Privacy Policy
LAST UPDATED / OCTOBER 15, 2026
Who we are
BUDDY is an engagement protocol operated from New York City that lets a physical venue turn a printed QR card into a live, no-download chat space for the people sitting in that space. This policy explains what we collect and why.
What visitors give us
A visitor joins a space by scanning a card and choosing a nickname — no account, no email, no phone number. We store the nickname and the messages sent to that space so the conversation renders for everyone at the venue. Messages are kept according to the retention rules below. If a visitor enables location for a location-restricted venue, coordinates are sent to the backend for the initial proximity check, but are not saved in the room or guest-session records. Subsequent proximity checks run in the browser. Location is not proof of identity.
Room message retention
New Basic rooms show messages for 24 hours; older Basic-room messages are removed by the rolling cleanup job rather than retained in the long-term chat archive. Premium and approved NYC partner rooms show up to 30 days. Moderation reports, account and legally required billing records may have separate retention. Original room purchases retain their original retention terms. Cleanup is periodic, so physical deletion may follow the visibility cutoff; backups may persist under the hosting provider’s retention policy.
What venue managers give us
Managers create an account with an email address and, for paid spaces, complete payment through our payment processor. We never see or store full card details. We keep the venue details a manager enters, their table access code, and a record of each purchase.
How we use it
To run the chat spaces, to show managers aggregate engagement insights about their own venue, to process payments, and to keep the service safe — messages pass through automated moderation before they are stored. We do not sell personal data and we do not build advertising profiles of visitors.
Guest security checks
Code-free room entry uses Cloudflare Turnstile to help distinguish legitimate visitors from automated traffic. The check sends network and browser/device signals to Cloudflare; Buddy does not include chat messages in verification requests. Buddy verifies the result on the server and uses short-lived, room-bound sessions with rate limits. IP-derived rate-limit keys use a private-key hash with daily rotation; these keys are pseudonymous, not anonymous. A successful bot check does not verify a visitor’s age or physical presence. Cloudflare privacy information.
Your choices
Visitors can leave a space at any time. Optional analytics identifiers are retained only if you allow analytics; you can withdraw that choice below. Managers can edit or delete their spaces from the dashboard. To request deletion of an account or of data tied to a venue, email us and we will action it.
Optional website analytics
With your permission, Buddy uses PostHog in the United States to measure page visits, room-link arrivals, successful joins and menu interactions. An anonymous browser identifier is stored locally to recognize return visits. Reports cover opted-in activity only. We do not send chat messages, nicknames, email addresses, access codes, payment details or precise location to PostHog. Session replay and automatic interaction recording are disabled. IP-derived location enrichment is disabled; network requests still pass through the provider. Do Not Track and Global Privacy Control are respected.
Contact
Questions about privacy: gursimransingh4490@gmail.com