Privacy Policy

Last updated: 6 July 2026

This policy explains how we handle your personal data when you use the GigUp mobile app and this website (gigup.live). GigUp is a social app for discovering live music events and connecting with other people who are going. We take your privacy seriously and collect only what the service needs.

1. Who we are

GigUp ("we", "us", "our") is the data controller for the personal data described here. [Operating entity name and registered postal address to be confirmed.] You can reach us about anything in this policy at hello@gigup.live.

2. Scope

This single policy covers both the GigUp app and this marketing website. Where a section applies to only one of them, we say so. The website's only data collection is the launch-notification email list (section 12); everything else describes the app.

3. What we collect and why

• Account & sign-in. You sign in with email, Google, or Apple. Your email address and authentication identity are held by Firebase Authentication (a Google service); we do not store your email in your public profile.
• Profile information. Your first name, date of birth, and gender, plus the preference data you add — followed artists, favourite genres, languages, and a short bio — used to build your profile, personalise your feed, and show you to other users.
• Lifestyle answers (special-category data). You can optionally share your attitude to alcohol and smoking. As these can reveal information about your health and habits, we treat them as special-category data under Article 9 UK GDPR and collect them only with your explicit consent, given by choosing to answer. They are always optional and, by default, visible to everyone on your profile (see section 6).
• Photos. A profile picture, images in chats (direct and group), board posts, and Crowd photos, stored in Firebase Cloud Storage. Location metadata (EXIF/GPS) is stripped from photos on your device before upload.
• Location. To show events near you, your chosen city, coordinates, and search radius are stored on your device and sent with feed and search requests; proximity parameters are passed to Ticketmaster to find nearby events. We keep no stored location history on our servers.
• Messages & content you create. Messages, board posts, comments, votes, Crowds, reports, connections, and blocks are stored in Firestore so the social features work. Messaging also uses a realtime database for ephemeral state — typing indicators, online presence, and read receipts.
• Push notifications. If you enable notifications, a device push token is stored via Firebase Cloud Messaging so we can deliver alerts about messages, requests, and activity relevant to you.
• Music metadata lookups. When you search for or view an artist, your device contacts MusicBrainz and TheAudioDB directly to fetch artist details and images, which exposes your device's IP address to those services. We do not store these queries, and no account data is sent with them.

4. Our lawful bases

• Contract (Art 6(1)(b)) — to create your account and provide the core app: your profile, feed, messaging, and social features.
• Consent (Art 6(1)(a)) — for optional features such as location and push notifications, and for the website launch list. You can withdraw consent at any time.
• Explicit consent (Art 9(2)(a)) — for the special-category lifestyle answers in section 3, given by choosing to provide them.
• Legitimate interests (Art 6(1)(f)) — to keep GigUp safe and functioning: preventing abuse, acting on reports and blocks, and maintaining the service.

5. Who we share it with

We do not sell your personal data. We use a small number of processors and services to run GigUp:

• Google / Firebase — Authentication, Firestore, Realtime Database, Cloud Storage, Cloud Messaging, and Cloud Functions host and process your app data on our behalf. Our Firebase data is hosted in the UK/EU (europe-west2).
• Ticketmaster — event search and listings, including proximity search.
• MusicBrainz and TheAudioDB — artist information and images.
• Apple and Google — sign-in providers, if you choose them.
• Our hosting provider — operates the website and its launch-list database.

Content you choose to make public — such as your profile, board posts, and Crowd activity — is visible to other GigUp users by design.

GigUp uses no advertising or analytics trackers and no tracking SDKs. We do not track you across other apps or websites.

6. Special-category (Article 9) data

The lifestyle answers described in section 3 (alcohol and smoking) are special-category data. We rely on your explicit consent, which you give by choosing to answer — the fields are optional and blank until you fill them in. When you provide them they are, by default, visible to everyone on your profile. You can edit or delete them at any time from your profile settings, and doing so withdraws consent for that data.

7. International transfers

Our Firebase app data is stored in the UK/EU. Some Google services that underpin sign-in and push notifications operate globally, so limited data may be processed outside the UK/EU. Where that happens, transfers rely on the safeguards Google provides (such as Standard Contractual Clauses and the UK addendum). Ticketmaster, MusicBrainz, and TheAudioDB are contacted to fulfil your requests.

8. How long we keep it

We keep your account data for as long as your account exists. When you delete your account (section 9) we erase your profile and the content tied to it, except limited data we are permitted or required to retain — for example, records connected to abuse reports, kept on a legal/safety basis (Art 17(3)), and copies of messages that have already been delivered to other people's inboxes, which remain with those recipients. Website launch-list emails are kept only until launch and in any case no longer than 24 months.

9. Your rights

Under UK and EU GDPR you have the right to:

• access the personal data we hold about you;
• have it corrected or erased;
• withdraw consent at any time;
• restrict or object to our processing;
• data portability;
• lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority.

You can delete your account at any time from Settings → Delete account in the app, which erases your data as described in section 8. For any other request, email hello@gigup.live. There is no charge and we'll respond within one month.

10. Children

GigUp is not intended for children under 16. We do not knowingly collect data from anyone under that age; if you believe a child has provided us data, contact hello@gigup.live and we'll remove it.

11. Cookies & tracking

The GigUp app sets no advertising cookies and uses no cross-app or cross-site tracking. This website sets no cookies and uses no analytics. It loads the Atkinson Hyperlegible web font from Google Fonts, so your browser contacts Google's servers (exposing your IP address) to fetch it; no cookies are set by this.

12. Website launch list

If you sign up on this website to be notified about the launch, we store your email address, the fact and time that you gave consent, and your IP address and browser user-agent at that moment as proof of consent, as recommended by ICO guidance. The lawful basis is your consent (Art 6(1)(a)); no third-party marketing services are involved. You can withdraw at any time via the unsubscribe link in our emails or by emailing hello@gigup.live.

13. Complaints

If you're in the UK and unhappy with how we've handled your data, you can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk. If you're in the EU, you can contact your local data protection authority. We'd appreciate the chance to resolve it first — please email us.

14. Changes

If we change this policy we'll update the date above and, for material changes, notify you in the app or by email where appropriate.

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