Legal

Privacy Policy

Last updated 16 September 2026 · Operated by Paladin Technologies

Destin is an app for finding places to go out and seeing where your friends have been. This policy explains what we collect, why, who can see it, and what control you have over it. It applies to everyone who uses Destin, and it includes specific rights for people in California.

What you give us

When you create an account we store your email address and a password you choose. When you set up your profile we store your username, display name, and a profile photo if you add one. You can change or remove your display name and photo at any time from Settings.

Your taste and preferences

When you first open Destin we ask a few questions about what you like: the kinds of places and vibes you go out for, your price range, whether you tend to go out in a group, and when you go out. We store your answers to decide which venues to show you. You can change them later.

Location

Destin asks for your location only while the app is open, and only to show venues near you and place you on the map. We never ask for background location, and the app does not track where you are when it is closed.

When you tap that you are at a venue, your presence is shared with your friends and added to that venue's live count for a short time, around two hours, after which it clears on its own. Your friends can see that you are there. Anyone else, including people who are not signed in, sees only an anonymous number of people at the venue, never who they are.

Photos and camera

Destin asks for camera and photo library access so you can add photos to a review or set a profile picture. We only read the images you pick.

Photos are stored with our hosting provider and, once they have passed the automatic check described in the next section, served over public web links. That means a photo attached to a public review can be opened by anyone who has its link, not only your friends. Photos are removed from a review when you delete the review.

A photo you add may still carry information your camera saved into the file, such as the time or place it was taken. We do not currently remove this from photos added to a review, so avoid posting a photo whose embedded details you would not want shared.

Checking images before they appear

Every photo you add is checked automatically before anyone else can see it.

When you attach a photo it is uploaded privately, and a Google service called Cloud Vision looks at it to judge whether it contains adult, violent or otherwise objectionable content. It also reads any text in the image and checks that against the same word list that governs what you type. Google processes the image to answer that question and does not keep it.

Until that check passes, the photo is not visible to anyone but you. If it is approved the photo is published as normal. If it is rejected you are told and you can choose a different one. Occasionally a photo is held for a person to look at, and it stays private until then.

We store the result of the check — what the classifier reported, and a fingerprint of the file — alongside the photo. We do not send your name, your account id or anything else about you to Google.

What you post

Reviews, ratings, tags, comments and check-ins are stored with your account.

A review can be public or private, and new reviews are public by default. A public review, including its full text, rating, tags and photos, appears on that venue's page to anyone signed in to Destin, but without your name attached. A private review is visible only to your mutual friends, with your name.

Comments are visible to your mutual friends. Your check-in history is stored with your account and is not shown to people who are not your friends.

Who can see what

Destin is friends-first, and most of what you do is visible only to your mutual friends: your feed, your comments, your check-in history, and your presence on the map beyond the anonymous venue count.

A few things are visible more widely so the app can work:

Blocking someone ends any friendship between you and hides your profile, your posts and your comments from them. It takes effect immediately and they are not told.

Notifications and your device

To send you notifications, we store a push token from your device, which identifies the device to the notification service so it can deliver a message. A notification we send may include the text it is about, such as a comment, and the names of the people, venues or events involved, because that is what the notification is telling you about.

The services Destin relies on

Destin uses a few outside services to work. Here is each one and what it receives.

Supabase

Stores your account, your content and your photos, and handles signing you in. Your session is kept on your own device so you stay logged in.

Mapbox

Draws the map. Each time the map loads it receives your device's network address and the area of the map you are looking at.

Google Places

Helps you find a venue when you are writing a review. The text you type into the venue search is sent to Google to match it to a place. Your location is not sent for this.

Google Cloud Vision

Checks each photo you add before it is published, as described under "Checking images before they appear." It receives the image and returns its assessment; it is not given your name or account id, and Google does not keep the image.

Expo

Delivers push notifications, using the push token described above.

Sentry

Receives crash reports and performance timings. It also records screen interactions, with all text and images masked, so we can see the sequence of taps that led to a crash without seeing what was on screen.

PostHog

Receives product analytics, meaning which screens are opened and which features are used. Events carry account identifiers rather than names or content.

Sentry and PostHog are given your account id and email address so we can reach you about a problem you hit. None of these services is used for advertising, and Destin does not track you across other apps or websites. These providers may process your data in the United States.

How Destin decides what to show you

Destin ranks venues for you automatically. To do this we keep a record of which venues we showed you and which we recommended, along with your stated preferences and your activity in the app. This is used to order what you see inside Destin, not to make any decision about you outside it.

Checking content automatically

When you post text, an automated check runs first and can block content that clearly breaks our rules before it is posted. This is separate from reports, which are reviewed by a person. The Community Guidelines explain both.

Keeping your data safe

We serve all traffic over encrypted (HTTPS) connections, and access to your data is controlled by rules on our backend. No service can promise perfect security, but we take reasonable measures to protect your information.

How long we keep things

We keep your account and content until you delete them. Your live presence at a venue clears on its own after about two hours. The records we use to rank venues, and your check-in history, are kept while your account exists. Deleting your account removes the items described next.

Deleting your account

You can delete your account from Settings. It is immediate and it cannot be undone. Deleting removes your profile, your reviews, your photos, your comments and your check-ins.

Two things deliberately survive. Events you hosted remain, so other people's plans are not destroyed, but your name is removed from them. And if you were involved in a report, that report is kept as a moderation record so that deleting an account cannot erase it; your account link is removed from it, though a bare identifier may remain inside the record.

One honest limitation: deleting your Destin account does not yet remove your information from Sentry and PostHog. We are building that. Until it exists, email us at the address below and we will remove it by hand.

Children

Destin is about bars, nightlife and going out. It is not intended for children, and we do not knowingly collect information from anyone under 18. If you believe a child has given us their information, email us and we will remove it.

Your California privacy rights

Destin operates in the San Francisco Bay Area, so our users are in California, and California law gives you specific rights over your personal information: the right to know what we collect and why, the right to get a copy of it, the right to correct it, and the right to have it deleted. You also have the right to opt out of the sale or sharing of your personal information, though Destin does not sell your information and does not share it for cross-context advertising. We will not treat you differently for using any of these rights.

To use any of them, email us at minka@dstn.app. You can also delete most of your data yourself, at any time, from Settings.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy. If a change is significant we will say so in the app, and we will update the date at the top. Continuing to use Destin after a change means you accept the updated policy.

Contact

Questions about this policy, or a request to see or remove your data, go to minka@dstn.app.