Privacy Policy

1. Who We Are

Travelism is a travel-focused social platform and marketplace. It allows users to create personal, professional, and business profiles, share travel experiences, message and call other users, plan and collaborate on trips, order products or book services from businesses, subscribe to optional paid plans, and use personal, professional, and business verification features.

For privacy-related questions, contact:

Privacy: [email protected]

Support: [email protected]

Legal: [email protected]

Registered office:

Dresshere (Private) Limited, trading as Travelism

No. 04, Diyawiddagama

Nawamedagama, Dehiattakandiya

Ampara District, 32120

Sri Lanka

2. Minimum Age

Travelism is intended only for users who are at least 18 years old.

We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 18. If we learn that a person under 18 has created an account or provided personal information, we may suspend the account and delete the information where appropriate.

A parent, guardian, or other person who believes that an underage user has provided information to Travelism may contact [email protected].

3. Information We Collect

The information we collect depends on the features you use.

3.1 Account and authentication information

When you create or access a Travelism account, we may collect:

• Email address
• Password-related authentication records
• Account identifiers
• Login and session information
• Email-verification status
• Authentication-provider identifiers
• Account creation and login timestamps
• Account status and lifecycle information
• Records of which version of our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy you accepted, when, and from which app or device

Travelism does not directly store your plain-text password. Authentication credentials are processed through our authentication service providers.

3.2 Social sign-in information

When you choose to sign in using Google, Facebook, Apple, or another supported authentication provider, we may receive information permitted by that provider and authorized by you, such as:

• Name
• Email address
• Profile image
• Provider-specific account identifier
• Authentication tokens or confirmation data

The information received depends on the provider, your provider settings, and the permissions you approve.

3.3 Personal profile information

You may provide information for your Travelism profile, including:

• First and last name
• Username
• Profile photograph
• Cover photograph
• Biography
• Country, city, or general location
• Travel interests
• Languages
• Website or social links
• Other profile information you choose to display
• Mobile phone number and country code
• Whether your phone number has been verified, and when
• Gender and country, if you choose to add them
• Your choices about whether your full name, gender, and country are shown publicly
• Profile-completion progress

Some profile information may be visible to other Travelism users or to the public, depending on the feature and your account settings.

If you verify your phone number, the one-time code is sent and checked through Firebase Phone Authentication. Travelism receives confirmation that you control the number; we do not receive or store the code itself. A verified phone number is not shown publicly. It may be used to help people who already have your number find your profile, as described in the contacts section below.

3.4 Business profile information

If you create or manage a business profile, we may collect:

• Business name
• Business username
• Business description
• Logo and cover image
• Business category
• Contact information
• Website and social links
• Business address or service location
• Ownership information
• Business verification information
• Store or service-related information
• Storefront content, product and service listings, prices, stock, availability, and cancellation or refund policies
• Team members invited to help manage the business, their roles, and the activity they perform
• Business subscription plan
• Pages or profiles the business features, and featuring requests
• Customer reviews and the business's replies
• Aggregated analytics about how people interact with the business profile and storefront

Business profile information is generally intended to be publicly visible.

3.5 Personal verification information

When you apply for personal identity verification, we may collect sensitive personal information, including:

• Full legal name
• Date of birth
• Residential country
• Residential address
• City, state, province, or postal code
• Identity-document type
• Identity-document issuing country
• Document expiry date
• Photographs or scans of identity documents
• Selfie or identity-confirmation images
• Verification application status
• Review decisions
• Rejection or change-request categories
• Verification audit and processing records
• File hashes and technical evidence-processing information

Verification documents may contain additional information visible on the document you submit.

Verification evidence is stored separately from ordinary public profile content and is not displayed publicly. Other users may only see an approved verification badge or status where applicable.

