Privacy Policy.
Last updated: 4 September 2026
App: Orba (Android package com.jawsome.orba, and the iOS app of the same name).
Published by: Jawsome, the developer responsible for how the data described here is handled.
Privacy contact: alexeifentom@gmail.com
This policy explains, in plain language, what information Orba accesses, collects, uses and shares — including with third parties — how long we keep it, how we protect it, and how you can get it back or delete it. It covers the Orba mobile apps and this website.
1. Our promise
Orba is a private place to keep the things you and your people want to do. We do not sell or rent your personal information, we show no advertising, and we do not track you across other apps or websites. Orba contains no advertising or analytics SDKs.
2. What we collect and why
We collect only what the app needs in order to work. Nothing in the table below is sold, and none of it is used for advertising.
| Data | Why we need it | Where it goes |
|---|---|---|
| Account data — a user ID, plus the email address, display name and profile picture that come with the way you sign in: Google, Apple, an email address and password, or a guest account that gives us neither. | To create your account, sign you in, and show the other members of a Space who you are. | Firebase Authentication and Cloud Firestore. |
| Your content — the Spaces, possibilities, notes, dates, votes, reactions and decisions you and your people create. | To store your plans and sync them across your devices and with the people you invite. | Cloud Firestore, and the members of the Spaces you share it in. |
| Images you upload — photos attached to a possibility, and your profile picture if you set one. | To show them inside your Spaces. | Firebase Cloud Storage, readable by signed-in members of the Space. |
| Approximate location — a coarse, city-level position, only if you grant the permission. | To rank nearby places first when you search for somewhere to eat or go. | Sent with that one search to the Google Places API. We do not store it. |
| Search text, links and photos you capture — what you type into search, a link you paste, or a photo or screenshot you add something from. | To look up the title, artist, place or date and fill in the draft for you. | Sent to the enrichment providers in section 4 at the moment you ask. |
| Device notification tokens — one push token per device you sign in on. | To deliver the notifications you turn on (an invite, a new possibility, a decision). | Firebase Cloud Messaging. |
| Technical and security data — your IP address and request metadata in server logs, a Play Integrity / App Attest check, and per-account rate-limit counters. | To keep the service running, to confirm requests come from a genuine copy of the app, and to stop abuse. | Google Cloud logging, Firebase App Check. |
| Abuse reports — if you report content, we record who reported it, a copy of what was reported, and who posted it. | So a person can review the report and act on it. | A private collection only we can read. |
3. Sensitive permissions
Three things Orba touches deserve to be spelled out. Each is optional, each is asked for at the moment it is used, and Orba keeps working if you say no.
- Approximate location (ACCESS_COARSE_LOCATION) — used only to bias a place search toward where you are. It is sent with that search and is never written to your account, never tied to your plans, and never used to build a location history.
- Photos you choose — Orba never scans your gallery. When you pick a photo or screenshot to add something from, that single image is sent for analysis, a short draft (title, kind, date) comes back, and the image is not kept by the analysis provider on our behalf. A photo you attach to a possibility is stored, and you can delete it.
- Notifications (POST_NOTIFICATIONS) — used only to send you the alerts you enable. You can revoke it at any time in your device settings.
Orba does not access your contacts, your calendar, your microphone, your camera roll as a whole, your call or SMS logs, or your precise GPS position.
4. Who we share data with
We share data only with the service providers below, only for the purposes listed, and never for their own advertising. We do not sell personal information and we do not share it for cross-context behavioural advertising.
- Google / Firebase — Authentication, Cloud Firestore, Cloud Storage, Cloud Functions, Cloud Messaging and App Check. This is where your account and your content are hosted.
- OpenAI — when you add something from a photo, a link or a search phrase, that image, link or text is sent to turn it into a short draft. We send no account identifier, name or email with it.
- Google Places API — the place you searched for, plus your approximate location if you granted it, to return nearby restaurants and places.
- OMDb API — the film or series title you searched for.
- Spotify Web API — the song, album or artist you searched for.
- The people you invite — by design, everything you put into a shared Space is visible to the members of that Space, along with your display name and profile picture.
- Legal and safety — we may disclose information if the law requires it, or to investigate abuse and protect people's safety.
5. How we protect your data
- Everything travels over encrypted connections (TLS/HTTPS) and is encrypted at rest by Google Cloud.
- Firestore and Storage security rules enforce, on the server, that only the members of a Space can read its content and only you can write your own.
- Firebase App Check (Play Integrity on Android, App Attest on iOS) rejects requests that do not come from a genuine copy of the app, and per-account rate limits blunt abuse.
- API keys for the providers above are held as server-side secrets and never shipped inside the app.
- No method is perfect, so we keep the data we collect to the minimum the app actually needs.
6. How long we keep it, and how to delete it
We keep your account data and your content for as long as your account exists. Delete a possibility or a Space and it goes; delete your account and all of it goes.
Deleting your account
In the app, open Settings → Delete account. That immediately and permanently removes your user record and everything under it, your Space memberships, your uploaded images, your device tokens, and your sign-in credentials. It cannot be undone. You can also ask us to do it by email and we will complete it within 30 days.
What outlives the account
- Content you contributed to a Space you share with other people stays with that Space, so their plans are not torn apart. Delete it before you delete your account if you would rather it went too.
- Abuse reports are kept for up to 12 months so repeat behaviour can be recognised.
- Server and security logs roll off within 30 days, and encrypted backups within 90 days.
7. Your rights
Wherever you live, you can ask us to give you a copy of your data, correct it, delete it, or stop a particular use of it, and you can withdraw a permission at any time in your device settings. Deletion is built into the app; for a copy of your data, email us and we will send it within 30 days.
If you are in the European Economic Area or the United Kingdom, we handle your data to perform our agreement with you (running the app), on your consent (location, notifications), and on our legitimate interest in keeping the service safe — and you have the rights of access, rectification, erasure, restriction, portability and objection under the GDPR, including the right to complain to your local data-protection authority. If you are in California, we do not sell or share your personal information, and you may exercise your CCPA/CPRA rights through the same contact address without being treated differently for it.
8. Children
Orba is not directed to children. You must be at least 13 years old to use it — 16 where local law sets that age, as in parts of the European Economic Area. We do not knowingly collect data from anyone below that age; if we learn that we have, we delete the account and its content. If you believe a child has signed up, write to us and we will act.
9. Where your data is processed
Orba runs on Google Cloud in the United States (region us-central1), and the providers in section 4 may process requests in the United States and elsewhere. If you use Orba from outside the United States, your information is transferred there under the standard contractual clauses and equivalent safeguards our providers offer.
10. Cookies and this website
This website sets no advertising or cross-site tracking cookies and runs no analytics. It uses only the minimal local storage needed to remember whether you prefer English or Spanish.
11. Changes to this policy
If we change how we handle your data we will update this page and move the date at the top. When a change is significant we will also tell you in the app or by email before it takes effect.
12. Contact us
Questions, requests or complaints about privacy: email alexeifentom@gmail.com. We answer within 30 days.