Vigia Alert
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Privacy Policy

Vigia Alert ("Vigia", "we") is a community safety app run by Christian Udeh in Luanda, Angola. This policy explains what the app collects, why, who can see it, and the choices you have.

1. What we collect

• Account: your first and last name, email address, country and, if you give it, your phone number. Your password is handled by Firebase Authentication (Google); we never see it.

• Reports you send: the type of incident, severity, your description, the time, the location (GPS coordinates and place name) and any photo or video you add.

• Missing-person reports: the details you give about the person (name, age, sex, appearance, where and when they were last seen, whether the police were told) and a family contact number.

• Public profile (optional): a public name, a short bio, social media handles, and whether your name appears on your reports.

• Activity: who you follow, who follows you, and how many people viewed your reports.

• Community confirmations: your answer ("I see it too" or "Not happening") on reports near you, and when you gave it. Your location is not saved with it.

• Walk with me: where you are going, your check-in time, the buddies you pick, the walk's status (for example arrived, or a missed check-in) and, unless Location sharing is "No one", where you are during the walk (see section 2).

• Location sharing: what you choose in Settings › Location sharing and, with "My Vigia buddies", your latest position (see section 2).

• SOS: when you send one, your location while it lasts, the nearest landmark and street, and, for the texts, the names and numbers of your safety network (see section 2).

• Alert settings: distance, incident types, minimum severity, how often you want to be notified, saved places and, if you choose one on the map, the centre of your alert area.

• Location for alerts: while notifications are on, your phone's latest location (to about 100 m) and the time it was taken (see section 2).

• Device: a notification token so we can send you alerts, and usage data collected automatically by Google Analytics for Firebase (such as device model, app version and which screens are used).

2. How your location is used

• Your phone uses its location to show how far away incidents are and to filter your alerts.

• While alert notifications are on, Vigia saves your phone's latest location, rounded to about 100 m, and the time, so we only notify you about incidents near you. We keep only the latest one: each new one replaces the last, and there is no history. It is updated when you open the app and, if you allow location in the background, when your phone moves about 500 m or more while Vigia is closed. It is deleted when you turn notifications off, log out or delete your account. This location for alerts is never shown to other users.

• Walk with me: while a walk or journey is on, the buddies you pick for it (people you follow who follow you back) see where you are, updated about every 30 seconds or when you have moved about 75 m, and a trail of your latest 40 points. This continues with Vigia in the background until you arrive or end it (iPhone shows the blue location sign and Android a notification while it does). They also see how you are travelling, the plate and vehicle you add for a taxi, tricycle or bus, and when you have been stopped 8 minutes or more (10 when walking) before arriving. If you share a live link, anyone who has it can see the same (your username, where you are going, how you travel and where you are) on Vigia's website, without the app, until you arrive or end the journey, and 6 hours after it started at most. When you arrive or end the walk, the updates stop. The last position and the trail stay with that walk, which only you and those buddies can open, until you delete your account. With Location sharing set to "No one", your buddies see only your check-in, not where you are.

• Settings › Location sharing decides who else can see where you are. "Only on Walk with me" is the default: only the buddies you pick for a walk see you, live, until you arrive.

• With "My Vigia buddies", everyone you follow who follows you back can see you on their map while Vigia is open on your phone, and live on your walks. Vigia keeps only your latest position, rounded to about 11 m, and its time: each new one replaces the last. A new position is sent no more than every 2 minutes, unless you have moved 100 m or more, and never while Vigia is closed. After you close Vigia, your buddies can still see where you last were, but the apps don't show positions older than 12 hours. It is deleted when you change this setting, log out or delete your account.

• With "No one", nobody sees where you are, and walks share only your check-in.

• SOS: when you send one, your Vigia buddies (people you follow who follow you back) get a notification and see your name, phone number, where you are (updated about every 15 seconds while it lasts), the nearest landmark and the street. Vigia also texts the people in your safety network through an SMS provider (Twilio): their names and numbers and the message go to Vigia's server with that SOS, are used only to send those texts, and are deleted when you end it. If a text can't be sent this way, the app offers to send it from your own phone.

