Privacy Policy

1. Who we are

“UsGo!”, “we”, “our” and “us” refer to the UsGo! travel companion service at www.usgo.in. UsGo! helps travellers discover companions, explore trips and stays, and coordinate eligible shared travel costs.

Privacy contact: enquiry@48labs.in
Legal operator and address: to be published before public launch

2. Google Sign-In and your Google data

Signing in to UsGo! uses Google Sign-In (Google Identity Services). It's the only way to sign in. You can browse trips, travellers and stays without signing in.

2.1 Information we receive from Google

When you choose “Continue with Google”, Google asks for your permission and then shares only basic profile information with UsGo!:

• Your Google account name
• Your email address, and whether Google has verified it
• Your profile picture (a link to the image on Google's servers)
• Your Google account identifier, a unique ID Google assigns to your account

We only request the standard sign-in scopes (openid, email and profile). We don't request access to your Gmail, Google Drive, Calendar, Contacts or any other Google service, and we never receive your Google password.

2.2 Why we collect it and how we use it

We use this information only for signing you in and for the related account and profile features of UsGo!. We do not use Google user data for advertising, we do not sell it, we do not use it to build advertising profiles, and we do not use it to train AI models.

Our use of information received from Google APIs adheres to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements.

2.3 How sign-in works and where your information is kept

• Google sends a signed sign-in token (an “ID token”) to your browser, which passes it to UsGo!'s server (running on Cloudflare). The server checks the token's digital signature against Google's published keys, that it was issued for UsGo!, hasn't expired, matches a one-time code for that sign-in attempt and has a Google-verified email address. The token is then discarded; it's never stored.
• We create or update your UsGo! account record: your Google account identifier, name, email address and profile-picture link, when you joined and when you were last active.
• You stay signed in through a session cookie (section 4). Only a one-way fingerprint (hash) of the session is stored on our server.
• A copy of your name, email and picture link is also kept in your browser's local storage so pages can show your profile quickly. It's removed when you sign out.
• Your profile picture is loaded directly from Google's image servers when it's shown.

2.4 Sharing of Google user data

Google provides the sign-in service under Google's Privacy Policy. UsGo! stores the Google information listed in 2.3 in its account database, hosted by Cloudflare as our service provider. We use it only to run your UsGo! account and keep the community safe. We don't sell, share or transfer your Google user data to anyone else, and we don't use it for advertising.

2.5 Removing Google access and Google data

• Sign out: this removes your Google name, email, picture link and identifier from that browser.
• Revoke UsGo!'s access to your Google account: visit myaccount.google.com/connections, select UsGo! and remove access.
• Questions or requests: email enquiry@48labs.in (see section 8).

3. Data on our server and in your browser

• On UsGo!'s server: your account record (section 2.3), your verification request (section 3a), trips you save or publish with their photos, and any safety reports (with evidence photos you attach) and support requests you send. Reports go to the UsGo! safety team; the person you report isn't told who reported them.
• Published trips are public: anyone can see the trip, its photos, and your first name and Google profile picture. Your email address and full name aren't shown. Drafts are visible only to you. UsGo! staff can review published trips and hide any that break the rules. You can delete a trip unless staff have hidden it or travellers have asked to join it (cancel it instead), and photos of a trip are deleted automatically 30 days after it ends.
• Email and password sign-in: if you create an account with email, we store your name, email address and a protected form of your password. Your password itself never reaches our server: it's scrambled with Argon2id in your browser and hashed again on our server. We send confirmation, password-reset and account notices through Resend, an email delivery provider, which receives your email address and the message. We don't connect a Google account and an email account unless you're signed in to the account and the address is confirmed.
• Join requests and messages: when you ask to join a trip, the host sees your first name, photo and introduction, never your email address. Messages are stored on UsGo!'s server and can be read by you and the other traveller. They aren't end-to-end encrypted. UsGo! staff read a conversation only when someone reports it, and each time is recorded in an audit log. Messages are deleted 90 days after the trip ends, unless an open report is about that conversation.
• Only in your browser (for now): profile details you add (bio, interests, photo you upload), saved items, shared-stay and rental posts, booking enquiries, other notifications and settings, under local-storage keys starting with usgo_. Other members can't see them yet.
• We never store passwords, Google ID tokens or access tokens. The website doesn't ask for your phone number.
• If you're not signed in, the contact and report forms open your own email app instead, and you decide whether to send the message.
• If your browser supports it, the site saves its pages and images on your device (a “service worker” cache) so they load offline. This cache contains no personal information and never stores responses from our server's account API.

3a. Profile verification

To unlock account features you verify your profile. Here is exactly what happens:

• What you provide: your first, middle and last name, date of birth (to confirm you're 18+), gender, nationality, the type of ID, a photo of the ID (masked Aadhaar, PAN, driving licence, passport or voter ID; front, and back if needed) and a selfie holding a one-time reference code.
• Where it goes: the photos are sent over HTTPS to UsGo!'s server and stored encrypted (AES-256) in our database at Cloudflare. They are never put on the website, never emailed and never stored in your browser.
• Who sees them: only the UsGo! admin, or an authorised UsGo! verification reviewer. Every time anyone opens your ID photo or selfie, it's recorded in our activity log. They're never shown on your profile, never shared and never sold.
• Retention: the ID photos and selfie are deleted as soon as your request is approved or rejected. If a request isn't reviewed within 30 days, it expires and the photos are deleted. Deleted photos can remain, still encrypted, in our database provider's recovery history for up to 7 days. We keep the verification record (the details above except the photos, the decision, the reason and dates) while your account exists. We don't record ID numbers. Please use a masked Aadhaar.
• The decision: you see it on the Verify page and in your UsGo! notifications, which are kept with your account. We don't email it.
• Limits: verification is a manual check by the UsGo! team. It lowers risk but doesn't guarantee anyone's behaviour.
• Withdrawing: you can ask us to delete your verification record at any time (section 8).

