NEXT CHASE Privacy Policy

Version 1.0.0. Effective upon first publication at this address.

Next Chase LLC operates NEXT CHASE. This policy covers our free initial beta for people age 13 and older in the 50 United States. US territories and other countries are outside this beta's scope. The beta has no purchases or advertising feature. For privacy questions, contact support@nextchaseapp.com.

Information and purposes

We use account information to authenticate you, maintain your profile, check eligibility, provide requested features and protect the service. Firebase Authentication processes email-and-password account credentials, an account identifier and verification status. Profiles can include a username, preferences, an age-eligibility result and an optional photo. For the planned public self-service beta, the signup flow asks for a real birth date, sends it to our backend for age checking, and is designed to reject an under-13, invalid or unconfirmed result before creating an account. The full date is handled temporarily in the form and request; it is not part of the saved eligibility result or signup grant. Limited operation records and keyed email correlation support eligibility, expiry, safe retries and account containment. These records do not contain a password or full birth date. Form memory and provider operational handling are distinct from saved account records; we do not promise that every provider record is erased immediately. These updated account protections are being prepared for the public beta and are not a statement that every existing account or app version has passed them. Do not send a birth date to support unless a necessary, safe process has been established.

Content you save can include Saved Markers, Spots, activity logs, tracks, gear, trophies, notes, calendar entries, Daily Tips, weather favorites and AI sessions. It can contain precise locations, photos and other information you provide. We process saved content to provide, synchronize, manage and respond to requests about your account and features.

Our service providers also process network, device, app, request, security and diagnostic information needed to operate their services. Maps services can process crash and performance information independently of our optional Product Analytics choice. We do not operate a separate Firebase Crashlytics crash-reporting integration. App and device attestation can process information to assess app integrity. Our Firebase services currently monitor attestation without enforcing it; successful attestation is not assured, and this does not mean every request is attested or that unverified requests are rejected. We use support messages and quality reports to respond to requests, investigate problems and protect the service. Reports are not necessarily anonymous.

Location, maps, weather and navigation

Device-location features use the relevant device permission and location services. You can deny or change that permission in device settings and use supported manual search, map browsing or location selection instead. Denying device-location permission does not prevent a manually selected point, searched place or viewed map area from being sent to a feature's provider. Maps, Places, weather and reference-layer requests can reveal a location or area of interest and network information. Place and city search can send typed text, language and search-area preferences. Direct geocoding, reverse location labels, map tiles, state-depth analysis and Land Cover requests can send device network information together with a selected point, tile or viewed bounds. Weather and astronomy requests through our backend send coordinates, time-zone, unit and requested-variable information to their upstream provider. Public-access and waterbody enrichment can send geometry or bounds and query selectors through our backend; catalog search sends search text, a result limit and optional location bias. Backend mediation can replace the device's network address on the upstream request, but does not make coordinates or content anonymous. Caching reduces some requests; it does not remove all provider processing.

Track recording is a separate feature you choose to start. Use its stop control to end a recording and device settings to manage location permission. Stopping recording does not delete an already saved track. Do not rely on this policy as confirmation that recording will continue when the app is inactive.

External navigation sends the chosen destination to the mapping application or website you select. That provider controls its routing and permissions. Map boundaries, weather and directions do not establish permission to enter land, legal activity or safe conditions.

Photos and AI

A photo uploaded for a profile or saved item is stored for that purpose. Asking AI to analyze a selected image is a separate use; ordinary photo storage is not permission to send all saved photos for AI analysis.

Requested Plan, Guide, Feedback, follow-up and image-analysis features use OpenAI through our backend. Submissions can include your text, relevant feature context, needed conversation history and deliberately selected images. Text, context and visible image content can identify people or locations. Do not assume that filtering or image processing removes every identifying detail or makes a submission anonymous.

Our policy is to present a separate AI-processing notice before first AI use. Review that notice before submitting. Privacy Policy or Terms acceptance does not replace a separate feature choice or device permission. You can avoid further AI submissions by not requesting AI processing; this does not erase earlier submissions.

Provider processing can involve service operation, abuse prevention, security review and legal obligations. We do not promise a special OpenAI retention arrangement, a particular processing region, zero retention or deletion of provider copies when you delete an app item. Do not submit information you are unwilling to have processed for the requested AI feature. The content license in our Terms does not grant NEXT CHASE independent advertising, public-reuse or model-training rights.

Optional Product Analytics

Our policy is to offer Product Analytics as an optional choice, off until you choose Allow analytics. A previously saved Allow choice can restore collection when you return to that account. Choose No thanks or change the choice in Settings. Declining it does not remove the intended Maps/Places, location, photo or AI features. A change can affect future app Analytics collection; it is not a request to delete every historical provider record.

Product Analytics concerns feature use and outcomes. Our policy excludes notes, photos and AI prompts from product events. Provider SDKs can separately process device, app-instance, session, network and diagnostic information. An Analytics choice does not stop information processing necessary for account access, security or a feature you request, or Apple's separate TestFlight processing. Contact support if an Analytics choice is missing or appears not to work; do not assume all provider processing has stopped.