• Your location also leaves your phone when you send a report (as the report's location), when you pick a centre for your alert area on the map, or when you send it to people yourself: "Send my location", a missed walk check-in, or an SOS text you send yourself go from your own phone, by SMS (and email, if you added one) or another app you pick. Vigia doesn't see these messages, and Location sharing doesn't change what they include.

• When you answer "I see it too" or "Not happening", your phone checks on the device that you are within 2 km of the report. That location is not saved.

• When you support a post, add an update or write a comment, everyone signed in to Vigia can see it. Comments show your username and, if you were within 2 km, a Nearby tag; anyone can report a comment to the Vigia review team, who can remove it. An update shows your username, what you wrote, any photo or video, and roughly how far from the incident you were (or that you are the one who reported it). Your phone checks on the device that you are within 2 km; your location itself is not saved. You can remove your updates and comments, and they are deleted with your account.

• When an official alert arrives, your phone checks on the device whether you are inside the affected area.

3. Who can see what

• Reports are visible to everyone signed in to Vigia, marked "Unverified" until the Vigia team checks them. Every report you post shows your public name, and people can open your public profile from it, unless you post it discreetly: then your name is hidden from other users, but the Vigia review team can still see the report is yours.

• Community confirmations: other users see only the totals of "I see it too" and "Not happening" on a report. Your own answer is seen only by you and the Vigia review team.

• Your walks, your shared position and your SOS are seen only by the buddies described in section 2.

• Missing-person details are visible only to you and the Vigia review team until a reviewer approves the report. After approval they are shown to everyone to help the search. The family contact number is never public.

• The Vigia review team can see all reports so they can check them.

• Your email address, phone number, account name and alert settings are not shown to other users.

• The people in "My safety network" are saved on your phone. Their names and numbers leave it only when you send an SOS, so Vigia can text them, and are deleted from Vigia's server when you end the SOS.

4. What we don't do

• We don't sell your information and we don't show ads.

• We don't share your information with other companies for marketing.

• We share information with the authorities only when the law requires it or when someone's life or safety is at risk.

5. Where your data is stored

Vigia runs on Google Firebase (Authentication, Realtime Database, Cloud Storage, Cloud Functions, Cloud Messaging and Analytics). SOS text messages are sent through Twilio, which receives the message and the numbers it goes to. Your data is stored on Google's servers, which may be outside Angola, and is encrypted while it travels between your phone and those servers.

6. How long we keep it

• We keep your account, profile and reports while your account is open.

• You can delete your account yourself, on Android or iPhone: Settings › Update details › Delete account, then enter your password. This can't be undone.

• It deletes your account and settings, your profile and username, your reports (discreet ones too) and the answers people gave on them, the photos and videos stored under your account, the missing-person details you sent, who you follow and who follows you, view counts, your walks, your shared position, your SOS, your location for alerts and your notification tokens.

• A few things stay: your answers on other people's reports (only the answer and its time, so the totals stay right), walk invitations in your buddies' lists (your username and the walk's times) until they remove them, and photos and videos that aren't stored under your account (from discreet reports or older versions of the app), which are no longer linked to any report.

• You can also write to us to delete your account. We delete the same things, unless the law requires us to keep something.

7. Your rights

Under Angola's Personal Data Protection Law (Lei n.º 22/11), you can ask to see the information we hold about you, correct it, have it deleted, or object to how it is used. Write to %1$s. You can also contact the Agência de Protecção de Dados (APD). You can change your public profile, alert settings and Location sharing in the app at any time, and delete your account in Settings › Update details.

8. Children

Vigia is not intended for children under 13. Reports about a missing child should come from a parent, guardian or someone acting for the family; before sending, the app asks the sender to confirm they are family or a guardian, or have permission to share the details.

9. Changes

If we change this policy, we will update this page and the date at the top.

10. Contact

Christian Udeh, Luanda, Angola · %1$s