Privacy Policy

Introduction and Overview

We have prepared this Privacy Policy (version 12.06.2024-122810922) in order to explain to you, in accordance with the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679 and applicable national laws, which personal data (in short, "data") we, as the controller, process, will process in the future, and which lawful options are available to you. The terms used are intended to be gender-neutral.

In short: We provide you with comprehensive information about the data we process about you.
Privacy policies usually sound very technical and use legal terminology. This Privacy Policy, on the other hand, is intended to describe the most important matters as simply and transparently as possible. Where it helps transparency, technical terms are explained in a reader-friendly way, links to further information are provided, and graphics may be used. We therefore inform you in clear and simple language that, within the scope of our business activities, we process personal data only where there is a corresponding legal basis. This certainly cannot be achieved through explanations that are as brief, unclear, and legally technical as those often found on the internet when it comes to data protection. We hope you find the following explanations interesting and informative and that you may discover information you did not yet know.
If you still have questions, we kindly ask you to contact the responsible body named below or in the legal notice, to follow the links provided, and to consult further information on third-party websites. You will of course also find our contact details in the legal notice.

Scope of Application

This Privacy Policy applies to all personal data processed by us within the company and to all personal data processed by companies commissioned by us (processors). By personal data, we mean information within the meaning of Art. 4 No. 1 GDPR, such as a person's name, email address, and postal address. The processing of personal data enables us to offer and bill our services and products, whether online or offline. The scope of this Privacy Policy includes:
all online presences (websites, online shops) that we operate
social media presences and email communication
mobile apps for smartphones and other devices

In short: The Privacy Policy applies to all areas in which personal data is processed in a structured manner within the company via the channels mentioned above. Should we enter into legal relationships with you outside these channels, we will inform you separately where necessary.

Sharing Feature ("Share My Map")

Registered users have the option to share their personal world map ("heatmap") with third parties via an individually generated sharing link.

When sharing is activated, a randomly generated and technically unpredictable access token is created. Any person who possesses this link can view the shared content without being registered or logged in.

Depending on the selected sharing level, the following data may be visible:

• Visited countries
• Number of days spent in each country
• Individual stays with start and end dates
• Statistical evaluations (e.g. total number of stay days)

Sharing is voluntary and based exclusively on explicit consent pursuant to Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR.

Consent is given by active confirmation within the sharing settings. Before activation, users are expressly informed that anyone in possession of the link will have access to the shared data.

Sharing can be revoked or deleted at any time via the settings. Once revoked, the access token is deactivated immediately.

We would like to point out that we have no influence over any further distribution of the link by third parties.

Access tokens are stored exclusively on the server side and deleted after deactivation. No indexing by search engines takes place.

Profiles, Following, and Collaborative Features

Registered users can create and maintain a profile. Depending on the information provided and the selected settings, profile data may include in particular first name, last name, residence, profile image, optional hero image, biography, manually entered current location, score and achievement information, verification status, and profile design selections.

If a profile is configured as public, the corresponding profile content can be displayed to other users and, where technically intended, linked from social features within the platform. If a profile is configured as private, access to profile details is restricted in accordance with the technical settings of the platform; however, certain minimum account information may still remain necessary for internal account management, security, and collaboration features.

The "Following" feature stores which registered users follow other registered users. This processing serves the purpose of enabling social discovery and quicker access to connected profiles. Depending on the feature context and privacy settings, followed users may be displayed with profile picture, display name, verification status, score, role-related badges, selected public profile details, and an automatically derived or manually entered current location.

Certain collaborative functions, in particular split expense projects and trip planners, process additional relationship and workspace data. This may include project membership, roles within a project, invitations, expense and settlement data, budget entries, cost allocations, planner items, linked stays, and member selections for shared costs or budgets.

In collaborative project areas, relevant project participants can see the data required to operate the shared workspace. Depending on the feature and access role, this may include participant names, profile images, project-related financial entries, planner content, and activity history. Where users collaborate in the same split expense project, contact data such as the account email address may also become visible within that collaboration context if this is technically provided by the platform.

