Legal
Privacy and safety
Last updated October 14, 2026.
This page is about live location in the Run Past Me app. The privacy policy also covers the waitlist and the 7-day Strava cache. On the App Store app, the Go live consent sheet links here before that app asks for location.
Collection
Run Past Me's servers receive precise location only while you are live. On the App Store app, the first time you go live you agree in the app, and only then does that app request location, and only While Using the App. The App Store app does not request Always.
Development and Alpha builds can record a GPS workout before any live-mode consent. The app's own copy of that track is deleted 24 hours after the run starts. The app deletes the precise route it saved to Apple Health the first time it opens after those 24 hours. If the app isn't opened again, the route stays in Apple Health until you delete it there. The workout summary in Apple Health stays until you delete it there. None of it is sent to Run Past Me.
If you allow only approximate location, you can still go live. You get a badge only. Encounters stay off until location is precise.
Two choices start off: showing that you are out running, and allowing an encounter to be revealed. Live mode also turns itself off. The default is 90 minutes. You can pick a shorter time. Nothing stays live past 3 hours. One tap on Stop ends it sooner.
Use
We use live location for two things, and only while you have opted in:
- An Out running now badge on Discover, so other live runners can see that someone nearby is out. The badge is on only when at least three people are live in that area.
- A delayed encounter. After both runs have ended, and only when both people opted in, we may say that you passed or ran together.
We do not use live location to place you on a profile map, to set your home or neighborhood, or to rank a feed by exact distance. We do not record an encounter within 500 meters of where either run started or ended.
What others can see:
- An Out running now badge, with no distance and no map
- Later, an encounter that names an hour and whether you passed or ran together
What others never see:
- Your coordinates, route, or a map of the run
- Distance, direction, or pace
- Where you started, where you finished, or your home
- A same-moment alert that you are passing them right now
An encounter waits until both runs have ended, plus 60 minutes. The same pair is revealed at most once per day. One wave does not open a chat. Both people have to opt in.
Retention
A live track is kept for at most 24 hours, then deleted. We also delete the precise track after we check for an encounter, so it often goes sooner. Points from a live session are not kept as a lasting route.
An encounter is kept for at most 7 days, then deleted. It stores an hour and a kind (passed or together). It does not store latitude, longitude, or a place.
Presence during the session ends when you stop, when ghost mode is on, or when the auto-off time hits. The 24-hour track limit and the 7-day encounter limit still apply to anything already recorded.
Sharing
Live location is shared only inside Run Past Me, and only in the badge and encounter forms above. We do not sell it.
Live location, live tracks, session details, and encounters are not sent to ads or to AI. They are not used to train a model or to write a prompt.
Block or report hides the badge both ways and removes past encounters between you. Ghost mode removes you from live presence immediately.
Withdrawal
You can change your mind at any time.
These end a live session and clear live presence on our servers:
- Tap Stop. The server deletes live presence before it responds.
- Turn on ghost mode. That ends the session, deletes live presence, and hides encounters immediately.
These do not end a session that is already live:
- Turn off encounter reveal. New encounters stay off. Presence stays until you stop or turn ghost mode on.
- Turn off "Show that I'm out running." A new live session cannot start while it is off. Turning it off does not, by itself, end a session that is already live or clear presence.
- Choose Not now on the consent sheet. You never go live. Discover and chat stay usable. Denying the location prompt does the same.
Turning ghost mode off does not replay old crossings.
Deletion
Stopping or turning on ghost mode clears your live presence right away. The raw track is deleted within 24 hours. Encounters are deleted within 7 days. Block and report remove the encounters between you immediately.
To delete sooner, or to delete your account data, email privacy@runpastme.com. We delete the live rows we still hold and reply to confirm they are gone. Disconnecting Strava is separate and is described in the privacy policy, including the 7-day activity cache and how deletion of that cache is confirmed.