Privacy Policy

This is the privacy policy for Gather, a group-planning service operated by Gather More, Inc.(“we,” “us,” “our”). It covers what we collect, how we use it, who we share it with, and what rights you have.

We wrote this in plain language on purpose. If any part is unclear, email us at hello@gathermore.comand we'll explain it.

1. Who this covers

This policy applies to anyone who uses Gather — whether you create an account, attend a gathering someone invited you to, take a quiz on our website, or sign up for our emails or text messages.

If you're under 13, you can't use Gather. Don't create an account. If you're a parent or guardian and you believe your child under 13 has signed up, email us and we'll delete the account.

2. What we collect

We collect three kinds of information.

Information you give us directly

• Account information: your name, email address, and password when you sign up.
• Profile information: any additional details you add to your profile, like a photo, a short bio, or the groups you belong to.
• Gathering information: the gatherings you create, the people you invite, your RSVPs, and your votes on times or activities.
• Phone number: if you choose to give us your phone number. We only use it for what you opted in to — see the SMS section below.
• Messages you send: any messages you send through Gather to organizers, invitees, or our support team.

Information we collect automatically

• Device and usage information: the type of device you use, your operating system, your browser, your IP address, the pages you visit, and the times you visit them. Standard web analytics.
• Cookies and similar technologies: small files stored on your device that help us keep you logged in and understand how Gather is used. You can clear or block cookies in your browser settings, but some parts of Gather may not work properly if you do.

Information from other sources

• Sign-in providers:if you sign up using Google or another sign-in provider, that provider shares your name and email with us. We don't see your password.
• Quiz responses: if you take a quiz on one of our marketing pages, we collect the answers you give and the result you got so we can send you your result and understand which parts of Gather resonate with which kinds of people.

3. How we use your information

We use the information above to:

• Create and manage your account
• Send you the gathering invitations, RSVPs, reminders, and vote prompts that are the core of the service
• Send you emails and text messages you've opted in to (see sections 4 and 5)
• Keep Gather secure, detect fraud, and enforce our Terms and Conditions
• Improve Gather by understanding how it's used
• Comply with the law

We do not sell your personal information. Full stop.

4. Email communications

We send two kinds of email.

Service emailsare part of the product — a password reset, a gathering invitation, an RSVP confirmation, a reminder about a gathering you said yes to. You can't opt out of these without deleting your account, because they are how the service works.

Marketing emails are updates about Gather, new features, tips, or occasional news. We only send these if you opted in during signup or in your profile settings. Every marketing email has an unsubscribe link at the bottom. Clicking it stops marketing emails within a few hours.

If you unsubscribe from marketing, you still receive service emails. That's not a bug — it's the separation the law allows.

5. SMS / text message communications

This section is important if you gave us your phone number.

Two kinds of text messages

We send two kinds of text messages, and they work differently.

Transactional textsare tied to a specific gathering you're part of — for example:

• Gathering reminders:a heads-up before a gathering you RSVP'd yes to
• RSVP confirmations: a note back when you respond to an invitation
• Vote prompts: when a gathering organizer needs your input on a time or activity
• Invitations: when someone invites you to a gathering via SMS

Marketing textsare product updates from Gather that aren't tied to a specific gathering — for example, a new feature announcement or an occasional tip.

Both kinds require you to opt in, and both use the same opt-in checkbox at signup. If you don't opt in, we don't text you at all.

Message frequency varies. Some weeks you may get no texts; other weeks you may get several if you have multiple gatherings in motion.

Message and data rates may apply.Your mobile carrier may charge you for receiving these messages, depending on your plan. We don't control or reimburse carrier fees.

How you opt in

You opt in by checking an unchecked box on the Gather signup form. The box reads exactly:

Text me about my gatherings and Gather updates. Message frequency varies. Msg & data rates may apply. Reply STOP to opt out. See our Privacy Policy for details.

You must actively check the box — we never pre-check it for you. We keep a timestamped record of when you opted in.

How you opt out

Reply STOPto any text message from Gather. You'll get one confirmation that you've been unsubscribed, and then no further messages from that number. STOP opts you out of both transactional and marketing texts — if you still want gathering reminders, don't reply STOP.

Reply HELP to any message to get our contact information.

Mobile information is not shared with third parties for marketing

We do not share your phone number, your SMS opt-in status, or the content of your text messages with any third party or affiliate for their marketing or promotional purposes. No mobile information is sold, rented, or shared for marketing purposes of any kind.

The only sharing of your phone number is with the service providers we use to actually deliver text messages — for example, Twilio, which is our SMS carrier. Those providers process the messages on our behalf and are contractually bound to keep your information confidential.

Who can text you

Only Gather, using the phone number we've registered. If you receive a text claiming to be from Gather but from a different number, don't trust it — reply STOP and contact us athello@gathermore.com.

6. Calendar information

If you connect your Google Calendar, Gather requests only your free/busy availability — the blocks of time when you are busy or free. We never see your event titles, descriptions, locations, or guest lists. We use availability solely to suggest dates for gatherings you are planning, and we do not share calendar information with anyone. You can disconnect your calendar at any time in your Gather settings or at myaccount.google.com/permissions. Gather's use of information received from Google APIs adheres to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements.