The processing of the above data is carried out for the performance of the user relationship and the provision of requested platform functions pursuant to Art. 6 para. 1 lit. b GDPR, and additionally on the basis of our legitimate interests pursuant to Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR in providing secure, role-based, and user-friendly profile and collaboration features.

Chats, Moderation, and Notifications

The platform provides chat functions in selected areas, for example within split expense projects and in restricted community areas. When these functions are used, message content, sender identity, time of submission, reply references, reactions, mentions, and temporary typing indicators are processed in order to provide the communication feature.

Chat content is visible only within the respective technical context, for example to members of a split expense project or to users with access to a restricted chat area. Users are responsible for the content they share and should avoid posting sensitive data or third-party personal data unless they are authorized to do so.

To protect users and enforce platform rules, reported chat messages and related moderation data may be processed. This may include the reported message, excerpts of message content, the reporting user, the reported user, the reason for the report, moderation status, deletion reasons, and the identity of the moderator handling the report.

In addition, notification data may be processed to inform users about new messages, mentions, and moderation-relevant events. This includes in particular notification states, counters, and short message previews necessary to deliver in-app or project-related notifications.

This processing is carried out for the provision of the requested communication features pursuant to Art. 6 para. 1 lit. b GDPR and, insofar as moderation, abuse prevention, and platform security are concerned, on the basis of our legitimate interests pursuant to Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR.

Recipients and Categories of Recipients

Personal data is disclosed only to the extent necessary for the respective processing purpose. Depending on the feature used, recipients or categories of recipients may include in particular hosting and infrastructure providers, technical service providers for website and app operation, email delivery providers, and providers used for authentication or login features.

If you use platform features with social or collaborative visibility, personal data may also be disclosed to other registered users or project participants to the extent intended by the respective function. This applies in particular to public profiles, following features, shared maps, split expense projects, trip planners, invitations, and chat areas.

Within our organization, access is granted only to persons who need the data to fulfill operational, support, security, or moderation-related tasks. Where necessary, moderators or administrators may access reports, moderation records, project data, and communication content in order to process support cases, investigate misuse, enforce platform rules, or maintain technical integrity.

In addition, data may be disclosed to authorities, courts, legal advisors, or enforcement bodies if and to the extent this is legally required or necessary for the establishment, exercise, or defense of legal claims.

Storage Duration

We store personal data only for as long as this is necessary for the respective purpose, for the duration of the user relationship, or insofar as statutory retention obligations or legitimate operational and security interests require longer storage.

Account and profile data are generally stored for the duration of the active account. If an account is deleted, the corresponding data is deleted or restricted from further processing unless continued storage is necessary due to legal obligations, fraud prevention, IT security, evidence preservation, or the assertion or defense of legal claims.

Data from collaborative areas, such as split expense projects, settlements, planner entries, invitations, and shared project memberships, is generally stored as long as the corresponding workspace or linked account context exists and as long as this is necessary to provide the function, document transactions, resolve disputes, or comply with legal retention requirements.

Chat messages, message reactions, moderation records, and message reports are stored for as long as required to operate the communication features, process reports, investigate abuse, enforce platform rules, or safeguard the stability and security of the platform. Temporary typing indicators, rate-limit data, and comparable short-term technical state data are generally stored only for a short period and deleted or overwritten when no longer operationally required.

Email verification, password reset, invite, and similar security or workflow-related data are stored only for as long as needed to complete the respective process or to document the process in case of security-related follow-up questions.

Where exact deletion periods are not fixed in advance, the storage period is determined by the purpose of processing, the respective feature lifecycle, legal retention requirements, and the necessity of defending against or asserting legal claims.

Third-Country Transfers and External Services

We use external services in individual areas of the platform, for example for email delivery and for optional third-party authentication such as Google sign-in or Apple sign-in. When such services are used, personal data may be processed by the respective external provider to the extent required for the service.

