Privacy Policy

Mela is a music festival app and website (melafest.app). Mela is operated by Mela Labs LLC, a California limited liability company ("Mela", "we", "us"). Mela Labs LLC is responsible for the personal information described in this policy.

Mela was previously run by its founder as an individual. Mela Labs LLC has taken over the app, the website and all information collected before the change, and this policy applies to all of it.

Mailing address: Mela Labs LLC, 2108 N St, Ste N, Sacramento, CA 95816, USA. Email: support@melafest.app.

This policy covers the Mela apps for iOS and Android and the melafest.app website (together, the "Service"). Mela is intended for people in the United States.

• We collect what we need to run Mela: your account, your festival plans, your friends, and the things you post.
• If you turn on contact sync, we upload your address book to find friends who already use Mela.
• If you share your location, friends going to the same festival can see where you are during that festival.
• We do not sell your personal information, we do not show ads, and we do not use advertising IDs.
• Festival organizers only ever see totals and trends, never your name or profile.
• You can delete your account in the app at any time.

• Account information. Your first and last name, username, and profile photo (if you add one). Depending on how you sign in, also your phone number or email address.
• Festival activity. Festivals you view, save or mark as going, the sets you add to your schedule, and artists you follow.
• Friends. Friend requests you send and receive, your friends list, and people you block.
• Posts and photos. Posts, photos, comments, reactions, and "going" updates you share, plus the audience you pick for each post.
• Messages to us. Anything you send to support, including your email address.

You can sign in three ways. We only receive what each one provides:

• Phone number: your phone number, verified with a one-time text code sent by Google Firebase.
• Google: your name, email address and profile photo from your Google account.
• Sign in with Apple: your name and email address (or a private relay address if you choose to hide your email).

We never see your Google or Apple password, and we do not import your social media friends or contacts from these accounts.

During signup, or later from the Friends tab, Mela asks whether you want to sync your contacts. It's optional, and it only happens if you allow contacts access on your device.

If you allow it, the app uploads the names, phone numbers and email addresses in your address book to our servers. This includes people who don't use Mela. We use this information only to suggest friends who already use Mela.

• We never sell your contacts or use them for advertising.
• We never message your contacts. Invites are sent only if you tap invite, and they go out as a text from your own phone.
• Each new sync replaces the previous copy. Your uploaded contacts are deleted when you delete your account.
• You can stop syncing at any time by turning off contacts access for Mela in your device settings. To delete a copy we already have, email support@melafest.app.

Mela uses your device's location in two ways, and only while the app is open on your phone.

• Festivals near you. We use your location to show festivals and recommendations near you. This location is used to answer that request and isn't saved to your profile.
• Friend map at festivals. If location sharing is on, you're marked as going to a festival, and it's a day of that festival, Mela shares your precise location with friends who are also going to that festival and who are sharing their own location. Location sharing is on by default when you create an account. You can turn it off at any time in Settings under "Share Location at Festivals".

For the friend map, we store only your most recent location, and each update replaces the last one. We delete it when you turn location sharing off, stop being marked as going, or delete your account. Your location stops updating after the festival ends.

We never sell your location, use it for advertising, or give it to festival organizers. You can also turn off location access for Mela in your device settings, which stops both features.

• Photos and camera: we only upload photos you choose for your profile or a post. Mela can also save lineup cards you create to your photo library.
• Push notifications: if you allow notifications, we store a device token so we can send you updates, such as friend requests, comments, lineup announcements, recommendations, and messages from festivals you're going to (see "Festival organizers" below). You can turn notifications off at any time in your device settings.
• Live Activities (iOS): set times for your schedule can appear on your lock screen. This runs on your device and uses no location or contacts data.

When you use the app, we use Google Analytics for Firebase to understand how Mela is used. It records actions in the app (for example, opening a festival, marking yourself as going, sending a friend request, searching for a festival or artist, and how long the app is open), linked to your Mela account ID. Google also records basic device information (device model, operating system, app version) and an approximate region based on your IP address. We copy this data into Google BigQuery to analyze it.

We use this to fix problems, decide what to build, and produce the aggregated statistics described below. Mela does not use advertising IDs, does not show ads, and does not track you across other companies' apps or websites.

Our servers also keep standard technical logs (such as the request made, the time, and which account made it) to run and secure the Service.

• Any Mela user can find you by name or username and see your name, username and profile photo.
• Your profile can show the festivals you're going to and your posts.
• Posts: when you post, you choose an audience. Public posts can be seen by anyone using Mela. Comments and reactions you add to a post can be seen by people who can see that post.
• Friends can see your festival plans and schedule, and see you on the friend map as described above.
• Invite links: Links shared from Mela can include a code that tells us who shared them and where. When you open one, the page and the app show that person's first name, and if you then join Mela we record who invited you in our app analytics.
• Blocking someone removes them from your friends.

Please don't post anything you wouldn't want other people to see.

• To run Mela: create your account, show festivals and lineups, build your schedule, connect you with friends, and power the friend map.
• To personalize Mela: recommend festivals, artists and people you may know.
• To send you notifications you've allowed.
• To answer you when you contact us.
• To understand and improve Mela, using analytics.
• To keep Mela safe: prevent abuse, enforce our Terms of Service, and protect our users and Mela.
• To comply with the law.

