VietnamGo Privacy Policy

Last updated 12 October 2026. This policy covers the VietnamGo app and this website. Anyone can browse places, stories and published community posts without an account; the rest of this page is about what happens once you use the features that need one.

1. What we collect and why

• Guest Pass access — a random private identifier, store purchase records and AI usage counts let you buy, restore and use VietnamGo Pass without providing an email, name or other registration information.
• Account — your email address and a display name, to sign you in (email, Apple or Google) and show your name on what you post. With Sign in with Apple you can hide your real email.
• Your trip — the city, dates and interests you set, saved places, collections and day plans. Private to your account unless you make a collection public.
• What you ask the AI — questions to Ask, text to Translate, prices to Check, planning notes, and a menu photo when you use Scan menu. Used to answer that request.
• What you post — community posts, reviews, comments, photos, videos and place updates. Published only after moderation; your display name appears with them.
• Community activity — follows, comments, publication decisions and read markers, to show your Activity inbox. Saved posts are private to you. Published moments, captions and profile details are public. We keep original media privately while the post exists for moderation; approved copies and video posters are served publicly. Deleting a post or account removes its stored copies, but cannot remove copies other people already downloaded.
• Location — only after you tap Near me, and only approximate. The coordinates are sent with that one request so our server can sort places by distance; they are not stored or attached to your account. Background location is never requested.
• Camera and photos — only when you scan a menu or attach photos or videos. Embedded metadata, including GPS tags, is removed from community photos and videos before anyone sees them.
• Usage events — a short, fixed list of actions such as opening a place, saving, asking for directions or finishing a share, with an ID generated by the app for that installation. Not used for advertising and never sold.
• Notifications — if you allow them, your device’s push token, so we can tell you about your own bookings and posts.

2. Go with a Buddy

These apply only if you book a Buddy or become one yourself, in cities where it is open.

• Phone numbers and chat. A traveler’s contact and the Buddy’s phone number are shown to the other person only from the moment a Buddy accepts until 12 hours after the tour’s scheduled end. Chat opens at the same moment and closes when the tour ends; the conversation stays readable to the two of you, and to our staff if either of you reports a problem.
• Open requests. When you post a request, Buddies who match it see the time, length, group size, meeting point, interests and your note — not your name or contact — before one of them accepts. Don’t put a phone or room number in the note.
• Becoming a Buddy. We collect the public profile you submit: photo, introduction, city, general meeting area, languages, interests, price and group size. We also collect a contact number privately and record your acceptance of the Buddy rules. Staff review the profile before it is shown to travelers. We do not ask new applicants for an ID photo or video call in this first stage. An approximate area can appear on a Buddy profile, never a home address.
• Payments. Travelers pay Buddies directly, in cash or by transfer; VietnamGo never sees that money or the traveler’s bank details. Buddies pay VietnamGo’s commission by bank transfer with a reference code. Our bank-notification provider tells us the amount, the reference and the transaction ID, which we record against the Buddy’s fee account. VietnamGo Pass is paid through Apple or Google (we receive the purchase record, not your card) or by bank transfer on our website (we receive the amount, time and transfer note).
• Reviews and invites. Reviews come only from completed tours and stay hidden until both sides have reviewed or 14 days have passed. Invite codes record who invited whom, so fee credit can be given.

3. Who processes it

We don’t sell personal data and don’t use it for third-party advertising or tracking. These services process it for us, only to run the features above:

• Supabase — accounts, database, file storage and server functions.
• OpenAI — answers AI requests: your question or menu photo is sent for that request only.
• Google Analytics — counts the usage events listed above.
• Apple and Google — sign-in when you choose them, and push notification delivery.
• SePay — notifies us of bank transfers to our account (Buddy and partner fees, VietnamGo Pass bought on the web), with the amount and transfer note.
• RevenueCat — processes VietnamGo Pass purchases made through the App Store or Google Play. It receives a random guest identifier or your VietnamGo account ID and the store’s purchase records, never your card details (those stay with Apple or Google).
• Vercel — hosts this website.

4. Moderation and safety

Community content is checked automatically and by moderators before it is public. Reports, blocks, disputes and moderation decisions are kept so we can act on repeat abuse and answer appeals.

5. How long we keep it, and deleting it

We keep your data while your account exists. Delete it in the app under Account → Delete account: your profile, trip, saved places, plans, saved posts, Community activity, posts, photos, videos, poster frames, AI usage and notification tokens are deleted, and your photos, videos and poster frames are removed from storage. We keep only what the law or safety requires — moderation records of content that broke the rules, and the accounting record of fees a Buddy paid — without anything that identifies you beyond that. Menu photos are not stored after the answer is returned.

6. Your choices and rights

You can use most of VietnamGo without an account, turn off location, camera and notifications in Settings, keep collections private, remove your own posts, block contributors, and delete your account at any time. To see, correct or export your data, or for any privacy question, write to us through the support form and choose Privacy.

7. Children

VietnamGo is not for children under 13, and we don’t knowingly collect their data. If you think a child has an account, tell us through support and we will delete it.

8. Changes

We will post changes here with a new date, and tell you in the app before a material change takes effect.

See also our Terms of Service.