Who we are
BeThere ("BeThere", "we", "us") operates the BeThere service and decides how personal data is used for it. For any privacy question or request, write to hello@bthere.net.
This policy covers the BeThere participant app (iOS and Android) and the bthere.net website, including its waitlist. It does not cover websites or services run by others that we link to.
What we collect
We collect only what the service needs. Most profile details are optional and you can leave them empty.
| Category | What it includes | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Account | Name, e-mail address, whether the e-mail is verified, and your password in protected (hashed) form. Sign-in records with the device type and IP address, kept to secure your account. | You, when you register and sign in |
| Profile (optional) | Profile photo, interests, preferred language, contact phone number, gender (female, male, non-binary or prefer not to say), country, city and time zone that you choose, and notes you add. We do not read your device GPS location. | You, in the app |
| Bookings | The live presence sessions you book, seats, the price shown when you booked, status, cancellations and refunds, and the languages and interests you pick for a session. | You, and our systems |
| Guest contact number (optional) | An optional phone number you enter for a guest seat on your booking. | You, when you book |
| Payments | Payment status, amount, currency and a Stripe customer reference. We never receive or store your card number; you enter card details on Stripe-hosted checkout. | Stripe and our systems |
| Live session activity | That you joined a session, the requests you send to the director (for example "move forward" or a question), whether your microphone was granted, and your private rating if you leave one. | You, during a session |
| Reviews and feedback | A star rating and optional comment if you choose to publish a review, and private feedback about your guide. | You, after a session |
| Support | Messages you send us, the category, a linked session if any, and attachments you upload. | You |
| Notifications | Your notification preferences, the in-app inbox, and a push token with the device platform and an installation identifier so we can send push messages. | Your device and our systems |
| Website | If you join the waitlist: your e-mail address and which part of the page you used. We also measure visits to bthere.net with a cookieless analytics tool. | You and your browser |
The app does not include advertising SDKs or third-party analytics SDKs, and we do not use your data for advertising.
How we use your data
- To create and secure your account, verify your e-mail address and let you reset your password.
- To show you live presence sessions, take bookings, process payments through Stripe and handle cancellations and refunds.
- To run a live presence session: the director approves requests, the field operator carries them out, and the certified guide answers you.
- To keep sessions safe, including pausing a session when the director places a safety hold.
- To send booking confirmations, cancellations, session-start notices and reminders that you have not turned off, and to answer support requests.
- To prevent fraud and abuse, enforce our Terms of Use and meet legal obligations.
- To improve quality, but only through recordings you have permitted (see "Recording").
We do not sell personal data. We do not make decisions with legal or similarly significant effects about you by automated means.
What other people see in a live presence session
- The field operator's camera and audio and the certified guide's audio are streamed to participants in the session. Your camera is never used.
- Your microphone is off by default. It transmits only after you choose to speak, your device allows it and the director grants it. The grant ends when the director revokes it, when a safety hold starts, or when you leave.
- Other participants do not see your name, e-mail, phone number or account identifier. When a movement request of yours is approved (for example "move forward"), other participants may see a short name such as "Sara K." beside it. You can switch this off in your profile; the setting applies the next time you join a session. Free-text and voice requests are never shared.
- The certified guide assigned to your session sees the display name of the people who booked, and nothing else that identifies you: no e-mail address, phone number or photo. The field operator does not receive your name.
- Where live captions are offered, they are generated from the certified guide's audio only. Captions and audio are not stored.
Recording
A session may be recorded for private quality review. Your microphone audio is included only with your permission, which is off by default, and joining a session never requires it. Recordings are restricted to authorised reviewers, are not available to other participants, and expire after 30 days. You can withdraw permission for future recording at any time; withdrawing does not delete a recording that already exists, which still expires on schedule.
Payments
Payments are taken on a checkout page hosted by Stripe. Stripe receives your e-mail address and the booking reference needed to complete the payment and acts under its own privacy policy for card data. We receive the outcome (paid, failed, refunded) and keep it with your booking. We confirm a booking only after Stripe's confirmation reaches our servers; a return to the app is not treated as proof of payment.
How long we keep data
| Data | Retention |
|---|---|
| Account and profile | While your account exists. After you request deletion, access is disabled at once and the records stay only for the staff review described on the account deletion page. |
| Bookings, payments and refunds | As long as needed for accounting, tax, dispute and legal obligations, then deleted or anonymised. They are not erased automatically when you request account deletion. |
| Guest contact numbers | Erased when the guest accepts the invitation, when the booking is cancelled, 30 days after the session ends or is cancelled, and when your deletion request is approved. |
| Profile photo and uploads in your media folder | Until you replace or remove them, and removed when your deletion request is approved. |
| Passport awards | Until your deletion request is approved, then deleted. |
| Recordings (only with your permission) | 30 days. |
| Captions and live audio | Not stored. |
| Push tokens and sign-in records | Removed when you sign out of a device, when you request deletion, or when the push provider reports a token as no longer valid. |
| Support requests | While your account exists and as long as needed to resolve the request and any dispute. |
| Waitlist e-mail | Until you ask us to remove it or the waitlist ends. |
Your choices and rights
Depending on where you live, you may have the right to access, correct, delete, restrict or object to our use of your personal data, to receive a copy of data you gave us, and to withdraw consent. You can also complain to your data protection authority.
- Edit or clear profile details, photo, phone number and gender in the app under Account, Personal Info.
- Turn name sharing in sessions on or off in your profile.
- Turn e-mail and push notifications on or off under Account, Notification Preferences, or in your device settings.
- Allow or withdraw microphone access and recording permission whenever you like.
- Ask us about your data, or to delete it, by writing to hello@bthere.net. Account deletion is described on the account deletion page.
We may need to confirm your identity before acting on a request. If a request is refused, for instance because we must keep a payment record, we tell you why.
Security
Data is sent over encrypted connections. Our servers check who you are and what you may access on every request. The app stores your sign-in session in the device's secure storage, and profile photos and attachments are private files available only to you and authorised staff. No system is perfectly secure; if a breach affects you, we will notify you as the law requires.
Age
BeThere is for people aged 18 or older. We do not knowingly collect data from anyone younger. If you believe a child has given us data, write to hello@bthere.net and we will delete it.
Changes to this policy
When we change this policy we update the date at the top. For material changes we will notify you in the app or by e-mail before they apply.
Contact
BeThere, hello@bthere.net. See also Support and our Terms of Use.