Privacy Policy · Lysties

Who we are

Lysties is run by Jineo Technologies, based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States (“Jineo”, “we”, “us”). We decide how and why your personal data is used on the Lysties website and in our iPhone and Android apps, which makes us responsible for it.

This policy explains what we collect, why, who helps us run Lysties, how long we keep things and what you can do about it. We wrote it to be read. If it doesn't answer your question, write to [email protected]. It was last updated in October 2026.

What you give us

When you sign up we ask for your email address, a username and a password. We never keep your password itself, only a scrambled version that can't be turned back into it. If you continue with Google or Sign in with Apple, we receive your email address (Apple may give us a private relay address instead) and an identifier from them. We don't get your Google or Apple password.

You can add to your profile: a display name, a photo, a short bio, a website, your city, the kinds of places you like and your language. Some of this is public (see “What other people can see”). If your city isn't listed yet, you can tell us which city you'd like Lysties to cover. We keep that to ourselves, to decide where to go next.

Then there is what you do on Lysties:

Posts: photos, your caption, your verdict (“Yes, definitely”, “Maybe” or “Not really”), up to three vibes, the occasion and the place you tag.
Comments and replies, the loves you give and the posts you save.
Places you mark “Been here” or “Want to go”. Posting about a place marks it “Been here” for you.
Who you follow, follow requests you send or receive, and accounts you block.
Reports you file: the reason and anything you add.
Your notification choices, your Data saver setting, and anything you write to our support team.

What we collect automatically

Photo location. A photo can carry a location. When you post a photo, we keep the place where it was taken, if your device or the photo provides it. It stays private: it is never shown to other members and never used for ads or for anything else. Our team can use it only to check that a post matches the place it was tagged with. The versions of your photos that other people see have it removed.

Location while you browse. If you allow it, the app uses your phone's location to show posts and places near you (the Nearby feed, and suggested places when you post) and, when you ask it to, to pick the closest city while you set up your account. We use it for that request and don't save it to your profile. You can turn location off in your phone's settings at any time.

Usage. With our own tools, we record how Lysties is used: which screens you open and which actions you take, such as loving a post or opening a leaderboard. Each event carries a random identifier for your device or browser, a session identifier, the platform (web, iOS or Android), the app version, your language, your city if you set one and, if you're signed in, your account. We use this to understand what works and fix what doesn't.

Devices. If you turn on notifications, we store your phone's push token (a code Apple or Google gives us to reach your phone), its platform and when we last saw it.

Security records. Our servers log requests, including your IP address and the type of device or browser you use, to keep Lysties secure, stop abuse and fix problems.

Website analytics. On lysties.com we use Google Analytics to count visits and see how people find us. Google may set cookies for this (see “Cookies and similar technologies”).

What other people can see

By default, your username, display name, photo, bio, website and city, the number of people who follow you and that you follow, your posts (with their photos, captions, verdicts, vibes and place), your comments, your streak and, if your account is public, your place on leaderboards are visible to other members. Public profiles and posts are also visible to people without an account, and can appear in search engines.

With a private account, only followers you approve can see your posts, and your posts and profile are not offered to search engines. Your username, name, photo and bio stay visible. Private accounts never appear on leaderboards, in any city or Everywhere. Comments you leave stay visible to anyone who can see the post they're on.

If you mark a place “Been here” and your account is public, people who follow you and want to go to that place may get a notification. Blocking someone hides your posts and comments from them, hides theirs from you and removes any follow between you, without telling them.

Why we use your data

We use your data only for the reasons below, and only on a basis the law allows. We don't sell your personal data, and Lysties doesn't show ads.

To run Lysties: create and secure your account, show your feed, power search and Explore, and send the notifications and emails the service needs, such as sign-in codes, your data export and the confirmation when you delete your account. This is necessary to give you the service you asked for.
To keep Lysties honest and safe: review reports, stop spam and abuse, and check that posts match the places they are about. This is our legitimate interest in a trustworthy service, and sometimes a legal duty.
To improve Lysties: understand how it is used and fix problems. This is our legitimate interest.
For things you choose: push notifications, your location and camera or photo access happen only if you allow them, and you can take that back in your phone or browser settings. This is your consent.
To send you marketing emails: news about Lysties, tips and offers. Where the law of your country requires your consent, we ask for it and rely on it. Where it doesn't, we rely on our legitimate interest in keeping our members informed. Either way, you can opt out at any time with the unsubscribe link in every marketing email. Emails the service needs, like codes, your data export and the deletion confirmation, can't be turned off.
To follow the law and protect people and our rights, for example when a valid legal request requires it.

Who we share it with

Companies that help us run Lysties process data on our behalf, under contracts that limit them to that job:

Hetzner (Nuremberg, Germany): the servers and database where Lysties runs.
Google Cloud Storage (us-central1, Iowa, United States): where photos and data exports are stored.
Cloudflare: delivers the website and photos quickly and protects them from attacks.
Mailgun: sends our emails, such as codes, data exports, confirmations and marketing emails.
Apple Push Notification service and Firebase Cloud Messaging (Google): deliver push notifications to iPhones and Android phones.
Sentry: receives error reports from our servers so we can fix bugs.
Google Analytics: visit statistics for the website at lysties.com.
Google and Apple: if you choose to sign in with them.