We do not send marketing emails or marketing text messages.

Mela works with festival organizers. Organizers can see aggregated statistics about their festival on Mela, such as how many people viewed, saved or are going to it, which sets are popular, and which regions interest comes from. These figures are totals. They never include your name, username, photo, contacts, posts or location.

Approved organizers can also send a notification about their festival to people on Mela who are marked as going to it. Organizers never receive the list of people who get it. To stop these, unmark yourself as going or turn off notifications for Mela in your device settings.

We do not sell your personal information, and we do not share it for targeted advertising. We share it only in these cases:

• Service providers who run parts of Mela for us and may use the data only to provide their service to us:
  • Google (Firebase Authentication, Cloud Firestore, Cloud Storage, Cloud Messaging, Google Analytics for Firebase, Google Cloud and BigQuery): sign-in, data storage, photos, notifications and analytics.
  • Google Maps: maps in the app and on the website. Your use of Google Maps is subject to the Google Maps Terms of Service and the Google Privacy Policy.
  • Apple: Sign in with Apple and notifications on iOS.
  • Render: hosting for our servers and website.
  • Supabase: accounts and data for festival organizers who use our organizer tools.
• Other Mela users, as described in "What other people can see".
• Festival organizers, aggregated only, as described above.
• Legal and safety reasons: if we believe in good faith that it's required by law or legal process, or needed to protect someone's safety, to investigate fraud or abuse, or to protect the rights of Mela or our users.
• Business changes: if Mela Labs LLC is reorganized, merged, acquired, or sells its assets (including a conversion into a different type of company), your information may move to the new owner, who must keep honoring this policy.
• With your permission, for anything else.

The melafest.app website uses Google Analytics to count page views and taps on the app store buttons. It does not use advertising trackers. If you fill out the organizer contact form, we collect your name, email, festival, role and message to reply to you. Organizer accounts use cookies from Supabase to keep you signed in. Festival pages may show an embedded Google Map, which Google may use to set its own cookies under the Google Privacy Policy. Our hosting provider keeps standard server logs.

Do Not Track. Because we don't track you across other websites, we don't change our behavior based on browser Do Not Track signals. Apart from Google's embedded maps and Google Analytics described above, we don't allow third parties to collect information about your activity on our website across other sites over time.

In the app: go to Settings, then Account, then Delete Account. Without the app: email support@melafest.app from the email or phone number linked to your account (or include it in your message) and ask us to delete your account. We may ask you to confirm the request.

When you delete your account, we delete:

• Your profile and login
• Your festival plans, schedule and followed artists
• Your friend connections, friend requests and blocks
• Your uploaded contacts and friend suggestions
• Your stored location

Some information is kept after deletion:

• Posts, comments and reactions you made, along with the name and photo shown on them, and notifications already delivered to other users. To remove your posts, delete them before deleting your account, or email us and we'll remove them.
• Analytics records and backups, which are kept for internal analysis and security and are not used to rebuild your account.
• Information we must keep to comply with the law, resolve disputes, or enforce our terms.

• Account, festival activity and friends: until you delete your account.
• Contacts: until your next sync replaces them, or you delete your account.
• Friend map location: only your latest location, deleted as described in "Your location".
• Posts and comments: until you delete them (see above for what happens when you delete your account).
• Analytics and logs: as long as they're useful for improving and securing Mela.
• Organizer form submissions and support emails: as long as needed to respond and keep a record of the conversation.

Wherever you live in the United States, you can ask us to:

• Tell you what personal information we have about you and give you a copy
• Correct information that's wrong
• Delete your information
• Stop using your precise location (you can also do this yourself in Settings)

Email support@melafest.app with your request. We'll confirm it's really you before acting on it, and we'll respond within 45 days. If we decline your request, you can appeal by replying to our answer with "Appeal" in the subject line, and we'll respond to the appeal within 60 days. You can also authorize someone else to make a request for you. We won't treat you differently for using these rights.

We do not sell personal information or share it for targeted advertising, and we have not done so in the past 12 months. California residents can also ask us about sharing of personal information for direct marketing; we don't do that.

Mela is not for children under 13, and we don't knowingly collect personal information from them. If you believe a child under 13 has given us information, email support@melafest.app and we'll delete it. Users from 13 to 17 need a parent or guardian's permission to use Mela (see our Terms of Service).

We use reasonable measures to protect your information, such as encrypted connections between the app and our servers. No service can be completely secure, though, and we can't guarantee that your information will never be accessed, changed or lost. If a breach affects your personal information, we'll notify you as required by law.

Mela is run from the United States, and our service providers store data in the United States. If you use Mela from outside the United States, your information will be processed in the United States.

Mela links to other services, such as Spotify, Apple Music, festival websites and ticket sellers. They have their own privacy policies, and we're not responsible for how they handle your information.

We'll update this policy as Mela changes. The date at the top shows when it was last updated. If we make a material change, we'll tell you in the app before it takes effect. We won't use information we already have in a materially different way without your consent.

Questions or requests: support@melafest.app, or by mail to Mela Labs LLC, 2108 N St, Ste N, Sacramento, CA 95816, USA.