Privacy Policy

Last updated: 28 June 2026

Ascent Co Pty Ltd ("Company", "we", "us") is committed to protecting your privacy in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth). This policy explains what data we collect, why we collect it, and how we keep it safe.

01Information We Collect

Personal Information

  • Phone number — required to create your account via SMS verification.
  • Display name and username — the name and handle you choose to show to friends.
  • Profile photo — optional; stored securely in our cloud infrastructure.

Usage Data

  • Availability inputs and calendar interactions.
  • Group participation — invites, RSVPs, and event activity.
  • Messages and other content you create inside down.

Device Information

  • Device type and operating system.
  • App usage analytics, crash reports, and performance metrics.

02Contacts Access

With your permission, we may access your contacts to help you find and invite friends, and to simplify group creation. Phone numbers from your contact list are hashed (converted to a one-way fingerprint) locally on your device — only the hashed values are sent to our servers to find matches with existing down users.

We:

  • Do not permanently store your contact list or any names, email addresses, or other contact details.
  • Do not use contacts for marketing purposes.

You can revoke contacts access at any time in your device settings.

03Calendar Access

With your permission, we may access your device calendar to identify your availability and display it alongside down events. This data is processed entirely on your device — it is never sent to or stored on our servers.

We:

  • Do not modify your calendar without your explicit consent.
  • Only access the availability data necessary to power the app.

You can revoke calendar access at any time in your device settings.

04How We Use Your Data

We use your information to:

  • Verify your identity and operate the app.
  • Display your profile to your friends and event groups.
  • Power event coordination — invites, RSVPs, group chats, and schedules.
  • Send push notifications about friend requests, group invites, event updates, and messages.
  • Improve app performance and fix bugs.
  • Maintain the security of our systems.

We do not use your information to show you ads.

05Information Sharing

We do not sell your personal data. We share limited data with the following service providers solely to operate down:

  • Twilio — delivers the SMS verification codes used to log you in.
  • Supabase — provides our database and file storage infrastructure.
  • Expo — provides the infrastructure used to deliver push notifications to your device.

We may also disclose data where required by law or to protect the rights, property, or safety of our users or the public.

06Data Storage & Security

We take reasonable steps to protect your personal information from misuse, interference, loss, and unauthorised access. Your data is stored on secure cloud infrastructure.

No system is completely secure. If you have concerns about a security issue, please contact us at [email protected].

07Data Retention

We retain your data only for as long as necessary to operate the app and meet our legal obligations. When you delete your account, we remove your personal information from our systems within 30 days. Some data may remain in encrypted backups for a short period before being overwritten.

08Your Rights

Under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth), you have the right to access the personal information we hold about you, request corrections, or ask us to delete it. You can delete your account directly in the app at any time.

For any other requests, contact us at [email protected]. We will respond within 30 days.

09Third-Party Services

down uses third-party services (listed in section 05) to operate the app. Their collection and use of data is subject to their own privacy policies. We encourage you to review them.

10Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy from time to time. If we make material changes, we will notify you through an in-app notification before the changes take effect. Continued use of down after the notification means you accept the updated policy.

11Governing Law

This policy is governed by the laws of New South Wales, Australia. For questions or concerns, contact us at [email protected].