GarbaMate
Privacy
GarbaMate lives at garbamate.fun. It helps people find someone to go to Garba with. This page is what we actually store — not a promise about a different product. The rules for using GarbaMate are in the Terms of use.
What we store
An account (email, and either a password hash or a Google/Facebook/Instagram link), your profile (name, age, photos, city, dance level, who you want to meet), the nights you say you are free, likes, matches, connection requests, messages, event attendance, blocks and reports. We do not sell this. We do not post to your Google or Facebook account.
Google, Facebook and Instagram sign-in
If you continue with Google or Facebook we receive your name and a verified email so we can create or link your GarbaMate account. Instagram Login does not share an email — that account is keyed only on your Instagram id, and we do not post to Instagram.
Your location, Nearby and in-person codes
- City
- Your city is what you chose, or the nearest listed city if you tapped Use my location. Everyone who can see you on GarbaMate can see your city.
- Approximate position
- If you tap Use my location we keep a rounded position (two decimals, about 1 km) so cards can say "about 3 km away". We never keep the exact point your phone gives us. You can remove it any time from Profile › Details with Stop sharing.
- Nearby
- Nearby is off unless you turn it on, and you choose for how long (2 hours or 4 hours). Your phone rounds its position (to about 100 m) before sending it, and we turn that into the roughly 1 km area you are in, as a grid cell, and forget the rest. While it is on we store only that area, the time it switches off, and when your phone last checked in (so people see "Seen 2 min ago"). We do not store your coordinates, your route, or where you were earlier. Only people who have also turned Nearby on, who fit each other's preferences or are already connected with you, and who have not blocked you can see you — and they see a band ("Right here", "Within 3 km", "Within 5 km"), never a distance, a direction or a map pin. If you hide yourself from Discover, Nearby is paused for strangers too. Nearby turns off by itself when the time is up, when you tap Turn off, or when you sign out, and the area is deleted with it. Separately, if you mark yourself as going to a garba, other guests of that night can see you under "At this garba tonight", just as they can on the event page.
- In-person codes
- Showing your code creates a random code that works for 10 minutes and once. Whoever scans or types it, and confirms, becomes a connection with you, marked "Met in person" — which either of you can remove or block like any other. The code itself is stored only as a one-way hash and is deleted after it expires.
- Camera
- Scanning a code inside GarbaMate asks your browser for camera access only when you tap Scan with camera. Nothing from the camera leaves your phone; we only read the code.
- Your rights (India, DPDP Act 2023)
- You can withdraw consent for Nearby (Turn off) and for the approximate position (Stop sharing) at any time in the app, and ask for your account and all of the above to be deleted (see Deleting your data). Questions and grievances: the email on this page; we answer within 30 days.
Deleting your data
Delete your account yourself from Profile › Account & security, or email us from the same address the account uses and ask for deletion. We remove the account so it is no longer visible or usable (matches, chat and profile included). Photos on disk go with it. You can also download a copy of your data there first. Google, Facebook or Instagram login can be revoked in that provider's own account settings at any time; that does not by itself delete the GarbaMate account.