pubmates Privacy Notice

To provide services and operate the pubmates platform

• Names and contact details (such as email address)
• Account information (including login and profile details)
• Venue information you provide (such as venue name, description, photos, events, and tap lists)
• Usage data (such as interactions, page views, and feature usage)

For the operation of customer accounts and platform functionality

• Names and contact details
• Account and authentication information
• Security-related information (e.g. login activity)

For service updates and marketing purposes

• Names and contact details
• Marketing preferences
• Usage and engagement data

We will only send marketing communications where permitted by law, and you can opt out at any time.

To comply with legal requirements

• Name and contact details
• Payment-related information where required for accounting or legal purposes

For dealing with queries, complaints or claims

• Names and contact details
• Account information
• Any information you provide when contacting support

Profile personalisation (pubmates app)

In the pubmates mobile app you can optionally tell us a little more about yourself so we can make the app more relevant to you. Completing this is entirely voluntary — you can skip it, and you can change or remove the information at any time in Edit Profile.

• Your name — the real name you give us here is separate from the public display name other people see, and is not shown on your profile
• Approximate home area — the first part of your postcode only (for example “SW6”), never your full postcode or address. We use it to show pubs, crawls and events near you, and to understand which areas our community is based in
• Gender — used only to understand who is using pubmates in aggregate. “Prefer not to say” is always an option, and we do not use gender to decide what you are shown
• Drink preferences — the drinks and drink categories you save, used to highlight pubs serving things you like

This information is private to your account. It is never shown on your public profile or to other users, and we do not include the values themselves in our analytics — we only record whether a field has been filled in, so we can see how useful people find this feature.

Location (pubmates app)

The pubmates mobile app can use your device's location if you allow it. You can change this at any time in your device's settings, and the app still works without it, although features that rely on your location won't be available.

• While you use the app — we use your location to show pubs near you and to help you check in
• Your last known location — when you open the app, we store your most recent location against your account, replacing the previous one, so we keep no history of it. We use it to tell you about offers and events at pubs near you, and only if it was updated in the last 24 hours. It is not shown to other users
• Street check-ins — if you post a check-in that isn't at a pub, your location at that moment is saved with that check-in

Check-in reminders (pubmates app)

Check-in reminders are optional and are only used if you turn them on. They use your location in the background, including when the app is closed, to remind you to check in when you have been at a pub for a while. They require your device's “Always” location permission and notifications.

• Your device watches for when you arrive at or leave nearby pubs, and the decision to remind you is made on your device
• We do not store your background location or a history of the pubs you visit on our servers. The list of nearby pubs and your reminder settings are kept on your device, and the list is deleted when you turn reminders off or sign out
• To keep that list up to date, your device requests pubs in the area around you from our database. Our hosting provider may temporarily record these requests in its service logs
• We record how reminders are used, such as how many were sent or tapped, but not which pubs they were for

You can turn reminders off at any time in Settings → Notifications in the app, or by changing the location permission in your device's settings.

Notifications (pubmates app)

If you allow notifications, we store a push token for your device and your notification choices, such as which types of notification you want to receive. We use these to send you notifications, including activity from people you follow and offers and events from pubs you have favourited or are near. You can change these choices in Settings → Notifications in the app.

Public information

Information you provide as part of a venue profile (such as name, description, photos, events, and tap lists) will be publicly visible on the pubmates platform and may be indexed by search engines.

Contract — We process your personal data to provide the pubmates service, including account creation and platform functionality.

Legitimate interests — We use your data to improve our platform, analyse usage, ensure security, and prevent misuse.

Consent — We rely on consent for marketing communications where required, and for the optional profile personalisation details you choose to give us in the app (your name, approximate home area, gender and drink preferences), and for using your location, including in the background for check-in reminders. You can withdraw your consent at any time — for personalisation details, by changing or clearing them in Edit Profile; for location, by turning reminders off in the app or changing the permission in your device's settings.

Explicit consent (special category data) — Information about gender may be treated as special category data under UK GDPR. We ask for it only with your explicit consent, it is always optional, “Prefer not to say” is offered, and you can never be required to provide it in order to use pubmates. We use it solely to understand our user base in aggregate.

Legal obligation — We may process your data to comply with legal and financial obligations.