Kin: Family Location Sharing
Privacy policy
Last updated 29 October 2026
Short version
Kin shares where you are with the people in your circle and nobody else. There are no ads, no analytics, no tracking and no data sales. You can delete everything from the app at any time.
Who is responsible
Yasin Cetiner (Artizco) is the controller of the data described here. Contact: kin@artizco.com.
What the app collects
- Name and colour
- What you type when you set up Kin, shown to your circle.
- Precise location
- Your position, its accuracy, your speed and the time, so your circle sees where you are and how fresh that is. Collected while the app is open, and while it is closed only if you turn on "Also while Kin is closed".
- Battery
- Your phone's battery level and whether it is charging, shown next to your name.
- Circle content
- Places your circle saves, check-in notes, requests to check in, SOS alerts, pauses and short drive summaries.
- Random user id
- An anonymous sign-in id from Google Firebase that ties your rows to you. It is not linked to an email, phone number or any account.
Where it goes
Your circle's data is stored in Google Cloud Firestore (Google Firebase), which processes it for us. Only members of your circle can read it, other members see your positions from the last two days only, and each member can only write their own rows. Your detailed drives stay on your phone; the circle only sees a one-line summary. Your app deletes your positions and events from the server once they are 7 days old. Firestore runs in the European Union (Google's eur3 region).
Crash and performance reports
To find bugs, Kin sends crash reports and performance timings to Google Firebase (Crashlytics and Performance Monitoring): what went wrong, the device model, iOS version, app version, how long screens and network requests took, and a random installation id. They contain no name, no position and no circle data.
Map tiles
The map is drawn from OpenFreeMap (tiles.openfreemap.org), which serves free OpenStreetMap data. Like any website, it sees your phone's IP address and which map area is being drawn. It does not see who is in your circle or anyone's position.
What we do not do
No advertising, no advertising identifiers, no usage analytics, no tracking across apps or websites, and no selling or sharing of data with anyone outside your circle. We never use your location for anything except showing it to your circle and sending your circle's alerts.
Permissions
Location "While using" is needed to share. Location "Always" is asked only when you turn on sharing while Kin is closed. Notifications are used for your circle's alerts. You can change all of these in the iPhone Settings app.
Your control
Pause sharing at any time; your circle sees that you paused rather than an old position. "Delete everything" in Kin's Settings deletes your positions, check-ins and alerts from the circle server, deletes your anonymous sign-in and erases the data on your phone. Places you saved stay for the rest of the circle. You can also ask us at kin@artizco.com to delete or export your data.
SOS and emergencies
An SOS goes to your circle only. Kin does not contact emergency services; the "Call emergency services" button opens your phone's dialer.
Children
Kin is meant for families. A child should use it with a parent or guardian who set it up. We do not knowingly collect data from children under 13 without a parent's involvement.
Changes
If this changes, we will update this page and the date above before the new version is released.
Contact
Artizco, kin@artizco.com