3.6 Business verification information

Before a business can sell through Travelism or receive payouts, it must complete the Business Verification Center. Depending on the stage reached, we may collect:

• Business contact details, including phone numbers and email addresses
• Registered and operating addresses
• Legal name, registration number, business type, and incorporation details
• Ownership information, including directors, partners, and beneficial owners
• Identity information of the owner or authorized representative, and their identity-verification status
• Declarations and confirmations made by the business
• Trade licences, tax registrations, and other permits
• Bank account details used for payouts, including account holder name, bank, branch, and account number
• Registration certificates, bank confirmation letters, and other supporting documents
• Details of original documents mailed to us, including courier and tracking information
• The signed Business Partner Agreement, the version signed, and signatory details
• Encrypted verification drafts, review decisions, correction requests, and audit records

Bank account numbers and other sensitive verification drafts are encrypted using encryption keys managed through Amazon Web Services Key Management Service. Bank account numbers are masked wherever they are displayed, including on the downloadable Business Partner Agreement.

Only the verification status or badge intended for public display is shown publicly.

3.7 Professional account information

If you switch a personal profile to a professional account, we may collect:

• Professional category (for example, guide, photographer, or driver)
• Category-specific details you provide
• Professional certificates, licences, or qualifications you upload for verification
• Professional verification status and review decisions
• Professional dashboard statistics about how people interact with your content

Your professional category and verification status may be shown on your profile. Uploaded certificates are stored privately and are not shown publicly.

3.8 Posts, Moments, statuses, and other content

When you create or interact with content, we may collect:

• Post captions
• Photographs and videos
• Moments or temporary status content
• Hashtags
• Destinations and location descriptions
• Tagged profiles
• Comments and replies
• Likes and reactions
• Saved or archived content
• Sharing activity
• Content visibility and audience settings
• Content creation and modification timestamps
• Whether you allow others to download your Experience posts
• Locations suggested from the date and location information embedded in photos or videos you choose to post, which you can accept or change before posting
• Hidden gems, trails, and other places you submit, including photos, tags, and descriptions
• Reviews you write about businesses, including photos, and helpful or unhelpful votes

Content you publish may be visible to other users or the public, depending on the selected audience and feature.

3.9 Social relationships and activity

We may collect information about how you interact with other profiles, including:

• Profiles you follow
• Follow requests
• Accepted or rejected requests
• Followers and following lists
• Profile visits or exploration activity
• Tagged-profile requests
• Blocks and unblocks
• Content reports
• Likes, comments, reactions, saves, and shares
• Online status and last-seen time, if you leave Last seen & online turned on
• Your activity level, rank, and position on leaderboards
• Referral codes you share or use

When you create a personal profile, it automatically follows Travelism's official account. You can unfollow it at any time.

3.10 Chat and communication information

When you use Travelism messaging features, we may collect:

• Chat messages
• Photographs, videos, and files sent in chats
• Message timestamps
• Delivery and seen status
• Typing status
• Chat participants
• Archived, muted, blocked, or deleted-chat settings
• Message reports
• Limited identity snapshots required to display conversation participants
• Voice messages you record and send
• Voice and video call activity, including call start and end times, duration, and participants
• Live location shared in a chat while you have location sharing turned on (see Section 3.12)
• GIFs and stickers you search for and send
• Link previews for web links you send
• When you message a business: the labels, notes, reminders, assignments, and exports the business's team creates for your conversation

Messages are intended for the participants in the conversation. Travelism personnel may access reported content where necessary for safety, moderation, support, or legal compliance.

Voice and video calls are transmitted through our real-time communications provider (see Section 5.4). Travelism does not record or store the audio or video content of your calls.

GIF searches are sent to GIPHY through our servers, so GIPHY does not receive your IP address. When you send a web link, our servers fetch that page's title, description, and preview image, and store them temporarily so the link can be shown with a preview.

When you message a business, that business's owner and the team members it authorizes can read and reply to the conversation.

