Last updated: 01/06/2026
This Privacy Policy explains how the Isti app collects, uses and shares information when you use it. Please read it carefully. By using Isti you agree to the practices described here.
1. INFORMATION WE COLLECT
1.1 Information you give us
- Account details — your name and email address when you register.
- Profile information — your profile photo and biography, if you choose to add them.
- Content you create — restaurants you save, collections you build, check-ins, ratings, notes and photographs you upload.
- Social connections — friend requests you send or accept, and the accounts you follow.
- Links you import — web or social video links you paste or share into the app so the restaurant they refer to can be identified.
- Support messages — the content of any message you send through Contact Support.
1.2 Location information
Isti is built around where you are, so location is central to how it works. Section 2 explains this in full, including collection of location in the background.
1.3 Information collected automatically
- Device identifiers — a push notification token identifying your device, so notifications can be delivered to it.
- Usage information — screens you view and actions you take in the app, such as saving a place or performing a search.
- Diagnostic information — crash reports and performance data when something goes wrong.
1.4 Information from sign-in providers
If you sign in with Google or Apple, your name and email address are received from that provider to create your account. Your password is never received. If you use Apple's Hide My Email feature, only the private relay address Apple generates is received, and that is the address stored.
2. HOW LOCATION IS USED
Isti collects location information, including while the app is closed or not in use. This is what allows the app to alert you when you are near a restaurant you have saved. We want to be direct about it so you can make an informed choice.
2.1 What is collected and why
- While you are using the app — to show restaurants near you, centre the map, search nearby venues and calculate distances.
- In the background — to detect when you are close to a place you have saved and send you a proximity alert, and to enable check-in prompts. This continues when the app is closed or in the background.
2.2 Your control over location
- Background collection only ever happens after you grant background location permission on your device. You can decline it, and the app remains usable.
- You can withdraw the permission at any time in your device settings.
- You can turn location tracking off inside Isti, under Settings.
- Ghost Mode lets you keep using the app while hiding your activity from other users.
2.3 What is not done with it
Your location data is not sold. It is not shared with advertisers or data brokers, and it is not used for advertising or cross-app tracking.
3. HOW YOUR INFORMATION IS USED
- To provide the app: showing nearby restaurants, saving places, check-ins and collections.
- To operate social features: friend requests, followers and the activity feed.
- To send notifications you have enabled, including proximity alerts and friend activity.
- To identify restaurants from links you import.
- To keep your account secure and prevent abuse.
- To understand how the app is used, so it can be improved.
- To diagnose crashes and fix problems.
- To respond to your support requests.
4. HOW INFORMATION IS SHARED
4.1 With other users
Depending on your settings, other Isti users may see your name, profile photo, biography, check-ins, saved places and activity. You can limit this by making your profile private or by enabling Ghost Mode in Settings.
4.2 With service providers
The following services process data in order to run the app:
- Google Maps and Google Places — map display and restaurant information.
- Google Firebase — push notification delivery, usage analytics and crash reporting.
- Apple — Sign in with Apple, and push notification delivery on iOS devices.
- AI and content providers — to identify a restaurant from a link you import, the link and its publicly available page content are processed by third-party AI services. Your account details and your location are not sent to them.
- Hosting and email providers — to run the servers and send transactional email.
4.3 For legal reasons
Information may be disclosed where required by law, or where reasonably necessary to protect the rights or safety of users or the service.
4.4 Your information is not sold
Personal information is not sold, and it is not shared for cross-context behavioural advertising.
5. YOUR CHOICES
- Notifications — turn all notifications off, or control proximity alerts and friend activity individually, in Settings.
- Location — turn tracking off in Settings, or withdraw permission in your device settings.
- Profile visibility — make your profile private, or enable Ghost Mode.
- Export your data — download a copy of your data from Settings.
- Delete your account — delete your account and its associated data from within the app, under Settings.
6. YOUR RIGHTS
Depending on where you live, you may have the right to access the personal information held about you, to correct it, to delete it, to object to or restrict how it is used, to receive it in a portable format, and to withdraw consent you have given.
You can exercise the main rights directly in the app through the data export and account deletion features. For anything else, get in touch through Contact Support in the app, under Settings, and your request will be answered within the period required by law. If you are in the European Economic Area or the United Kingdom, you also have the right to complain to your local data protection authority.
7. HOW LONG INFORMATION IS KEPT
- Account information and your content — for as long as your account is active.
- Location history — kept only for as long as it is needed to provide proximity alerts and nearby recommendations, then deleted.
- Diagnostic data — kept for a limited period by the crash reporting provider.
When you delete your account, your personal information is deleted or anonymised, except where it must be kept by law.
8. SECURITY
Your information is protected with measures appropriate to its sensitivity. Data is transmitted over encrypted connections, passwords are stored using industry-standard hashing and are never readable by anyone operating the service, and access to production systems is restricted. No system can be guaranteed completely secure, but issues are taken seriously and acted on promptly.
9. CHILDREN
Isti is not intended for children under 13, and information is not knowingly collected from them. If you believe a child has provided personal information, get in touch through Contact Support and it will be deleted.
10. INTERNATIONAL TRANSFERS
Your information may be processed in countries other than the one you live in, including where service providers operate. Where required, appropriate safeguards are put in place to protect it.
11. CHANGES TO THIS POLICY
This policy may be updated from time to time. When material changes are made, the date at the top will be updated and, where appropriate, you will be notified in the app.
12. CONTACT
If you have questions about this policy or how your information is handled, you can reach us through Contact Support in the app, under Settings.