Terms & Conditions

BeLocal Terms of Service
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Last updated: October 7th 2011.

BeLocal ('we') hate incomprehensible Terms of Service (ToS). We're sure the user ('you') do too. So our ToS is written in a human-readable language. This is still just as important and legally binding as any other important and legally binding document. By agreeing to it you're letting us collect a few bits and pieces of information about you, which we sometimes store. We've outlined below exactly how this works and why we do it. You should read the Terms of Service carefully.

BeLocal will always notify you of any changes to our Terms of Service. We'll let you know seven days in advance of the changes becoming applicable: e.g. If we make amendments to the ToS on April 2nd, they come into effect at midnight on April 9th.

*BeLocal & Your Information*

BeLocal connects to Facebook for both its login system, and in order to populate your profile with some basic information. This is the fastest, most secure way of ensuring that our members are who they say they are (and not horrible scammers or spammers). This is a really important part of what makes BeLocal special.

So, for all users, BeLocal DOES collect your:

* Name (Full name, but we display a truncated version, like this: George S. in public views of your Profile)
* Profile picture (Which you can change from within the service)
* Email address (Because we need to get in touch sometimes!)
* Postcode (Because BeLocal works on location - we don't show the postcode to anyone - even your BeLocal Friends)

BeLocal DOES collect information about your friends on Facebook so we can show if you have mutual friends with local people. This helps you decide who to add as local friends or neighbours.

*BeLocal & Passwords*

BeLocal DOES NOT collect, see or send your Facebook password. We use Facebook Connect for all user logins, which means that the login form and associated content is all served up by Facebook: we just get told by Facebook whether your login was successful.

*BeLocal & Data Security*

All of this information is stored securely in an encrypted database by both Facebook AND BeLocal. We copy this information to speed up the process of displaying it on the site and to mitigate circumstances under which Facebook is unavailable or their API changes to prevent us from obtaining it.

*BeLocal & Cookies*

Our tech boffins keep your search results and some information about you locally on your computer. This is called a COOKIE. They are small and helpful and are only used to help you use BeLocal.

If you want to delete the cookies on your system, you can find out how to do so by searching on your favourite search engine for 'How to delete cookies in [insert the name of your browser]'.

*BeLocal & Spam*

We will never sell or send your information to a third-party. Ever. We hate spam.

You will receive emails from BeLocal when local people request to become your Friend or Neighbour.
You'll also receive emails from local Friends & Neighbours when they use certain services on BeLocal.

We will send you emails from time to time updating you about new service. We think they're useful, but you can opt out of these if you like.

But if for some reason there isn't, all our mailing lists can be opted-out of by replying with "UNSUBSCRIBE" in the subject field.

*BeLocal and Usage Statistics*

BeLocal collects anonymous usage statistics about its users in order to improve its service.

Even though this information is non-personal and cannot be traced back to anybody, we treat it as confidential: we don't sell it to anybody else.

We WILL from time to time discuss trends emerging across thousands of BeLocal Members on our blog.

*Account Deletion*

If you don't agree with our Terms of Service, you shouldn't use BeLocal. If you would like to delete your account - please contact us directly using the email address that you registered with BeLocal (or Facebook) with. You can reactivate it at any time for up to seven days, but after that point it'll be permanently deleted.

If you choose to delete your account today, we'll send you an email to confirm deletion. If you want to delete your account, DO CLICK the link in the email. If you DO NOT want us to go through with deletion, you DON'T need to do anything else.