This privacy notice for Aether Studios ("Company," "we," "us," or "our"), describes how and why we might collect, store, use, and/or share ("process") your information when you use our services ("Services"), such as when you:
- Download and use our mobile application, or any other application of ours that links to this privacy notice
- Engage with us in other related ways, including any sales, marketing, or events
Questions or concerns? Reading this privacy notice will help you understand your privacy rights and choices. If you do not agree with our policies and practices, please do not use our Services.
Family Locator: location data
Family Locator (Google Play package io.aetherstudios.familytracker) is a family location-sharing app. It collects more location data than the general notice below describes, so we set it out here in plain terms.
- Background location. This app collects location data to share your live location with your family circle, even when the app is closed or not in use. Without it, your location only updates while the app is open on screen.
- Precise location. The location we collect is precise (GPS-level), not an approximation from your IP address. We also collect your battery level and whether your device is moving, so the app can space out updates and warn your circle when your phone is about to die.
- Who can see it. Your location is shown to the other members of your family circle — the people who joined using your invite code and were approved. We do not sell it, and it is never shown to anyone outside your circle.
- Location history. We store a day-by-day history of your stops and trips so your circle can see where you have been. Each day of history is deleted automatically 35 days after it is recorded, and deleting your account deletes all of it at once.
- Diagnostics. We collect crash reports through Firebase Crashlytics and usage diagnostics through Google Analytics for Firebase, plus the device identifiers needed to deliver notifications to your phone. These contain no location data.
- How to stop it. Two different things, and it is worth knowing which you want. Turning off Share my location in the app’s Settings stops your location being shared, while your account and history stay. Revoking the location permission in your Android settings stops us collecting it at all. To remove what we already hold, see Delete your account and data.
01What Information Do We Collect?
Personal Information You Disclose to Us
We collect personal information that you voluntarily provide to us when you express an interest in obtaining information about us or our products and Services, when you participate in activities on the Services, or otherwise when you contact us.
Sensitive Information: Precise location is treated as sensitive information. We collect it in Family Locator, for the purpose described above, and only while you have granted the location permission. We do not process other categories of sensitive information.
Information Automatically Collected
We automatically collect certain information when you visit, use, or navigate the Services. This information does not reveal your specific identity but may include:
- Device and usage information (e.g., IP address, browser characteristics, operating system)
- Location data. On our websites, general location derived from your IP address. In Family Locator, precise (GPS-level) location, collected in the background while location sharing is on — see Family Locator: location data above
- Mobile device data (device ID, model, manufacturer, operating system version)
- Push notifications preferences
- Application usage data
- Crash reports and diagnostics (Firebase Crashlytics, Google Analytics for Firebase)
02How Do We Process Your Information?
We process your personal information for a variety of reasons, depending on how you interact with our Services, including:
- To deliver and facilitate delivery of services: Process transactions, send service-related notifications, and provide customer support.
- To respond to inquiries/communications: Address your inquiries and respond to your requests for information.
- To send administrative information: Send details about our products, services, changes to terms and policies.
- To protect our Services: Identify and prevent fraud, monitor for security breaches, and protect against malicious or illegal activity.
- To save or protect an individual's vital interest: When necessary to save or protect an individual's vital interest, such as to prevent harm.
03When and With Whom Do We Share Your Personal Information?
We may share information in specific situations described in this section and/or with the following categories of third parties:
Third-Party Service Providers
We may share your data with third-party vendors, service providers, contractors, or agents ("third parties") who perform services for us or on our behalf and require access to such information to do that work.
Business Transfers
We may share or transfer your information in connection with, or during negotiations of, any merger, sale of company assets, financing, or acquisition of all or a portion of our business to another company.
Legal Obligations
We may disclose your information where we are legally required to do so in order to comply with applicable law, governmental requests, a judicial proceeding, court order, or legal process.
04How Long Do We Keep Your Information?
We will only keep your personal information for as long as it is necessary for the purposes set out in this privacy notice, unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law (such as tax, accounting, or other legal requirements).
When we have no ongoing legitimate business need to process your personal information, we will either delete or anonymize such information, or, if this is not possible (for example, because your personal information has been stored in backup archives), then we will securely store your personal information and isolate it from any further processing until deletion is possible.