3.11 Trip and collaboration information

When you use trip-planning features, we may collect:

• Trip title and description
• Destination and country
• Start and end dates
• Cover images
• Itinerary items
• Trip activities
• Notes
• Packing lists
• Collaborators and collaborator roles
• Invitations and invitation responses
• Trip-chat information
• Accommodation or travel preferences
• Public or private trip settings
• Trip changes, versions, and activity records
• Device-calendar sync status, if you turn on Calendar Sync for a trip (see Section 3.14)
• Trip expenses you record, including amounts, currency, categories, who paid, and how costs are split between collaborators

Trip information may be shared with collaborators or displayed publicly when you choose a public setting.

3.12 Location information

Travelism collects location information in two ways.

First, locations you manually enter, select, tag, or include in content, such as:

• Country
• City
• Destination
• Place name
• Trip location
• Business location

Second, if you turn on live location sharing in a chat, Travelism collects your device's precise, continuously updating location — including while the app is running in the background — for as long as sharing stays on, so the chat participants you chose to share with can see your position. A persistent notification is shown on Android while background location sharing is active, consistent with platform requirements. You control when live location sharing starts and stops: it ends automatically when you turn it off, end the sharing session, or a time limit you set expires. Live location is shared only with the participants of the chat where you turned it on — it is never shown publicly or to anyone outside that chat.

Travelism also uses your device's approximate location, where permitted, to show nearby places and center maps on your position.

Emergency SOS: if you turn on "Alert me if someone nearby needs help", Travelism stores your last known location and refreshes it only while that setting stays on, so you can be alerted about nearby emergencies. If you send an SOS alert, your location at the time of the alert and your updates are shared with your trip collaborators and with nearby users who have opted in. People who are not your trip collaborators see only an approximate location, rounded to about one kilometre, unless you approve them as a responder. We also record responder offers, approvals, and check-ins related to the alert.

3.13 Contacts information

Travelism uses your device contacts only when you choose one of these features:

• Sharing a contact card in a chat: we access only the contact you select, so it can be attached to your message.
• People You May Know: if you allow contacts access, the app converts the phone numbers in your contacts into one-way SHA-256 hashes on your device and sends only those hashes to our servers. They are compared against the verified phone numbers of other Travelism users so we can suggest people you may know. Raw phone numbers, names, and other contact details never leave your device. The hashes are used only to find matches and are not stored. We keep only the time of your last contact sync, to limit how often matching can run.

You can stop contact matching at any time by revoking contacts access in your device settings. If you do not want others who have your number to be able to find you this way, do not verify your phone number, or remove it from your profile.

3.14 Calendar information

If you turn on Calendar Sync for a trip, Travelism creates and maintains a calendar on your device containing that trip's dates and itinerary, and reads limited calendar information needed to keep it up to date. Turning off Calendar Sync stops future updates; you can remove the calendar entries yourself through your device's calendar app.

3.15 Camera, photo, video, and file information

When you choose to upload or capture media, Travelism may access:

• Selected photographs
• Selected videos
• Camera-captured images
• Files selected for upload
• Image or video metadata
• Temporary media files created during cropping or compression
• File type, size, and upload status

Travelism accesses these files only when you select or capture them for a Travelism feature.

You should remove sensitive information from photographs, videos, documents, or file metadata before uploading them when that information is not necessary.

3.16 App Lock and biometric information

If you turn on App Lock in Settings, Travelism asks your device's operating system to verify your identity using Face ID, fingerprint, or another biometric method already set up on that device, or your device passcode. This verification happens entirely on your device through your operating system's own secure biometric system. Travelism only ever receives a success or failure result — it never receives, transmits, processes, or stores your fingerprint, face scan, or any other biometric data.

3.17 Push-notification and device information

When notifications are enabled, we may collect:

• Firebase Cloud Messaging token
• Device or installation identifier
• Device platform
• App version
• Build number
• Notification-delivery status
• Notification interactions
• Notification preferences

Notification content may include limited information about activity on Travelism, such as the name or username of the person involved, the interaction type, a message alert, or a content reference.

