Thrum Privacy Policy
Last updated: 15 October 2026
Thrum is a hyperlocal noticeboard. People post short-lived reports — police activity, traffic, emergencies, weather, community news, lost and found — pinned to a place, so neighbours can see what is happening nearby.
This policy explains what we collect, why, who else sees it, and how to get rid of it. It is written to be read, not to be survived.
The short version
- We collect your email, the name you choose, what you post, and an approximate location.
- Your location is deliberately blurred before it ever leaves your phone — rounded to about 110 metres — and is used only to decide which alerts are near you.
- Anything you post is visible to other people. That is the point of the app.
- You can delete your account from inside the app, and it genuinely deletes things, including your uploaded photos.
- We do not sell your data and we do not run advertising.
What we collect
When you create an account
- Email address, through email sign-up or Google Sign-In.
- Username, and optionally a display name, short bio and profile photo.
When you use the app
- Approximate location, if you grant permission. See the section below.
- Push notification token, if you allow notifications, so we can send them.
- Notification preferences — which types you want, quiet hours, and how far "nearby" means to you.
What you create
- Pins: a title, description, category, the location you place it at, and any photos or video you attach.
- Comments and replies, and the likes you give them.
- Votes and confirmations — whether you think a report is still happening or resolved.
- Lost & Found claims, including the message and any proof photo you send.
- Community memberships.
- Reports and blocks, if you report content or block someone.
Collected automatically
- Which pins you have opened, so a pin can show its own view count.
- Standard technical logs from our hosting provider, including IP address, kept for security and debugging.
We do not collect contacts, calendars, browsing history, or advertising identifiers, and there is no third-party analytics or advertising SDK in the app.
About your location
This is the most sensitive thing we handle, so here is exactly what happens.
It is blurred on your device before it is sent. Your coordinates are rounded to three decimal places — roughly 110 metres — and that rounded value is what we store. We never hold your precise position.
It is not continuously tracked. The app only records a new position when you have moved more than 200 metres and at least ten minutes have passed. There is no background location collection: the app only looks while you are using it.
It is kept apart from your public profile. Your location, push token and notification settings live in a separate, private table that only you can read. Other users cannot see it, and nothing in the app will show it to them.
It is used for one thing: deciding whether a new report is close enough to be worth telling you about. That decision happens on our server, so your location is never sent to other people's devices.
A pin's location is different. When you post a pin, the location you choose for it is shown publicly — that is what makes it useful to your neighbours. Choose where you drop a pin accordingly.
You can turn location off in your phone's settings at any time. Nearby alerts stop working; the rest of the app still functions.
What other people can see
Public: your username, display name, bio and profile photo; your pins and where you placed them; your comments and replies; your badges.
Not public: your email address, your location, your push token, your notification settings, who you have blocked, and anything you have reported.
Inside a community: posts in a community are visible only to its approved members. Private communities are not listed publicly and can only be joined with an invite code.
Lost & Found: when you claim a lost item, the poster sees your message and your username. Contact details are exchanged only after a claim is accepted, and that rule is enforced by our database, not just hidden in the interface.
Who else processes your data
We use a small number of providers to run the service. We do not sell data to anyone, and none of these are advertising companies.
| Provider | What they handle |
|---|---|
| Supabase | Our database, accounts, file storage and server code |
| Expo | Delivering push notifications, and app updates |
| Apple / Google | Push notification delivery to your device |
| Google Maps | Displaying the map, and address search |
| Google Sign-In | If you choose to sign in with Google |
How long we keep things
Pins expire on their own. That is central to how Thrum works — the map should show what is happening now, not a history. Lifespans depend on the category:
| Category | Lifespan |
|---|---|
| Police, Emergency | 2 hours |
| Traffic | 6 hours |
| Weather | 12 hours |
| Notes | 24 hours |
| Community news | 3 days |
| Lost & Found | 30 days, renewable |
Confirmations from neighbours can extend these, up to a limit.
Your account details stay until you delete your account. Server logs are kept for a short period for security and debugging.
Deleting your account
Account Settings → Danger Zone → Delete Account.
This removes your profile, your location and push token, your pins, comments, replies, votes, confirmations, claims, badges, community memberships, notifications and blocks — and the photos and videos you uploaded are deleted from our storage too.
If you were the admin of a community, it is handed to the longest-standing member rather than deleted, so other people do not lose their posts. If nobody else is in it, it is deleted with your account.
Deletion is permanent and cannot be undone.
Your controls
- Notifications — turn off any category, set quiet hours, and choose how far "nearby" reaches. Account Settings → Notification Preferences.
- Blocking — block someone and neither of you sees the other's posts or comments, neither can contact the other, and no notifications pass between you. Manage this at Account Settings → Privacy & safety → Blocked accounts.
- Reporting — report a pin or an account from its menu. Five reports hide a pin automatically pending review.
- Location — revoke the permission in your phone's settings at any time.
- Access and correction — edit your profile in the app, or contact us to request a copy of your data.
Children
Thrum is not intended for children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect information from them. If you believe a child has created an account, contact us and we will remove it.
Security
Access to data is enforced at the database level, not only in the app, so a modified or outdated client cannot read what it should not. Private information is separated from public profiles. We review access rules regularly and keep a written record of what is open and what has been fixed.
No system is perfectly secure, and we will not pretend otherwise. If you find a problem, please tell us — see below.
Changes to this policy
If we change this meaningfully, we will update the date at the top and tell you in the app. Continuing to use Thrum after a change means you accept it.
Contact us
Questions, data requests, or a security problem:
We aim to reply within a few days.
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