Privacy Policy

About this policy

This Privacy Policy applies to the Baloon mobile application, website, and related beta services. Baloon is currently available to invited internal testers and may change as the product develops.

The service is intended for adults aged 18 or older. Do not use Baloon if you do not meet this requirement.

Information we collect

We collect the information needed to create your account, operate social features, deliver your content, keep the service safe, and remember your choices.

• Account and profile information, including your handle, self-reported birth date, optional gender and badge choice, interests, languages, matching preferences, and consent records.
• Sign-in information. A Google-linked account stores the provider identifier needed to recognize your account. An email-linked account stores your verified email address and temporary verification records.
• Content you create, including voice recordings, text messages, balloon designs, stickers, uploaded artwork or profile images, shared skies, reactions, reports, blocks, invitations, and connection requests.
• Technical information needed to operate the beta, such as sessions, device notification tokens, platform, app version, language, security events, and server logs.

Location and city skies

Location access is optional. If you allow it, Baloon can suggest a nearby city and center the map. You can browse or post in other city skies without changing your reported location.

When you choose to share a launch area, the app sends an approximate H3 area rather than exact GPS coordinates. The server creates a stable display point within that area. A balloon without shared location does not appear as a location-specific map point.

How we use information

We use information to authenticate accounts, publish content to the audience you select, provide playback and conversations, render balloon designs, personalize skies, support friendship or dating features you enable, send requested notifications, prevent abuse, investigate reports, and maintain the service.

We do not sell personal information in the current beta. We do not infer gender from a voice, balloon design, colors, images, or location.

Visibility and sharing

Content in Everywhere, city skies, and other public skies can be discovered by other users. Private-sky content is limited to approved members, but members may still capture or redistribute what they can access. Avoid sharing sensitive information in recordings or artwork.

Your gender badge is shown only if you enable it. Birth date and matching preferences remain private. Connection requests and private conversations are visible only to their participants, subject to safety review when content is reported.

Service providers

We use service providers to run the beta, including cloud hosting and databases, object storage for media, Redis for live delivery, Resend for email codes, Google for optional sign-in and maps, and Firebase for notifications. They process information only as needed to provide their services to Baloon and under their own applicable terms.

Retention and deletion

Released balloons expire from discovery after 48 hours. Expiry does not immediately erase every related account, conversation, safety, or operational record. Conversations retain their own history.

You can delete your account from Account settings. Deletion removes linked sign-in identities and identifying profile fields, closes skies you own, and queues associated media for deletion. Limited non-identifying, security, transaction, or safety records may remain where needed to operate and protect the service.

Your choices

You can deny location, microphone, photo, and notification permissions through your device settings. Some features require the related permission only while you use them. You can change profile visibility, matching modes, gender badge display, sky notifications, blocks, and other preferences inside the app.

Unlinked guest accounts may become inaccessible after reinstalling the app or changing devices. Link Google or a verified email from Account settings if you want account recovery across devices.

Security, changes, and contact

We use access controls, secure session storage, limited upload formats, signed media operations, and account-level authorization to protect the beta. No service can guarantee absolute security, so keep your device and sign-in methods protected.

We may update this policy as the beta changes. The effective date above will change when material updates are published. For privacy questions or deletion assistance, use the contact channel supplied with your beta invitation or the Account controls in the app.