Notification previews may be visible on your device lock screen depending on your operating-system settings.

3.18 Marketplace, bookings, and orders information

If you use the Travelism marketplace to order products or book services (such as accommodation, tours, transport, experiences, guides, or restaurants) from a business, we may collect:

• Items or services selected, and quantities
• Delivery or shipping address
• Booking dates, time slots, or appointment details
• Number of participants
• Selected options and add-ons
• Special requests or delivery notes
• Order and booking totals, currency, and price breakdown
• Chosen payment method (currently cash on delivery only — see Section 15)
• Order and booking status, confirmation numbers, and history
• Communications with the business related to your order or booking
• Cancellation and refund requests, the reasons given, and their outcomes
• Disputes and any evidence submitted about an order or booking
• Reviews and ratings you leave for a business

Orders and bookings are shared with the business you are ordering from or booking with, so it can fulfil your request.

3.19 Subscriptions and in-app purchases

If you buy a Travelism subscription, the purchase is handled by the Apple App Store or Google Play. We use RevenueCat to confirm and manage subscription status. We receive your Travelism account identifier, the plan purchased, and its purchase, renewal, expiry, cancellation, and refund status. We do not receive your full payment-card details.

3.20 Referral, ranking, and sales partner programs

If you take part in Travelism's referral program, or act as a sales partner (affiliate) for a business, we may collect referral codes and sign-ups, the partnership and its status, the agreed commission rate, the orders and bookings attributed to you, and the commission earned. We also calculate activity points, tiers, and leaderboard positions from your activity on Travelism.

3.21 Support, reports, and safety information

When you contact support or submit a report, we may collect:

• Email address
• Profile or user identifier
• Report category
• Description of the issue
• Reported account, post, comment, message, or other content
• Screenshots and attachments
• Device and app information
• Communication history
• Moderation decisions
• Administrative notes
• Action taken
• Fraud, abuse, or security indicators

3.22 Technical and automatically collected information

Travelism and its service providers may automatically process limited technical information, including:

• IP address
• Device platform
• App version and build number
• Authentication and session identifiers
• Request timestamps
• Server and network logs
• Error information
• File paths and upload records
• Security and abuse-prevention information
• Service-performance information
• Interaction events on business profiles and storefronts, such as views and button taps, used to give businesses aggregated analytics

Travelism does not use third-party advertising or behavioral-advertising SDKs, and does not track you across other companies' apps or websites.

3.23 Activity and personalisation information

To personalise Travelism, we record how you use the app and build a personalisation profile from it. This may include:

• Interests you choose — travel styles (for example, Beach or Hiking) and other topics (for example, Food & drink, Fashion, Electronics, Music, or Cricket) — and travel styles you add to your posts
• Posts you view and how long you view them, and posts you like, save, comment on, share, or mark as not interested
• Profiles, business pages, storefronts, products, services, stays, places, and trips you open
• Searches you make in the app
• Bookings and orders you make, trips you create or join, and accounts you mute or see less of
• Interests and topics, favourite destinations, preferred kinds of businesses and products, general budget level (for example, budget-friendly or premium, based on the prices of listings you view or book compared with similar listings), and the times of day you usually use the app, inferred from the activity above

This information is collected only within Travelism. We do not infer or use sensitive categories, such as health, pregnancy, religion, political views, or sexual orientation, for personalisation or ads. You can review and edit your interests in Settings → Your interests, and turn off personalised ads, hide individual ad topics, and clear your activity history in Settings → Ads preferences.

