Encounter privacy policy
Last updated 15 October 2026.
Encounter is a dating app with no swiping: while it's open, you're in your orbit with whoever is nearby right now, and you can say hello to them. This policy explains what we collect to make that work, why, who else handles it, how long we keep it, and your rights.
Encounter is run by Samuel Bartle, 212 Pennsylvania Road ("we", "us"). We're the data controller for your information. Questions or requests: support@getencounter.app.
The short version
- Only people signed in to Encounter can see your profile: your first name, age and photos.
- Your precise location is used only while the app is open and is deleted as soon as you leave. Nobody else ever sees it: people see a rough distance, blurred on purpose.
- Your interests and what you're looking for are only ever seen by you. We use them to put people you're likely to get along with nearer the middle of your orbit.
- We don't sell your information, show adverts, or use advertising trackers. We collect crash reports to fix bugs, and nothing else about how you use the app.
- You can delete your account, and with it your information, from inside the app at any time.
What we collect, and why
| Information | What it's for | Lawful basis (UK GDPR) |
|---|---|---|
| Phone number or email address (and a password, if you use email, which our sign-in provider stores scrambled) | Signing you in; keeping someone who was banned or under 18 from signing up again | Contract; legitimate interests (safety) |
| First name, date of birth, gender | Your profile. Others see your first name and age (worked out from your birthday, which is never shown). Your gender isn't shown to anyone: it decides whose orbit you're in | Contract |
| Who you'd like to meet, and an age range | Deciding who's in your orbit. Together with your gender this can reveal your sexuality, which is special category data, so we ask for your explicit consent when you join | Explicit consent |
| Photos (up to six) | Your profile. We crop and resize them and remove their metadata (including any location in them) before anyone sees them. Each photo is checked automatically for nudity and violence first (see "Automated decisions") | Contract; legitimate interests (safety) |
| Interests and what you're looking for | Arranging your orbit: people whose answers go well with yours are placed nearer the middle. Never shown to anyone else, in any form | Contract |
| Precise location, only while the app is open | Working out who's in your orbit. Updated when you move about 500 m. Deleted when you leave your orbit (close the app, or after 5 minutes in the background). We never keep a history of where you've been | Contract |
| Orbit size | How far away people in your orbit can be | Contract |
| Messages, number swaps, and the people you block | Letting you talk to people, and keeping blocked people away from you | Contract |
| Reports you make or that are made about you, including the chat they're about | Keeping Encounter safe: a person reads them and may suspend an account | Legitimate interests (safety); legal obligation |
| Device notification token and whether the app is open | Sending notifications (a hello, a message, a number request), and knowing when you've left your orbit | Contract |
| Crash reports: when the app crashes, your device model, operating system, app version and what the app was doing (not who you are, and nothing you've written) | Finding and fixing crashes | Legitimate interests |
| Usage limits (how often you've done things like say hello) | Stopping spam and abuse | Legitimate interests |
| Consent records: which terms you agreed to, and when you gave consent | Showing we asked | Legal obligation |
We don't collect your contacts, and we never use your location when the app is closed.
Who can see what
- Other people on Encounter see your first name, age, photos and a rough distance (such as "about 2 km", blurred differently for each pair of people), and only while you're both in each other's orbit or chatting. They never see your location, gender, preferences, interests, or what you're looking for.
- People you message see your messages. If you swap numbers, you can keep talking when you're not nearby.
- Our moderators see reports and the chats they're about, and photos flagged for review.
Automated decisions
Two things happen automatically:
- Arranging your orbit. We score how well your interests and what you're looking for go with each person's, and place the best matches nearest the middle. This only decides where people appear, not whether they appear or whether you can talk to them.
- Checking photos. Each photo is scanned by Google Cloud Vision for nudity and violence before it's shown. A clear match is refused and you're asked for another; borderline photos are shown but checked by a person. If you think a photo was refused by mistake, email us.
Neither has a legal or similarly significant effect on you, but you can ask us about either.
Who else handles your information
We use service providers who process information on our behalf, under contracts that require them to protect it:
- Google (Firebase and Google Cloud): sign-in (including sending sign-in text messages), our database and file storage, the code that runs Encounter, notifications, crash reports (Firebase Crashlytics), and the photo check. Profiles, messages, photos and locations are stored in London. Whether the app is open (online, in the background or closed, and when that changed) is held in the United States, and sign-in is handled on Google's global systems.
- Apple: delivering notifications to iPhones.
- Kit: our beta mailing list, if you join it from our website (see below).
When information leaves the UK, it's protected by the UK's adequacy regulations (including the UK-US data bridge, where it applies) or the UK's International Data Transfer Addendum.
We'll share information with the police or other authorities only where the law requires it, or to protect someone from serious harm, such as reporting child sexual abuse material.
How long we keep it
| Information | How long |
|---|---|
| Your location | Only while you're in your orbit |
| Your account, profile, photos and answers | Until you delete your account |
| Chats | Until either of you deletes your account, or 12 months after the last message, whichever comes first |
| A chat that was reported | Kept, hidden from both people, for 2 years after the report is closed |
| Reports | 2 years after they're closed |
| If you were turned away for being under 18, or banned | A scrambled (hashed) copy of your phone number or email, so the same one can't be used to sign up again, for 5 years |
| Photos that were never used (an unfinished upload, a removed photo) | Deleted within a day or two |
| Crash reports | 90 days (Crashlytics' standard retention) |
Our website and mailing list
Our website (getencounter.app) has no cookies, analytics or trackers, and loads nothing from other sites. It's served by Google (Firebase Hosting), which handles your IP address to deliver the pages.
If you join the beta list, we collect your email address, your first name if you give it, where you are (London, Manchester or elsewhere), which site or post sent you to us (for example our Instagram), and when you signed up and confirmed. We use them only to invite you to the beta and tell you about Encounter's launch. The lawful basis is your consent: you choose to sign up, then confirm by email.
The list is run by Kit (Kit.com, in the United States), who send our emails. Kit may record whether our emails are opened and which links are clicked. Transfers to the US are protected by the UK-US data bridge or the UK's International Data Transfer Addendum.
Every email has an unsubscribe link, or email support@getencounter.app and we'll remove you. We keep the list until you unsubscribe, or until 6 months after Encounter launches, whichever comes first. Joining the list doesn't create an Encounter account: you'll make one in the app.
Deleting your account
Profile → Delete account. This deletes your profile, photos, answers and blocks straight away, and your chats disappear for the other person too. What's kept is described above (reports, and the hashed record if you were under 18 or banned). If you can't get into the app, see getencounter.app/delete-account.
Your rights
You have the right to: see the information we hold about you; have it corrected; have it deleted; have us stop or limit using it; object to how we use it; get it in a format you can take elsewhere; and withdraw your consent at any time. Withdrawing consent to use your gender and who you'd like to meet means deleting your account, because Encounter can't work without them.
Email support@getencounter.app and we'll reply within a month. You can also complain to the Information Commissioner's Office: ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint or 0303 123 1113.
Over 18s only
Encounter is only for people aged 18 or over. We check your date of birth when you join, and we delete accounts we find belong to someone under 18.
Changes
If we change this policy in a way that matters, we'll tell you in the app before it takes effect.