Privacy Policy
Look-out is a lost-and-found community for vehicles, items, pets and people, with a private way to record an unsafe-driving observation. This policy explains what we collect, why, who helps us process it, how long we keep it and how you can delete it. We wrote it from what the app actually does.
Who we are
Look-out is operated by [operator name to confirm], [business number to confirm], [address to confirm], Australia. For anything about privacy, write to founder@think-app.com.
What we collect
| Information | When | Who can see it |
|---|---|---|
| Email address, password (held by our sign-in provider, never readable by us) and an optional first name | When you create an account | You. Your email and account ID are never shown on public content. |
| If you use Sign in with Apple: the email Apple shares (your own or a private relay address you choose), the name you allow Apple to share on your first sign-in, Apple’s account identifier for you, and a token Apple issues so we can end the link when you delete your account | When you sign in with Apple | You. The token is held privately on our server and is never shown to anyone. |
| Posts: title, description, category, the area you type, and when it happened | When you publish a post | Anyone, including people without an account. Your identity is not shown. |
| Sightings: the area you type, a note and when you saw it | When you add a sighting | Anyone. Your identity is not shown. |
| Comments | When you comment | Anyone. Your identity is not shown. |
| Private messages between two members | When you message someone about a post | The two people in the conversation. Messages are not end-to-end encrypted. |
| Driving reports: registration, state or region, country, what you observed, where and when (in your words), the vehicle description, and how you confirmed it (voice or typed) | When you confirm a driving report | You and the Look-out team. Never public. |
| Driving report drafts (the same fields, before you confirm) | During a report conversation | You and the Look-out team. |
| Reports, concerns and blocks you make, with the reason you give | When you report content, raise a concern or block a member | The Look-out team. The member you report is not told who reported them. |
| Saved searches (Premium): a title, description, category and area for something you have lost, and the possible matches found | When you save a search | You. |
| Alert settings: on or off, a typed area, categories and a daily limit | When you change them | You. |
| Purchases: Apple transaction IDs, product, expiry and refund status; or Stripe customer, subscription and payment references, amount and currency | When you buy Premium or make a contribution | You and the Look-out team. We never receive your card details. |
| Reporting-limit records: your account ID, a one-way fingerprint of your email, the registration and region, and the time | When you submit a driving report | No one through the app. Used only to enforce the limits. |
What we do not collect. Look-out does not use your device’s GPS or precise location: areas are typed by people. It does not upload photos or use your camera or photo library. It does not use face recognition. It does not use advertising, analytics or tracking tools, and it does not sell or share your information for advertising. Phone push notifications are not built; updates appear inside the app.
Voice
When you start a live voice conversation, your microphone audio streams directly from your device to OpenAI to transcribe it and reply. The conversation stops when you end it or leave the app. Look-out does not record or store the audio, and it does not store the transcript: only the structured report draft you see on screen is saved. The greeting may include the first name on your account. If you use the typed or scripted modes, your iPhone’s speech recognition (or your browser’s, on the website) may send audio to Apple or your browser maker to convert it to text, under their own policies.
AI processing
- Driving reports. What you say or type during a report and the current draft are sent to OpenAI to prepare the draft. A one-way hash of your account ID is sent so OpenAI can detect abuse; your email is not.
- Saved searches (Premium). Your saved description and public community posts are sent to OpenAI to look for possible matches. No account IDs, emails or names are sent. Matches are suggestions, not verified facts.
- We ask OpenAI not to store these requests where its API allows it. OpenAI’s own retention and safety policies still apply. Please do not put other people’s names or private details in descriptions.
Who processes your information
- Supabase: our database, sign-in and server functions, hosted in Sydney, Australia.
- OpenAI (United States): live voice, transcription, report drafting and saved-search matching, as described above.
- Apple: Sign in with Apple, in-app purchases and subscription verification, and on-device speech services.
- Stripe: payments on the website, when web payments are turned on.
- Vercel: hosts the website.
Some of these providers process information outside Australia. We use them only to run Look-out.
Why we use it
- To run your account and show the community feed.
- To publish what you choose to post, and to deliver messages.
- To prepare and save driving reports you confirm.
- To enforce reporting limits, review reports and concerns, and keep the community safe.
- To provide Premium and verify purchases.
- To answer you when you write to us.
Sharing and disclosure
We do not sell your information. Driving reports are unverified observations about a registration, not a finding about a person. We may disclose relevant information to police or other authorities when the law requires it or permits it for a lawful purpose, with appropriate access controls. There is no automatic sharing with police, insurers or government. Information already lawfully disclosed cannot always be recalled.
How long we keep it
- Your account, posts, sightings, comments, messages, driving reports, drafts, saved searches and settings: until you delete them or your account.
- Reporting-limit records: 30 days, then deleted automatically. They are kept after account deletion for that period so limits cannot be reset by recreating an account.
- Contribution and billing records: kept for tax and payment reconciliation, with the link to your account removed when you delete it.
- Moderation records: a report you made about someone else’s content is kept for review, and the record of a staff decision is kept with the staff member’s name removed if they leave.
Deleting your account
Deleting your account is free. In the app, open Preferences, then Delete my account; or email founder@think-app.com from the address on your account. Deletion removes your account, posts, sightings and the sightings and comments on your posts, your comments, your driving reports and drafts, saved searches and matches, alerts, notifications, blocks, concerns and purchase records linked to your account. Private conversations you were part of are removed for both people. If you signed in with Apple, we also ask Apple to revoke Look-out’s access to your Apple ID before your account is deleted.
Deleting your account does not cancel an Apple subscription (manage it in your iPhone’s subscription settings) or a Stripe subscription (cancel it from the billing page or write to us first). Apple and Stripe keep their own payment records. Information on your device (your appearance settings, sample reports and first name) is removed when you delete the app.
Your choices and rights
You can see and delete your own posts and reports in the app. You can ask us for a copy of your information, to correct it, or to delete it, by writing to founder@think-app.com. You can ask for a review of an inaccurate or abusive driving report for free in the app. If you are not satisfied with our answer, you can contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (oaic.gov.au).
Security
Access to your information is limited by account and checked on our server: public views never include account IDs, and private reports, messages and searches are readable only by the people they belong to and the Look-out team. On your iPhone, your sign-in is kept in the secure keychain. No system is perfectly secure; do not put passwords, bank details or private addresses in posts or messages.
Children
Look-out is not designed for children. You must be at least [minimum age to confirm] to create an account.
Cookies and storage
The website uses cookies only to keep you signed in, and your browser’s storage for preferences such as reduced motion and language. No advertising or analytics cookies.
Changes
If this policy changes, we will update this page and its date, and tell you in the app before a change that affects how your information is used.