Providers and disclosures

The services used for the beta include:

Providers process information under the terms and arrangements applicable to their services. Google/Firebase and Supabase publish processing terms for covered customer data; Google Maps, public reference operators, Apple and consumer Gmail also have independent service purposes. OpenAI API agreement and project arrangements can affect its processing; we do not promise a project-specific protection or special arrangement. Open-Meteo publishes technical and abuse-prevention log commitments, including a stated 90-day deletion period for the coordinate-bearing logs described in its free-API notice. That is a scoped provider statement, not our guarantee about every endpoint, request, copy or erasure. Its TestFlight-use permission alone does not establish privacy protection for every route. Published terms and notices are not proof that a particular account accepted a particular agreement. We do not represent every provider as acting only on our instructions or promise identical retention and deletion practices across services. A US-only beta does not mean information, logs or recovery copies remain exclusively in the US. We may disclose information where necessary to address a request, protect safety and security, respond to valid legal process or meet a legal obligation, limited to the justified scope. This policy does not claim that provider settings establish a universal legal classification of sale, sharing, tracking or targeted advertising.

Sharing and independently held copies

New user-to-user sharing, revocation and inbox workflows remain closed unless separately made available after review. Reminder delivery is outside the initial beta's enabled scope. The app's reminder implementation uses on-device local notifications, not a remote push-notification delivery service; that reminder delivery remains disabled for this beta. That does not erase obligations relating to previously hosted shared content. Content still hosted by NEXT CHASE is part of our review; it is not excluded merely because another person can see it. Recipient-owned originals, edits, notes and media must also be protected. Unclear ownership can require further review before removal.

Copies someone independently exported, downloaded or created outside NEXT CHASE are different. Account controls cannot erase those external copies.

Retention and deletion

Retention depends on purpose and record type. We retain account and saved-feature information to provide the service and handle requests about it. Pending cleanup, ownership questions and specific security, integrity or legal obligations can delay removal. A technical failure is not permission to retain information indefinitely or to disregard applicable deadlines.

Export download availability, deletion of the stored export and provider recovery retention are separate. Use the expiry information shown for an export and save a needed copy before access expires. Expiry markers and cleanup schedules do not guarantee that all copies have been removed. Technical jobs, security records and recovery copies may remain after live account access ends; they require their own purpose, access controls and cleanup treatment.

Support and privacy-request records are used to respond, verify authority, address security issues and document handling. Our procedure removes unnecessary verification material promptly, keeps a minimal record only while a documented handling, accountability, dispute or legal purpose remains, and reviews necessity at closure and monthly thereafter. Monthly review is not a fixed retention period or a provider-deletion guarantee. App-account deletion does not automatically erase support correspondence.

Local caches, operating-system backups, exports saved to other applications and provider logs or recovery copies have distinct lifecycles. We cannot promise their immediate erasure through one account action. Provider coordination may be needed, and we do not guarantee its outcome or timing.

Account-deletion cleanup is not yet verified end to end. The updated process being prepared closes new uploads and keeps deletion pending until more than seven full days after confirmed upload closure, then performs another owned-object and reference cleanup and verification. This waiting period addresses uploads that were already in progress; seven days alone is not deletion or proof that cleanup succeeded. Scheduler delay, failures or unresolved ownership can extend pending work, subject to our obligations to handle requests. This updated process has not yet been verified in the live service. We cannot currently confirm complete removal of every historical hosted shared item or recovery copy. Once sign-in access has been removed, automated confirmation is unavailable and server cleanup may continue. A pending result, elapsed time or loss of sign-in access is not proof of completed deletion. See Account Deletion for limitations and request instructions.

Choices, rights and children

Our uniform US beta process accepts access, correction, deletion and appeal requests. Use supported Account controls or contact support. An export is not necessarily the full response to a privacy-access request; ask about information that appears missing. See Privacy Choices and Support.

We verify identity and authority proportionately before disclosure or irreversible action. We do not ask for passwords or authentication codes. Do not send government ID or other sensitive verification documents unsolicited. If access is lost, ask for the minimal manual-verification route. Authorized-agent, guardian and teen requests receive an authority and safety review; a family relationship alone does not authorize account access. Appeals are reviewed by the owner/operator, not a promised independent team. Exercising a privacy right does not remove unrelated core features.

Children under 13 are not eligible. The planned public TestFlight link supports normal self-service signup for eligible testers; it is not a promise that Apple screens testers by age or residence. Use is limited to the 50 United States. The supported signup flow, rather than the public link, performs the age-admission check. Report suspected under-13 use through support without sending a child's full birth date, identification documents or private photos. Our procedure gives these reports priority review and checks authority before discussing an account or taking action. An age label does not waive protections applicable to children or teens.

Security and changes

We use measures intended to protect access and information, but cannot guarantee absolute security. Report suspected security problems through support without sending credentials.

Our policy is to identify effective versions, retain prior published versions and explain material changes. Where practicable, we give notice before material changes through an appropriate in-app or support notice route; urgent protective changes receive prompt notice where permitted. Required renewed agreement or consent is separate from posting a revised page. Changes cannot retroactively expand rights to private content.