4. How We Use Information

We may use information to:

• Create and maintain accounts
• Authenticate users
• Operate personal and business profiles
• Display posts, Moments, comments, trips, and other content
• Enable follows, messaging, collaboration, and social interactions
• Process personal and business verification applications
• Display verification badges
• Deliver push notifications
• Provide customer support
• Facilitate voice and video calls between users
• Process marketplace orders and service bookings
• Sync a trip's itinerary to your device calendar when you turn on Calendar Sync
• Provide live location sharing in chats when you turn it on
• Verify your identity locally to unlock the app when App Lock is enabled
• Investigate reports and complaints
• Detect spam, fraud, abuse, impersonation, and security threats
• Enforce our Terms of Service and Community Guidelines
• Maintain platform security and availability
• Improve app reliability and user experience
• Comply with legal obligations
• Establish, exercise, or defend legal claims
• Protect Travelism, its users, and the public
• Verify phone numbers and suggest people you may know
• Operate business storefronts, business team access, and business chat tools
• Run the Business Verification Center, prepare Business Partner Agreements, and determine a business's eligibility to sell and receive payouts
• Calculate commissions, refunds, payouts, and sales partner earnings, and keep the related financial records
• Handle cancellations, refund requests, disputes, and chargeback evidence
• Provide and manage subscriptions and the features included in each plan
• Show featured and promoted content that businesses pay for, which is labelled in the app
• Operate Emergency SOS alerts and nearby-help notifications
• Calculate activity rankings, leaderboards, and referral rewards
• Provide aggregated analytics to business and professional accounts
• Record which version of our Terms and Privacy Policy you accepted
• Personalise your Home feed, recommendations, and notifications based on your interests and activity
• Show ads and sponsored content that are more relevant to you, if Personalised ads is turned on

We will not use verification documents for advertising.

5. How Information Is Shared

5.1 With other users and the public

Information that you publish or choose to display may be shared with other users or the public, including:

• Username
• Display name
• Profile and cover images
• Biography
• Public business information
• Posts and media
• Comments and reactions
• Public trips
• Verification badges
• Following or follower information
• Other publicly visible activity
• Business storefronts, listings, and reviews
• Professional category and verification status
• Your rank and leaderboard position, where shown
• Hidden gems and trails you submit
• Your full name, gender, and country, only if you choose to show them

You should not publish information that you do not want others to access, copy, share, screenshot, or redistribute.

5.2 With trip and chat participants

Information may be shared with users participating in:

• Direct chats
• Group or trip chats
• Trip collaborations
• Shared packing lists
• Itineraries
• Invitations
• Other collaborative features

5.3 With businesses you order from, book with, or message

When you place an order, make a booking, request a refund, or message a business, we share the information needed for that purpose with the business, its authorized team members, and any sales partner credited with the sale. This may include your name, contact details, delivery address, order or booking details, and your messages.

If a business connects its own QuickBooks account through Travelism, invoices for your orders may be created in that business's QuickBooks account. These invoices include your name and the items you ordered. A business may also connect other tools, such as Mailchimp, Meta Ads, or Google Ads. Once information is in a business's own account with those tools, the business is responsible for how it is used.

5.4 With service providers

We use service providers that process information on our behalf, including:

Supabase

Used for authentication, database hosting, file storage, server-side functions, and realtime app features.

Google Firebase

Used for push-notification delivery through Firebase Cloud Messaging.

Google

Used when a user chooses Google authentication or other Google-supported features.

Meta Platforms

Used when a user chooses Facebook authentication.

Apple

Used when Sign in with Apple is available and selected.

Agora

Used to provide Travelism's voice- and video-calling infrastructure. Call audio and video are transmitted through Agora's network only while a call is in progress; Travelism does not record or store call content.

Mapbox

Used to display maps, places, and location-based features within Travelism.

Resend or configured email-delivery providers

Used to deliver authentication, verification, password-reset, support, and service-related emails.

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

Used for Key Management Service encryption keys that protect verification drafts and bank account details.

Mux

Used to process, store, and stream videos uploaded to Travelism.

RevenueCat

Used to confirm and manage subscriptions bought through the Apple App Store or Google Play.

