Privacy Policy

Last updated: June 2026

Controller.

Aleksei Nikitin
feedback@aside.city

What aside processes.

aside has no accounts and no sign-in. The app and this website process the data below.

Sent with each recommendation request

Each time the app fetches recommendations from our backend, it sends:

  • Your location. Precise GPS coordinates if you allow location access. If you instead pick a Berlin district, the centroid coordinates of that district are sent so we can rank by proximity. Not stored on the server.
  • Your selected vibes (Active, Chill, Culture, Food, Nature, Offbeat).
  • Whether you have kids with you, and the kid age group if you set one.
  • The IDs of venues you've marked "Not for me", so they're not shown again.
  • Your device locale (e.g. en-US, de-DE) for content language.
  • A weather signal (e.g. rain, cold) for weather-aware ranking.
  • Anonymous venue interaction events recorded since the last request, when usage-data sharing is on — see the next section.
  • A short list of recently-seen venues, when usage-data sharing is on. So we don't show you the same places day after day, the app keeps a local 30-day history of venues you've seen and sends, per venue: its ID, how many days ago you last saw it, and whether you opened its map or website. Used only in memory to down-rank places you've seen recently; not stored on the server.

This payload is used in memory to rank candidates and is not stored on the server, except for the interaction events.

Legal basis: consent for location (Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR); legitimate interest for ranking (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR) — specifically, providing the recommendations you opened the app to receive.

Stored on your device

Your selected vibes, kids setting, and location mode are kept locally in iOS UserDefaults. They never leave your device except as part of each recommendation request above. They are removed when you delete the app.

Stored on our backend

Anonymous venue interaction events, recorded only while Share anonymous usage data is on. When you see, tap, get directions to, or dismiss a venue card, the app records that signal and sends it to our backend — batched with your next recommendation request, or sent on its own when you leave the app. The backend writes only three fields to a venue_interactions table: the venue's ID, the event type, and a timestamp. No user identifier, no IP address, no session ID, no location is stored. These rows are deleted after 30 days. If you turn off usage-data sharing, any events still queued on your device are discarded.

Legal basis: legitimate interest (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR) — specifically, improving the ranking algorithm based on anonymous aggregate behaviour. Without this signal we cannot tell whether our recommendations are getting better or worse over time.

Usage analytics (PostHog, EU-hosted)

  • An anonymous, app-generated identifier (PostHog's distinct_id — not the iOS advertising identifier).
  • Screens you view and controls you tap.
  • App version, iOS version, device model.
  • The location mode you're using (device or district), the Berlin district name when you've picked one, and whether kids mode is enabled.

We never send via analytics: raw GPS coordinates, your kid's age group, or any free-text input. Value-bearing controls that could leak text are fenced off from autocapture.

Legal basis: legitimate interest (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR) — specifically, measuring product quality and detecting errors. You may object at any time (see Your rights below).

Data retention.

  • Request payload (location, vibes, kids setting, locale, weather) — not stored; held only in memory for the duration of the request.
  • Local preferences — kept on your device until you delete the app.
  • Venue interactions — 30 days, then deleted automatically.
  • Usage analytics — up to 12 months in PostHog, then deleted.

Third parties.

In the app:

  • Supabase (database hosting, EU region) — hosts the venue and event catalog the app reads, and the venue_interactions table.
  • PostHog (product analytics, EU cloud) — anonymous usage analytics. No advertising, no cross-app tracking, no device advertising identifier. Subject to PostHog's Privacy Policy.
  • Apple MapKit — renders the map. Subject to Apple's Privacy Policy.
  • Apple WeatherKit — weather data for weather-aware recommendations. Subject to Apple's Privacy Policy.

On this website:

We do not sell your data. We do not use advertising trackers.

Your rights (GDPR).

As a user in the EU, you have the right to:

  • Access — request a copy of your data.
  • Deletion — request that we delete your data.
  • Correction — request that we fix inaccurate data.
  • Portability — receive your data in a machine-readable format.
  • Withdraw consent at any time:
    • Location — disable in iOS Settings → aside → Location. Effective immediately for all future requests.
    • Preferences — clear vibes and the kids setting in the in-app Settings sheet, or delete the app.
  • Object to processing (Art. 21 GDPR) — turn off Share anonymous usage data in the app's Settings → About. This single switch stops all three optional flows: product analytics, the venue interaction events, and the recently-seen-venues history sent with recommendation requests. Any interaction events still queued on your device are discarded when you turn it off. Because past events carry no user identifier, they cannot be located and individually removed. For further measures, email feedback@aside.city.
  • Lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority. The responsible authority is the Berliner Beauftragte für Datenschutz und Informationsfreiheit.

To exercise these rights, email feedback@aside.city.

Browser storage and cookies.

This website does not use cookies. We store one key in your browser's localStorage: aside-lang, holding your selected language (en or de), so the site shows the right language on your next visit. You can clear it via your browser's site-data controls. Our analytics is cookieless and stores nothing else in your browser. The app does not use cookies.

Contact.

feedback@aside.city