Privacy Policy
This Privacy Policy explains how Ghost Story Review ("GSR," "we," "us," or "our") collects, uses, discloses, and protects information when you use the Ghost Story Review mobile application (the "App") and any related services (collectively, the "Service").
By creating an account or otherwise using the Service, you agree to the collection and use of information as described in this policy. If you do not agree, please do not use the Service.
1. Information We Collect
1.1 Account and Profile Information
When you register for an account, we collect:
- Email address — used to create and authenticate your account, send account-related notices, and enable password recovery. If you sign in with Google, we receive the email address associated with your Google account.
- Password, or Google account credentials — if you register with an email address, your password is handled by our authentication provider (Google Firebase Authentication) and is stored in a hashed form we cannot read. If you sign in with Google, we do not receive your Google password at any point.
- Date of birth — collected during registration and used to confirm that you meet the Service's minimum age requirement of 18. We store it so that we do not have to ask again and so the requirement can be re-verified. Your date of birth is not shown to other users.
- Username — the unique @handle that identifies your account. Usernames are public and permanent; see Section 7 for what happens to a username when an account is deleted.
You also create the following profile information, which is visible to other users:
- Display name — the name shown alongside your content and messages.
- Profile photo — optional. If you do not upload one, a default placeholder is shown.
- Bio — optional free text you may add to your profile.
You can edit your display name, profile photo, and bio at any time in the App.
1.2 Location Data
With your permission, the App uses your device's precise or approximate location while the App is in use (foreground only). We do not use location while the App is running in the background or is closed.
Location is used for a single feature: the map's distance filter. When you choose a search radius in the map's filter options, your device's location is used to calculate which haunted locations fall within that distance of you.
This calculation happens entirely on your device. Your location is never transmitted to us or to any third party, and we never store it. We hold it only in the App's memory while it is running, and it is discarded when the App closes.
We ask for location permission only at the moment you apply a distance filter — not when you open the App or the map. If you deny or later revoke it, everything else continues to work normally: the map, all location pins, search, reviews, and every other feature. Only the distance filter is unavailable.
The App does not display your position on the map and does not track your movements.
1.3 User-Submitted Content
The Service allows you to create and upload:
- Written reviews of locations, including a numeric "Haunt Score";
- "Lore" entries — investigation notes attached to a location;
- Posts to the social feed;
- "Flickers" — short videos submitted on their own rather than attached to other content. A Flicker is its own kind of content, with its own likes and comments;
- Comments and replies on any of the above;
- Photos;
- Videos;
- Direct messages ("DMs") sent to other users;
- Suggested edits to location records, and new locations you submit for review.
Any video you submit — whether a standalone Flicker or video attached to a review, post, or lore entry — may also be shown in the App's Flickers feed, alongside video submitted by other users.
We also record the following, which are tied to your account:
- Likes you place on content;
- Bookmarks — the reviews, posts, lore entries, Flickers, and locations you save. Your bookmarks are private and are not shown to other users;
- Follows — the accounts you follow and the accounts that follow you, both of which are visible to other users;
- Blocks — the accounts you have blocked. Blocks are not shown to the blocked user;
- Reports and feedback you submit to us, including the content you reported and any detail you provided. See Section 7 for how long these are retained.
Photos and videos may contain embedded metadata (such as the time and place a photo or video was taken). We recommend reviewing your device's camera and photo-sharing settings if you do not want this metadata included.
Photos you upload are stored with a direct access link. Anyone who has that link can view the photo, whether or not they have a Ghost Story Review account. Deleting the photo from the App removes the underlying file, which invalidates the link.
1.4 Direct Messages
Direct messages you send to other users through the Service are stored on our servers so that conversations can be delivered and retained across devices. Direct messages are not end-to-end encrypted. They are stored in a form that we are technically able to read. DMs are not reviewed by GSR as a matter of routine, but we may access message content where necessary to investigate harassment, abuse, or violations of our Terms of Service, to respond to a user report, or to comply with a legal obligation.
