Privacy Policy
How Sociatrip collects, uses, and protects your personal data in full compliance with GDPR.
Introduction
Sociatrip operates the SociaTrip.com platform and mobile application. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, disclose, and protect information about you when you use our services.
By creating an account or using Sociatrip, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this policy. The data controller of this service is Fadi Massarwa, an individual developer based in Pavia, Italy, operating SociaTrip as a personal project. Contact: info@sociatrip.com
Data We Collect
We collect information you provide directly and data generated by your use of the platform:
Account Data
- Name, email address, password (hashed)
- Profile photo and bio
- Date of birth (age verification)
- Nationality / home country
Location Data
- GPS coordinates (if permission granted)
- Check-in locations you create
- Trip routes and destinations
- IP-based approximate location
- Users can control the visibility of their location data, including whether it is public, shared with followers, or kept private.
Content Data
- Photos, videos you upload
- Posts, comments, reactions
- Trip plans and travel logs
- Chat messages (stored securely and accessible only to intended recipients and for moderation in case of abuse reports)
Technical Data
- IP address and device identifiers
- Browser type and OS version
- App version, crash logs
- Session timestamps
Legal Basis for Processing (GDPR Art. 6)
We only process your personal data when we have a lawful basis to do so under GDPR Article 6:
How We Use Your Data
Payments & Billing
All payments on Sociatrip are processed securely through third-party payment providers such as Stripe.
We do not store or have access to full credit card details. All payment information is handled directly by the payment processor in compliance with PCI-DSS security standards.
Billing data (such as transaction IDs and subscription status) may be stored for accounting, fraud prevention, and applicable tax or legal obligations.
For information on subscription cancellations and refunds, please refer to our Terms & Conditions , which contain the full Refund and Cancellation Policy.
When completing a Premium subscription, you explicitly consent to immediate service activation and acknowledge the waiver of your right of withdrawal pursuant to Art. 59(a) of EU Directive 2011/83/EU. This consent, together with a timestamp, is recorded at the time of purchase and retained for the duration required by applicable law.
Location Data
We use your location data to show nearby travelers, enable check-ins, and populate your trip timeline. Precise GPS location is collected only when you grant permission. You can revoke this permission at any time in your device settings or account preferences.
Location data is never sold to advertisers. It may be shared with mapping providers (Google Maps, Mapbox) solely to render maps within the app.
Data Sharing & Third Parties
We do not sell your personal data. We may share it with:
Data Retention
We keep your data only as long as necessary for the purposes described in this policy:
After account deletion, anonymized aggregate data may be retained indefinitely for analytics.
Data Security
We implement appropriate technical and organizational security measures to protect your personal data against unauthorized access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction.
- All data is transmitted over HTTPS (TLS encryption)
- Passwords are securely hashed and never stored in plain text
- Access to personal data is restricted to authorized personnel only
- Infrastructure is hosted on secure cloud providers with industry-standard protections
While we take strong security measures, no system can be 100% secure.
Your Rights (GDPR)
As an EU/EEA resident you have the following rights under GDPR:
Right of Access
Obtain a copy of your personal data we hold (Art. 15).
Right to Rectification
Correct inaccurate or incomplete data (Art. 16).
Right to Erasure
Request deletion of your data ("right to be forgotten") (Art. 17).
Right to Restrict
Limit how we process your data in certain circumstances (Art. 18).
Right to Portability
Receive your data in a machine-readable format (Art. 20).
Right to Object
Object to processing based on legitimate interests (Art. 21).
International Data Transfers
Sociatrip may transfer your data outside the EU/EEA. Where this occurs, we ensure appropriate safeguards are in place, including Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) approved by the European Commission, or adequacy decisions.
Children's Privacy
Changes to this Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of significant changes by email or via an in-app notification at least 14 days before changes take effect. Your continued use of Sociatrip after the effective date constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.
Contact & Data Protection
Privacy and data protection requests can be sent to the same address and will be handled with priority.
You also have the right to lodge a complaint with your national data protection authority. In Italy: Garante per la protezione dei dati personali.
This service is operated by an individual developer based in Italy. No company entity is currently registered.