The short version
Baybreak helps people in San Francisco find and list sublets, rooms, roommates, lease takeovers, home exchanges and sitting arrangements. This policy explains what we collect, why, and the choices you have.
- We collect what you need to use the app: your email, your profile, your listings and your messages.
- We study how the app is used only in aggregate, de-identified form, for example which kinds of listings get the most views or typical rents by neighborhood. Those insights are never tied to you.
- We never sell your personal information, and we don't show third-party ads.
- Your exact address and email are never shown to other members. Approximate listings and sale addresses stay hidden until you choose to share them in a chat.
- If you sign in with Google, Apple or Facebook, we never post on your behalf.
- You can see, change, download or delete your information at any time.
Information you give us
| What | Examples | Required? |
|---|---|---|
| Account | Your email address, used to sign in with a one-time code, or the account you sign in with | Yes |
| Sign-in with Google, Apple or Facebook | Your name, email and profile photo, sent to us by that provider when you sign in | Only if you sign in that way |
| Agreement | When you accepted our community agreements | Yes |
| Basic profile | First name, age, profile photo, whether you're finding or listing a place | Yes |
| Social accounts | Your Instagram, LinkedIn or Facebook, with at least one shown on your profile, plus an optional TikTok and personal website. You choose whether each extra one is shown or kept private. | At least one shown |
| Verify with Facebook or LinkedIn | That you verified, and the name on that account | No |
| Spotify | A link to a song, album, playlist or profile, shown as a player on your profile | No |
| Preferences | Arrangement, space, kind of home, how long, where you work, pets, living alone or with roommates | Prefilled; you can change them |
| Optional profile | Up to 3 schools, your hometown (city, state or country), work, student status, a short roommate description and tags, up to 5 favorite public spots, gender identity | No |
| School or alumni email | Used once to confirm your school; never shown to anyone | No |
| Listings | Photos (at least one), description, rent, dates, neighborhood, street address and map location | Only if you post |
| Host questionnaire | The link to your Google Form, its title and how many questions it has | Only if you add one |
| Mark as taken | Who is moving in and the date | Only if you mark a listing taken |
| Messages and boards | Chats, saved places, notes, hearts, saved searches | Only if you use them |
| Sales | Moving, estate and yard sale details, photos, dates, cross streets and the exact address | Only if you post a sale |
| Neighbors | Your neighborhood (never your address) and the neighbors you wave at | Only if you turn on Neighbors |
| Blocks | Who you blocked | Only if you block someone |
| Phone notifications | A push token for each phone you allow notifications on, and which kinds of notifications you want | Only if you allow notifications |
| Reports | What you report and why | Only if you report |
You choose whether to show your age as an exact number or as a 3-year range. If you choose a range, other members never see your exact age.
Sign-in, verification and other services
Signing in with Google, Apple or Facebook. When you use one of these, the provider sends us your name, email and profile photo. We use them to set up and secure your account. We never post on your behalf, and we don't read your friends, contacts or feed.
Verify with Facebook or LinkedIn. This is optional. If you verify, we store that you did and the name on that account, and your profile shows it, for example "Verified via Facebook sign-in · Maya Chen". You can unlink it at any time from your profile, and the badge goes away.
School logos. Each school on a profile shows its website's icon. The icon loads from Google's favicon service (google.com/s2/favicons), so Google sees the school's web address and the address of the device viewing it, under Google's privacy policy. We don't send Google your name or profile. If no icon loads, we show the school's initials instead.
Spotify. If you add a Spotify link, your profile shows it as a player. The player loads from Spotify, so Spotify may receive information about the person viewing it, under Spotify's privacy policy. We store only the link.
Host questionnaires. Hosts can ask people interested in a place to fill out a Google Form. Your answers go to the host through Google, under Google's privacy policy. They never pass through Baybreak. We store only the form's link, title and how many questions it has.
Mark as taken. When a host marks a listing as taken, we record who is moving in and the date. Only the two of you can see it, and the listing comes out of search.
Usage information and community insights
When you use the app, we record basic usage events: which listings and tabs are opened, searches and filters used, when you were last active, and device and app version. We use cookies or local storage only to keep you signed in and remember settings, not for advertising.
We turn usage and listing information into aggregate, de-identified insights that help us improve the app and understand housing in San Francisco, such as:
- which kinds of listings get the most views
- typical rents and stay lengths by neighborhood
- age ranges, student share and other general traits of people posting and searching
- the most popular interests and activities
- how long people keep using the app
How we keep these insights private:
- They are counts, averages and ranges, never records about a person.
- We remove names, emails, photos, messages, exact addresses and account IDs before analysis.
- We only report a group once it has at least 10 people in it, so no one can be singled out.
- We never use gender identity or other sensitive details to target or rank anyone.
- We may share these insights publicly or with partners such as housing researchers or schools, but only in this de-identified, grouped form.
How we use information
- Run the app: sign you in, show your profile and listings, deliver messages, save boards and searches.
- Match you: suggest places and people using your preferences and optional profile details. Matching happens inside the app; interest stays private unless it's mutual.
- Keep people safe: review each new lister's first listing, check reports, and stop scams, spam and abuse. We check listings, sales and messages for phrases common in scams. Listings and sales that use them, rent far below similar places, or sales from accounts less than a day old are held for review. We also flag accounts that start many new chats in a day or are reported by two or more people. Messages with scam phrases show the reader a safety note. A small team of admins reviews what's held or flagged and decides whether it goes live, is removed, or needs no action.
