GroundTime — Privacy Policy

Last Updated: June 9, 2026

This Privacy Policy ("Policy") describes how Threadwell Labs, LLC ("GroundTime," "we," "us," or "our"), a California limited liability company, collects, uses, shares, and protects information about you when you use the GroundTime mobile application ("App"), the GroundTime website ("Site"), and all related services (collectively, the "Service"). By using the Service, you agree to the collection, use, and sharing of your information as described in this Policy.

GroundTime is an 18+ verified-Crew-only meetup and community platform. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under the age of 18. If we learn we have collected information from a person under 18, we will delete that information promptly.

Independent Platform Notice. GroundTime is an independent platform operated by Threadwell Labs, LLC. GroundTime is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by any airline, airline labor union, government agency, or regulatory body. Airline names referenced in this Policy or in the Service are used solely for identification and operational purposes.

1. Information We Collect

1.1 Information You Provide

  • Account Information. When you create an account, we collect your name, email address, date of birth, and basic profile details.
  • Verification Information. As part of our manual Crew verification process, we collect: (a) a photograph of yourself holding your crew identification badge (the "Selfie"); (b) a close-up photograph of your crew identification badge (the "Badge Photo"); and (c) information you provide about your role, airline, and home base. See Section 3 below for detailed handling.
  • Profile Content. Photos and text you upload to your profile.
  • Meetup Content. Meetups you create, including title, description, location (airport, venue), date, and time; messages you send within ephemeral meetup chats; and your attendance status.
  • Base Community Content. Posts, comments, and reactions you make in your base community surfaces.
  • Membership Information. Information about your Membership tier (Monthly, Annual, or Founding Member), Founding Member slot number (if applicable), and Apple subscription transaction identifiers.
  • Communications with Us. Information you provide when you contact our support team, submit feedback, or respond to surveys.

1.2 Information Collected Automatically

  • Device Information. Device type, operating system, unique device identifiers (used for security, fraud prevention, and push delivery), browser type, and mobile network information.
  • Usage Data. Information about how you use the Service, including features accessed, screens viewed, actions taken, timestamps, and session duration.
  • Location Data. Information about which airport and city you are currently in, your home base, and where applicable your local base of operation, as described in Section 4 below.
  • Analytics Data. Aggregated and individual-level analytics about app performance, user behavior patterns, and feature usage.
  • Push Notification Tokens. Identifiers used to deliver push notifications to your device.
  • Log Data. Server logs, error reports, IP addresses, referring URLs, and access times.

2. How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect to:

  • Provide, operate, maintain, and improve the Service.
  • Create and manage your account.
  • Conduct manual Crew verification of your Selfie, Badge Photo, and claimed Crew information.
  • Display your meetups, profile, and base community posts to other verified Crew.
  • Facilitate ephemeral meetup chats and persistent base community discussions.
  • Send you push notifications about meetups, base community activity, verification status, and Service updates.
  • Process Membership purchases through Apple's In-App Purchase system and manage Founding Member slot allocation.
  • Moderate content for safety, policy compliance, and legal requirements, including mandatory CSAM hash-matching.
  • Detect, investigate, and prevent fraud, abuse, identity misrepresentation, and violations of our Terms of Service.
  • Analyze usage trends and improve user experience.
  • Comply with legal obligations and respond to lawful requests.
  • Enforce our Terms of Service and other policies.
  • Communicate with you about the Service, including updates, security alerts, and support messages.

3. Verification Data — Special Handling

This Policy gives Crew verification its own section because the data collected is sensitive and we apply specific protective measures.

3.1 What We Collect

  • A Selfie of you holding your crew identification badge.
  • A close-up Badge Photo.
  • Your claimed name, role, airline, and home base.

3.2 How Verification Data Is Used

  • The Selfie and Badge Photo are reviewed by a Threadwell Labs team member (a human reviewer, not an automated system) to confirm that the badge appears authentic and that the person in the Selfie appears to match the person on the badge.
  • Verification is used solely to confirm Crew status and to set or override the home base associated with your account.
  • We do not use automated facial recognition.
  • We do not extract biometric templates, faceprints, or other biometric identifiers.
  • We do not use third-party biometric processors.
  • We do not sell, license, share, or use Verification Data for any purpose other than the verification function described above.