Sharing beyond our providers

Our apps don't contain advertising or third-party analytics tools. They use Apple's and Google's push services, and nothing else from outside.

Other members see what you make public, as described above. If you share a link to a post, place or profile through WhatsApp, Facebook, X or another app, you are sending that link through them.

We may disclose data if the law or a valid legal request requires it, to protect people's safety or our rights, or as part of a merger or sale of the company. In that last case we'd tell you, and this policy would keep applying to your data.

Where your data goes

Jineo is in the United States. Our servers and database are at Hetzner in Nuremberg, Germany, and your photos and data exports are stored in Google Cloud in Iowa, in the United States. So if you live in Cameroon, your data is transferred to the United States and to Germany. If you live in the European Economic Area or the United Kingdom, part of it goes to the United States too. Some of our other providers are also based in the United States.

Those countries may not protect personal data the way yours does. What we do about it: our providers work under contracts that limit them to running Lysties for us, your data travels over encrypted connections, and we send only what each provider needs. Where the law requires a specific safeguard for a transfer, we put it in place with the provider concerned. Write to us if you want to know more.

How long we keep it

We keep things only as long as we need them:

Your account, profile and content: until you delete them or delete your account. Deleting a post removes it, and its photos, right away.
Deleting your account is immediate and permanent. We erase your profile, posts and photos (originals too), comments, reactions, saved lists, follows, blocks, notifications, devices, data exports and linked sign-in methods, usually within a few minutes, then email you a confirmation.
What stays after deletion, with no link to you: share counts, usage statistics, places you added to the map, and reports you filed. Replies other people wrote under your comments also stay on the post.
A deactivated account: kept as it is until you ask us to delete it. Deactivating erases nothing, but your profile, posts and comments are hidden from everyone until the account is reactivated, which our support team can do if you ask.
Sign-in codes work for ten minutes. You stay signed in for up to 60 days, and the session renews itself while you keep using Lysties.
Data exports can be downloaded for 7 days, then they are deleted.
Individual usage events are deleted after 180 days. We keep only overall totals.
Push tokens are removed when you log out of the app, or when a device hasn't been seen for 90 days.
Server logs are rotated and overwritten automatically after a short time. Error reports sent to Sentry are kept for up to 90 days, and database backups for 10 days. So once you delete your account, its last copies are gone from our backups within 10 days.

Your rights and choices

It's your data. Wherever you live, you can:

See and correct it. Your profile, username, email and password can all be edited in the app or on the website.
Get a copy. Go to Settings, then Privacy & safety, then “Download my data”. We prepare a ZIP file in the background and email you when it's ready. It holds your profile and account details, your posts with your original photos, your comments, loves and shares, your saved lists and places, the people you follow, your requests and blocks, your notifications and their settings, and your last six months of activity, in files you can read. You can ask once every 24 hours, and the link works for 7 days.
Delete it. Delete posts and comments one by one, or your whole account from Settings with “Delete my account”.
Limit it. Make your account private, choose your notifications, turn off location, camera or photo access in your phone, use Data saver, or block people.
Object, or take back your consent. Write to us if you object to a use based on our legitimate interests. For marketing emails, use the unsubscribe link in any of them. For push notifications and location, switch them off in your device settings.

Download my data guide

Your rights under the law

Depending on where you live, the law gives you these rights and more. That includes Cameroon's Law No. 2024/017 of 23 December 2024 on personal data protection, and, for people in the European Economic Area and the United Kingdom, data protection law such as the GDPR. If you want to use a right the tools above don't cover, write to [email protected] from your account's email address. We'll answer within one month.

You can also complain to the data protection authority in your country.

Children

Lysties is for people aged 16 and over. We don't knowingly collect data from anyone younger. If you think a child under 16 has an account, tell us at [email protected] and we'll remove it.

How we protect your data

Everything travels over encrypted connections (HTTPS), and passwords are stored scrambled. On the website, your sign-in lives in secure cookies that scripts on a page can't read. In the apps, the long-lived part of your sign-in is kept in your phone's secure storage (the Keychain on iPhone, the Keystore on Android) and the short-lived part only in memory. Original photos are kept in a private storage bucket, and access to our systems is limited to the people who need it.

No system is perfectly secure. If something happens that puts your data at risk, we'll tell you and the authorities as the law requires.

Cookies and similar technologies

On the website we use a few cookies and similar storage:

Sign-in cookies (essential). They keep you signed in. They are secure and HttpOnly, so scripts on the page can't read them.
A language cookie. It remembers the language you chose for the site.
Browser storage. A random identifier for our own usage statistics, and your recent searches, kept in your browser's local storage.
Google Analytics (lysties.com only). It sets cookies to count visits.

Managing cookies

You can clear or block cookies and storage in your browser at any time. If you block the sign-in cookies, you won't be able to stay signed in. The native apps don't use cookies.

Changes to this policy

We'll update this policy when what we do changes. We'll post the new version here with its date, and for significant changes we'll tell you in the app or by email at least 30 days before they apply.

Contact us

Questions about this policy or your data? Write to [email protected]. Jineo Technologies, Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States.

[email protected]