Privacy Policy

Travelae (“Travelae”, “we”, “us”) is a group travel planning app that helps people plan trips together — itineraries, group decisions, shared budgets, bookings and memories. This policy explains what information we collect when you use the Travelae mobile app and the travelae.co website, how we use it, who we share it with, and the choices you have.

If you have any questions, contact us at support@travelae.co.

1. Information we collect

Information you give us

• Account information — your name, email address and password when you sign up with email, or your name, email address and profile photo from Google when you sign in with Google. We never see your Google password, and passwords are handled by Firebase Authentication rather than stored by us in readable form.
• Profile information — optional details you add, such as a profile photo, bio and phone number.
• Trip content — everything you create or contribute in a trip: trip name, destination and dates, itinerary days and activities, decisions, options, votes and comments, budgets and expenses (amounts, currencies, who paid and how it was split, settlements), booking references and the files you attach to them, photos, notes, check-ins and memories.
• Receipts and documents — images or files you upload to create an expense or a booking, such as a photo of a receipt.
• Invites — the email address of a person you invite to a trip.
• Support requests — the messages and details you send us by email.
• Waitlist — your email address if you join the waitlist on travelae.co.

Information collected when you use Travelae

• Location — only when you choose to use a location feature, such as a check-in or tagging a photo with your current location. We ask for permission first and only read your location at that moment — never in the background. Coordinates you choose to save are stored with that check-in or photo and are visible to the members of that trip.
• Camera and photos — only when you choose to take or pick a photo, receipt or document. We only access the items you select.
• Device and notification data — a push notification token for your device, your notification preferences, the app version and your device type.
• Usage data — events about how the app is used (for example which screens are opened and features such as “trip created” or “expense added”), linked to your account ID, so we can understand and improve the product. We collect this with Firebase Analytics and Mixpanel.
• Website usage — travelae.co uses Google Analytics to understand visits, such as pages viewed, device and browser, and approximate location derived from your IP address.

We do not collect your contacts, your location in the background, or audio from your microphone. Travelae does not currently offer in-app purchases; if we add them, payments will be processed by Google Play or the App Store and we will not receive your full card details.

2. How we use information

• To provide the service — create and run your account, show trips to the people you plan them with, keep balances and settlements up to date, send invites and keep your data in sync across devices.
• Notifications — send push and in-app notifications about activity in your trips (invites, votes, new expenses, plan changes), according to your notification settings.
• AI-powered features — when you use them, we send the relevant content to an AI provider to read the details from a receipt or booking document you upload, summarise a group decision, or suggest activities and insights for a trip. Only the content needed for that request is sent.
• Emails — send trip invite emails on your behalf and service emails such as password resets.
• Support — respond to your requests and fix problems.
• Improving and protecting Travelae — understand usage, fix bugs, prevent abuse, enforce usage limits and keep the service secure.

We do not sell your personal information, and we do not use it for third-party advertising.

3. Who can see your information

• Your trip members — content you add to a trip is visible to that trip’s members, according to their role (planner, participant or view-only). Your name and profile photo are shown to the people you plan trips with.
• Public trips — if a planner makes a trip public, its basic details (such as name, destination, dates and number of members) can be discovered by other Travelae users, who can ask to join. Trip content stays visible to members only.
• Service providers — companies that process data for us, only to run Travelae:

• Legal reasons — when required by law, or to protect the rights, safety and security of our users or Travelae.
• Business transfers — if Travelae is involved in a merger, acquisition or sale of assets, your information may be transferred as part of it and will remain subject to this policy.

4. International transfers

Our service providers, including Google Cloud where Travelae’s servers run, may process data in the United States and other countries. Where the law requires it, we rely on appropriate safeguards such as our providers’ standard contractual clauses.

5. How long we keep information

• Account and trip data — for as long as your account is active. See section 7 for what happens when you delete your account.
• Invites — expired invite links are deleted automatically.
• Usage and analytics data — up to 26 months.
• Support requests — up to 2 years after your request is resolved.
• Backups and logs — deleted data may remain in backups and logs for up to 30 days before it is overwritten.

6. Security

We protect your information with access rules that limit each trip to its members and their roles, encrypted connections (HTTPS/TLS) and server-side checks for sensitive actions. No system is perfectly secure, but we work to protect your information and will notify you where the law requires it.

7. Your choices and rights

• Access and update — view and edit your profile in the app at any time.
• Notifications — manage push and in-app notifications in Profile → Notifications, or in your device settings.
• Location, camera and photos — you can deny or revoke these permissions in your device settings; the rest of the app keeps working.
• Delete your account — in the app, go to Profile → Delete account. You’ll confirm it’s you (password or Google) and type DELETE; the deletion happens straight away and can’t be undone. If you can’t use the app, email support@travelae.co from the address linked to your account and we’ll delete it within 30 days. Details are on our account deletion page.
  • What we delete: your account and sign-in, profile (name, email, photo), settings, notifications, saved places, invites you sent, join requests, usage records, and any trips where you are the only member, together with their photos and files.
  • What stays with your groups: content you added to trips shared with other people (such as expenses, balances, votes, comments and photos) is kept so their plans and balances stay correct. It is shown as “Deleted user” and is no longer linked to your name, email or photo. If you were the only planner of a shared trip, the longest-standing member becomes planner; if only view-only members remain, the trip is archived.
• Your rights — depending on where you live (for example in the EU or UK under the GDPR, or in California), you may have the right to access, correct, export or delete your data, to restrict or object to how we use it, and to complain to a data protection authority. Contact support@travelae.co and we’ll respond within the time the law requires.

8. Children

Travelae is not intended for children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect their personal information. In the EU and UK, users under 16 need permission from a parent or guardian. If you believe a child has given us information, contact us and we will delete it.

9. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. We’ll change the “Last updated” date above and, for significant changes, let you know in the app or by email.

10. Contact us

Questions or requests about your privacy: support@travelae.co