Privacy Policy
Last updated: 30 October 2026
This Privacy Policy explains how Stay Alert ("Stay Alert", "we", "us" or "our") collects, uses and handles information when you use the Stay Alert mobile application and related services.
Stay Alert is designed to help people stay aware of possible risks nearby. It is a community risk-awareness service, not an official channel for reporting crimes or requesting police intervention. Users can share location-based observations, confirm nearby observations and receive relevant alerts. These observations may be incomplete or inaccurate. The app does not submit observations to law enforcement on your behalf or arrange a response. It is not an emergency service. To report a crime or seek urgent assistance, contact the appropriate authorities directly.
1. Information We Collect and Process
Depending on how you use Stay Alert, we may collect or process the following types of information.
- Precise location: Stay Alert uses precise device location to support location-based safety features. This includes determining where a report is submitted, identifying nearby reports, determining whether a user is close enough to confirm a report, displaying relevant map information, and supporting location-based alerts. On iOS, you can browse the map and open the account menu without location permission. Features requiring your current location remain unavailable until you enable location access.
- Authentication information: Stay Alert uses Firebase Authentication. The app may use an anonymous Firebase account. On iOS, optional sign-in is available through Google, Sign in with Apple, or email and password. Firebase and the selected provider process authentication information to provide sign-in. If you select Apple Hide My Email, Stay Alert receives the relay address supplied by Apple instead of your personal email address. Email sign-in and password reset use Firebase Authentication.
- User and technical identifiers: We process identifiers associated with authentication, Firebase services, app installations and devices where necessary to operate and secure the service.
- Safety reports: When you submit a report, we process information associated with that report, including the selected report type, report location, time and technical information required to associate and manage the report.
- Report confirmations: When you confirm a report, we process information necessary to record and validate the confirmation, including information used to prevent duplicate or invalid confirmations.
- Push notification information: Stay Alert uses Firebase Cloud Messaging. A push notification token and related technical information may be stored and processed so that relevant safety notifications can be delivered to your device.
- Security and service information: Firebase and related Google services may process technical information such as IP addresses, user-agent information, app or device integrity information, Firebase App Check tokens and other service data as necessary to provide, protect and secure their services.
2. How We Use Information
We use information processed through Stay Alert to:
- provide and operate the app's safety reporting features;
- display reports and alerts on the map;
- identify nearby reports and reduce duplicate reports;
- validate report confirmations and applicable distance limits;
- send relevant push notifications;
- authenticate users and maintain app sessions;
- protect the service against misuse and invalid activity;
- maintain the security, reliability and functionality of the app; and
- respond to support and privacy enquiries.
3. Location Information
Location is a core part of Stay Alert's functionality. The app uses precise location to support location-based reporting, confirmation, mapping and alert features.
If you enable Nearby Safety Alerts and grant background location permission, Stay Alert collects location data to determine whether you are near a confirmed safety report and should receive a safety notification, even when the app is closed or not in use.
Background location is used for the Nearby Safety Alerts feature and is not used for advertising. You can disable background location access at any time through your device settings. If background location access is disabled, other app features can still be used, but Nearby Safety Alerts may not be delivered while the app is closed or not in use.
A user's current device location is not intended to be displayed to other users as a live location. However, safety reports are location-based, and report locations may be displayed in the app so that users can understand where reported events occurred.
4. Reports and Confirmations
Reports and confirmations are structured information used to provide Stay Alert's community safety functionality. Reports may be visible to other authenticated users through the app, including their report type, approximate event context, location and relevant report status.
Technical identifiers associated with the person submitting or confirming a report are used for service operation, validation and abuse prevention and are not intended to be publicly displayed to other users.
5. Push Notifications
Stay Alert uses Firebase Cloud Messaging to deliver push notifications. Where notification permission is granted, a device push token and related information may be processed to determine which devices should receive relevant alerts.
You can control notification permissions through your device settings.
6. Service Providers
Stay Alert uses Google Firebase and Google Cloud services to provide important parts of the application's infrastructure. These services may process information on our behalf or as otherwise described in Google's applicable privacy and service documentation.
Firebase services used by Stay Alert include services for authentication, database functionality, server-side functions, app integrity protection, push notifications and website hosting.
Information processed through these services may be processed in countries outside your country of residence. The locations and safeguards applicable to such processing depend on the relevant Google or Firebase service.
7. Data Sharing
We do not sell personal information.
Information may be processed or disclosed to service providers such as Google and Firebase where necessary to operate, secure and support Stay Alert. Information may also be disclosed where required by applicable law, legal process, or to protect the rights, safety and security of users, the service or others.
Certain report information, including report location and report type, is made available within the app as part of Stay Alert's core community safety functionality.
8. Data Retention
Active safety reports and alerts are designed to have a limited operational lifetime. Stay Alert currently treats reports and alerts as active for approximately 30 minutes for the app's live safety functionality.
The end of a report's active period does not necessarily mean that every associated record or technical log is immediately deleted. Some information may be retained for a reasonable period where necessary for service operation, security, abuse prevention, troubleshooting, legal obligations or backup processes.
Service providers such as Firebase may apply their own retention periods to information they process in providing their services.
9. Account Deletion and Privacy Requests
On iOS, open the Account menu in Stay Alert, choose Delete Account, confirm the warning and complete account deletion. This option is available for anonymous accounts and accounts using Google, Apple, or email and password. Linked accounts require verification with their sign-in provider before deletion starts. For Apple accounts, the app also requests revocation of the Stay Alert Apple sign-in authorization. Deleting a Stay Alert account does not delete your Apple or Google account or your email mailbox.
Account deletion removes the Stay Alert authentication account, saved location and notification registration, reports created by that account, their associated alerts, and confirmations made by the account. Reporting and location updates are paused while deletion is in progress. If a connection fails, the app lets you retry and only shows deletion as complete after the server confirms it. A new anonymous session starts only when you choose to start one.
A temporary security and recovery record contains the account identifier, a hash of a private deletion receipt and completion status. This record prevents stale sessions from recreating deleted data and helps the app recover a lost deletion response. It remains while deletion is incomplete. After deletion completes, an expiry time is set for automatic cleanup after 24 hours; cleanup may occur later. Service-provider technical logs and backups may follow their own retention periods.
For help with account deletion or other privacy enquiries, contact support@getstayalert.app. We may need information sufficient to identify the relevant account or data. Information may be retained where reasonably necessary or legally required for security, fraud prevention or legal obligations.
10. Security
We use technical and organisational measures intended to protect information handled through Stay Alert. The app uses Firebase and Google Cloud security features, authenticated access controls and Firebase App Check to help protect backend services.
Data transmitted to supported Firebase services is protected using encrypted network connections. No method of electronic storage or transmission can be guaranteed to be completely secure.
11. Age Requirement
Stay Alert is intended for users aged 18 and over. It is not intended for children.
12. Changes to This Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy when the app, our data practices, legal requirements or the services we use change. When we make changes, we will update the "Last updated" date shown at the top of this page.
13. Contact Us
If you have questions about this Privacy Policy, privacy requests or the way Stay Alert handles information, contact:
Stay Alert Apps
Email:
support@getstayalert.app