Legal

Privacy Policy

Effective 8 September 2026 · Version 3.1 · Zone Tick Pty Ltd
Version 3.1 clarifies that all advertising is non-personalised, and corrects the California section, which previously listed an "inferences" category that our non-personalised ad configuration does not produce. Supersedes version 2.1.0 (9 July 2026).

The short version

• We do not sell your personal information, and we never have.
• Your account and app data is stored in Google Cloud's Sydney, Australia region. Some background processing runs in the United States — see Where data is stored.
• Location is shared only inside the private circles you join, plus emergency contacts you choose during an SOS.
• The microphone is not always on. It activates only for features you enable, and only during a timed safety session you or a detected event starts.
• Emergency audio recordings stay on your phone and auto-delete after 7 days, unless you explicitly share one.
• Free plans show ads, but only non-personalised ones. Ad networks are not permitted to use your data to build an advertising profile, so there is nothing for us to sell or share.
• You can delete your account at any time, from inside the app or from this website.

This policy explains what Zone Tick collects, why we collect it, who it is shared with, how long we keep it, and what you can do about it. It covers the Zone Tick mobile app on iOS and Android and the website at zonetick.com. We have tried to write it in plain English and to be specific rather than vague — if anything here is unclear, email privacy@zonetick.com and we will explain it.

1. Who we are

Zone Tick is built and operated by Zone Tick Pty Ltd, an Australian company based in Victoria, Australia. For the purposes of the EU/UK GDPR, Zone Tick Pty Ltd is the data controller for personal data processed through the app and this website.

• Privacy enquiries: privacy@zonetick.com
• General support: support@zonetick.com
• Website: zonetick.com

2. What we collect

Zone Tick is a safety product, so it requests sensitive permissions. Below is every category of data the app can access, what it is used for, and whether it is optional. "Optional" means the feature is off until you turn it on, and turning it off stops the collection.

3. How we use your information

• To deliver safety features — SOS alerts, live location, safe zones, check-ins, crash detection, run/chase detection, voice and scream detection, and family circles.
• To notify the right people — push notifications to your circle and SMS to the emergency contacts you nominate.
• To operate your account — sign-in, security, App Check abuse prevention, and support requests.
• To manage subscriptions — verifying purchases through Apple, Google, RevenueCat and Stripe.
• To show non-personalised advertising on free plans — in the app and on this website, and to grant temporary Premium after a rewarded ad.
• To improve reliability — aggregate analytics and crash reporting to find and fix bugs.
• To meet legal obligations — responding to lawful requests and protecting against fraud, abuse and harm.

We do not use your location, audio, messages or sensor data to build advertising profiles, and we do not provide any of it to data brokers.

4. Legal bases for processing

If you are in the EEA or UK, we rely on the following legal bases under Article 6 GDPR:

• Contract — to provide the account and features you signed up for (account data, messaging, subscriptions).
• Consent — for optional sensitive processing: precise and background location, microphone and speech recognition, motion sensors, and contacts. You can withdraw consent at any time in the app or your device settings.
• Legitimate interests — keeping the service secure and reliable, preventing abuse, and basic non-personalised analytics, balanced against your rights.
• Vital interests — sharing your location and alert details with your nominated contacts during an active emergency.
• Legal obligation — where we must retain or disclose data to comply with the law.

Location, audio and health-adjacent sensor data may constitute special category data in some jurisdictions. Where that is the case, we process it on the basis of your explicit consent (Article 9(2)(a)) or to protect vital interests (Article 9(2)(c)).

5. Device permissions, and what happens if you decline

Every permission below is requested in context, with an explanation, at the moment the relevant feature is first used. You can revoke any of them later in your device settings.

• Location (while in use / always) — declining disables live sharing, the family map, safe zones and location in SOS alerts. The rest of the app still works.
• Microphone — declining disables scream detection, keyword detection and emergency recording.
• Motion & physical activity — declining disables crash detection, shake-to-activate and run/chase detection.
• Notifications — declining means you will not receive SOS alerts, check-in reminders or messages. We strongly recommend allowing this one.
• Camera / photos — declining only prevents setting a profile photo or attaching images.
• Contacts — declining only means you type emergency contact numbers manually.
• SMS / phone state — declining means emergency SMS opens your messaging app for you to send manually instead of sending directly.
• App Tracking Transparency (iOS) — we never show this prompt, because Zone Tick does not track you across other apps or websites.

6. Who we share information with

We share personal information in only four situations:

1. With people you choose — members of the family circles you join, and the emergency contacts you add.
2. With service providers who process data on our behalf under contract, listed below.
3. With app stores — Apple and Google, when you buy or manage a subscription.
4. When legally required — to comply with a valid legal request, or to prevent serious harm to someone's safety.

We do not sell personal information, and we do not share it for cross-context behavioural advertising.

Our service providers (sub-processors)

7. Advertising and tracking

Zone Tick is free to use, and advertising is part of how that stays possible. We have chosen to run it in the most restricted way Google offers.

• We serve non-personalised ads only — in the app (Google AdMob) and on this website (Google AdSense). Every ad request is flagged as non-personalised, which means Google is not permitted to use cookies or advertising identifiers from these impressions to build or apply a profile about you across other apps and sites.
• Ads are shown to free-plan users only. Premium removes all advertising in the app.
• We never show an App Tracking Transparency prompt on iOS. That prompt exists to ask permission to track you across other companies' apps — we don't do that, so there is nothing to ask.
• We do not pass your location, audio, sensor data, messages, contacts or circle membership to any ad network. Ever.
• Rewarded ads may grant temporary Premium access. Watching one is always voluntary.
• You can additionally reset or limit your advertising ID in your device settings (iOS: Settings → Privacy & Security → Tracking. Android: Settings → Google → Ads).

