We built Puddle to collect as little as possible. This policy explains what we do collect, why, and your rights under UK data protection law (the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018).
Who we are
[Company legal name] (“we”, “us”) is the controller of your personal information. Contact us at [contact email] or [registered address]. [Add Data Protection Officer contact details if appointed.]
What we collect
Your account: username, email address and a securely hashed version of your password (we never store your password itself), and when you last logged in.
Your family profile: what you’re hoping to find, the age groups of your children and the age groups you’d like to meet, interests, social preferences, your area and town, how far you’ll travel, your approach to home education, advice you’d like, and anything you write in “a little about us”.
What we don’t ask for: exact ages, children’s names, your home address or your precise location. We estimate travel times between towns rather than using GPS.
Your activity: families you pin (private to you), messages and conversations, meetups you create or join (including addresses or joining details organisers provide), notifications, and your notification settings.
Safety records: when you agreed to our community guidelines and meeting safely steps (and which version), blocks you make, and reports you make or that are made about you, including copies of reported messages.
Your device: if you allow notifications, a push notification token for your device. We also keep basic technical logs (such as error messages) to keep the service running.
Why we use it, and our lawful bases
| Purpose | Lawful basis |
|---|---|
| Running your account, profile, matches, pins, messages and meetups | Contract: to provide Puddle to you |
| Showing you families nearby and what you have in common | Contract |
| Safety: guidelines records, blocks, reports and moderation | Legitimate interests: keeping members, especially children, safe |
| Push notifications | Consent: you can turn them off at any time in your phone’s settings |
| Meeting legal obligations, e.g. responding to the police | Legal obligation |
Who can see your information
- Other members can see your family profile (username, area and town, and your answers), and an estimate of how far away you are. They can’t see your email address.
- Pins are private to you. Blocks aren’t shown to the person you block.
- Meetup addresses and joining links are only shown to members who are going.
- Messages are visible to the people in that conversation. Meetup chats are visible to everyone going.
- Our team can access information where needed to run Puddle and to review reports.
Service providers
We use trusted providers to run Puddle, under contracts that protect your information:
- Vercel to host our API [region]
- DigitalOcean to host our database [region]
- Google Firebase Cloud Messaging to deliver push notifications
- Apple and Google to distribute the app
[Confirm regions. Where information is transferred outside the UK, describe the safeguards, e.g. the UK International Data Transfer Agreement or an adequacy decision.]
We don’t sell your information or use it for advertising.
How long we keep it
We keep your account information while your account is open. [State retention periods, e.g. deleted within 30 days of account closure.] We may keep safety records, such as reports, for longer where needed to protect members or meet legal obligations [state period].
Children
Puddle accounts are for adults (18+). We don’t knowingly collect personal information from children. Please don’t share children’s names, photos, schools or exact locations on Puddle.
Your rights
You have the right to access, correct or delete your information, to restrict or object to how we use it, and to receive a copy of it. Contact us at [contact email] to make a request. [Update once in-app account deletion is available.]
If you’re unhappy with how we’ve handled your information, you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk or on 0303 123 1113. We’d appreciate the chance to help first.
Security
Connections to Puddle are encrypted, passwords are hashed, and our database only accepts encrypted, verified connections. No system is completely secure, so please keep your login details private.
Changes
We may update this policy. If changes are significant, we’ll tell you in the app.