Privacy Policy

The data controller for personal data processed via Gay Map (the “Service”) is Pride Nav, based in Berlin, Germany. You can reach us at privacy@gaymap.live.

We collect the minimum we need to operate the Service:

• Account data — email, display name, optional profile photo, the calendars and events you create or RSVP to, and your visibility preferences.
• Event content — titles, descriptions, cover images, venue addresses, ticket prices, and any community agreements you publish.
• RSVP data — when you register for an event, the host sees your name, email, and any answers to questions they asked. You can opt to RSVP anonymously where the host has enabled that.
• Approximate location — your city or current coordinates (with permission) to surface nearby events and venues.
• Device + usage data— IP address, browser, the pages and events you view, and aggregated interaction events. See “Analytics & cookies” below.
• Sensitive profile data (optional) — pronouns, gender expression, and any other information you choose to publish on your profile. This is entirely optional and never required to use the Service.
• Contact form messages — name, email, and message body when you write to us via the contact form. Retained for up to 90 days, then auto-deleted.

We process the data above to:

• Operate the Service (authentication, RSVPs, hosting tools).
• Surface relevant events and venues, including by proximity and the calendars you follow.
• Send transactional email — RSVP confirmations, address-reveal notifications for DAY_OF events, and event reminders.
• Investigate abuse, fraud, and safety incidents.
• Improve the product, in aggregated and de-identified form.

The legal bases are: performance of the contract with you (Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR), our legitimate interest in operating a trustworthy platform (Art. 6(1)(f)), and your consent for optional features such as precise location (Art. 6(1)(a)).

Sensitive profile data (Art. 9 GDPR). Gay Map serves an LGBTQ+ audience, and information you choose to publish on your public profile — including pronouns, gender expression, and which calendars and events you participate in — may reveal data falling within Art. 9 special categories (sexual orientation, gender identity). We process this data only on the basis of your explicit consent under Art. 9(2)(a), given when you fill in those optional fields or take part in optional activities. You can withdraw at any time by clearing the field, changing your profile visibility in settings, or deleting your account — none of these affect your ability to keep using the rest of the Service.

We do not sell your personal data. We share it only with sub-processors that help us run the Service, under data-processing agreements:

• Supabase — authentication and database hosting (EU region).
• Vercel — application hosting and edge delivery for the web app.
• Cloudflare — CDN, image optimisation, and DDoS protection.
• Google Cloud Storage — storage for venue, event, and user-uploaded images.
• PostHog — product analytics (EU region; IP-anonymised; no cross-site tracking). Only loaded after you accept the cookie banner.
• Google Tag Manager — container for measurement tags. Only loaded after you accept the cookie banner.
• Resend — transactional email delivery (RSVP confirmations, security notices, address-reveal emails).
• Stripe Connect — when in-app payments are enabled, Stripe processes ticket payments and collects the data they need under their own privacy policy.
• Mapbox & Google Places — venue lookups; queries are forwarded as you type.
• Hosts of events you RSVP to — see “RSVP data” above.

We use a small number of strictly-necessary cookies (sign-in session, CSRF token, preference cookies). These do not require consent and are loaded on first visit.

Analytics (PostHog) and the Google Tag Manager container are not loaded until you click “Accept All”on the cookie banner. If you click “Reject All”, no analytics scripts run. PostHog is configured with IP anonymisation enabled, session recording disabled, and no cross-site tracking. We do not use third-party advertising trackers and we do not run retargeting pixels.

We retain account data for as long as your account is active. When you delete your account, your profile is taken offline immediately and any personal API keys are revoked the same day. Within 30 days, your personal data — email, name, photos, bio, bookmarks, RSVPs — is anonymised: PII fields are nulled or replaced with placeholders, while record IDs are kept so attendance counts and host history stay consistent for events you participated in.

We retain a longer tail in narrow cases:

• Tax records when payments flow through Stripe Connect — typically up to 10 years under German law.
• Audit logs of administrative actions and security-relevant events — up to 12 months in anonymised form.
• Anonymised, aggregated event statistics — indefinitely.
• Contact form messages — up to 90 days, after which they are permanently deleted by an automated daily job.

You can download a machine-readable copy of your personal data at any time by calling GET /auth/me/export while signed in (returns JSON). You can also expedite deletion by emailing privacy@gaymap.live.

You have the right to:

• Access the personal data we hold about you.
• Correct inaccurate data, or complete incomplete data.
• Erase your data (right to be forgotten), subject to retention obligations above.
• Restrict or object to specific kinds of processing.
• Receive your data in a machine-readable format (portability).
• Withdraw consent at any time, where processing was based on consent.
• Lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority. Our lead authority is the Berlin Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information.

To exercise any of these rights, email privacy@gaymap.live. We aim to respond within 30 days.

See our Security & Safety page for the technical and organisational measures we take, including location-privacy gates, anonymous RSVPs, and our vulnerability disclosure address.

The Service is for adults only. You must be 18 or older to create an account or use Gay Map. We ask you to confirm this at sign-in and we will close any account we discover to be under 18.

Some sub-processors (e.g. Stripe) may process limited data outside the EU/EEA. Where we do, we rely on Standard Contractual Clauses or other transfer safeguards as required by GDPR.

When we change this Policy materially, we will notify active users by email and in-app at least 14 days before the change takes effect.