This is the reason we can state plainly that we do not sell your personal information and do not share it for cross-context behavioural advertising — the two things a "free, ad-supported" app is usually doing. It costs us advertising revenue. We think it is the right trade for a safety app that families are asked to trust with their location.

8. Where your data is stored and transferred

Your account records, messages, circle data and uploaded files are stored in Google Cloud's Sydney region (australia-southeast1), in Australia.

For full transparency: some of our background processing — scheduled jobs, notification delivery and certain Cloud Functions — currently runs in Google Cloud's us-central1 region in the United States. This means limited data passes through United States infrastructure during processing, even though the primary data store is in Australia. We are working to consolidate this processing into the Australian region.

In addition, our service providers listed above may process data in other countries. Where personal data of EEA or UK residents is transferred outside those regions, we rely on the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses and the equivalent UK addendum, as incorporated into the data-processing terms of the providers we use.

9. How long we keep your data

10. How we protect your data

• All traffic between the app and our servers is encrypted with TLS, and data is encrypted at rest by Google Cloud.
• Access to production data is restricted to authorised personnel who need it to operate the service.
• Firebase App Check is enabled to block requests from unauthorised or tampered clients.
• Database access is governed by server-side security rules so that circle data is readable only by members of that circle.
• Sign-in is handled by Firebase Authentication, including Sign in with Google and Sign in with Apple.

No system is perfectly secure. If we become aware of a data breach that is likely to result in serious harm, we will notify affected users and the relevant regulators as required by law — including the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme in Australia and Articles 33–34 GDPR.

11. Your rights and choices

Wherever you live, you can:

• Access the personal information we hold about you.
• Correct your details, directly in the app.
• Delete your account and data — in the app under Settings → Account → Delete Account, or via our account deletion page.
• Export a copy of your data by emailing privacy@zonetick.com.
• Withdraw consent for any optional feature by turning it off or revoking the permission.
• Opt out of non-essential emails using the unsubscribe link.
• Complain to us, or to your local data protection authority.

We respond to verified requests within 30 days. We do not charge for this.

12. If you are in the EEA or the UK

Under the GDPR and UK GDPR you also have the right to:

• Restrict or object to processing based on legitimate interests.
• Data portability — receive your data in a structured, machine-readable format.
• Not be subject to decisions based solely on automated processing that produce legal effects. Zone Tick does not make such decisions; safety detections always result in a notification you can cancel, never an irreversible automated action.
• Lodge a complaint with your supervisory authority. In the UK this is the Information Commissioner's Office (ico.org.uk).

To exercise any of these, email privacy@zonetick.com.

13. If you are in California

Under the CCPA as amended by the CPRA, we disclose the following. In the past 12 months we have collected these categories of personal information: identifiers (name, email, phone number, user ID, device identifiers), customer records, commercial information (subscription and purchase history), internet or network activity (app usage and diagnostics), geolocation data, audio information, and sensory data from motion sensors.

We do not collect the "inferences" category. Because every ad request we make is flagged non-personalised, ad networks are not permitted to build or apply a profile about you, so no advertising segments or inferred characteristics are created or received.

Sensitive personal information

Two of the categories above are sensitive personal information as the CPRA defines it: precise geolocation, and the contents of audio recordings made during a safety session.

We use both only to perform the services you switched on — showing your location to your circle, attaching it to an SOS, and capturing audio during a safety session — together with security and fraud prevention. We do not use sensitive personal information to infer characteristics about you, and we do not sell or share it. Because our use falls within the purposes permitted by Civil Code section 1798.121(d), we are not required to offer a "Limit the Use of My Sensitive Personal Information" link — but you can switch these features off in the app at any time, which stops the collection entirely.

• We have not sold personal information in the preceding 12 months.
• We have not shared personal information for cross-context behavioural advertising as those terms are defined by the CPRA. Our ad requests are flagged non-personalised, so ad networks are not permitted to build or apply a cross-context profile from them.
• We do not knowingly sell or share the personal information of consumers under 16.
• You have the right to know, delete, correct, and to limit the use of sensitive personal information.
• We will not discriminate against you for exercising any of these rights.

To make a request, email privacy@zonetick.com with the subject "California Privacy Request". An authorised agent may submit on your behalf with written proof.

14. If you are in Australia

Zone Tick Pty Ltd is an Australian company and handles personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs).

• You may request access to, or correction of, your personal information under APP 12 and APP 13.
• You may complain to us first at privacy@zonetick.com. We will acknowledge within 7 days and respond within 30 days.
• If you are unsatisfied with our response, you may complain to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (oaic.gov.au).
• Eligible data breaches are notified under the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme.

15. Children and family use

Zone Tick is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from a child under 13 who signs up independently. Accounts must be created by someone aged 13 or over.

Zone Tick is, however, designed for families. A parent or guardian may set up and manage a circle that includes a minor in their care, and is responsible for obtaining that child's awareness and any consent required in your jurisdiction. Where we know a user is under 18, we do not serve personalised advertising to anyone, at any age.

If you believe a child has provided us information without appropriate consent, contact privacy@zonetick.com and we will delete it promptly.

16. Google Play Data Safety & Apple privacy labels

The disclosures we file with Google Play and Apple are intended to match this policy exactly. In summary:

Data is encrypted in transit. You can request deletion of your data at any time.

17. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as the product changes. When we make a material change we will update the effective date above, and — for changes that meaningfully affect your rights — notify you in the app or by email before the change takes effect. Previous versions are available on request.

18. Contact us

• Privacy: privacy@zonetick.com
• Support: support@zonetick.com
• Account deletion: zonetick.com/account-deletion.html
• Postal address available on request for formal legal correspondence.

Zone Tick Pty Ltd · Victoria, Australia