Where personal data is transferred to recipients outside the European Union or the European Economic Area, this only takes place insofar as this is legally permitted. In such cases, the transfer is based in particular on an adequacy decision, suitable safeguards within the meaning of Art. 46 GDPR, or another applicable legal basis.

Please note that when you actively use third-party login or similar externally provided functions, additional processing by the respective provider may occur under that provider's own privacy terms. This applies in particular to identity and authentication data made available by the provider for sign-in.

If and insofar as external providers act on our behalf, they are used only within the framework of the applicable data protection requirements. If they act as independent controllers for their own services, their own privacy notices and contractual conditions apply in addition.

Legal Bases

In the following Privacy Policy, we provide you with transparent information about the legal principles and regulations, in other words the legal bases of the General Data Protection Regulation, that enable us to process personal data.
As far as EU law is concerned, we refer to REGULATION (EU) 2016/679 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 27 April 2016. You can, of course, read this EU General Data Protection Regulation online on EUR-Lex, the access point to EU law, at https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/ALL/?uri=celex%3A32016R0679.

We process your data only if at least one of the following conditions applies:

1. Consent (Article 6(1)(a) GDPR): You have given us your consent to process data for a specific purpose. One example would be the storage of the data you entered in a contact form.
2. Contract (Article 6(1)(b) GDPR): We process your data in order to fulfill a contract or pre-contractual obligations with you. For example, if we conclude a purchase agreement with you, we require personal information in advance.
3. Legal obligation (Article 6(1)(c) GDPR): If we are subject to a legal obligation, we process your data. For example, we are legally required to retain invoices for accounting purposes. These usually contain personal data.
4. Legitimate interests (Article 6(1)(f) GDPR): In the event of legitimate interests that do not override your fundamental rights, we reserve the right to process personal data. For example, we need to process certain data in order to operate our website securely and efficiently. This processing therefore constitutes a legitimate interest.

Further conditions, such as processing in the public interest, the exercise of official authority, or the protection of vital interests, generally do not apply in our case. Should such a legal basis nevertheless become relevant, it will be indicated at the appropriate place.
In addition to the EU Regulation, national laws also apply:

• In Austria, this is the Federal Act concerning the Protection of Natural Persons with regard to the Processing of Personal Data (Data Protection Act), abbreviated as DSG.
• In Germany, the Federal Data Protection Act (Bundesdatenschutzgesetz), abbreviated as BDSG, applies.

If other regional or national laws apply, we will inform you about them in the following sections.

Rights under the General Data Protection Regulation

Pursuant to Articles 13 and 14 GDPR, we inform you of the following rights to which you are entitled in order to ensure fair and transparent data processing:

• Under Article 15 GDPR, you have the right to obtain information as to whether we process data concerning you. If this is the case, you have the right to receive a copy of the data and to be informed of the following:
• the purpose for which we carry out the processing;
• the categories, that is, the types of data being processed;
• who receives this data and, if the data is transferred to third countries, how security can be guaranteed;
• how long the data is stored;
• the existence of the right to rectification, erasure, or restriction of processing, and the right to object to processing;
• that you can lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority (links to these authorities can be found below);
• the origin of the data if we did not collect it from you;
• whether profiling is carried out, meaning whether data is automatically evaluated in order to create a personal profile about you.
• Under Article 16 GDPR, you have the right to rectification of data, which means that we must correct data if you discover any errors.
• Under Article 17 GDPR, you have the right to erasure ("right to be forgotten"), which specifically means that you may request the deletion of your data.
• Under Article 18 GDPR, you have the right to restriction of processing, which means that we may only store the data but no longer use it.
• Under Article 20 GDPR, you have the right to data portability, which means that upon request we will provide your data to you in a commonly used format.
• Under Article 21 GDPR, you have the right to object, which, once exercised, entails a change in processing.
• If the processing of your data is based on Article 6(1)(e) (public interest, exercise of official authority) or Article 6(1)(f) (legitimate interest), you may object to the processing. We will then review as quickly as possible whether we can legally comply with this objection.
• If data is used for direct marketing, you may object to this type of data processing at any time. We may then no longer use your data for direct marketing.
• If data is used for profiling, you may object to this type of data processing at any time. We may then no longer use your data for profiling.
• Under Article 22 GDPR, under certain circumstances you have the right not to be subject to a decision based solely on automated processing (for example profiling).
• Under Article 77 GDPR, you have the right to lodge a complaint. This means you may contact the data protection authority at any time if you believe that the processing of personal data violates the GDPR.