Apple App Store and Google Play

Used to sell and bill subscriptions, and to show in-app rating prompts.

GIPHY

Used to search for and display GIFs in chats. Searches are sent through our servers.

OpenStreetMap (Nominatim)

Used to search for places by name when map search results are limited. Search terms are sent without your account details.

Firebase Phone Authentication

Used to send and check the one-time codes that verify phone numbers.

Cloudflare

Used to host and protect the Travelism website and business dashboard.

Intuit QuickBooks

Used only when a business chooses to connect its own QuickBooks account, as described in Section 5.3.

Service providers may process information in countries other than your country of residence.

5.5 For legal, safety, and enforcement purposes

We may disclose information when reasonably necessary to:

• Comply with applicable law, court orders, or lawful government requests
• Investigate fraud, abuse, threats, or illegal activity
• Protect the rights, property, and safety of Travelism, users, or others
• Enforce our Terms of Service and Community Guidelines
• Respond to emergencies involving a risk of harm

5.6 Business transfers

If Travelism is involved in a merger, acquisition, restructuring, financing, transfer, or sale of all or part of the service, information may be transferred as part of that transaction.

Any successor will be required to handle personal information consistently with applicable privacy obligations.

5.7 With your consent

We may share information for another purpose when you specifically authorize or request it.

6. Public Content and User Responsibility

Travelism includes user-generated content and social features.

Information shared publicly can be:

• Viewed by others
• Copied or downloaded
• Shared outside Travelism
• Indexed or cached
• Captured in screenshots
• Reposted by other users

Travelism cannot control copies independently created or distributed by other people.

Do not upload identity documents, payment information, passwords, private addresses, or other sensitive information to public posts, comments, profile fields, or chats unless the feature specifically requires it.

7. Data Storage and International Processing

Travelism uses cloud-service providers to store and process information.

Your information may be processed in Sri Lanka, the United Arab Emirates, Singapore, the United States, the European Union, or other countries where Travelism or its service providers operate infrastructure.

Data-protection laws in those countries may differ from those in your country.

Where required, we will use reasonable safeguards for international data processing and transfers.

8. Data Security

We use reasonable technical and organizational safeguards designed to protect information, including:

• Authentication and access controls
• Private storage for sensitive verification evidence
• Encrypted network communications
• Restricted administrative access
• Database security rules
• Audit and processing records
• File validation and processing checks
• Account-lifecycle controls
• Security monitoring and abuse prevention
• Encryption of bank account details and verification drafts using managed encryption keys
• Masking of bank account numbers wherever they are displayed
• Optional two-factor authentication for business dashboard accounts
• Activity logs for business team actions

No electronic transmission or storage system is completely secure. We cannot guarantee that unauthorized access, loss, misuse, or disclosure will never occur.

Users are responsible for protecting their login credentials and devices.

9. Data Retention

We retain information only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy.

Retention depends on the type of information and may include:

• Account and profile information: retained while your account remains active.
• Public content: retained until you delete it, it expires, or your account is deleted, subject to limited exceptions.
• Messages: retained while needed to provide messaging functionality or until deleted in accordance with available controls.
• Trips and collaborations: retained until deleted by an authorized participant or through account deletion.
• Notification tokens: retained while the device registration remains active or until the token is removed or becomes invalid.
• Verification applications and evidence: retained while needed to process verification, prevent fraud, maintain security, respond to disputes, and comply with legal obligations.
• Reports and moderation records: retained as necessary to investigate abuse, protect users, prevent repeat violations, and establish or defend legal claims.
• Support and bug-report information: retained while needed to resolve the issue and maintain service records.
• Technical and security logs: retained for a limited period appropriate to security, diagnostics, and fraud prevention.
• Backups: deleted information may remain temporarily in protected backups until those backups are overwritten or deleted.
• Orders, bookings, refunds, commissions, payouts, and other financial records: retained for as long as required by applicable tax, accounting, and commercial laws, and to resolve disputes and chargebacks.
• Business verification records and signed Business Partner Agreements: retained while the business uses Travelism, and afterwards for as long as needed to meet legal obligations and resolve disputes.
• Subscription records: retained while the subscription is active, and afterwards as needed for billing, tax, and dispute purposes.
• Emergency SOS last known location: kept only while "Alert me if someone nearby needs help" is turned on; alert records are kept as needed for safety and abuse prevention.
• Contact hashes used for People You May Know: not stored after matching.
• Records of accepted Terms and Privacy Policy versions: retained as evidence of acceptance.
• Activity used for personalisation: kept for up to 180 days and then deleted. You can clear it at any time in Settings → Ads preferences; it is also deleted with your account.

