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Privacy Policy

Last updated: September 28, 2026
The short version: Polarys saves your settings and current night session on your phone. Drink answers aren’t saved. Some features send information to Google, Apple, or the ride service you choose, as explained below.

1. What stays on your phone

The current app uses local storage for your home address and coordinates, places you save, cached venue coordinates, current night session and timing, saved car selection, and the most recent ride-option choice. It does not keep a continuous GPS route history. Drink answers only move you through the check-in; they are not recorded.

There is no Polarys account or app backend receiving these records. The current app does not send product-analytics events to a Polarys analytics service.

2. Location and car detection

Location is used to find venues, monitor their boundaries, and check whether you have reached your saved home. Background reminders need Always location and Precise Location. Notifications need your permission too.

On iPhone, the car feature reads the active audio route and compares it with the car you saved. It does not scan all nearby Bluetooth devices. The app’s regular car checks run while its JavaScript is running; a user-configured Shortcut can also open a car check-in.

3. Information sent to other services

  • Google Places: nearby venue searches send location coordinates. Address search sends the text you enter and place-detail requests. Google handles these requests under its own policies.
  • Device location services: address lookup and reverse geocoding can use your device’s location service.
  • Ride and map apps: choosing Uber, Lyft, or transit can pass your pickup location or saved home destination to the service you open.
  • Text a friend: Polarys opens a message draft containing your pickup location. You choose whether to send it.
  • This website: the hosting provider processes requests to serve these pages. Fonts are loaded from Google Fonts. There is no beta signup form.

These services have their own privacy and retention policies. Polarys does not send your drink answer to them. If you email us, your message and email address reach our email provider.

4. How long information stays

Your saved home and cached venue locations have no automatic expiry. Saved party addresses stay until you remove them. The current night session resets when you reach home or when its rules expire, by 5 AM at the latest logically. The saved record is updated on the next app or background callback, so it can remain on disk longer while the app is inactive.

Remove saved places and your saved car using their controls in Settings. The app does not currently have a general “clear history” button. Deleting the app removes its local app data; device backups and restores are controlled by your device and account settings.

5. Your choices

You can change location and notification permissions in iPhone Settings. Turning them off limits automatic reminders. You can still open ride options yourself. We do not sell app data or use it for advertising profiles.

6. Age and changes

Polarys is intended for people age 17 and older. This is not permission to drink under the legal age. We will update this page if the app’s data practices change.

7. Contact

For privacy questions, email hello@polarys.app.

Built by students at Iowa State University. Not affiliated with or endorsed by ISU.
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