In short: You have rights. Do not hesitate to contact the responsible body listed above.

If you believe that the processing of your data violates data protection law or that your data protection claims have otherwise been infringed, you can lodge a complaint with the supervisory authority. For Austria, this is the Data Protection Authority, whose website can be found at https://www.dsb.gv.at/. In Germany, each federal state has its own data protection officer. For more information, you can contact the Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information (BfDI).

Cookies

Cookies Summary

Data subjects: visitors to the website
Purpose: depends on the respective cookie. You can find more details below or from the manufacturer of the software that sets the cookie.
Processed data: depends on the respective cookie used. You can find more details below or from the manufacturer of the software that sets the cookie.
Storage duration: depends on the respective cookie and may vary from hours to years
Legal bases: Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR (consent), Art. 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR (legitimate interests)

What are cookies?

Our website uses HTTP cookies to store user-specific data. Below we explain what cookies are and why they are used so that you can better understand the following Privacy Policy.

Whenever you browse the internet, you use a browser. Common browsers include Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Internet Explorer, and Microsoft Edge. Most websites store small text files in your browser. These files are called cookies.

One thing cannot be denied: cookies are genuinely useful helpers. Almost all websites use cookies. More precisely, they use HTTP cookies, as there are also other cookies for other areas of application. HTTP cookies are small files that are stored on your computer by our website. These cookie files are automatically stored in the cookie folder, the "brain" of your browser, so to speak. A cookie consists of a name and a value. When defining a cookie, one or more attributes must also be specified.

Cookies store certain user data about you, such as language preferences or personal page settings. When you revisit our site, your browser transmits the "user-related" information back to our site. Thanks to cookies, our website knows who you are and offers you the settings you are accustomed to. In some browsers, each cookie has its own file; in others, such as Firefox, all cookies are stored in a single file.

The following graphic shows a possible interaction between a web browser such as Chrome and the web server. The web browser requests a website and receives a cookie back from the server, which the browser reuses as soon as another page is requested.

There are both first-party cookies and third-party cookies. First-party cookies are created directly by our site, while third-party cookies are created by partner websites (e.g. Google Analytics). Each cookie must be assessed individually because each cookie stores different data.
The expiry period of a cookie also varies from a few minutes to a few years. Cookies are not software programs and do not contain viruses, Trojans, or other "malware". Cookies also cannot access information on your PC.

Cookie data may, for example, look like this:

Name: _ga
Value: GA1.2.1326744211.152122810922-9
Purpose: Distinguishing website visitors
Expiry date: after 2 years

A browser should support at least the following minimum sizes:
-At least 4096 bytes per cookie
-At least 50 cookies per domain
-At least 3000 cookies in total

What types of cookies are there?

Which cookies we specifically use depends on the services used and is explained in the following sections of the Privacy Policy. At this point, we would briefly like to address the different types of HTTP cookies.
There are 4 types of cookies:

Essential cookies

These cookies are necessary to ensure basic website functions. For example, these cookies are required when a user places a product in a shopping cart, then continues browsing on other pages, and only later proceeds to checkout. These cookies ensure that the shopping cart is not deleted even if the user closes the browser window.

Functional cookies

These cookies collect information about user behavior and whether the user receives any error messages. These cookies are also used to measure the loading time and behavior of the website in different browsers.

