Plopmates is a free app made by Plopmates LLC, a very small team. This policy explains, in plain language, exactly what it collects, why, who else ever sees it, and how to get rid of it.
The short version: we don't want your data. There are no ads, no trackers, no analytics SDKs, no data brokers, and nothing is ever sold. Signing in to the app needs nothing but a username you make up — no name, no phone number. You can optionally give us one email address so that you can reset your own password if you forget it; it is used for that and nothing else, and you can remove it at any time. We also ask for an email on our website if you choose to join the beta or the waitlist there. Both are covered in their own sections below.
Your username. You pick it. It doesn't have to be your real name, and we'd rather it wasn't. It is your entire identity in the app.
An anonymous account ID. Created by Firebase Authentication so your device can prove which account is yours. It is a random string. It is not linked to your Apple ID, your email, or your phone number.
Your plops. When each plop started and ended, how long it took, and which mini-games you won. This is what your stats, your history, your leaderboards and your feed are made of.
What you post. PlopThoughts (text), PlopEmos (a feeling from the wheel), PlopNotes (up to 30 seconds of audio), forum posts, comments, and votes.
Your social graph. Which plopmates you have, which plopmate requests are pending, which PlopTribes you're in, and who you've blocked.
Location — only if you allow it. If you grant location access, each plop is stamped with its coordinates and the nearest city. This is always kept private in your own stats and personal plop map. It is only ever attached to a public post if you switch the share-location toggle on for that post. Auto-logged plops never share it. Deny the permission and the app works exactly the same, minus the maps.
Microphone — only while recording. Used solely while you are actively recording a PlopNote, after you tap record. Nothing is captured at any other time.
A push notification token. If you allow notifications, Apple issues a token for your device so we can send you a match alert or a reply notification. It identifies the device, not you.
Your build number and settings. Which version of the app you're on, and your notification preferences, so the right notifications reach the right people.
Reports you file. If you report content, we store what you reported, why, and a snapshot of the content, so a human can review it.
Crash and error logs. Firebase records basic technical errors so the app can be fixed. These contain no post content.
Everything above is about the app. Our website collects nothing at all unless you fill something in, and there are exactly two things you can fill in.
Your recovery email (optional). Plopmates signs you in with a username and a password, and there is no email address attached to your account unless you add one. You can add one in two places: in the Menu, under PASSWORD RECOVERY, or by giving us an address when you claim your username on our beta signup page, where we tell you at the time that it is used for this. Either way we store that address on its own, apart from everything else about you, and we use it for exactly one thing: sending you a link to reset your password when you ask for one. We never show it to another plopper, never put it on your profile, never add you to a mailing list and never send you anything else. Clear the box and save, and we delete it. If you delete your account, it goes with everything else.
The beta signup form. If you join the private beta at plopmates.com, we store the username you chose, your email address, the date and time, a record of which beta terms you agreed to and which version they were, and your browser's user-agent string. We need the email so we can reach you about the beta — a build problem, or the day it stops being private. We do not add you to a mailing list and we do not send you anything else.
The waitlist form. If you leave your email address on our landing page, we store that address and where the link came from, and we write to you once, when there is something to open.
These are kept apart from your account in the app, and are never attached to your plops, your posts or your stats. Nothing you do in the app is connected back to the address you gave the website. Ask us at plop@plopmates.com and we will delete either record.
We do not track you across other apps or websites, and we never sell or rent your data to anyone, for any purpose.
Only to run the app: to log your plops and show your stats, to match you with a plopmate who is plopping at the same time, to show your posts to the people you've chosen to share them with, to deliver the notifications you asked for, and to keep the app safe by acting on reports.
We do not use your content to train machine-learning models.
Your plopmates. Your feed posts, your stats and your plop history are visible to people you have mutually accepted as plopmates. Non-plopmates see only your username.
Everyone, if you post to the Plop Forum. The forum is a public board. Assume anything you post there can be read by every user of the app. Don't put anything private in it.
Google Firebase, as our service provider, which stores the data and delivers push notifications on our behalf: Cloud Firestore (the database), Cloud Storage (voice notes), Firebase Authentication (anonymous sign-in), and Firebase Cloud Messaging (push). Google processes this data under its own terms and does not use it for its own purposes. Data is stored in the United States.
Apple, which delivers push notifications to your device via the Apple Push Notification service.
Law enforcement, if we are legally required to disclose something, or if we are reporting content involving the sexual exploitation of a minor.
That's the whole list. There is nobody else.
Your data lives in Google Cloud in the United States, for as long as your account exists.
We keep encrypted backups (point-in-time recovery for 7 days, and daily backups for 14 days) so an accident can be undone. Deleted data disappears from those backups as they age out — within 14 days at the outside.
You can delete your account from inside the app, at any time: Menu → Account → Delete account.
Deletion is permanent and takes effect immediately. It removes:
Two things survive on purpose:
You can also just email plop@plopmates.com and ask us to do it for you.
Wherever you live, you can ask us to tell you what we hold about you, to correct it, or to delete it — and the in-app delete button does the last one instantly, without asking us.
If you are in the EEA or the UK, our legal basis for processing is performance of a contract (running the app you asked us to run) and legitimate interests (keeping the app safe from abuse). You have the right to access, rectify, erase, restrict, port and object, and to complain to your local data protection authority.
If you are in California, you have the right to know, delete and correct, and the right not to be discriminated against for exercising those rights. We do not sell or share personal information as those terms are defined by the CCPA/CPRA, and we do not process it for cross-context behavioral advertising.
To exercise anything here, email plop@plopmates.com. We'll reply within one business day and act within 30 days.
Plopmates is for adults aged 18 and over. It is not directed to anyone under 18 or to children under 13, and we don't knowingly collect anything from them. If you believe a child under 13 has an account, email plop@plopmates.com and we will delete it.
Data is encrypted in transit and at rest by Google Cloud. Access to the database is restricted to authenticated app users and to the developer. Voice notes are capped at 2 MB and to audio content types, and the rest of our storage bucket is locked.
No system is perfect. If you find a security problem in Plopmates, please tell us at plop@plopmates.com — we'd much rather hear it from you.
If we change this policy materially, we'll tell you in the app before the change takes effect. The version and date at the top always tell you which one you're reading.
That reaches the person who wrote the app. There is no support department.