Privacy Policy

1. Who we are

BlinkPop is a mobile application and website operated by Tan Jin Xue, an individual based in Malaysia. We are the data controller for the personal data described here. Contact jinxuetan@gmail.com with privacy questions or requests.

2. Who can use BlinkPop

BlinkPop is for adults aged 18 and over. We do not knowingly collect personal data from anyone under 18. The app asks for your birthday before you use it; it does not check it against any document. An account whose birthday makes it under 18 cannot use the app until the birthday is changed, and can still sign out or delete itself. If you believe a minor is using BlinkPop, contact us so we can remove the account and its data.

3. What we collect

• Account and profile information. Sign-in identifiers, email, name and profile picture where supplied by Google or Apple; your display name, username, gender, avatar, bio, interests and links. We do not receive your Google or Apple password. We also record the time you agreed to the Terms in the app. We keep the birthday you give in the app, which you can change in Settings, and whether you chose to show your age on your profile.
• Content and social activity. Pops, posts, photos, messages, participation, follows, blocks, reports and check-ins, including the Place or Pop and time of a visit. We also keep a list of the Pops and posts you hid from your own view; it is deleted with your account.
• Location. With your permission, we use your location while the app is in use for nearby discovery, distances, nearby notifications and check-in verification. We do not request background location access. We reduce the precision of location saved to your profile; published Places, Pops and check-ins can still reveal where an activity or visit took place.
• Searches and photos submitted to Ask. We process submitted text and photos and retain interpreted search information as explained in section 6.
• Optional dictation. Your device's speech service turns voice into text and may send audio to Apple on iOS or your selected Android speech service, usually Google. It asks for microphone and speech-recognition permission. BlinkPop receives text, not an audio recording; submitting that text to Ask is covered by section 6.
• Technical and usage information. IP addresses, login-session and device information, notification tokens, account and installation identifiers, approximate IP-based location, app activity, errors, crashes and performance measurements. Screen replays may be collected when enabled; sensitive screen content is configured to be masked.
• Support and website information. Feedback, reports, correspondence, optional screenshots, app and device versions, and waitlist email addresses. Website analytics and bot protection process browser and technical information.

We do not read your phone address book, collect advertising identifiers or process payments. We do not ask for health, biometric or financial information. Personal information you include in free-form content or photos is still processed as part of that content.

4. Why we use it and your choices

We use data to provide accounts, discovery, Pops, chats and check-ins; deliver notifications; process optional Ask requests; respond to support requests; investigate reports and prevent abuse; and understand usage, diagnose problems and improve the service.

Sign-in information is required to create an account and use account features. Additional profile details, uploaded content, dictation and Ask submissions are your choice. You can decline or withdraw location and notification permissions in your device settings; features that need those permissions may be unavailable. Notification and visibility choices are also available in Settings. Section 6 explains how to change Ask permissions.

We process personal data with consent or another basis permitted by applicable law, including where necessary to provide the service you request or comply with legal obligations. Where EEA or UK law applies, we rely on contract for core account features; consent for location, requested notifications and optional Ask submissions; and legitimate interests for service security, support and improvement, subject to your rights.

We do not sell your personal data or use it for advertising or cross-app advertising tracking. BlinkPop itself does not use your personal data to train models or make automated decisions with legal or similarly significant effects. The external AI service used by Ask works under its own terms, which differ; see section 6.

5. Who can see what

• Profiles. Your name, username, avatar, bio, links and interests are visible to other signed-in users. Your public profile page is accessible to anyone with its link. We ask search engines not to index personal profile pages. Your birthday is never shown to anyone else. If you turn on Show my age on my profile, your age, never your birthday, is shown on your profile and on your public profile page.
• Pops. Public Pops and their participant lists are visible to people who can find them. Private Pops have restricted in-app access, but anyone with a share link can see the web preview, including event details and participant previews. Sharing a link does not grant membership.
• Check-ins. Signed-in users who can open a Place or Pop may see your check-in and its time, including after the hour or Pop ends. At Places, recent check-ins contribute to Here now totals and map faces for one hour; repeated visits over 30 days may appear in Regulars. Map faces may be visible to people you do not follow. Settings → Show me at places I visit hides you from these lists and the map, but keeps the record and aggregate counts. Blocks and account suspensions also limit visibility. Your personal visit-history view is private; individual check-ins may be visible as described here.
• Chats. An Open Pop's discussion is visible to any signed-in person who can open it, without joining or checking in. Other Pop chats are visible to their members. Direct messages are visible to you and the recipient. Blocking stops direct messaging. In a shared Pop chat, a person who has blocked you sees a placeholder in place of your messages, and everyone else still sees them.
• Distance and search suggestions. Others may see approximate distance, but not your coordinates or live position. Settings → Suggest me in search lets you choose profile and posts, profile only, or no suggestions. Suggestions may quote eligible profile or public-post content. Ghost mode and blocks also limit suggestions. Other people's profiles and posts are not sent to our AI provider for this matching.

6. Services we share data with

We share data with the following types of services to operate BlinkPop. Their applicable terms govern their processing.