Targeted cookies

These cookies improve user-friendliness. For example, entered locations, font sizes, or form data are stored.

Advertising cookies

These cookies are also called targeting cookies. They are used to deliver individually tailored advertising to the user. This can be very practical, but also very annoying.
Usually, when you visit a website for the first time, you are asked which of these types of cookies you would like to allow. And of course, this decision is also stored in a cookie.

If you want to know more about cookies and do not shy away from technical documentation, we recommend https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc6265, the Request for Comments by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) entitled "HTTP State Management Mechanism".

Purpose of processing through cookies

Ultimately, the purpose depends on the respective cookie. More details can be found below or from the manufacturer of the software that sets the cookie.

Which data is processed?

Cookies are small helpers for many different tasks. Unfortunately, it is not possible to generalize which data is stored in cookies, but we will inform you about the data processed or stored within the following Privacy Policy.

Storage duration of cookies

The storage duration depends on the respective cookie and is specified in more detail below. Some cookies are deleted after less than one hour, while others may remain stored on a computer for several years.
You also have influence over the storage duration yourself. You can manually delete all cookies at any time via your browser (see also "Right to object" below). Furthermore, cookies based on consent are deleted at the latest after you withdraw your consent, whereby the lawfulness of storage until that point remains unaffected.

Right to object - how can I delete cookies?

How and whether you want to use cookies is up to you. Regardless of which service or website the cookies come from, you always have the option to delete, deactivate, or only partially allow cookies. For example, you can block third-party cookies but allow all other cookies.

If you would like to find out which cookies have been stored in your browser, or if you want to change or delete cookie settings, you can do so in your browser settings:

• Chrome: Delete, enable and manage cookies in Chrome
• Safari: Manage cookies and website data in Safari
• Firefox: Clear cookies to remove data that websites have placed on your computer
• Internet Explorer: Delete and manage cookies
• Microsoft Edge: Delete and manage cookies

If you generally do not want any cookies, you can set up your browser so that it always informs you when a cookie is about to be set. This way, you can decide for each individual cookie whether to allow it or not. The procedure varies depending on the browser. The best way is to search Google for instructions using the search terms "delete cookies Chrome" or "disable cookies Chrome" if you use Chrome.

Legal Basis

Since 2009, there have been the so-called "Cookie Directives". These state that storing cookies requires your consent (Article 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR). However, reactions to these directives still differ greatly among EU countries. In Austria, this directive was implemented in Section 165 para. 3 of the Telecommunications Act 2021. In Germany, the Cookie Directives were not implemented as national law.
Instead, this directive was largely implemented in Section 15 para. 3 of the Telemedia Act (TMG), which has been replaced by the Digital Services Act (DDG) since May 2024.

For strictly necessary cookies, even where no consent is given, there are legitimate interests (Article 6 para. 1 lit. f GDPR), which in most cases are of an economic nature. We want to provide visitors to the website with a pleasant user experience, and certain cookies are often absolutely necessary for this purpose.

To the extent that non-essential cookies are used, this only takes place with your consent. The legal basis in this respect is Art. 6 para. 1 lit. a GDPR.

In the following sections, you will be informed in more detail about the use of cookies, provided that the software used employs cookies.

Explanation of Terms Used

We always strive to write our Privacy Policy as clearly and understandably as possible. However, this is not always easy, especially when it comes to technical and legal topics. It often makes sense to use legal terms (such as personal data) or certain technical expressions (such as cookies or IP addresses). However, we do not want to use them without explanation. Below you will now find an alphabetical list of important terms used that we may not yet have explained sufficiently in the previous Privacy Policy. If these terms are taken from the GDPR and constitute definitions, we will also reproduce the GDPR wording here and add our own explanations where necessary.