7. Cookies and tracking

We use a small number of cookies:

• Essential cookies make the site work. This includes keeping you logged in, standard security cookies, and the cookie that remembers your answer to the cookie banner itself (gather_consent, stored for 12 months). You can't opt out of essentials because the site can't function without them.
• Analytics cookieslet us see which pages people visit, which links get clicked, and which parts of Gather are confusing or broken. We use Google Analytics 4 for this. Analytics only load after you click “Accept” in the cookie banner. If you click “No thanks,” nothing analytics-related fires.
• No ad tracking.We don't run ad pixels, remarketing tags, or third-party ad cookies. If that ever changes, we'll update this page and re-prompt you in the banner.

Your consent choice is stored for 12 months, after which the banner reappears so you can reconfirm or change your mind. To change your choice sooner, clear your site cookies for gathermore.com in your browser settings.

8. Who we share information with

We share your information only in these situations:

• Service providers:companies that help us run Gather — for example, our database provider, our email sender, our SMS carrier, and our analytics tool. They're contractually required to protect your information and only use it to provide the service.
• Other Gather users:when you create a gathering, the people you invite see your name and the gathering details. When you RSVP, the organizer sees your response. That's how the product works.
• Legal requirements:when we're required by law — for example, a valid subpoena or court order. We push back on overly broad requests.
• Business transfers:if Gather is ever acquired or merged with another company, your information may transfer to the new owner. We'd notify you first.

We never sell your personal information to advertisers, data brokers, or anyone else.

9. How long we keep your information

• Account information: as long as your account is active, plus up to 90 days after you delete it
• Signups that were never confirmed: if you never click the confirmation link we email you, the half-finished account is removed after 30 days — with a 48-hour grace period, so confirming late still keeps it
• Gathering history:as long as your account is active. If you delete your account, gatherings you organized stay so that everyone else's plans don't disappear — but your name and details are removed from them
• Communications: service emails and texts are logged for a rolling 12 months; marketing messages are logged for 12 months; support conversations are kept for as long as your account is active
• Analytics data: kept for up to 25 months, then automatically deleted or anonymized
• Legal records:some information we're required to keep by law — for example, opt-in records — we keep for as long as the law requires

More on unconfirmed signups.If you start creating an account and never confirm your email address, we don't keep the half-finished account. After 30 days we mark it for removal and wait another 48 hours in case you come back — confirming at any point before the end of that window keeps your account exactly as it is. After that we clear it out: your name, email address, and anything else you entered are erased from the account, and the email address is freed up so it can be used to sign up again.

Two things stay behind that can no longer be traced back to you:

• a stripped-down record that our terms were accepted — which version, on what date, and which signup form it came from, with the IP address and device details erased
• internal ID numbers that no longer point to a person

And two we want to be straight with you about, because they do still contain the email address that was typed:

• our email provider's own record of messages already sent to that address, which they keep under their retention schedule
• our security log — the behind-the-scenes record of signup, sign-in, and password-reset attempts

We keep the terms record for as long as we might need it to show consent was handled properly, the delivery record for as long as we need it to show we honored opt-outs and unsubscribes, and the security log for as long as it's useful for investigating abuse. None of them are used for marketing, and none of them are used to build a profile of you.

10. Your rights

Depending on where you live, you may have the right to:

• See what information we have about you
• Correct inaccurate information
• Delete your account and your information (some records may be retained for legal reasons)
• Export your information in a common format
• Opt out of marketing email and SMS at any time (see sections 4 and 5)
• Object to certain kinds of processing
• Withdraw consent at any time for anything you opted in to

To exercise any of these rights, email us at hello@gathermore.com. We'll respond within 30 days.

One note on unconfirmed signups.If an account was never confirmed, we never established that the email address really belonged to whoever typed it. So for a request about one of those, we match only on the exact email address or account link you give us — we won't search by name or act on a close match, and we may ask you to show the address is yours before we go ahead. That protects you from someone else using a deletion request to interfere with your address.

If you're in California, you have specific rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) including the right to know, delete, correct, and opt out of the sale of your information. We don't sell personal information, so the opt-out is automatic.

If you're in the European Union or the United Kingdom, you have specific rights under the GDPR including the right of access, rectification, erasure, restriction, portability, and objection. The legal basis we rely on is either your consent or our legitimate interest in running the service.

11. Children

Gather is not for children under 13. We don't knowingly collect information from anyone under 13. If we learn that we have information about a child under 13, we delete it. Parents or guardians: email us at hello@gathermore.com if you have concerns.

12. Security

We protect your information with the standard security measures any serious web service uses: encrypted connections (HTTPS), hashed passwords, access controls, and regular security reviews. No system is 100% secure, but we take it seriously and act quickly if we discover a problem.

If we ever discover a breach that affects your information, we'll notify you and the relevant authorities within the time frame required by law.

13. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as Gather grows. If we make a material change — something that actually affects your rights — we'll notify you by email or in the app before the change takes effect. Small edits (fixing a typo, clarifying a sentence) happen without notice. The “Last updated” date at the top always reflects the most recent change.

14. Contact us

Questions about this policy? Want to exercise one of your rights? Have a concern about your information?

Email us at hello@gathermore.com.

Or write to us at:

We read every message and respond.