Privacy Policy

Information we collect

We collect information in three broad categories: information you provide, information generated through your use of the service, and information from third parties.

• Account and profile information — such as your display name, email address, password (stored in hashed form), pronouns, avatar, genre preferences, notification settings, and contribution history.
• Scene and location information — such as the city or region you associate with your scene, coordinates used to show nearby venues and shows, and (for anonymous visitors) a scene cookie that remembers a detected location until you change it.
• User-generated content — including bands, venues, shows, festivals, photo albums, articles, messageboard posts, reviews, ratings, comments, and other material you submit or attach to entities on the platform.
• Communications — such as messages you send through support channels, moderation appeals, and email or SMS notification preferences.
• Usage and technical data — such as IP address, browser type, device information, pages viewed, and actions taken on the service. We use this for security, abuse prevention, rate limiting, and product improvement.
• Photo metadata — uploaded images may include EXIF metadata (for example camera model, capture date, or copyright fields). We may use this for display, moderation, and abuse investigation.

How we use information

We use the information we collect to operate, maintain, and improve the service; personalize your experience (for example scene-based listings, show recommendations, and genre-personalized news in The Wire); send transactional and optional notification emails or SMS messages; enforce our Terms of Service and community guidelines; detect duplicate or abusive accounts; moderate content; respond to legal requests; and protect the rights, safety, and property of our users and the public.

How we share information

We do not sell your personal information. We may share information in the following circumstances:

• Publicly on the service — content you post (profiles, reviews, articles, messageboard posts, albums, and similar material) is visible to other users according to the product's design. Choose what you share accordingly.
• Service providers — we use vendors that process data on our behalf, such as hosting, database, email delivery, bot protection, geocoding, content delivery, analytics, and error monitoring providers. They may access information only to perform services for us and are expected to protect it.
• Error and performance monitoring — when something goes wrong we send a diagnostic report to our monitoring provider (Sentry) so we can find and fix it. These reports identify the signed-in account only by an internal account identifier, never by name, email address, or IP address, and request bodies, headers, and cookies are removed before the report is sent.
• Legal and safety — we may disclose information if we believe it is reasonably necessary to comply with law, regulation, legal process, or governmental request; to enforce our terms or policies; to detect or prevent fraud, security issues, or abuse; or to protect the rights and safety of users or the public.
• Business transfers — if we are involved in a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets, user information may be transferred as part of that transaction, subject to this policy or a successor notice.

Mobile information and SMS consent

Mobile information — the phone number you provide for SMS notifications and your opt-in consent — is never shared with, sold, or rented to third parties or affiliates for their own marketing or promotional purposes, and is excluded from every sharing purpose described above. We use it solely to send the account and activity notifications you have chosen to receive.

The only third party we share this number with is the messaging service provider that transmits the messages on our behalf (our SMS gateway), and only so that it can deliver the messages you requested. You can turn SMS off at any time from your account settings or by replying STOP to any message; see our SMS Terms for details.

Cookies and similar technologies

We use cookies and similar technologies for authentication, session management, security (including bot challenges), remembering your anonymous scene selection, and basic site functionality. You can control cookies through your browser settings, but disabling them may limit certain features.

Third-party content and links

The Wire and other parts of the service may display headlines, summaries, or event listings sourced from third-party RSS feeds, publications, or ticketing partners. Those links take you to external sites governed by their own privacy policies. We are not responsible for the practices of third-party websites or services.

AI-assisted features

Some features use automated systems, including AI, to generate scene summaries, assist with in-app help, or screen uploaded content. Inputs you provide to those features may be processed to deliver the feature and improve safety. Do not submit sensitive personal information you do not want processed for those purposes.

Data retention

We retain information for as long as your account is active or as needed to provide the service, comply with legal obligations, resolve disputes, enforce agreements, and maintain security logs. When content is removed or an account is closed, we may retain certain records (including edit history and moderation records) as required for safety, audit, or legal purposes.

What happens when an account is deleted. Requesting deletion starts a 30-day period during which you can cancel and keep your account; while it is pending, your account becomes read-only and you can still read, browse, and use direct messages but cannot post new content. Nothing is deleted until the period ends.

After the 30 days, your account and your login are permanently deleted, along with the personal records attached to them — your email address, date of birth, phone number, notification settings, friendships, saved devices, and any records used for security and abuse detection. Your profile photo is moved out of public storage.

Content you contributed to shared spaces is not deleted, because removing it would damage other people's conversations and the venue, band, and show records the community relies on. Instead it is disconnected from you: posts, comments, reviews, articles, and photos remain but are shown as authored by "Former member," with no link back to you. Ratings, check-ins, attendance records, and follows are made permanently anonymous — the venue keeps the rating it earned, but nothing records who gave it. Direct message conversations remain visible to the other participant, with your messages shown the same anonymous way.

We keep a record that a deletion happened — the date it was requested, the date it was carried out, and how many records were affected — identified only by an internal identifier that is no longer linked to any personal data. We keep it so we can demonstrate that deletion requests are honored.

Your choices

You can control certain uses of your information:

• Account settings — you can update profile information, notification preferences, and scene location in Settings.
• Download my data — in Settings, use Download my data for a JSON export of your profile, posts, messages, and activity (limited to a few downloads per day).
• Access and correction — update profile fields in Settings. For a copy of your data, use Download my data. Contact us if you need help or have a request Settings cannot handle.
• Marketing email — if you signed up for launch or marketing emails, you can unsubscribe using the link in those messages.
• Account deletion — request deletion in Settings. You have 30 days to change your mind, and Settings shows the date your account is scheduled for removal along with a button to keep it. See Data retention above for exactly what is deleted and what remains as "Former member." Contact us if you need help with a deletion request.

Security

We use administrative, technical, and organizational measures designed to protect information. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

Children's privacy

ItsMyScene is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child has provided us personal information, contact us and we will take appropriate steps to delete it.

International users

We are based in the United States. If you access the service from outside the United States, you understand that your information may be processed and stored in the United States and other countries that may have different data-protection laws than your jurisdiction.

Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we will revise the "Last updated" date above. Material changes may also be announced on the service or by email where appropriate. Continued use after changes become effective constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

Contact us

For privacy questions not handled in Settings, contact us at hello@itsmyscene.com.