Location & Geofence Policy

Version: 1.0 (pending final legal review before public launch)
Effective Date: 2026-07-22
Last Updated: 2026-07-22
Operator: Vallabh Sakhare, trading as ScatterBrain (“we”, “us”)
Contact: support@pipchat.in

This policy explains exactly how Dinner Date uses location, what is and is not stored, and the controls you have. It is read together with the Privacy Policy (§5), the Safety Guidelines, and the Terms of Service. Its central promises — foreground-only, and no continuous storage of your coordinates except during an SOS you trigger — are enforced in the product design. Independent legal review recommended before public launch.

1. Location permission we request

Dinner Date requests “while using the app” (foreground) location only. We do not request or use background location, and the app is not designed to track you when it is closed or in the background. On iOS the permission prompt reads: “DinnerDate uses your location once to show how far posted dinners are from you.” You can grant, deny, or revoke this permission in your device settings; denying it limits distance display and the safety features below.

2. What we use location for

Showing distance to posted dinners and nearby venues, and letting you search within an area.
Check-in. When you arrive at a date, the app checks that your device is within a short distance

(currently 50 metres) of the venue before you can confirm your presence.

Drift alert (optional). While the app is open, your device compares its location to the venue area.
SOS (only if you trigger it). Records a short-term location trail so you can be found.
Safe check-out. Confirms you’ve reached your private safe location after a date.
Region detection to show the correct local emergency helpline numbers.

Venue coordinates themselves come from public map data (OpenStreetMap) and are not personal to you.

3. What is stored — and what is not

We are deliberate about this:

Distance/discovery: used to compute distances; we do not build a background location history from it.
Drift alert: your device does the comparison and sends the server only a yes/no “drifted” signal.

Your coordinates never reach Dinner Date’s servers for drift monitoring. The monitoring record holds only drift counts, outcome, and heartbeat timestamps.

Live date location: where a date shares a live location, the server keeps only the **single latest

point, which is cleared afterwards — there is no location history**.

SOS trail: this is the one case where Dinner Date stores your precise location. When you trigger

SOS, your own device’s points are recorded for 24 hours so a trusted contact or the authorities can locate you. The trail is readable only to you and is protected from immediate deletion for a short period so it can serve as evidence.

Check-in: we store the fact and time of a verified check-in (an audit record), not a running trail.
Safe location: the private safe location you set is stored so safe check-out can work; to prevent

coercion, the app rejects a safe location set too close to the date venue, and changing it after a date requires your device biometric/PIN.

4. Geofence verification

“Geofence verification” means checking whether your device is near an approved venue at the right time — used for check-in and for drift comparison. It verifies proximity at a point in time; it is not continuous tracking of your movements and does not create a record of where you go before or after a date (subject only to the SOS trail in §3).

5. Retention

Location-derived safety records follow the schedule in the Account Deletion & Data Retention Policy: check-in audit records, monitoring sessions, and SOS trails are each retained for 90 days and then deleted/purged, unless a longer period is required for a legal obligation, a safety investigation, or a dispute.

Location-derived information may be shared only as needed: with your Emergency Contact when you trigger a safety feature (SOS/drift), with map/tile providers to render maps, and with authorities where lawfully required (see the Law Enforcement Request Policy). Coordinates are never shown to other users beyond a live location you choose to share for a specific date.

7. Accuracy and emergencies

Location technology is not always accurate (GPS, indoor spaces, network conditions all affect it), so location features must not be relied on as a precise fix or as a safety guarantee. Dinner Date is not an emergency service and cannot intervene during a date. In an emergency, contact local emergency services directly.

8. Your controls

You can grant/deny/revoke location permission in device settings, turn off drift auto-start in Settings, turn off safe check-out, and choose not to use optional features. Disabling location will disable check-in and the location-based safety tools.

9. Changes

If we ever introduce background location or any new location processing, we will update this policy and the Privacy Policy and obtain any required permission/consent before that processing begins.