3b. Shared stays, rides, reviews and cost agreements

Women-only matching. We use the gender on your approved identity verification to decide whether you can see, host or join women-only listings. We don't show your gender on your profile, and it isn't used for anything else in matching.

Listings. A listing's area, dates, estimated cost and your first name are visible to other visitors. A stay's exact property is shared only with travellers you accept.

Trust profile. Other signed-in travellers see your first name, photo, verification status, completed experiences and reviews. You can hide your experiences and reviews in your profile. UsGo! doesn't calculate a score about you.

Cost agreements. The host and accepted travellers on a plan can see its cost history, including who proposed and confirmed each amount and when. This history can't be edited, and Admin and Safety Staff can open it to resolve a dispute. Each opening is logged. UsGo! doesn't collect payments or record whether anyone has paid.

Block and mute. We don't tell someone you've blocked or muted them. Staff see how many people have blocked an account, not who.

4. Cookies

UsGo! sets only strictly necessary cookies: __Host-usgo_session keeps you signed in (HttpOnly, sent only over HTTPS, up to 7 days, deleted when you sign out), and __Host-usgo_nonce protects a sign-in attempt (10 minutes). UsGo! staff get a separate admin session cookie (__Host-usgo_admin, HttpOnly, ends after 60 minutes without activity or 12 hours) when they sign in to the admin portal. We don't use advertising or analytics cookies. However, Google's Sign-In script, which loads on the login page, may set a cookie named g_state on this website to remember the state of its sign-in prompt, and Google may set its own cookies on Google's domains when you use “Continue with Google”. These are controlled by Google under its policies.

5. Third-party services

These are the only third parties involved when you use the website:

We don't use advertising networks or tracking pixels on this website, and we don't sell personal information.

6. The UsGo! Android app

The UsGo! Android app is in beta testing on Google Play. The app may handle information differently from this website. Its data practices will be described in the app and in its Google Play listing, and we'll update this policy before the app launches publicly. Features such as messaging between members and location features aren't live on this website.

7. Retention and security

• Account record: while your account exists. Sign-in sessions expire after 7 days or when you sign out.
• ID photos and selfie: deleted when your verification request is decided, or after 30 days if it isn't reviewed. The verification record is kept while your account exists.
• Evidence photos attached to a report are deleted when the report is closed. Reports and support requests: kept as long as needed to handle the case and protect members, then deleted. Records of warnings, suspensions and bans are kept while the account exists.
• Staff audit log: a tamper-evident record of staff actions (including who opened which document) is kept as a security record.
• Data in your browser: until you reset it or clear your browser's site data.
• Cloudflare request logs are handled under Cloudflare's own retention practices.

The website is served over HTTPS with security headers. Google sign-in is verified on our server, staff sign in with their own password (stored only as an Argon2id hash), every staff permission is checked on the server, and private files are never cached or publicly reachable. No service can be guaranteed completely secure. Data in your browser's local storage isn't encrypted by UsGo!, so avoid signing in on shared or public computers.

8. Account and data deletion

Here's how to remove your information:

1. Sign out to remove your Google profile copy from that browser.
2. Remove everything else in your browser: open Account Settings or your Profile and choose Reset data on this device, or clear this site's data in your browser. This takes effect immediately. Repeat on each device or browser you used.
3. Google access: remove UsGo! at myaccount.google.com/connections.
4. Your UsGo! account, verification record, reports and anything else we hold: email enquiry@48labs.in with the subject “Data deletion request”, sending it from the email address concerned. We'll confirm what we hold and delete it, unless we're legally required to keep it, and reply to tell you when it's done.

9. Your privacy rights

Depending on where you live, including under India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, you may have the right to:

• Know and access what personal information we hold about you and how it's used.
• Correct inaccurate or incomplete information. On the website, you can edit your profile directly.
• Delete your information (see section 8).
• Withdraw consent at any time, for example by signing out, resetting your data or removing UsGo!'s access to your Google account. Withdrawing consent doesn't affect anything done before you withdrew it.
• Raise a grievance with us, and if you're not satisfied with our response, complain to the relevant data protection authority.
• Nominate someone to exercise your rights if you die or become incapacitated, where the law provides for this.

To exercise any of these rights, email enquiry@48labs.in. We may need to confirm your identity before acting on a request, and we'll respond within the time the applicable law requires.

10. Children

UsGo! is for people aged 18 or older. We don't knowingly collect information from anyone under 18. If you believe a child has given us information, contact us and we'll delete it.

11. Changes to this policy

We'll update this policy when our services or practices change, for example if we start storing accounts on a server or launch the Android app publicly. We'll change the dates at the top of this page and, where the law requires, give additional notice.

12. Contact us

For privacy questions, requests or complaints:

Email: enquiry@48labs.in
Website: www.usgo.in
Legal operator and address: to be published before public launch

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