Processor

Definition according to Article 4 GDPR

For the purposes of this Regulation, the term:

"processor" means a natural or legal person, public authority, agency, or other body which processes personal data on behalf of the controller;

Explanation: As a company and website owner, we are responsible for all data that we process from you. In addition to controllers, there may also be so-called processors. This includes any company or person that processes personal data on our behalf. Processors may therefore include, in addition to service providers such as tax consultants, hosting or cloud providers, payment or newsletter providers, or large companies such as Google or Microsoft.

Consent

Definition according to Article 4 GDPR

For the purposes of this Regulation, the term:

"consent" of the data subject means any freely given, specific, informed, and unambiguous indication of the data subject's wishes by which they, by a statement or by a clear affirmative action, signify agreement to the processing of personal data relating to them;

Explanation: As a rule, such consent is obtained on websites via a cookie consent tool. You are certainly familiar with this. Whenever you visit a website for the first time, you are usually asked via a banner whether you agree to or consent to data processing. In most cases, you can also make individual settings and decide for yourself which data processing you allow and which you do not. If you do not consent, no personal data may be processed. In principle, consent can of course also be given in writing, i.e. not via a tool.

Personal Data

Definition according to Article 4 GDPR

For the purposes of this Regulation, the term:

"personal data" means any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person ("data subject"); an identifiable natural person is one who can be identified, directly or indirectly, in particular by reference to an identifier such as a name, an identification number, location data, an online identifier, or to one or more factors specific to the physical, physiological, genetic, mental, economic, cultural, or social identity of that natural person;

Explanation: Personal data is therefore any data that can identify you as a person. This usually includes data such as:

• Name
• Address
• Email address
• Postal address
• Telephone number
• Date of birth
• Identification numbers such as social security number, tax identification number, identity card number, or student registration number
• Bank data such as account number, credit information, account balances, and more

According to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), your IP address is also personal data. IT experts can use your IP address to determine at least the approximate location of your device and subsequently identify you as the connection holder. Therefore, storing an IP address also requires a legal basis within the meaning of the GDPR. There are also so-called "special categories" of personal data, which are also particularly worthy of protection. These include:

• racial and ethnic origin
• political opinions
• religious or philosophical beliefs
• trade union membership
• genetic data, such as data obtained from blood or saliva samples
• biometric data (information relating to mental, physical, or behavioral characteristics that can identify a person)
• health data
• data concerning sexual orientation or sex life

Profiling

Definition according to Article 4 GDPR

For the purposes of this Regulation, the term:

"profiling" means any form of automated processing of personal data consisting of the use of personal data to evaluate certain personal aspects relating to a natural person, in particular to analyze or predict aspects concerning that natural person's performance at work, economic situation, health, personal preferences, interests, reliability, behavior, location, or movements;

Explanation: Profiling involves compiling various pieces of information about a person in order to learn more about that person. In the web sector, profiling is often used for advertising purposes or for credit assessments. Web or advertising analysis programs, for example, collect data about your behavior and interests on a website. This results in a special user profile that can be used to display advertising specifically to a target group.

Controller

Definition according to Article 4 GDPR

For the purposes of this Regulation, the term:

"controller" means the natural or legal person, public authority, agency, or other body which, alone or jointly with others, determines the purposes and means of the processing of personal data; where the purposes and means of such processing are determined by Union or Member State law, the controller or the specific criteria for its designation may be provided for by Union or Member State law;

Explanation: In our case, we are responsible for processing your personal data and are therefore the "controller". If we pass collected data on to other service providers for processing, these are "processors". For this purpose, a "data processing agreement (DPA)" must be signed.

Processing

Definition according to Article 4 GDPR

For the purposes of this Regulation, the term:

"processing" means any operation or set of operations which is performed on personal data, whether or not by automated means, such as collection, recording, organization, structuring, storage, adaptation, or alteration, retrieval, consultation, use, disclosure by transmission, dissemination, or otherwise making available, alignment, or combination, restriction, erasure, or destruction;

Note: When we speak of processing in our Privacy Policy, we mean any kind of data processing. As mentioned above in the original GDPR statement, this includes not only collecting but also storing and processing data. All texts are protected by copyright.