Privacy & Security

Privacy Innovation

Privacy and security are key company priorities at Loopt. We strive for excellence in privacy innovation and aspire to achieving effective "privacy by design". Loopt offers the most intuitive and effective privacy controls and security features for end users. Questions? Comments? Let us know! privacy@loopt.com

Loopt is 100 percent permission-based and users share location information only with their selected friends, networks, and services. Loopt users can easily turn location-sharing on or off at any time on a friend-by-friend basis or for all friends at once.

Loopt works regularly with select organizations that focus on privacy & security including: The Family Online Safety Institute (board member); ConnectSafely.org; Ponemon Institute; Electronic Frontier Foundation; National Network to End Domestic Violence; Progress & Freedom Foundation's Center for Digital Media Freedom; Internet Education Foundation; and Cyber Safe California by the California Office of Privacy Protection (member, advisory committee). Further, Loopt sits on the CTIA's WIC Leadership Council and was an active participant in the creation of the CTIA LBS Best Practices.

Loopt is also a participating member on the Internet Safety Task Force, originally formed by MySpace and 49 States Attorney Generals, and now managed by Berkman Center at Harvard University.

Public speaking & community participation regarding privacy & security:

• Panelist; Family Online Safety Institute, Annual Conference '07
• Exhibitor; State of Net '08 by Advisory Committee to Congressional Internet Caucus
• Panelist; 2008 Cyber Safe California by California Office of Privacy Protection
• Panelist; Tech Policy Summit '08
• Panelist; Federal Trade Commission's Mobile Commerce Town Hall '08
• Panelist; The Focus on the Locus, Columbia University Institute for Tele-Information

What Privacy Features Does Loopt offer?

100% Permission-Based.

Loopt is a completely opt-in service; informed, express consent is received from each subscriber. Users may terminate their Loopt subscription at any time.

End User Privacy Controls.

Users are in complete control of their location sharing at all times. Users may turn location sharing on or off for all friends or some friends by using the privacy settings on their mobile phone or the Loopt Web site, or by calling customer service.

Closed, Private Networks for 'Live' Location Sharing.

To initiate a friend-request, a subscriber must already know the other user's mobile phone number. Even when a friendship request is successfully sent, the prospective friend must consent as well to a reciprocal "friendship connection" before any 'live' (i.e., real-time) location sharing will occur. In other words, Loopt users only see where their established friends are on the Loopt Friends Map.

Frequent Privacy Reminders.

If Loopt is updating location in the background, then we deliver several notices to a user's handset after registration, reminding the user that they may be sharing real-time location when using the Loopt service.

Continuing Education.

Loopt encourages responsible usage of its service with in-application messaging, notifications, and our Web-based Be Safe guide and other tips.

Account Owner Notice.

In the event that the subscribing user is not the overall wireless plan's account owner, Loopt delivers a notice to the account owner describing the features and benefits of the Loopt service.

Data Security.

Loopt does not maintain "location history." Loopt maintains only the most recent location fix, except if users choose to "geotag" their own journal entries and content.

Privacy Policy.

Transparency is one of the key principles of our company, and Loopt makes its Privacy Notice available to users on their phone, the Loopt Web site, via email, and even postal mail upon request. Loopt is also TRUSTe certified.

Loopt for Parents

A note for parents of Loopt users:

We designed Loopt to be a valuable tool for people to find their friends, communicate, and improve their social lives. Loopt was founded by entrepreneurs who wanted to keep in better touch with their friends, and who had a vision for a service that would help them do that.

Loopt is the leader in the consumer location-based services market in offering a variety of effective privacy controls for end users – Loopt was designed with privacy in mind. Loopt recognizes the responsibility inherent in offering location-based technologies and our customers' privacy is a top priority.

Resources

Parents, the following are some resources that may help you in terms of understanding your childrens' access to certain types of material on the Internet. While Loopt does not endorse these sites or products, we provide information about them as a public service to our Users.

• OnGuard Online (maintained by Federal Trade Commission): http://onguardonline.gov/socialnetworking.html
• ConnectSafely.org: http://www.connectsafely.org
• SafeKids.com: http://safekids.com/
• NetFamilyNews.org: http://www.netfamilynews.org/
• WebWiseKids.org: http://www.webwisekids.org/
• Center for Safe and Responsible Internet Use: http://www.csriu.org/
• GetNetWise.org: http://getnetwise.org/
• Common Sense Media: http://www.commonsensemedia.org/
• Net Nanny: http://www.netnanny.com/

Be Safe Guide

1. Only add friends to Loopt who are really your good friends.

Loopt is meant to be used with good and trusted friends. Who's a really good friend? Ultimately, that's up to you to decide, but here are a few questions to ask yourself about potential Loopt friends.

• Do you have their phone number?
• Do you know where they live and where they grew up?
• Would you loan them your car?
• Would you give them your keys to feed your dog or water your plants?
• Would you feel comfortable knocking on their door just to say 'hi'?

2. Confirm the phone numbers from your invites.

Always double-check that an invite was sent from your friend's real phone number. If it's a web invite, check that the phone number on the invite matches your friend's number.

3. Know who you are sharing location with.

Use your location information responsibly. Loopt is built to let you control when and with whom you share or hide your location. You can always control who can find you, and who can see the location of your journal entries. You can do this from the web or the mobile app.

4. Report inappropriate behavior and offensive content.

Help us keep Loopt fun! We've built Loopt to encourage safe behavior from its members, but unfortunately some members may still find ways to abuse the service. If you find material that is offensive or find that a member of the service is acting inappropriately, please let us know using the Report Abuse page.