3.3 Retention and Deletion

  • Your Selfie and Badge Photo are stored in encrypted, access-restricted storage and are deleted from our active systems within seven (7) days of the verification decision, regardless of whether you were approved or denied.
  • An anonymized verification audit log (date of submission, reviewer, decision, decision reason) is retained indefinitely for dispute resolution and compliance. The audit log does not contain your photographs.
  • You may request immediate deletion of your Selfie and Badge Photo at any time prior to the seven-day deletion cycle by contacting privacy@groundtime.com. Doing so will result in your verification being treated as withdrawn until you resubmit.

3.4 No Biometric Identifier Database

GroundTime does not maintain a biometric identifier database. We do not retain facial geometry data, faceprints, or any data derived from your Selfie that could be used to identify you through automated face matching.

4. Location Data

GroundTime uses generalized location data — airport codes (e.g., "DAL"), city names, and meetup venue names — to power meetups, base community membership, and discovery features.

4.1 How We Use Location Data

  • Base assignment. Your home base (and, where applicable, your local base) is set during verification and used to scope your Base Community membership.
  • Meetup discovery. When you are at an airport, you can see meetups others have posted at that airport, and you can post your own.
  • Safety. Location information may be referenced in safety investigations and abuse prevention.

4.2 What We Do Not Collect or Display

  • We do not collect or display precise GPS coordinates between Users.
  • We do not track your continuous movement.
  • Other Users see only generalized information — airport codes, base assignments, and meetup venue names — never your real-time location.

4.3 Your Control

You may disable location services through your device settings. Because location is fundamental to the Service's functionality, disabling location services may significantly limit or prevent your ability to use core features.

5. Content Moderation & Automated Systems

GroundTime uses limited automated systems to keep the Service safe.

5.1 CSAM Hash Scanning

We use automated hash-matching technology to scan uploaded images and detect known child sexual abuse material (CSAM). This is a legal compliance measure, not a content quality moderation tool. If CSAM is detected, the content is removed, the account is suspended, and the incident is reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) and applicable law enforcement.

5.2 Reactive Moderation

Outside of CSAM scanning, GroundTime moderation is reactive: a human review team responds to in-app reports submitted by Users. We do not use AI-driven content moderation to proactively scan or filter the base community or meetup chat content.

5.3 Third-Party Processors

Hash-matching may be performed by a third-party service provider acting on our behalf and subject to contractual data protection obligations. The third party does not retain User Content beyond the duration of the scanning operation.

6. How We Share Your Information

We may share your information in the following circumstances:

  • With Other Verified Crew. Your profile information, meetup posts, base community posts, and ephemeral meetup chat messages are visible to other verified Crew on the Service in accordance with the Service's design. Verification photographs (Selfie and Badge Photo) are never visible to other Users.
  • Service Providers. We share information with third-party vendors and service providers who perform services on our behalf, including cloud hosting, data storage, analytics, push notification delivery, CSAM hash-matching, payment processing through Apple, and customer support. These providers are contractually obligated to protect your information.
  • Legal Compliance. We may disclose information if required to do so by law, regulation, legal process, or governmental request, or when we believe disclosure is necessary to protect our rights, your safety, or the safety of others.
  • Safety and Enforcement. We may share information to investigate, prevent, or take action regarding suspected or actual illegal activities, fraud, threats to safety, or violations of our Terms of Service. CSAM is reported to NCMEC and law enforcement as legally required.
  • Business Transfers. In connection with a merger, acquisition, reorganization, sale of assets, or bankruptcy, your information may be transferred to a successor entity.
  • With Your Consent. We may share your information with third parties when you have given us explicit consent to do so.

We do not sell your personal information to third parties for any purpose. We do not share personal information with third parties for cross-context behavioral advertising.

7. Data Retention

We retain your information for as long as your account is active or as needed to provide the Service. We may also retain information as necessary to:

  • Comply with legal obligations.
  • Resolve disputes and enforce agreements.
  • Maintain business records as required by applicable law.
  • Prevent fraud and abuse.

Specific retention periods of note:

  • Verification photographs (Selfie, Badge Photo): deleted within 7 days of verification decision.
  • Verification audit log (non-image): retained indefinitely for dispute and compliance purposes.
  • Ephemeral meetup chats: permanently deleted 3 days after the meetup occurs or is cancelled.
  • Base community posts and comments: retained for the lifetime of your account unless deleted by you or removed by moderation.
  • Account data: retained while your account is active and for a reasonable period after account deletion to allow for backup, dispute resolution, and legal obligations.

