Effective Date: August 27, 2026

Privacy Policy

Your privacy matters to us. Please review this policy to understand how ECHO collects, uses, and protects your information.

Data Transparency

To function as a hyper-local network, ECHO requires continuous background location tracking. Your private direct messages are protected by End-to-End Encryption (E2EE), while public drops remain moderated to maintain community safety.

1. Information We Collect

  • Account Information: Name, email, and profile details.
  • Location Data: Collected continuously via a foreground service, even when the app is not actively in use on screen.
  • Chat Messages: Private direct messages are End-to-End Encrypted (E2EE). We store the encrypted payloads on our servers to deliver them, but we do not possess the keys to decrypt or read your private conversations.
  • Posts & Media: Content you share publicly such as text whispers, images, PDFs, or videos.
  • Device Information: Device model, OS version, app usage statistics, and crash logs.

2. How We Use Your Information

We use the collected information to:

  • Provide and improve ECHO’s core features.
  • Enable active drop posting and location-based discovery.
  • Moderate public content and user-reported private messages to prevent abuse, harassment, and illegal activity.
  • Communicate updates, support responses, and security alerts.
  • Comply with strict legal obligations.

3. Sharing of Information

  • We do not sell your personal data to third parties.
  • We may share limited data with service providers such as Google Firebase for database storage, hosting, media processing, and analytics.
  • We may disclose information if required by law, to protect user safety, or to enforce our Terms & Conditions.

4. Location Data

ECHO collects and processes your location in the background using a persistent foreground service. Location data is the foundation of the app, used to provide features like nearby radar discovery and contextual drop recommendations. While you can disable location access in your device settings, doing so will severely limit or break core app functionality.

5. Chat Security & Privacy

Private direct messages within ECHO are secured with End-to-End Encryption (E2EE). This means your private communications are encrypted on your device and can only be decrypted by the intended recipient. ECHO, our developers, and our hosting providers cannot read, access, or automatically moderate the contents of your private chats.

Because we cannot access your private messages, proactive moderation is not possible. If you experience abuse, you must use the in-app reporting tools. Reporting a specific message decrypts that message and its immediate context on your device and securely forwards it to our moderation team for review and appropriate action.

6. Posts & User Content

Drops you share publicly (such as text, images, or videos) are stored securely on Firebase and may be visible to other users according to your app settings and physical proximity. We reserve the right to remove or evaporate public content that violates our Community Guidelines.

7. Cookies & Analytics

ECHO may use Firebase Analytics, Crashlytics, or similar tools to understand app usage, improve features, and detect underlying software issues. These tools may collect anonymized information such as your device type, operating system, and interaction flows within the app.

8. Data Security

We implement technical and organizational safeguards designed to protect your data. However, no system or network transmission is 100% secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute protection against unauthorized access or breaches.

9. Data Retention

We retain your information for as long as your account is active, or as necessary to provide services, comply with legal obligations, or resolve disputes. You may request the permanent deletion of your account and associated data by contacting our support team.

10. Your Rights

  • Access, update, or permanently delete your personal data.
  • Withdraw consent for location collection at the OS level.
  • Request a comprehensive copy of your stored data.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us directly at echosocialconnect@gmail.com.

11. Children’s Privacy

ECHO is strictly not directed to children under the age of 18. We do not knowingly collect personal data from minors. If we become aware that we have inadvertently collected data from a child without parental consent, we will take immediate steps to delete that information.

12. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or regulatory requirements. Any updates will be posted within the app. Your continued use of ECHO after such changes signifies your acceptance of the revised policy.

13. Contact Us

If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or your data, please reach out to us:

Email: echosocialconnect@gmail.com