1.5 Usage and Device Data
To deliver core features, the App collects a small amount of technical data:
- Push notification token — a device-specific identifier issued by Google Firebase Cloud Messaging, used solely to deliver notifications you have allowed (replies, likes, follows, direct messages, and moderation decisions). Notifications are turned on or off as a whole through your device's system settings; the App does not offer separate settings for individual notification types. It is deleted when you sign out or delete your account.
- Firebase installation identifier — used by Google Firebase to deliver push notifications and configuration settings to your installation of the App.
- Server request data — as with any internet service, our service providers' servers receive your IP address and basic connection information as a necessary part of delivering requests. This is not used to build a profile of you.
The App contains no advertising and no analytics. We do not display advertisements, we do not collect your device's Advertising ID, and we do not use Google Analytics for Firebase, Google Analytics, or any other analytics or usage-tracking service. We do not collect screen views, usage patterns, crash reports, or diagnostic logs.
2. How We Use Information
We use the information described above to:
- Provide, operate, and maintain the Service, including account creation, authentication, and the map/review/lore features;
- Display your reviews, photos, videos, lore entries, and display name to other users as intended by the App's core functionality;
- Deliver direct messages between users;
- Monitor, maintain, and improve the performance, stability, and features of the App;
- Detect, investigate, and prevent fraud, abuse, harassment, and violations of our Terms of Service;
- Respond to your requests, questions, and support inquiries;
- Comply with applicable law, legal process, or governmental request.
We do not sell your personal information.
3. Third-Party Service Providers
| Service provider | Purpose | Data involved |
|---|---|---|
| Google Firebase (Authentication, Firestore, Cloud Storage, Cloud Functions, Cloud Messaging, Remote Config) | Account sign-in, storing your profile and content, storing photos, delivering push notifications, and app configuration | Email address, date of birth, display name and username, profile photo, your posts, reviews, lore entries, comments and messages, push notification token |
| Cloudflare Stream (Cloudflare, Inc.) | Hosting, processing and delivering videos you upload | Video files you choose to upload, and their playback data |
| Google Places API (Google) | Searching for places, and displaying photographs of haunted locations | Place names, addresses and coordinates of the locations in our catalogue — not your device's location |
| Google Maps SDK (Google) | Rendering the in-app map | Map tile requests for the area you are viewing |
These providers process data on our behalf, under contract, and are not permitted to use it for their own purposes. They may process and store data on servers located outside your country of residence. You can review their own privacy documentation here:
4. How We Share Information
We do not sell your personal information, and we do not share it with advertisers or data brokers. The App contains no advertising, and no advertising or analytics company receives any data from it.
We share information only in these circumstances:
- With the service providers listed in Section 3, strictly to operate the App on our behalf.
- With other users, where you choose to make something public. Your display name, username, profile photo, bio and any content you post (reviews, lore entries, posts, comments, photos and videos) are visible to other users of the App. Direct messages are visible to their recipient.
- Where required by law, or to investigate a violation of our Terms of Service, protect the safety of users, or respond to a valid legal request.
- In connection with a business transfer — if GSR is involved in a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets, user information may be transferred as part of that transaction, subject to this policy or a successor policy.
- With your consent — in any other case where you direct us to share information.
5. Data Retention
We retain account information, content, and messages for as long as your account is active. If you delete a specific review, photo, video, or lore entry, we remove it from active display and delete the underlying file from storage within a reasonable period.
In-app notifications are deleted automatically on a schedule, whether or not you do anything: a notification you have read is deleted 30 days after it was created, and one you have not read is deleted after 90 days.
If you delete your account, we process the deletion as described in Section 7 below.
6. Your Rights and Choices
- Access and correction — you can view and edit your display name and other profile details within the App.
- Location permission — you can grant, deny, or revoke location access at any time in your device settings.
- Content deletion — you can delete individual reviews, photos, videos, and lore entries you have submitted directly within the App.
- Account and data deletion — you may request deletion of your account and associated personal data at any time (see Section 7).