Family Locator. Your live location, your location history and your circle profile are kept for as long as your account exists, and are deleted when you delete your account. Your location history is deleted automatically 35 days after it is recorded. Deleted files stay recoverable in our storage provider's soft-delete window for 7 days and are then removed permanently; we keep no scheduled backups beyond that, so after those 7 days no copy exists. Crash reports are kept for 90 days by Firebase Crashlytics; they are tied to an app installation rather than to your account, so they cannot be looked up or removed by account.
05How Do We Keep Your Information Safe?
We have implemented appropriate and reasonable technical and organizational security measures designed to protect the security of any personal information we process. However, despite our safeguards and efforts to secure your information, no electronic transmission over the Internet or information storage technology can be guaranteed to be 100% secure.
We cannot promise or guarantee that hackers, cybercriminals, or other unauthorized third parties will not be able to defeat our security and improperly collect, access, steal, or modify your information. Although we will do our best to protect your personal information, transmission of personal information to and from our Services is at your own risk.
06Do We Collect Information From Minors?
We do not knowingly solicit data from or market to children under 18 years of age. By using the Services, you represent that you are at least 18 or that you are the parent or guardian of such a minor and consent to such minor dependent's use of the Services.
If we learn that personal information from users less than 18 years of age has been collected, we will deactivate the account and take reasonable measures to promptly delete such data from our records. If you become aware of any data we may have collected from children under age 18, please contact us at [email protected].
07What Are Your Privacy Rights?
In some regions (like the EEA, UK, and Canada), you have certain rights under applicable data protection laws. These may include the right:
- To request access and obtain a copy of your personal information
- To request rectification or erasure
- To restrict the processing of your personal information
- If applicable, to data portability
- Not to be subject to automated decision-making
- To withdraw your consent at any time
Withdrawing Your Consent
If we are relying on your consent to process your personal information, you have the right to withdraw your consent at any time. You can withdraw your consent at any time by contacting us.
Account Information
If you would at any time like to review or change the information in your account or terminate your account, you can contact us using the contact information provided. Upon your request to terminate your account, we will deactivate or delete your account and information from our active databases.
08Controls for Do-Not-Track Features
Most web browsers and some mobile operating systems and mobile applications include a Do-Not-Track ("DNT") feature or setting you can activate to signal your privacy preference not to have data about your online browsing activities monitored and collected. At this stage no uniform technology standard for recognizing and implementing DNT signals has been finalized. As such, we do not currently respond to DNT browser signals or any other mechanism that automatically communicates your choice not to be tracked online.
09Do California Residents Have Specific Privacy Rights?
Yes, if you are a resident of California, you are granted specific rights regarding access to your personal information.
California Civil Code Section 1798.83, also known as the "Shine The Light" law, permits our users who are California residents to request and obtain from us, once a year and free of charge, information about categories of personal information (if any) we disclosed to third parties for direct marketing purposes and the names and addresses of all third parties with which we shared personal information in the immediately preceding calendar year.
If you are under 18 years of age, reside in California, and have a registered account with Services, you have the right to request removal of unwanted data that you publicly post on the Services. To request removal of such data, please contact us using the contact information provided below and include the email address associated with your account and a statement that you reside in California.
10Do We Make Updates to This Notice?
Yes, we will update this notice as necessary to stay compliant with relevant laws.
We may update this privacy notice from time to time. The updated version will be indicated by an updated "Revised" date and the updated version will be effective as soon as it is accessible. If we make material changes to this privacy notice, we may notify you either by prominently posting a notice of such changes or by directly sending you a notification. We encourage you to review this privacy notice frequently to be informed of how we are protecting your information.
11How Can You Contact Us About This Notice?
If you have questions or comments about this notice, you may email us or contact us by post at:
12How Can You Review, Update, or Delete the Data We Collect?
Based on the applicable laws of your country, you may have the right to request access to the personal information we collect from you, change that information, or delete it. To request to review, update, or delete your personal information, please visit: https://aetherstudios.io/#contact.
Family Locator has its own deletion page, which explains how to delete your account from inside the app, how to ask us to delete it if you can no longer use the app, and exactly what is and is not removed: Delete your account and data.