Privacy policy

The short version

• Panic is not a tracking app. We only collect your location while a check-in is running, never in the background the rest of the time.
• Your plan, the people you’re with, your updates, location, photos, video and voice notes are sealed. Your friends see them only if an alarm goes off.
• When you check in safe, those sealed details are deleted by default. Not hidden. Deleted.
• We never sell your data, and we don’t use it for advertising.
• You can download your data or delete your account at any time in Settings → Your data.

What we collect

Your account

Email address, password (stored only as a one-way scrambled hash), name, phone number, your PIN and second PIN (also only as hashes), your settings and time zone.

Your friends (safety contacts)

The names, phone numbers and email addresses you enter for the people Panic should alert. You must have their permission to add them (see “Text messages” below).

Check-ins

What you plan (labels, stops and times), details about who you’re meeting, updates you write, voice notes, photos and video you record, your phone’s location while a check-in is running, battery level, and the times things happen. If you use “Getting a ride”, the driver, car and plate details you enter.

Payments

Payments are handled by Stripe. We never see or store your full card number. We keep the subscription status, renewal dates and amounts paid.

Technical information

The network address your requests come from (used briefly to stop abuse such as password guessing), when you last used the app, and a sign-in cookie. We don’t use advertising or analytics trackers.

How it’s used and who sees it

• Your friends, only when an alarm goes off (a missed check-in, the panic button, letting go of the hold button, the phone going silent, or the second PIN). They get a text, email or automated call with a private link to your plan, location and what you recorded. If you send an update with “send now”, the friends you pick receive it straight away.
• Police, campus or venue security, only if you turn on “Send my alarms to police and security near me” (off by default), or if you join an organization that shares members’ alarms (you’re told when you join). Only alarms inside their area are shared, never safe check-ins. Sealed details are shared with them only if you also turn that on.
• Companies that run parts of Panic for us, only to do that job: DigitalOcean (servers), Twilio (texts and calls), Resend (email), Stripe (payments) and OpenStreetMap-based map tile servers (map pictures; they see the area being viewed). They aren’t allowed to use your data for anything else.
• Us, to run and support the app. Our support tools show times, statuses and counts, not what you wrote or recorded. Sealed details can be opened by staff only for a check-in that alarmed (or during an investigation hold), with a written reason, and every opening is recorded permanently.
• The law: we share information when we must by law (for example a valid court order), or when we believe in good faith it’s needed to prevent death or serious harm, such as helping find a missing person.

We don’t sell or rent personal information, and we don’t “share” it for cross-context advertising.

How long we keep it

• Check-in details are deleted when you check in safe, unless you choose to keep them that time.
• Check-in history is deleted after 40 days. Check-ins where an alarm went off are kept for 365 days, so you and your friends can refer back to them.
• When you delete your account, everything in it is deleted, including files. We keep a small record of your email, name and sign-up and trial dates so the free trial can’t be claimed again; your phone number is removed from it.
• Investigation hold: if we receive a legal request or there is a missing-person investigation, we may keep an account’s records (including things the person deleted) until it ends. This is the only time deleting is paused.
• Backups are kept for up to 14 days, then overwritten.

Recordings of other people

Sound and video you record can include other people’s voices and faces. They are sealed like everything else: deleted when you check in safe (by default), shown to your friends only if an alarm goes off. Some states require everyone in a conversation to agree before it is recorded; you are responsible for following the law where you are (see Terms). Someone who was recorded can write to [email protected].

Text messages

Panic sends text messages and automated calls to the friends you add, only to warn them about you: a heads-up that they were added, alarms, updates you choose to send, and an all-clear. By adding a friend you confirm they agreed to receive these messages. Message frequency varies (most people receive none). Message and data rates may apply.

Anyone can reply STOP to stop texts from Panic, or HELP for help. We don’t share phone numbers or text-message consent with anyone for marketing.

Your choices and rights

• See and download your data: Settings → Your data → Download my data.
• Correct it: change your profile, friends and settings in the app.
• Delete it: delete single check-ins in History, or your whole account in Settings → Your data.
• Location, camera and microphone are only used when you allow them on your phone, and only during a check-in.
• Reminder emails have a one-click unsubscribe link. Alarm messages to your friends can’t be turned off by us, because that’s what the app is for.

Depending on where you live (for example California, Virginia, Colorado or the EU/UK), you may have further rights, such as to ask what we hold about you or to object to how it’s used. Email us and we’ll answer within 30 days. We won’t treat you differently for using your rights.

Security

Everything travels over HTTPS. Passwords, PINs and sign-in tokens are stored only as hashes. Payment and partner keys are stored encrypted. No system is perfectly secure; if a breach affects you, we’ll tell you as the law requires.

Children

Panic is for people 13 and older. If you’re under 18, use it with a parent or guardian’s permission. We don’t knowingly collect data from children under 13; if you believe a child has an account, email us and we’ll delete it.

Changes

If we change this policy in a way that matters, we’ll tell you in the app or by email before it takes effect.

Contact

Panic · [company address not set] · [email protected]