Your personal data is shared in a controlled way:
- Other users: By default, other users see only what you’d expect – your public profile information (first name, profile photo, badges, rating, etc.) and whatever is needed for a transaction. For instance, when a booking is confirmed, the Traveller and Provider may see each other’s full names and perhaps a masked phone number to facilitate meeting up. Your reviews are visible to others, and if you post on a Noticeboard, those posts are visible to all checked-in users at that location.
- Third-party service providers: We rely on reputable third parties to help run the platform. For example, Stripe processes payments, so it gets the necessary billing info (card numbers, billing name/address) to charge cards. If we use an identity verification service (e.g., to scan your ID), that service will handle the documents you provide. We also use cloud hosting services (to store data), email/SMS services (to send verification codes and notifications), and analytics tools. These providers are bound by contracts to only use your data to provide services to us – they can’t use it for their own purposes or share it further.
- Legal or regulatory disclosures: If required by law, we may disclose data to authorities.
- No selling of data: We do not sell your personal information to third parties for marketing purposes. Any data sharing is strictly for the operation of the platform or compliance.
In short, we share data on a need-to-know basis – primarily with the services and partners that make VanLife Connect function, and with authorities if legally compelled. Your privacy is important to us.