Privacy Policy

When you create an account, we collect your email address, first and last name, account identifier and optional profile photograph.

This information allows us to create your account, maintain your profile and identify you to other users.

We store the places you Save and Love, including relevant timestamps, to maintain your personal collection and provide personalized recommendations.

We store Follow requests, accepted Following relationships and related activity to provide Stek’s social features.

With your device’s permission, Stek uses your location to show nearby places, position the map and calculate approximate travel times.

Travel-time estimates are calculated on your device. We do not intentionally store a history of your movements or share your live location with other Stek users.

You can change Stek’s location permissions through your device settings.

Our service providers may process IP addresses, device information, connection logs and security-related information necessary to operate and protect Stek.

When you contact us, we process your email address and the information you provide to respond to your request.

Under the GDPR, we process personal information based on:

• Performance of our agreement: To provide accounts, Saved and Loved places, Following, recommendations, maps and other requested features.
• Legitimate interests: To protect Stek against misuse, maintain security and respond to certain support requests.
• Legal obligations: Where processing is required by law.
• Consent: Where specifically required, including for optional processing that legally requires your permission.

An email address and name are required to create an account. Profile photographs and device location access are optional, although some features depend on location access.

Other registered users can find your profile through user search. Your name and optional profile photograph may be visible.

Your email address is not displayed to other users.

Stek uses an approval-based Following system.

When you accept someone’s Follow request, that person can see your Loved places and related recommendation activity.

Following is directional. Accepting a follower does not automatically give you access to their recommendations.

Your Loved places may appear in your accepted followers’ feeds, friend profiles and recommendations.

Your Saved places are kept in your personal collection. Where supported by Stek’s social features, accepted followers may also see that you have Saved a particular place.

Saving a place does not publish a Loved activity post.

You can change your Saved and Loved places and manage your Following relationships through Stek.

We use Supabase for authentication, profile photographs, Saved and Loved places, and Following relationships.

Our primary Supabase database is hosted in the European Union. Some supporting services and operational processing may take place outside the EU.

We use Mapbox to display interactive maps.

Mapbox may process technical information, map requests and location-related data.

You can opt out of optional Mapbox telemetry through the privacy and attribution controls within Stek’s map. This does not prevent you from using the map.

Mapbox’s Privacy Policy is available at https://www.mapbox.com/legal/privacy.

We use Resend to send essential emails, including account verification and password reset messages.

Resend processes email addresses, message content and delivery information, with email-related data stored in the United States.

We do not use Resend for marketing newsletters.

Resend’s Privacy Policy is available at https://resend.com/legal/privacy-policy.

Our website is hosted by GoDaddy.

GoDaddy may process IP addresses, browser information and server logs necessary to deliver and protect the website.

Stek displays venue photographs directly from external website URLs.

When your device loads these photographs, the originating website may receive your IP address and standard connection information.

When you open directions in Apple Maps, Google Maps or another navigation application, that service processes navigation information under its own privacy policy.