When you delete your account, we will delete or de-identify your personal information within a reasonable timeframe, except where retention is required or permitted by law. Some information may persist in backup systems for a limited period. Aggregated, de-identified, or anonymized data may be retained indefinitely.

8. Security

We implement commercially reasonable technical, administrative, and organizational security measures designed to protect your information against unauthorized access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction. These measures include encryption of data in transit and at rest, access controls, separate restricted-access storage for verification photographs, regular security assessments, and employee training. However, no method of transmission over the Internet or method of electronic storage is 100% secure. We cannot guarantee absolute security of your information.

9. Your Rights

Depending on your jurisdiction, you may have certain rights regarding your personal information:

  • Access. You may request a copy of the personal information we hold about you.
  • Correction. You may request that we correct inaccurate or incomplete personal information.
  • Deletion. You may request that we delete your personal information, subject to certain legal exceptions.
  • Data Portability. You may request a copy of your data in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format.
  • Opt-Out of Communications. You may opt out of promotional communications by following the unsubscribe instructions in those messages.
  • Verification Data Deletion. You may request immediate deletion of your Selfie and Badge Photo at any time by contacting privacy@groundtime.com.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at privacy@groundtime.com. We will respond to your request within a reasonable timeframe and in accordance with applicable law.

10. California Privacy Rights

If you are a California resident, you have additional rights under the California Consumer Privacy Act ("CCPA") and the California Privacy Rights Act ("CPRA"), including:

  • Right to Know. You have the right to request information about the categories and specific pieces of personal information we have collected about you, the categories of sources, the business purposes for collection, and the categories of third parties with whom we share your information.
  • Right to Delete. You have the right to request deletion of your personal information, subject to certain exceptions.
  • Right to Correct. You have the right to request correction of inaccurate personal information.
  • Right to Non-Discrimination. We will not discriminate against you for exercising your privacy rights.

To submit a request, contact us at privacy@groundtime.com. We may need to verify your identity before processing your request.

11. Do Not Sell or Share Personal Information

GroundTime does not sell your personal information to third parties. We do not share your personal information with third parties for cross-context behavioral advertising as defined under the CCPA/CPRA. If our practices change in the future, we will update this Policy and provide you with the opportunity to opt out.

12. Biometric Information Notice

GroundTime collects images of your face (the Selfie) and your crew identification badge (the Badge Photo) for the limited purpose of human-conducted Crew verification. For the avoidance of doubt:

  • We do not use automated facial recognition technology to verify identity.
  • We do not extract, create, or store biometric identifiers, biometric templates, faceprints, or scans of facial geometry.
  • We do not use, share, license, or sell biometric information for any commercial purpose.
  • Your Selfie and Badge Photo are deleted within seven (7) days of the verification decision.

If you are a resident of a state with specific biometric privacy laws (including Illinois under BIPA, Texas under CUBI, or Washington under the Washington Biometric Privacy Act), the disclosures in this section apply to your interaction with the Service.

13. Push Notifications

With your permission, we send push notifications to your device to inform you about meetups, base community activity, verification status, and other Service-related updates. You can manage your push notification preferences through your device settings or within the App at any time. Disabling push notifications will not affect the core functionality of the Service but may result in delayed awareness of new meetup activity.

14. Third-Party Services and Links

The Service may contain links to third-party websites, applications, or services that are not owned or controlled by GroundTime. This Policy does not apply to third-party services. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of third parties. We encourage you to review the privacy policies of any third-party services you access through or in connection with the Service.

Membership purchases are processed by Apple, Inc. through the iOS In-App Purchase system. Apple's privacy practices govern your interactions with Apple and are described at https://www.apple.com/privacy/.

15. Children's Privacy

GroundTime is intended for users aged 18 and older. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under the age of 18. If we become aware that we have collected personal data from a user under 18, we will take steps to delete that information promptly.

If you are a parent or guardian and believe your child has provided us with personal information, please contact us at privacy@groundtime.com so we can take appropriate action.

16. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of material changes by posting the updated Policy within the App, on the Site, or by other reasonable means. The "Last Updated" date at the top of this Policy indicates when it was last revised. Your continued use of the Service after any changes constitutes your acceptance of the updated Policy. We encourage you to review this Policy periodically.

17. Contact Us

If you have any questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact us at:

Threadwell Labs, LLC
1111 6th Ave Ste 550 #269241
San Diego, California 92101
Email: privacy@groundtime.com