SOS Global Privacy Policy
- Your Medical ID, emergency contacts, checklists and settings are stored on your phone.
- Your location is used only while the app is open to find which country you are in. We never store your coordinates.
- An account (email and name) is needed to use the app. Emergency numbers work without one.
- Cloud backup is optional and end-to-end encrypted: we cannot read it.
- No ads, no third-party analytics or tracking SDKs, and we never sell your data.
- You can delete your account and all of its data from inside the app.
1. Who we are
SOS Global (“the app”, “we”, “us”) is developed and operated by Dean Bozinoski, who is the controller of the personal data described in this policy.
Contact for any privacy question or request: d.bozinoski@gmail.com
2. What data we process and why
2.1 Account
To use the app you create an account with your email address, a password and a display name. Accounts are handled by Google Firebase Authentication, which also records technical data needed to secure sign-in (such as IP address and sign-in times). We never see your password. We use your email to verify your account and to send password-reset emails.
Legal basis: performance of a contract (providing the app to you).
2.2 Location
If you grant location permission, the app reads your device location once, while the app is open, to work out which country you are in and show the right emergency numbers. To turn coordinates into a country, the coordinates are passed to your phone’s built-in location/geocoding service (provided by Google on most Android phones). The app shows your coordinates so you can read them out or share them, but SOS Global never stores or uploads your coordinates. The app does not use location in the background.
If location is off or not granted, the app may use your mobile network’s country code as a fallback, which also stays on your phone.
Legal basis: your consent (the Android permission), which you can withdraw at any time in system settings.
2.3 Medical ID (health data)
You can choose to fill in a Medical ID (for example blood type, allergies, conditions, medications and emergency contacts). It is encrypted on your phone with a key held in the Android Keystore and is excluded from Android device backups. It only leaves your phone if you:
- export or share it yourself through Android’s share sheet;
- turn on the optional lock-screen Medical ID, which shows it in a notification that anyone holding your phone can see; or
- turn on encrypted cloud backup (section 2.6), in which case only an end-to-end encrypted copy is uploaded.
Legal basis: your explicit consent, which the app asks for before you save a Medical ID. You can delete it at any time.
2.4 Emergency contacts and other on-device data
Your personal emergency contacts, travel destinations, checklists, chosen country, language, appearance and privacy choices are stored only on your phone (unless you turn on encrypted backup). When you add a contact from your address book, Android lets you pick a single contact; the app does not read your whole address book.
When you place a call or share an emergency message, the app hands the number or text to your phone’s dialer or to the app you choose (for example SMS or a messaging app). What happens next is governed by that app’s and your carrier’s privacy terms.
Spoken phrases use your phone’s text-to-speech engine.
2.5 Family groups
If you create or join a family group, your display name and email address are stored in Google Cloud Firestore and are visible to the other members of your family. Inviting someone stores their email address so that they can see and accept the invitation when they sign in. We do not send invitation emails. Nothing else (no location, Medical ID or contacts) is shared with your family.
Legal basis: performance of a contract (providing the feature you asked for).
2.6 Encrypted cloud backup (optional)
If you turn on backup, your Medical ID, travel data, countries and settings are encrypted on your phone before upload and stored in Google Cloud Firestore under your account. The key is protected by a backup passphrase that only you know. We cannot read your backup and cannot recover a forgotten passphrase.
Legal basis: your consent; you can turn backup off and delete it at any time.
2.7 Purchases
Premium is bought through Google Play. Google processes your payment; we never receive your card or payment details. To unlock Premium we receive purchase information from Google Play (product, purchase status and a purchase token). For the Family plan, the purchase token, product ID and the plan’s expiry are stored in Firestore, and a server function checks the token with Google Play so that your family members can share Premium.
Legal basis: performance of a contract.
2.8 Emergency number updates
The app downloads updates to its emergency number directory from our servers. These requests contain no personal data beyond what any internet connection exposes (such as your IP address), which our hosting provider may log for security.
2.9 Analytics
The app contains no third-party analytics, advertising or tracking SDKs. Any usage statistics option is off by default and, while it exists, no usage data leaves your phone.
2.10 Support
If you email us (for example to report a wrong emergency number), we use your email address and message only to answer you.
3. Who we share data with
We do not sell or rent your personal data and do not use it for advertising. We only share it with:
| Recipient | Purpose | Data |
|---|---|---|
| Google (Firebase Authentication, Cloud Firestore, Cloud Functions) | Hosting accounts, family groups, encrypted backups and Family plan checks, as our data processor | Account data, family names and emails, encrypted backup, purchase tokens |
| Google Play | Payments and purchase verification | Purchase information |
| Members of your family group | The family feature | Your display name and email |
| Authorities, if legally required | Complying with the law | Only what is required |
Firestore data is stored in Google’s Europe multi-region (eur3). Some Google services may process data outside the European Economic Area; Google relies on the EU Standard Contractual Clauses and the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework for such transfers. See Firebase privacy and security.
4. How long we keep data
- Account, family and backup data: until you delete it or delete your account.
- On-device data: until you delete it in the app, use “Delete all data”, delete your account or uninstall the app.
- Purchase records: as long as needed to provide Premium and as required by tax and accounting law.
- Support emails: as long as needed to handle your request.
5. Deleting your account and data
In the app: open your profile → Edit profile → Delete account and confirm with your password. This deletes your account, your family group (or removes you from someone else’s), your Family plan purchase claim and the entitlement linked to it, your encrypted cloud backup and all app data on that phone.
Deleting your account does not cancel a Google Play subscription. Cancel it in Google Play → Payments & subscriptions.
Without the app: if you no longer have the app, email d.bozinoski@gmail.com from the address you registered with, with the subject “SOS Global account deletion”. We will delete your account and all associated data described above within 30 days and confirm by email.
6. Your rights
Depending on where you live (for example under the EU/UK GDPR), you have the right to access, correct, delete or export your personal data, to restrict or object to processing, and to withdraw consent at any time without affecting earlier processing. Most of this you can do directly in the app; for anything else contact us at the address above. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority.
7. Security
We use encryption in transit (HTTPS/TLS) and at rest, AES-256-GCM encryption of your Medical ID on your phone, end-to-end encryption of backups, and access rules that let only you (and, for family data, your family) read your data. The Medical ID screen blocks screenshots. No system is perfectly secure, so please protect your phone with a screen lock and choose a strong backup passphrase.
8. Children
SOS Global is not directed at children under 16, and we do not knowingly collect personal data from them without parental consent. If you believe a child has given us personal data, contact us and we will delete it.
9. Important note about emergencies
SOS Global helps you find and dial emergency numbers, but it does not contact emergency services for you and does not send your location anywhere automatically. Always verify numbers locally when possible.
10. Changes to this policy
We may update this policy when the app changes. We will update the effective date above and, for significant changes, let you know in the app.
11. Contact
Dean Bozinoski
Email: d.bozinoski@gmail.com