If you are located in the European Economic Area (EEA), United Kingdom, or Switzerland, you may have additional rights under the GDPR, including the right to data portability and the right to object to or restrict certain processing. If you are a California resident, you may have rights under the CCPA/CPRA, including the right to know what personal information is collected and the right to request deletion. To exercise any of these rights, contact us using the information in Section 10.
7. Account and Data Deletion
You can permanently delete your account at any time from within the App via Profile > Delete Account. To confirm the request is really coming from you, we require you to re-authenticate immediately beforehand (by re-entering your password, or, for accounts linked to Google, a fresh Google sign-in prompt), and to explicitly confirm the deletion, including typing a confirmation phrase, before anything is removed.
When you complete account deletion, we delete, in this order: every review, post, lore entry, and Flicker you authored, including any photos or videos attached to them; every comment, reply, and like you have left anywhere on the Service; every follow relationship connected to your account, in both directions; every block you created; your profile photo; the private record holding your email address, date of birth, and push notification token; and your account profile record. Your authentication credentials (your email/password or linked Google sign-in) are deleted last, once everything above has been removed.
Removing your profile record automatically triggers a further cleanup on our servers, which deletes your bookmarks — the reviews, posts, lore entries, Flickers, and locations you had saved — along with your in-app notification history and your copies of any warnings you had received. The underlying moderation records behind those warnings are retained; see below.
Some information is not deleted as part of this process:
- Direct messages. Conversations and messages you have sent or received are not deleted when you delete your account. Message content is retained so that other participants' conversation history is preserved, and so that any message that has been reported remains available for trust-and-safety review. When a message is reported, we capture and store a copy of that message and a limited number of surrounding messages from the same conversation as they appeared at the time of the report. This copy is retained as part of the moderation record and is not removed if the original message is later deleted or if either participant deletes their account. After deletion, your name and photo will no longer be shown in any existing conversation; you will instead appear under a generic placeholder identity, the same way any user whose profile can no longer be resolved appears elsewhere in the Service.
- Your @username. The unique username you claimed is not released when you delete your account. It remains permanently reserved and cannot be claimed by another user, even though your account and profile no longer exist.
- Locations you submitted. Haunted-location records you created or submitted remain on the Service after you delete your account; only GSR administrators can remove a location.
- Suggested edits to locations. Edits you proposed to an existing location are retained, including any note you wrote with them, because they form part of the record of how a location's details came to be what they are. A suggestion that had already been approved or rejected is left exactly as it was. A suggestion still awaiting review is automatically marked as rejected when you delete your account and is removed from our moderation queue — it is not acted on, because there is no longer an account to follow up with — but the suggestion itself, including your note, is retained as part of that record.
- Reports, moderation records, feedback, and audit logs. If you have reported another user or piece of content, or have been the subject of a report, those reports — along with related moderation decisions, feedback you submitted, and internal audit records — are retained even after account deletion. We keep these for trust and safety, to investigate abuse, and to comply with legal obligations.
Account deletion is irreversible. Once your authentication credentials are removed, you will not be able to sign back in or recover any of the data described above. Some content you posted that other users have copied, screenshotted, or otherwise saved outside the Service is also not within our control and may not be deleted.
If you are unable to access the in-app deletion option, including because you have uninstalled the App, you may also request deletion by following the steps on our Account Deletion page or by contacting us at the support address listed in Section 10.
8. Children's Privacy
The Service requires all users to be at least 18 years old and is not directed to, or intended for use by, anyone under 18. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 18. If we learn that we have collected personal information from someone under 18, we will take steps to delete that information. If you believe someone under 18 has provided us with personal information, please contact us using the information in Section 10.
9. Data Security
We use commercially reasonable administrative, technical, and physical safeguards designed to protect your information, including the security infrastructure provided by Firebase and Cloudflare. However, no method of transmission or storage is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.
10. Contact Us
If you have questions about this Privacy Policy, or want to exercise any privacy right described above, including account or data deletion, contact us at:
11. Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. If we make material changes, we will update the effective date above and post the revised policy at ghoststoryreview.com. Your continued use of the Service after a change becomes effective constitutes your acceptance of the revised policy.