Privacy Policy
Last updated: August 20, 2026
This Privacy Policy explains what information OurBlock ("we", "us", "the app") collects, how it's used, and what choices you have. It applies to the OurBlock mobile app and website.
1. Information We Collect
Account information
When you create an account, we collect your email address, password (stored as a salted hash — we never store or can see your actual password), and either your first/last name (individual accounts) or organization name (organization accounts). You may optionally add a short bio shown on events you create.
Location information
- While using the app, we access your device's location to center the map and show you nearby events. This is only used live, in the app — we don't track your location in the background or when the app is closed.
- You may optionally save a default location to your account (e.g. your home city) so the map opens there automatically. This is stored until you change or remove it.
- If you search for a city, that search query is sent to Google's Places API to resolve it to a location (see §4).
Event content you create
If you create an event, we store its title, description, category, type, venue name, address, coordinates, timing, and any optional details you add (ticket links, free/paid status, highlight tags). This information is public once the event is approved and visible to other users.
Events from other sources
Not every event shown in the app is submitted by a user. We also display:
- Ticketmaster events, fetched live from Ticketmaster's Discovery API for the area you're viewing, cached briefly (about 45 minutes) in server memory to avoid repeat requests — not stored in our database.
- AI-discovered events, found by an automated system that searches public event listings on local institutional websites (e.g. city, library, and school sites) and summarizes them, including a link back to the original source page.
We don't independently verify the accuracy of events from either source — see our Terms of Service for details.
Notifications
If you enable notifications, OurBlock can schedule local reminders on your own device for events you've explicitly asked to be reminded about, or that are starting soon. These are scheduled and delivered by your device's operating system — they are not sent through a push-notification server, and we don't track whether or when they were shown to you.
Information we do not currently collect
We do not currently use any analytics or tracking SDKs (no Google Analytics, Mixpanel, or similar) in the app or website. We do not collect advertising identifiers. We do not track your location in the background.
2. How We Use Information
We use the information above to:
- Show you events near your location or a location you search for.
- Let you create, edit, and manage your own events.
- Send you transactional emails about your own events (e.g. letting you know when an event you submitted has been approved or rejected).
- Generate AI-assisted content (see §4) at your request, such as a suggested event description or organizer bio based on notes you provide.
- Keep your account secure (authentication, session management).
We do not sell your personal information, and we do not use it for advertising.
3. How We Share Information
We don't share your personal information with other users beyond what's inherent to using the app: your name/organization name and bio are shown publicly on events you create, since that's the point of the feature. Your email address is never shown to other users.
We share limited information with the third-party services that make the app work (see §4) — only what's necessary for each service to do its job.
4. Third-Party Services
OurBlock relies on the following third-party services, each of which processes some data on our behalf:
| Service | What it's used for | What's shared |
|---|---|---|
| Google Maps Platform | Map display, city search, and resolving addresses for AI-discovered events | Location coordinates and search queries you enter |
| OpenAI | AI-generated event descriptions/bios (from your input), and automated discovery/summarization of public local events | The event details or notes you provide when using AI-assist; automated event discovery only searches and summarizes public event listings, and doesn't send any of your personal information |
| Ticketmaster | Showing nearby ticketed events pulled from their public Discovery API | Your approximate location (coordinates), used to search for nearby events |
| Resend | Sending transactional emails (event approval/rejection notices) | Your email address and the relevant event's title/status |
| Railway | Hosting our backend and database | All account and event data described above, as our infrastructure provider |
| Vercel | Hosting our website | Standard web request data (see their own privacy policy) |
Each of these providers has its own privacy policy governing how they handle data on their end.
5. Data Retention
We retain your account and event information for as long as your account is active. You can permanently delete your account at any time from the Account screen in the app — this immediately deletes your account information. Events you created stay visible (since they're already public and other users may rely on that information), but are no longer attributed to you. You can also contact us at eventsmariam@gmail.com for help with deletion or any other data request.
6. Your Choices
- Location permission can be denied or revoked at any time in your device settings; the app will fall back to a default location instead.
- Notification permission can be denied or revoked at any time in your device settings.
- Account information (bio, default location, etc.) can be edited or cleared from the Account screen.
- Account deletion is available directly in the app (Account screen → Delete Account).
- You can also request access to, correction of, or deletion of your data by contacting us at eventsmariam@gmail.com.
7. Children's Privacy
OurBlock is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect information from children. If you believe a child has provided us information, contact us at eventsmariam@gmail.com and we'll remove it.
8. Security
We take reasonable measures to protect your information, including hashing passwords and using short-lived authentication tokens with a separate longer-lived refresh token stored securely on your device. No system is perfectly secure, and we can't guarantee absolute security.
9. Changes to This Policy
We may update this policy from time to time. We'll update the "Last updated" date above when we do. Continued use of the app after a change means you accept the updated policy.
10. Contact Us
Questions about this policy or your data: eventsmariam@gmail.com
Avenu Labs, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada