1. Introduction & Scope
Yougoya ("the App," "we," "us") is a travel content community and trip-planning tool. This Policy explains how we collect, use, share and protect your personal information, and the rights you have over it. It applies when you use Yougoya through iOS, Android and other official channels. This Policy does not apply to third-party services the App links to or integrates with (such as maps, place data and AI services), which are governed by their own privacy policies. The App is operated by Yougoya; for the processing described here, we act as the relevant data controller / personal information processor.
2. Information We Collect
We collect only what is necessary to provide and improve the service, from three sources. (1) Information you provide · Account information: display name, handle, password, and any email you choose to provide; passwords are stored as salted hashes and we cannot see the plaintext. · Profile: avatar, bio, location and similar details. · Content you create: notes / travelogues, trips and guides, comments, place reviews, and chat messages (text, images, video, place cards, route cards, files). · Uploaded media: images and videos you upload when posting or chatting. · AI planning input: the destinations, preferences and question text you enter into AI trip planning / travel Q&A. · Interactions & requests: follow / block, saves and likes, reports and feedback, and your preference settings. (2) Information collected automatically when you use the service · Device & log data: device model, OS and version, app version, language and region, IP address, and technical logs needed for security and troubleshooting. · Usage & interaction activity: browsing, dwell time, searches, likes, saves and comments, used to power trending, suggested searches and recommendations; de-identified where possible for analytics. · Approximate location: from places you search or view, places you tag on notes and trips, and the cities and countries in your footprint. We do not continuously collect precise GPS location unless you grant system location permission. · Push identifiers: the device token used to send you notifications. · Diagnostics: crash and error diagnostics recorded to improve stability. (3) Information from third parties · Maps & place data: when you search or view a place, the map provider returns place details (name, address, opening hours, images, etc.). · Third-party sign-in: if you sign in with Google, Apple or Facebook, we receive the basic information they provide with your authorization (display name, avatar, email identifier) to create or link your Yougoya account; we do not receive your password for those platforms.
3. How We Use Information
· Provide and maintain core features: sign-in, posting and browsing, trip creation and real-time collaboration, messaging, place search and maps. · Personalization & recommendations: ranking discovery content and suggesting places and people to follow. · Safety, anti-abuse & moderation: detecting and preventing fraud, account theft, spam and violating content, and handling reports. · Communications & notifications: notifications (likes / comments / replies / follows), verification codes, password resets and important service notices. · AI features: transmitting your AI planning input to an AI provider to generate itineraries and answers (see "AI Features & Your Input" below). · AI model training & data licensing: turning content you publish publicly into de-identified corpora, to develop, train, evaluate and improve AI models, or to license to third parties for the same purpose. Chat messages, unpublished trips and drafts are excluded, and you can opt out at any time under Settings → Privacy & Visibility (see Terms, section 4). · Analytics & improvement: understanding feature usage to improve the product. · Legal obligations: complying with applicable laws and lawful requests.
4. Legal Bases for Processing
If you are in the European Economic Area (EEA) or the UK, our legal bases for processing include: performance of a contract (providing the service you request), your consent (e.g., push notifications and optional personalization), legitimate interests (safety, anti-abuse and product improvement, not overriding your rights), and legal obligations. You may withdraw any consent at any time.
5. How We Share Information
We do not sell your personal information. We share it only in these cases: · With other users: the notes you publish, your profile and your interactions are public and shown to other users; a trip is shown according to the visibility you set (public / invited collaborators only), and chat messages are visible only to the members of that conversation. · With service providers (processors): third parties that process data under our instructions to run the service; the categories are listed under "Third-Party Service Providers" below. · For legal and safety reasons: where required by law, to enforce our terms, or to protect users and public safety. · Licensing de-identified corpora: we may turn public content into de-identified corpora and license them to third parties (for example, AI research and development). Such corpora contain no account identifier, email address, device identifier or anything else that identifies you, and are therefore not a sale of personal information. You can opt out at any time (see Terms, section 4). · Business transfers: in a merger, acquisition or asset transfer, your information may transfer as part of the transaction, with the recipient remaining bound by this Policy.
6. Third-Party Service Providers
To provide and operate the service, we engage the necessary third-party providers to process data under our instructions. They may use your information only to provide services to you, and are bound by confidentiality and security obligations. By category: · Maps & place services: place search, map display and place details. · Cloud hosting & database services: storing and running backend services. · AI services: AI trip planning and travel Q&A. · Push messaging services: sending notifications to your device. · Email delivery services: verification codes, password resets and notification emails. · Crash diagnostics & analytics services (if integrated): stability diagnostics and product improvement. These providers' processing of your data is also governed by their own privacy policies. We will update this section if the categories of services we use change.
7. AI Features & Your Input
When you use AI trip planning or travel Q&A, the text you enter is transmitted to a third-party AI provider to generate results. Please do not include sensitive personal information in your AI input. AI-generated content (itineraries, suggestions, answers) may be inaccurate, is for reference only, and does not constitute professional advice (medical, legal, visa, safety); verify it yourself before you travel.
8. International Data Transfers
Our service providers may process data in countries or regions outside where you are located. For cross-border transfers, we apply the safeguards required by applicable law (such as standard contractual clauses, and any necessary notice and consent).
9. Data Retention
We retain your information for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes in this Policy: account and content while you use the service; after you delete your account, we delete or anonymize your personal information within a reasonable period, except where retention is required by law or necessary to resolve disputes or enforce agreements. Data cached locally on your device can be cleared by signing out or deleting your account.
10. Data Security
We take reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect your information, including storing passwords as salted argon2id hashes (we cannot see the plaintext), encryption in transit, access controls and least-privilege. No method of internet transmission or storage is completely secure. If a security incident may affect your rights, we will notify you as required by law.
11. Your Rights & Choices
· Access & correction: view and edit your profile in the App at any time. · Deletion: delete your account in Settings, and we delete or anonymize your personal information. · Portability: to the extent required by law, request a copy of the information you provided. · Withdraw consent / object: turn off push notifications and adjust personalization and visibility settings at any time. · Opt out of AI training & data licensing: turn off "Allow my public content to be used for AI training and data licensing" under Settings → Privacy & Visibility. Your public content then stays out of new training sets and new outbound licenses; de-identified corpora already produced cannot be recalled. · Visibility controls: set the audience of each note and trip; toggle the visibility of your saves, likes, following list and search presence under "Privacy & Visibility." To exercise these rights, use the in-app controls or contact us via "How to Contact Us" below. We will not discriminate against you for exercising your rights.
12. Region-Specific Terms
European Economic Area / UK (GDPR): you have the rights of access, rectification, erasure, restriction, objection and portability, and may lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority. California, USA (CCPA / CPRA): you have the right to know, access, delete and correct your personal information, and to opt out of "sale / sharing" — we do not sell your personal information. You will not be discriminated against for exercising your rights. Malaysia (PDPA): you have rights of access, correction, withdrawal of consent, restriction of processing and data portability; write to privacy@yougoya.com to exercise them. Where a personal data breach is likely to cause you significant harm, we will notify the regulator and the affected users as the law requires.
13. Children’s Privacy
The App is intended for adults and users who have reached the age of consent in their jurisdiction. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13 (or a higher age where required by local law, such as 16 in parts of Europe). If you believe we collected a minor's information in error, contact us and we will delete it promptly.
14. Local Storage & Caching
To support offline browsing and faster loading, the App caches some content, media and settings locally on your device (with a capped eviction policy). This data stays on your device and is cleared when you sign out or delete your account.
15. Updates to This Policy
We may update this Policy from time to time. For material changes, we provide prominent in-app notice and update the date at the top. Please review it periodically.
16. How to Contact Us
For any questions, requests or complaints about this Policy or your personal information, contact privacy@yougoya.com. Operator: Yougoya.