Privacy Policy

StreetSparrow is a neighborhood messaging app. It is built so that as little information as possible ever leaves your phone, and so that the parts that do leave are either meant to be public in your neighborhood or are encrypted so that nobody in between — including us — can read them.

• We do not sell your personal data.
• We do not use your data for advertising or advertising measurement.
• We do not require a phone number or an email address to use the app.
• Direct messages are end-to-end encrypted. We cannot read them.

The StreetSparrow project is the data controller for the limited information described below. Contact details for privacy requests are to be published before the app is released publicly. This policy applies to the StreetSparrow app and this website.

Most of StreetSparrow lives on your phone. The following is kept in the app's local storage and is removed when you delete the app:

• Your account keys and the username you chose.
• Messages you have written, received, or relayed for other people.
• Which neighborhood cell your device most recently determined it was in.
• App settings and, if you use radio hardware, records of devices you have paired.

Public posts. A public post is stamped with the approximate area it was written in and travels a limited number of neighborhood hops from there. Anyone running the app within that range can read it, and their phone may carry a copy onward to other phones and radios so it reaches people who are offline. Assume a public post is permanent and public: once it has been passed on, it cannot be recalled from other people's devices.

Direct messages. Direct messages are encrypted end to end using the recipient's key. Devices that pass a direct message along cannot read it. What a relaying device can see is that an encrypted message exists and roughly where it is heading.

Your username. Your username and public key are visible to people you message and to people who see your public posts.

StreetSparrow needs a coarse idea of where you are to know which neighborhood you are posting into. Location permission is optional; the app asks for it and explains what it affects. If you decline, you can still use the app, with reduced ability to place your posts in the right area.

Your precise coordinates are not attached to your posts. Posts carry an area identifier, not a GPS point. Your location is not sent to us for tracking or profiling and is not used to build an advertising profile.

When the internet is unavailable, the app can move the same messages over Bluetooth, local Wi-Fi, and LoRa radio hardware. These permissions are used only to find nearby devices and exchange messages with them. They are not used to identify you, to track your movements, or to collect information about the devices around you beyond what is needed to pass messages along.

An internet relay is treated as a fast peer, not an authority. When your phone is online it may exchange messages with a relay so they travel further and faster. A relay handles message objects, the areas they are addressed to, and basic operational information such as timestamps and connection metadata needed to move traffic and prevent abuse. It cannot read the contents of direct messages. Using a relay is not required for the app to function.

• Contacts and address books.
• Photos or files, unless you attach them to something you send.
• Health, financial, or biometric data.
• Advertising identifiers. There is no tracking as defined by Apple's App Tracking Transparency framework, and the app does not present a tracking prompt.
• Third-party analytics and advertising SDKs.

StreetSparrow is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them. If you believe a child has provided information to us, contact us and we will address it.

• You can delete the app, which removes your keys, messages, and settings from your device.
• You can revoke location, Bluetooth, and local network permissions at any time in iOS Settings.
• You can stop using internet relays and rely on local transports only.

Depending on where you live, you may have rights to access, correct, or delete personal data we hold, or to object to its processing. Because the app is designed so that we hold very little, the practical answer to most requests is that the data is on your device and under your control. Copies of public posts already carried by other people's devices cannot be retrieved or deleted by us.

Messages are signed and direct messages are end-to-end encrypted. No system is perfectly secure. StreetSparrow is pre-release software and should not be relied on as a substitute for 911, official public warning systems, or professional emergency communications.

The project is in active development and this policy will change as the app does. Material changes will be described in the app and on this page before they take effect.