What the VibeFlow app does with your location — and what it never does
Every location feature in the mobile app is optional and off by default. Here is exactly what each one collects, who can see it, how long it is kept, and where the off switches are.
Every location feature in the VibeFlow mobile app is optional and off until you turn it on, and the app stays fully usable if you never grant the permission. That is the design rule, and our privacy policy states it in writing. This post walks through what each feature actually collects, who can see it, and where the off switches are.
The friends map
Location sharing is off by default. When you turn it on, your current coordinates and a coarse place label — for example "Petaling Jaya, Malaysia" — are stored on our servers and shown only to your mutual follows: people you follow who also follow you back. That rule is enforced on our servers, not just in the app, so it holds even for an out-of-date client.
There are two sharing modes:
- "While using the app" — the default. Your position refreshes when you open the app or the map.
- "Always allow" — separately opt-in background sharing. Your position updates roughly every 2 minutes, or after about 150 metres of movement, and while it is running Android displays a permanent notification reading "Location sharing on". You can drop back to "While using the app" at any time.
You can also define up to 10 restricted areas — home, workplace, anywhere you choose. While you are inside one, your position is hidden from everyone. This too is applied on the server.
Place tags, stories and rides
Adding a place to a post or story is optional and happens only when you choose it while composing. The tag is visible to everyone who can see the content, and a place-tagged story also appears on the story map, visible to signed-in users for as long as the story is live — 24 or 48 hours, as you chose when posting. Deleting the post or story removes the tag with it.
Community rides work the way you would expect a trip to: your pickup coordinates and destination are stored with the ride request and shown to drivers browsing nearby open requests. Once a ride is confirmed, your position is sent roughly every 12 seconds so both parties can watch each other approach on the trip map — and that stops the moment the ride ends.
What never leaves your device
Choosing your content region takes a one-off, approximate reading, matches it to the nearest supported region, and saves the result on your device only. Those coordinates are not transmitted to our servers at all.
Who else processes coordinates
Mapbox converts coordinates into place names, searches destinations, and calculates driving routes and arrival estimates; it processes them under its own privacy policy. We do not sell location data, do not share it with data brokers, and do not use it for advertising or profiling.
The off switches
- Turn the sharing toggle off on the friends map — your pin disappears from every friend's map immediately and no further positions are collected.
- Choose "While using the app" instead of "Always allow" to end all background collection.
- Add restricted areas to keep chosen places permanently hidden.
- Revoke the permission in Android Settings › Apps › VibeFlow › Permissions › Location — the rest of the app keeps working.
- Delete a post or story to remove the place tag attached to it.
- Email support@sxagg.com to have stored location data erased; we action requests within 30 days.