We may retain certain information after account deletion where reasonably necessary for:

• Legal or regulatory compliance
• Fraud and abuse prevention
• Safety and security
• Dispute resolution
• Enforcement of agreements
• Protection of legal rights
• Financial, audit, or administrative obligations

When information no longer needs to identify you, we may anonymize it instead of deleting it.

10. Account Deactivation and Deletion

You may initiate account deletion through the account settings available in Travelism.

You may also request account deletion using the account-deletion resource at:

https://travelism.app/account-deletion

or by contacting:

[email protected]

We may ask you to verify that you own the account before completing a deletion request.

When an account-deletion request is completed, Travelism will delete or anonymize personal information associated with the account unless retention is reasonably required for legal, safety, fraud-prevention, dispute, or regulatory purposes.

Account deletion may include:

• Disabling access to the account
• Removing or anonymizing profile information
• Removing personal and business profiles owned by the account
• Removing or anonymizing posts and other user-generated content
• Removing stored media where applicable
• Removing device-notification registrations
• Ending active sessions
• Removing verification evidence when no longer legally or operationally required

Content independently copied, downloaded, screenshotted, or shared by other users may remain outside Travelism’s control.

We may use a short deletion-processing or recovery period to prevent accidental or unauthorized deletion. The app will communicate the applicable deletion date or status where this feature is provided.

Temporary account deactivation is separate from permanent deletion.

11. Your Choices and Rights

Depending on your location, you may have rights to:

• Access personal information
• Correct inaccurate information
• Delete information
• Delete your account
• Object to or restrict certain processing
• Withdraw consent
• Request a copy of certain information
• Complain to an appropriate data-protection authority

You may also:

• Edit profile information in the app
• Delete eligible posts or content
• Control some audience settings
• Block other profiles
• Manage notification permissions through device settings
• Revoke Google, Facebook, or Apple access through the relevant provider
• Turn off live location sharing in a chat at any time
• Turn off Calendar Sync for a trip at any time
• Turn off App Lock in Settings at any time
• Contact us with a privacy request
• Choose whether your full name, gender, and country are shown publicly
• Turn off Last seen & online in Settings
• Revoke contacts access to stop People You May Know matching
• Turn Emergency SOS nearby alerts on or off
• Manage or cancel subscriptions through the Apple App Store or Google Play
• Choose whether others can download your Experience posts
• Choose which notification types you receive in Settings
• Edit your interests in Settings → Your interests, and turn off Personalised ads, hide ad topics, or clear your activity history in Settings → Ads preferences

To exercise a privacy right, contact [email protected].

We may request reasonable information to confirm your identity and protect your account.

