Privacy & safety

Your location belongs to you. Here’s exactly how we treat it.

What we collect

Your name, email and an encrypted password hash (or a magic-link email). A phone number only if you add one.
Your location — only while an SOS or an “I’m feeling uneasy” alert is active, and only as long as it stays active. We don’t track you at any other time.
Alert history, who responded, and the messages exchanged during an alert.
If you opt in: short audio segments recorded during a real SOS (see “Recording”).

Only people you personally approved into a circle, and only if they have emergency notifications on. Settings shows exactly who that is right now.
Remove someone and their access ends immediately — including any alert already open on their phone.
GirlyGuard staff don’t browse your data. We never sell it and there are no ads or third-party trackers.

Your cancel PIN ends an alert you set off by accident. Your under-duress PIN looks exactly the same on your screen, but keeps the alert running quietly and tells your circle you may not be safe.
PINs are stored only as salted scrypt hashes. After repeated wrong attempts the PIN locks for a time. Changing a PIN needs your password again. The duress PIN is never shown back to you.

If you turn it on, we can record audio from your phone only while a real SOS is active — never in test mode, never otherwise — and it stops when you cancel or end the alert.
Recording laws differ by state: some require everyone in a conversation to consent. We use the place of the incident, then your home state, then the most cautious rule. Where consent can’t be confirmed, recordings are kept for you only, clearly flagged, and not shared with your circle.
Browsers can pause microphone access when your screen locks or the app is in the background. We show you the real status and never promise a continuous recording.
This is product behaviour, not legal advice. Laws change; talk to a lawyer about your situation. The state table was last reviewed for the build you’re using and should be verified with counsel.
You choose how long recordings are kept; they are deleted automatically afterwards, and when you delete your account.

GirlyGuard does not automatically call or text 911. The SOS screen gives you one-tap call and text shortcuts that your phone carries out. Where an approved emergency-services integration is not enabled, we say so plainly — we never claim emergency services were contacted when they weren’t.

Alert data is deleted after the retention period you choose (default 90 days). Settings → Delete my account removes your profile, circles you own, alerts, recordings and push subscriptions.
Security records of PIN attempts and sign-ins are kept briefly for abuse prevention.

If someone else might have access to your phone or accounts, review Settings → Devices & sessions regularly and sign out anything you don’t recognise.
Circles can be women-only based on a self-declaration. We never judge anyone’s identity from photos or names.

Questions or a safety concern? safety@girlyguard.org. In an emergency call 911.