Privacy Policy

TONearby is a mobile app and website that helps you find nearby Toronto parks, community centres, and drop-in recreation activities. This Privacy Policy explains what information TONearby uses, how it is used, and what choices you have.

Information TONearby Uses

Location

TONearby may ask for access to your device location. Location is used to show nearby parks, community centres, distances, map results, and activity results around your selected area.

TONearby uses your live device location only while you are using the app and does not request background location access. The live coordinate used to calculate nearby results is processed in the app and is not automatically sent to our own servers.

You can use TONearby without granting location permission. If location permission is not granted, the app uses Toronto City Hall as the default search location until you choose another area.

Accounts (optional)

You can use TONearby without an account. If you choose to sign in — with email and password, Google, or Apple — TONearby stores your email address, a display name where your sign-in provider shares one, and identifiers needed to connect your sign-in methods. Authentication is provided by Firebase Authentication.

Saved Areas

If you save a Home or Work area, its chosen coordinates are stored on your device. If you sign in, those saved coordinates are also synced to your account so they are available when you reinstall or change devices. A picked map area stays local unless you include it in a saved search; signed-in saved searches sync their filter settings, including any picked-area coordinate.

Data Synced to Your Account

When you are signed in, TONearby stores in your account:

• favourite places you save
• saved searches and their filter settings
• family profiles — a nickname, an optional age or age band, and interests. Family profiles never store birthdates and exist only to make age filtering easier.
• notification preferences, including quiet hours and daily limits
• basic install and device records (such as device model and platform) used to manage notifications across your devices
• your in-app notification inbox

Signed-out (guest) versions of these features store data only on your device.

Push Notifications (optional)

Remote alert controls are not offered in the current release. If you enable them in a later release and grant permission, TONearby will store a push token for your device so it can deliver alerts you ask for. Push delivery uses Expo's notification service. You can turn notifications off at any time in the app or in your device settings.

Calendar and Reminders (optional)

Adding an activity to your calendar creates an event through your device's calendar only when you tap “Add to calendar.” Reminders are local notifications scheduled on your device; they are not sent to our servers.

Cached App Data

TONearby may store recently loaded recreation activity data on your device. This helps the app load faster and keep showing recent information when your internet connection or Toronto open data is temporarily unavailable. This cached data does not include personal information about you.

Feedback

If you submit feedback through the app or this website, we may collect the information you choose to provide, such as feedback category, message, name, email address, and phone number (all optional except the message), along with basic technical information such as app version, platform, device model, operating system version, and an app- or browser-specific installation identifier. Feedback is used to respond to issues, improve the app, group related reports, and understand reported problems. In the mobile app, the same installation identifier may also be used for signed-in device and notification records, so app feedback may be technically correlatable with an account. Feedback may also identify you if you choose to provide contact information. We do not use this information for advertising.

Feedback submissions use Firebase App Check to help distinguish the TONearby app and website from automated abuse. On the website, App Check uses Google reCAPTCHA Enterprise, which may process browser, device, and network signals, including an IP address, for security and fraud prevention. TONearby also applies hourly limits by installation identifier and network address. Rate-limit records use keyed hashes that change each hour; they do not store the raw network address.

Analytics and Crash Reports

The TONearby mobile app uses Firebase Analytics and Crashlytics, and the TONearby website uses Google Analytics, to understand basic usage and diagnose crashes or technical problems. This may include app opens, website page views, feature usage counts, selected filter types, crash reports, app or site version, platform, device model, operating system version, and installation or browser identifiers.

This information helps improve reliability and understand which features are used. TONearby does not use this information to sell advertising or create user profiles for advertising.

Data Sources

TONearby uses public datasets and APIs, including City of Toronto open data, to show parks, community centres, and recreation activity information. TONearby is not an official City of Toronto app. City datasets may change or contain errors.

Third-Party Services

TONearby uses third-party services that may process information according to their own privacy policies, including:

• Google Maps (Android) and Apple Maps (iOS), for map display
• Firebase, for authentication, synced account data, app integrity checks, analytics, crash reporting, and feedback storage
• Google Analytics, for website usage analytics
• Google Play Integrity and Apple App Attest, for app integrity checks
• Google reCAPTCHA Enterprise, for website integrity and abuse checks
• Google and Apple sign-in, if you choose those sign-in methods
• Expo, for push notification delivery
• City of Toronto open data, for public recreation data

You can review Google's privacy policy at policies.google.com/privacy and Apple's at apple.com/legal/privacy.

How Information Is Shared

TONearby does not sell your personal information and does not share your personal information with advertisers. Information may be processed by service providers used to operate TONearby, such as Firebase, Google Analytics, platform integrity services, and Expo, only for app and website functionality, account sync, notifications, analytics, security, crash reporting, feedback handling, and reliability.

Account Deletion

You can delete your account at any time from the app (Account → Delete account). Your account becomes inactive and push delivery stops as soon as the deletion request completes. Your account data and push registrations are retained during a 30-day recovery window. If you change your mind, signing in again during that window restores your account; after 30 days, your account and its synced data, including push registrations, are permanently removed. See Delete your account for details.

Data Retention

• Saved areas, guest data, and cached recreation data remain on your device until you remove the app or clear app data.
• Account data is kept while your account is active and permanently removed after the 30-day deletion recovery window.
• Feedback submissions are retained separately from account data and are not automatically removed when you delete your account. They may include optional contact information and an installation identifier, and may be technically correlatable with an account as described above. Feedback and technical logs may be retained as long as reasonably needed to maintain, support, secure, and improve TONearby.
• Keyed feedback rate-limit records are scheduled for removal after 48 hours and do not contain feedback content, contact information, an installation identifier, or a raw network address.

Children

TONearby is not directed specifically to children under 13. The app provides general public recreation information. Family profiles are created and managed by the account holder and store only a nickname, optional age or age band, and interests — never birthdates.

Your Choices

• use the app as a guest, without an account
• deny or revoke location permission in your device settings
• use the app with Toronto City Hall as the default location
• turn notifications off in the app or device settings
• avoid submitting optional feedback contact information
• delete your account from the app at any time
• uninstall the app to remove locally stored app data from your device

Contact

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or TONearby's privacy practices, contact support@tonearby.com.