• Hosting, storage and security services — process account information, content and technical data to run and protect the service.
• Sign-in and device services — Google and Apple provide sign-in; your device's speech service processes optional dictation.
• Notification and app-update services — process device identifiers, notification tokens and notification content, which may include message previews, and deliver app updates.
• Map and place-search services — receive your IP address, requested map area and approximate search coordinates to display maps and find places.
• Analytics and diagnostic services — process account and installation identifiers, usage, approximate IP-based location, errors, performance data and screen replays when enabled.

We may also disclose data to comply with law, establish or defend legal claims, protect users, or transfer the service to a successor subject to this policy.

Optional Ask features

Ask sends submitted text, photos and information derived from them to an external AI service in China, which processes and stores them there, to find activities or prepare Pop drafts. Everything visible in a photo is included, including personal details. We do not attach your account identity, birthday, age or device coordinates. Avoid submitting sensitive information or another person's personal details. The provider's terms allow limited use of de-identified inputs and outputs to develop and improve its services and underlying technology. We have not established a fixed retention period for provider-held copies.

We ask for permission before sending text and separately before sending photos. Declining sends nothing and creates no search record. Settings → Ask with text and Ask with photos controls new submissions across your devices. Turning permission off does not cancel an already accepted request or erase information previously sent. We keep your consent choices until account deletion.

BlinkPop does not retain the original search sentence or text extracted from a photo. We keep an account-linked record of interpreted typed searches and results to improve the service until account deletion; it may contain names you searched for and reveal the area searched. Photo-only submissions are not included in this search record. Attached photos are stored as potential Pop covers; unused photos are deleted within 8 days, unless you delete your account first, when the image-deletion limit in section 9 applies. Contact us about access or deletion of information already sent to the AI service.

7. Overseas processing

BlinkPop is based in Malaysia. Account/content storage and analytics include processing in the United States, hosting operates globally, and Ask submissions are processed in China. Data may therefore be transferred outside Malaysia or your country, where laws may differ.

The terms of the AI service used by Ask do not include European standard contractual clauses, and removing account identifiers does not make every submission anonymous. Contact us for information about the transfer arrangements applicable to your data.

8. How long we keep data

Account data, posted content, messages, interpreted search records and consent choices generally remain while you have an account, unless deleted earlier. Check-in and visit records do not automatically expire. Place map faces and Here now totals use the last hour; Checked in lists keep older records and Regulars uses 30 days of visits.

You can remove a Place check-in within the first hour and remove a Pop check-in in the app. For older Place check-ins, contact us or delete your account. We do not currently apply automatic expiry to old messages or visit records. Waitlist emails remain until you ask us to remove them. Login sessions expire according to their session settings.

Reports about you and moderation action records survive account deletion for safety and abuse prevention. Reports you filed are deleted with your account. Content removed for breaking the Community guidelines is hidden, not erased, and kept until restored or your account is deleted.

Previously collected analytics, crash reports and hosting request logs are not automatically removed by account deletion. Provider retention varies; contact us about these records. Section 6 explains AI-provider retention and unused photos; section 9 explains uploaded images.

9. Deleting your account

Use Settings → Delete account, or follow the email request steps on our account-deletion page. Deletion is permanent. It removes your account, profile, host profiles, created Pops and their chats, messages, memberships, follows, posts, blocks, check-ins, visit records, notification tokens and sign-in credentials.

Reports that other people filed about you and our moderation action records are kept to prevent repeat abuse. Invitation links remain valid but are no longer linked to your account. A message of yours that someone reported is kept with that report. Apart from that, these exceptions do not preserve your ordinary profile or messages.

Images you uploaded may remain in our storage after account deletion. To request their removal, email us before you delete your account, while we can still identify your images. Account deletion also does not automatically remove the analytics, crash reports and hosting logs described in section 8, or copies already sent to the AI provider. Contact us for help with those records.

10. Your rights

Contact jinxuetan@gmail.com to request access, a copy, correction or deletion of your data, or to withdraw consent or limit processing. We may need to verify your identity. Edit your profile and privacy choices in Settings where available. Withdrawing consent stops future processing that depends on it; some features may become unavailable.

In Malaysia, applicable PDPA rights include access, correction, withdrawal of consent, restrictions on direct marketing and data portability subject to statutory conditions, technical feasibility and compatibility. Access and correction requests are generally handled within 21 days; we will explain any lawful extension or exception. You may also complain to Malaysia's Personal Data Protection Commissioner.

Where EEA or UK law applies, you may also object to legitimate-interest processing, request restriction or portability, and complain to your local supervisory authority. Withdrawal does not affect earlier lawful processing. We respond within the time required by applicable law and explain any lawful reason we cannot fulfil a request. We do not charge for requests or treat you differently for exercising your rights.

11. Security

We use technical and organisational measures, including encryption in transit and restricted access, to protect personal data. Messages are not end-to-end encrypted. Authorised access to message content is possible for investigating reports or complying with law. No service can guarantee complete security.

12. Website cookies and storage

Our website uses analytics, including a browser identifier stored in first-party cookies and local storage. Browser and usage information helps us understand and improve the site. There are no advertising cookies or third-party advertising pixels. You can manage cookies and local storage through your browser settings, which may affect website features, and contact us to exercise your privacy rights.

13. Changes to this policy

We update the date when this policy changes. For material changes to data use or your rights, we give notice in the app or by email before they take effect and request additional consent where required.

14. Contact

Tan Jin Xue · Malaysia · jinxuetan@gmail.com. See our Support page for help, reporting and account deletion.