- Contact you: sign-in codes, school verification codes, and the emails and phone notifications you choose. Emails come from hello@baybreak.app and are delivered by Resend. On phones, messages, approvals and mutual matches are on by default; saved-search matches and occasional suggestions are off unless you turn them on. You can change any of these at any time.
- Improve the app: using the aggregate insights described above.
- Follow the law: respond to valid legal requests and enforce our terms.
What other members can see
| Visible to signed-in members | Never shown to other members |
|---|---|
| First name, photo, age or age range | Your email address |
| Profile details you chose to add | Your exact age, if you chose a range |
| Your schools, each marked verified once you confirm it (never the email used), and your hometown if you added one | Exact address of an approximate listing, until you share it in a chat |
| Your Facebook or LinkedIn verification, with the name on that account | Who you said yes to in Matches, unless they said yes too |
| Your listings, with exact address only if you chose that | Your saved searches, boards (unless you invite someone), and reports |
| Social accounts you chose to show, plus how many private ones you linked | Your commute destination, which stays on your device |
| Your Spotify player, if you added one | Private social accounts |
| Messages, only to people in that chat | Who is moving into a place you marked as taken, and when, except to the two of you |
| Sales you post, with cross streets | A sale's exact address, until you share it in a chat |
| Your favorite spots, on your profile. In Community, a spot is listed once 2 or more people add it. | Who you waved at, unless they waved back |
| Your neighborhood, only to people who turned on Neighbors in the same one | Who you blocked. They aren't told, and you can no longer see each other's profiles, places or posts. |
| Your notification settings, push tokens, and any safety flags on your account |
Location privacy. When you list a place as approximate, the map shows a circle a few blocks wide, shifted away from your building, and your address stays hidden until you choose to share it. Listings can also be shown to your verified network first.
People you chat with can see what you send them, and could save or share it. Please only share what you're comfortable sharing.
When we share information
We do not sell or rent your personal information, and we don't share it for cross-context behavioral advertising. We share it only in these cases:
- Service providers who help us run the app, under contracts that limit them to that work:
- Supabase: database, file storage, sign-in and hosting
- Resend: email delivery from hello@baybreak.app
- Expo: phone notifications, which it passes to Apple and Google's push services
- Maps: CARTO and OpenStreetMap on the web; Apple or Google Maps on phones
- Google Forms and Spotify: only when a host questionnaire or a Spotify player is opened, as described above
- Google's favicon service: school logos on profiles, as described above
- Sign-in providers: Google, Apple or Facebook, if you choose to sign in or verify with them. They learn that you used your account with Baybreak.
- Legal reasons: to comply with a valid legal request, or to protect someone's safety, our members or the app.
- A change of ownership: if Baybreak is merged or sold, your information would move under this policy, and we would tell you first.
- With your direction: for example, when you share an exact address in a chat or invite someone to a board.
De-identified, aggregate insights (described above) are not personal information and may be shared.
How long we keep it
| Information | Kept until |
|---|---|
| Account and profile | You delete your account |
| Sign-in and verification links | You unlink them or delete your account |
| Listings | You remove them, or 12 months after they end |
| Move-in records from Mark as taken | The listing is removed, or you delete your account |
| Messages | You delete your account; the other person keeps their copy |
| Sales and sale addresses | You remove the sale or delete your account |
| Neighborhood, waves and blocks | You change or remove them, or delete your account |
| Push tokens | You sign out on that phone, remove the app, or delete your account |
| Usage events tied to an account | 13 months, then deleted or de-identified |
| School verification codes | 15 minutes |
| Reports, safety flags and review decisions | Up to 3 years, to prevent repeat abuse |
| De-identified insights | May be kept, since they don't identify anyone |
When you delete your account, we delete or de-identify your information within 30 days, except what the law requires us to keep. Backups clear on their normal cycle.
Your choices and rights
- Edit your profile, preferences and listings any time in the app.
- Hide optional details by leaving them blank or removing them.
- Turn alerts off from your profile or the link in any alert email. Choose which phone notifications you get under Profile, Notifications, or turn them all off in your phone's settings.
- Keep a social account private, or remove it, as long as one of Instagram, LinkedIn or Facebook stays shown.
- Unlink a verification from Facebook or LinkedIn at any time.
- Turn Neighbors off at any time, and your neighborhood stops showing to neighbors.
- Block someone from their profile. Unblock them under Profile, Blocked people.
- Download a copy of your information by emailing hello@baybreak.app, or delete your account at any time under Profile. We respond to emailed requests within 30 days. How to delete your account.
California residents. Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you can ask to know what personal information we collect, use and disclose; to correct or delete it; and to opt out of its sale or sharing. We don't sell or share it, so there's nothing to opt out of. We won't treat you differently for using these rights. You can make a request yourself or through an authorized agent, and we'll verify it through your account email.
Security, age, changes and contact
Security. Data is encrypted in transit, access rules in our database limit who can read each record, and sign-in uses one-time codes or your Google, Apple or Facebook account instead of passwords. No system is perfectly secure; if a breach affects you, we'll tell you as the law requires.
Age. Baybreak is for people 18 and older. We don't knowingly collect information from anyone younger, and we delete it if we learn we have.
Changes. If we change this policy in a way that matters, we'll tell you in the app or by email before it takes effect.
Contact. Questions or requests: hello@baybreak.app. Baybreak, San Francisco, California.