for Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation (CSAE). We work to detect and remove CSAE content and to report Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), to Child Focus (Belgium), and to the relevant authorities in the EU via the INHOPE network. Full details are in our Terms of Service Section 5.

Suspected CSAE on GoMingle can be reported via the in-app reporting feature on every event, comment, and user profile, or by email to abuse@gomingle.eu.

8. Security

We take reasonable measures to protect your data:

• Passwords are hashed by Firebase Authentication and never stored in plain text.
• Communication with our servers is encrypted via HTTPS.
• Access to user data is restricted to authorised personnel for support and abuse investigation only.

No system is 100% secure. We will notify affected users in case of a data breach involving personal data, in accordance with GDPR requirements.

9. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. The "Last updated" date at the top of this page reflects the most recent change. Significant changes will be communicated via in-app notification or email.

10. Contact Us

GoMingle is a personal project. Legal entity details will be added once the company is formally registered.