accompany

Privacy policy

What Accompany collects, why, who sees it, how long we keep it, and how to have it deleted.

Last updated: 5 November 2026

The short version. We collect what's needed to verify people and run plans safely. Your number and date of birth are never shown to other people. Chats are deleted when the activity ends, verification videos within 15 days of upload, and live location as soon as sharing stops. We don't sell your data or show you ads. You can delete your account from the app at any time.

Who we are

Accompany (the app, the website theaccompany.in and the services behind them) is run by Ramkumar V, 98, Raja Street, Thumbal, Salem 636114, Tamil Nadu, India ("we", "us"). We decide how your personal data is used, which makes us the Data Fiduciary under India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023.

Questions or requests about your data: accompany.support@gmail.com.

What we collect

When you sign up

  • Mobile number, to sign you in with a one-time code. It is never shown to other people.
  • Name, date of birth, gender, area and city. Your date of birth checks you are 18 or older; others see your age, never the date.
  • Profile photo, a short "about you" and your interests.
  • Google account, if you choose to link one as a second way to sign in.

When you verify

  • A 5-second video of you saying a code shown on screen. A person on our team compares it with your profile photo. Only our team sees it, and it is deleted within 15 days of upload.

When you use Accompany

  • Plans you post or join: what, when, the place you pin on the map, who pays if the host says (and a rough cost per person), who asked to join and who was accepted.
  • Group chat messages for an activity. They are deleted for everyone when the activity ends.
  • Aura scores and reviews you give and receive, and late cancellations, which show on profiles as reliability.
  • Reports and blocks. If you attach chat messages to a report, our safety team can read those messages.
  • Support requests you send us, for example to change a locked detail such as your name.
  • Meet again: the people you chose to hear from when they post a new plan. They are never told, and blocking removes it both ways.
  • Your emergency contact: their name, mobile number and relation to you.

Location

  • The app uses your phone's location while you are using it, to show plans near you (when you sort Explore near to far or far to near, or choose Anywhere in India with location allowed, your position, rounded to about 100 metres, is sent to our server to sort plans or show how far they are, and not kept) and to centre the map when you pin a place. When you search for a place, what you type and a rounded position of the map (to about 100 metres) are sent to Google Maps to find matching places. We don't keep a history of where you've been.
  • When you use SOS and choose to share your live location, it is shared with your emergency contact through a private link. Sharing stops when the activity ends, or after 2 hours when there is no activity, and the location is then deleted.

From your phone

  • Signed-in devices: the device model, operating system and when it was last active, so you can see and sign out your devices in Settings.
  • A notification token, so we can send notifications to your phone. You choose which kinds in Settings.
  • An app check: Google Play (or Apple on iPhone) confirms that requests come from the real Accompany app on a real phone, to stop bots misusing sign-in. It carries no personal details.
  • App lock, if you turn it on: your phone checks your fingerprint, face or PIN and only tells the app yes or no. We never receive your fingerprint or face, and the setting stays on your phone.

On the website

  • The website uses no advertising or analytics cookies.

How we use it

  • To create your account, sign you in, and keep your devices signed in.
  • To verify that you are a real person and match your profile photo.
  • To show plans near you, let you post and join them, and run the group chat.
  • To keep people safe: checking reports, asking someone to verify again, closing accounts that break our rules, and stopping closed accounts from signing up again.
  • To help you in an emergency through SOS.
  • To send you notifications about your plans, and news from Accompany if you allow it.
  • To answer support requests.
  • To meet our legal obligations, for example responding to lawful requests from authorities.

We rely on your consent, which you give when you sign up and when you choose to use features such as SOS, location and notifications. You can withdraw it at any time by changing those settings or deleting your account.

Who can see what

  • Anyone with a shared plan link, for example one sent on WhatsApp, sees what the plan is, when, its area and city, and how many spots are open. Not who is hosting or going, and not the exact place: those stay in the app.
  • Other members see your profile: name, age, gender, area, city, photo, about you, interests, Verified badge, Aura and reliability. A host sees the people who ask to join; guests see each other once accepted. Nobody sees your number or date of birth.
  • People in an activity see its group chat while it lasts.
  • Your emergency contact hears about it only when you use SOS: WhatsApp opens on your phone with a message to them, saying what you chose to do and, during a plan, its name and place, with a link to your live location if you share it. You send it from your own WhatsApp; we send no texts.
  • Our team sees what is needed to verify people, review reports, answer support and keep Accompany safe. Every time staff open a verification video or a report, it is recorded in an audit log.

Service providers

We use these providers to run Accompany. They process data for us under contract and may not use it for anything else:

  • Google Firebase: sign-in (Google sees your number to send the code, and your internet address to prevent abuse), the app check, storage of photos and verification videos, phone notifications, and hosting the website.
  • Google Cloud: the servers that run Accompany, in Mumbai.
  • Neon: the database that holds accounts, plans and messages.
  • Google Maps: the map, and the place search when you pick where a plan happens. The map also sends Google technical details such as the phone model, how the map was moved, and crash reports, which Google uses to run and improve Maps.

Some of these providers may store or process data outside India. We don't sell personal data and don't share it with advertisers. We share data with the police or other authorities only when the law requires it, or when it's needed to protect someone's life or safety.

How long we keep it

  • Your account and profile: until you delete your account.
  • Group chats: deleted for everyone when the activity ends.
  • Chat messages attached to a report: 30 days, then deleted.
  • Verification videos: deleted within 15 days of upload.
  • Live location from SOS: deleted as soon as sharing stops.
  • Reports and safety records: kept after an account is deleted, for as long as needed to keep members safe and meet legal obligations.
  • Closed accounts: we keep a one-way scrambled form of the mobile number and Google account, only to stop them signing up again.

Your rights and choices

  • See and correct your data. You can see and edit your photo, about you and interests in the app. Name, date of birth, gender, area, city and mobile number are locked to stop impersonation; ask support to change them.
  • Delete your account in the app: Settings, then Delete account (or see how to delete without the app). Your profile, photo, Aura scores about you, emergency contact, blocks and upcoming plans are deleted at once. Reports and safety records are kept as described above.
  • Choose notifications in Settings, and turn off location or notifications in your phone's settings at any time.
  • Ask us to access, correct or erase your data, to withdraw consent, or to nominate someone to act for you if you are unable to, by writing to accompany.support@gmail.com. We reply within 30 days.
  • Complain. If you're not satisfied with our answer, you can complain to the Data Protection Board of India.

Grievance Officer

Ramkumar V, Grievance Officer, Accompany, 98, Raja Street, Thumbal, Salem 636114, Tamil Nadu, India. Email: accompany.support@gmail.com. We acknowledge complaints within 24 hours and resolve them within 15 days.

Security

Data travels encrypted (HTTPS). Only our servers can reach the database. Staff see only what their role needs, and opening a video or a report is logged. Screenshots and screen recording are blocked inside the Android app. No system is perfectly secure; if a breach affects you, we will tell you and the Data Protection Board as the law requires.

Adults only

Accompany is for people 18 and over. We don't knowingly collect data from anyone younger; if we learn that an account belongs to someone under 18, we close it and delete their data.

Changes to this policy

When we make an important change, we'll tell you in the app before it takes effect. The date at the top shows the latest version.