Legal
Privacy Policy
Effective date: June 10, 2026
GuideMate is a live voice-broadcasting app for tour guides, operated by Eren Erşahin ("GuideMate", "we"). A guide's voice streams over the local Wi-Fi network to travellers' own phones. This policy explains what data the GuideMate mobile app and the guidemate website collect, why, and what your rights are.
The short version
- Live audio is never recorded or stored. It travels peer to peer over the local Wi-Fi network and never reaches our servers or any cloud.
- Travellers don't need an account. No email, no sign-up, no personal details — travellers join a tour with a 6-letter code.
- Only guides create accounts, with an email address and a display name.
- We show no ads, use no third-party tracking, and never sell data.
Data we collect from guides
If you create a guide account, we collect:
- Email address and password — used to sign you in. Authentication is handled by Google Firebase Authentication; we never see or store your password in readable form.
- Display name and role — shown to travellers who join your rooms.
- Rooms you create — tour name, join code, and the list of participants while a tour is live.
- Usage events— first-party analytics about how the app is used (for example "room created" or "broadcast started", with timestamps), stored under your own account and used only to improve the app. No third-party analytics or advertising SDKs are involved.
Data we collect from travellers
Travellers never create an account. When you join a tour:
- A random device identifieris generated on your phone (a random UUID, stored in your device's secure storage). It is not derived from your hardware and identifies your device only inside GuideMate.
- An optional display name, if you choose to set one, is shown to the guide.
- Basic device information(brand, model, operating system version, app version) is shared with the guide's device during a tour so the guide can troubleshoot audio issues by device type.
This information is exchanged directly between your phone and the guide's phone over the local network during the tour. Uninstalling the app removes the device identifier.
Live audio and chat
- Voice— the guide's microphone audio is streamed live, device to device, over the local Wi-Fi network. It is never recorded, never stored, and never sent to our servers or any third party.
- Chat messages — sent device to device over the local Wi-Fi network during a tour. They are not stored on our servers and disappear when the room ends.
Transmission notice: tour traffic (voice and chat) travels over the local Wi-Fi network without transport encryption. Someone on the same Wi-Fi network could technically observe it. Treat tour chat like speaking in a public room and do not share sensitive personal information in it.
Data we collect on this website
If you join the early-access list, we store the email address you submit, a timestamp, and the fact that it came from this website — nothing else. We use it only to contact you about GuideMate availability. No analytics cookies are set by this site.
How we use data
- To provide the service: accounts, rooms, live broadcasting.
- To improve the app, using our own usage events.
- To respond to support requests.
- To contact early-access signups about availability.
We do not sell personal data, do not show ads, and do not track you across other apps or websites.
Where data is stored
Guide accounts, rooms, and usage events are stored with Google Firebase (Firebase Authentication and Cloud Firestore) on Google Cloud infrastructure. This website is hosted on Vercel. These providers process data on our behalf under their own security and privacy commitments. Live audio and chat are not stored anywhere.
Retention
- Guide account data and usage events are kept until you delete your account.
- Early-access emails are kept until launch or until you ask us to remove yours.
- Live audio and chat are not retained at all.
Deleting your data
Guides can request full account deletion at any time — see Account & data deletion. Travellers have no server-side data to delete; uninstalling the app removes everything.
Your rights
Depending on where you live — including under Türkiye's Personal Data Protection Law (KVKK, Law No. 6698) and the EU GDPR — you have the right to access, correct, delete, or object to the processing of your personal data, and to lodge a complaint with your supervisory authority. To exercise any of these rights, email us at ersahineren@gmail.com.
Children
GuideMate is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal data from them. Travellers join tours without providing any personal information.
Changes to this policy
If we change this policy, we will update this page and the effective date above. Material changes will be highlighted in the app or by email.
Contact
Eren Erşahin — GuideMate
ersahineren@gmail.com