12. Device Permissions

Travelism requests device permissions only when needed for a specific feature you choose to use. Current permissions include:

• Camera — to take profile, verification, post, or Moment photos and videos, and to capture photos or videos to send in chats.
• Photo and video library — to select existing photos or videos to upload, post, or share.
• Microphone — to record and send voice messages in chats, and to transmit your audio during Travelism voice and video calls.
• Location (while using the app) — to show nearby places and center maps on your position.
• Location (background/always, where supported) — used only while you have live location sharing turned on in a chat, or Emergency SOS nearby alerts turned on; see Section 3.12.
• Contacts — used only when you attach a contact card to a chat message, or turn on People You May Know; see Section 3.13.
• Calendar — used only when you turn on Calendar Sync for a trip; see Section 3.14.
• Notifications — to alert you about messages, activity, and account updates, and, on Android, to show a full-screen incoming-call alert for voice and video calls.
• Bluetooth — to route call audio to a connected Bluetooth headset or speaker during voice and video calls.
• Face ID, fingerprint, or other device biometrics — used only to unlock Travelism locally when App Lock is turned on; see Section 3.16.
• Vibration or haptic feedback — for in-app haptic feedback.
• File access — to upload a file where a feature specifically requires it.

You may deny or revoke any of these permissions at any time through your device settings. Some features may not work, or will work in a limited way, without the relevant permission.

Travelism does not use advertising-tracking permissions or SDKs, such as Apple's App Tracking Transparency or the Android advertising ID.

13. Third-Party Services and Links

Travelism may contain links to third-party websites, profiles, booking resources, social platforms, or services.

This Privacy Policy does not govern third-party services. Their privacy practices are controlled by their own policies.

Review the privacy policy of a third-party service before providing information to it.

14. No Sale of Personal Information

Travelism does not sell personal information.

Travelism does not share your personal information with advertisers. If Travelism shows ads or sponsored content, they are chosen inside Travelism using your interests and activity on Travelism (unless you turn off Personalised ads). Advertisers receive only aggregated results, such as how many people saw or tapped an ad, and never your identity, contact details, or activity history.

Businesses can pay for featured marketplace placement or promoted posts. This content is labelled in the app (for example, "Promoted" or "Boosted"). It is ranked using Travelism's own feed signals, and no personal information is shared with the business for this purpose.

If this practice changes, we will update this Privacy Policy and provide any legally required notice or choice before the change takes effect.

15. Marketplace, Bookings, and Payments

Travelism includes a marketplace where businesses can list products and bookable services, and users can place orders or make bookings, as described in Section 3.18.

For users, the only payment method currently available is cash on delivery. You pay the business directly when your order arrives or your service is provided. Travelism does not currently process card payments for orders or bookings, store your payment-card details, or act as a payment processor for them. Order and booking totals are calculated and confirmed by our backend at the time you place the order or booking.

Travelism offers optional paid subscriptions, sold through the Apple App Store and Google Play, as described in Section 3.19.

For businesses, we keep records of commissions, refunds, payout batches, and payout amounts, and use the bank account details provided in the Business Verification Center to pay out amounts owed.

If Travelism introduces card or online payments for orders or bookings, they will be processed by an authorized payment provider. Travelism does not intend to store complete payment-card details. We will update this Privacy Policy before that happens, to explain:

• Payment information processed
• Payment providers used
• Fraud-prevention processing
• Relevant user choices and rights

16. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy when:

• Travelism features change
• New providers or technologies are introduced
• Data practices change
• Legal or regulatory requirements change
• Safety and security practices are updated

The updated policy will show a revised effective date, last-updated date, and version number.

Where required, we will provide additional notice through the app, website, email, or another appropriate method.

We keep a record of the version of this Privacy Policy that each account has accepted. For material changes, we may ask you to review and accept the updated version before you continue using certain features.

Continued use of Travelism after an updated policy becomes effective constitutes acknowledgment of the updated policy, except where separate consent is legally required.

17. Contact Us

For privacy questions, rights requests, complaints, or account-deletion assistance, contact:

Privacy: [email protected]

Support: [email protected]

Legal: [email protected]

Operator:

Dresshere (Private) Limited, trading as Travelism

No. 04, Diyawiddagama

Nawamedagama, Dehiattakandiya

Ampara District, 32120

Sri Lanka