Privacy Policy

KORE Privacy Policy

KORE ("the app") is an all-in-one restroom app for Korea — finding restrooms, directions, reviews and submissions in one place. This policy explains what information the app collects, what it is used for, and how you can delete it.

1. Information we collect

a. Information you give us

• Account details — only if you choose to sign up: your email address and password. Passwords are handled by Google Firebase Authentication and are never visible to us. Signing up links your email to the anonymous identifier described below.
• Profile — a nickname and country chosen when you sign up (required) and an optional profile photo, shown publicly on rankings, reviews and profile cards. Without an account you appear as "Anonymous", and if you haven't chosen a country, one inferred from the app's language (e.g. Korean → South Korea, Japanese → Japan) may be stored with your game records and shown as a flag on the boards.
• Submissions and edit suggestions — a restroom's location (coordinates), name, address, description and photos. If you're signed in, your account email is stored with them.
• Reviews and ratings — star ratings, review text (up to 1,000 characters), the language it was written in, and answers such as "Is it open?" and "Is it clean?".
• Favorites and history — restrooms you starred and the ones you opened (the restroom's name, address, coordinates and the time).
• Feedback — what you write to us, any contact details you choose to leave for a reply, the app language and, if you're signed in, your account email.
• Game records — minigame scores, when they were set, play counts and country, plus a province-level region for the region ranking (worked out on your device; coordinates are not sent).

b. Information processed automatically

• Anonymous identifier — even without signing in, each device gets an anonymous account (UID). It links what you send (submissions, feedback, reviews, scores) to you so replies can reach you. While you are not signed in it is not tied to your name, email or any other identity; signing up links your email to it.
• Location — if you grant permission, your device's current location while you are using the app. It is never collected in the background, and it is not stored on a server or kept as a history. On the device it is also used to work out your province for the game boards, and to notice when you've reached (within about 70 m) a restroom you set off for, so the app can ask for a rating.
• Notification token — if you allow notifications, your device's push token plus device platform, app language and app version. It is used for submission decisions, feedback replies, app updates, "game tokens refilled" and "your game ranking changed" notifications; for the refill notice we store when your tokens will be full.
• Advertising data — to show ads in the app, Google AdMob may process device information and the advertising identifier (IDFA/AAID). On iOS the identifier is used only if you allow it in the App Tracking Transparency prompt; in the EEA and UK it is processed according to your consent choice.
• Subscription status — if you subscribe to KORE Premium or the ad-free subscription, the purchase information needed to confirm it (product and subscription period). A KORE Premium subscriber marker (with how long it is valid) is stored on your profile. Payment is handled by the App Store / Google Play; the app never receives card numbers or other payment details. If you received the promotional free traveller period, the nationality you declared, your country and the period are kept with it.
• Crash reports — on Android, if the app crashes, a crash log and diagnostic information (Firebase Crashlytics) used to find the cause. Not linked to your identity.
• Usage analytics — to improve the service, Google Analytics for Firebase collects app usage information (screens viewed, features used, search terms, game results, purchase attempt outcomes and similar), a device identifier, and approximate region, device and app version. Your email, nickname and precise location are never sent, and this is not used to identify you.
• Device integrity — app attestation (App Check) via Apple DeviceCheck / Google Play Integrity, used to block requests from tampered apps. It does not identify you.
• Update checks — when the app starts it checks Expo's servers (EAS Update) for a new update and downloads it. This passes your IP address, device platform and app version.

c. What we do not collect

Contacts and address books, camera or microphone, step counts or other physical-activity data, and background location. Only the photos you pick yourself are uploaded.

2. How we use it

3. What becomes public

• Approved restroom information and photos appear on every user's map.
• Reviews store the nickname you had when writing (or "Anonymous") and are public with it, your profile photo and flag, and are automatically translated into all 5 languages.
• The contributor and game boards show nicknames, profile photos, flags and records, and a KORE Premium subscriber's profile ring and name colour show that they subscribe. Your email address is never shown anywhere.
• KORE Rankings show ratings, favourites and views only as per-restroom totals, and the app never shows who left them. Star ratings and "Is it open?" answers are, however, stored with the author's anonymous identifier (UID), and those records and each UID's public profile (nickname, photo, country) can technically be read outside the app because of how the service is built.
• The account email stored with submissions, suggestions and feedback is visible only to the operator.
• "Only me" markers, favorites and history are not visible to other users. The operator can access "only me" markers for running the service and responding to reports of unlawful content; favorites and history are not opened individually even by the operator and are only counted into per-restroom totals on the server.

4. Third-party services

The app uses the services below, each governed by its own privacy policy.

• Google Firebase (Authentication, Cloud Firestore, Storage, Cloud Functions, App Check, Cloud Messaging, Crashlytics, Google Analytics) — storing and processing accounts, submissions, reviews, feedback, photos and scores; sending notifications; crash reports; usage analytics.
• Google AdMob — showing ads and managing ad consent.
• Apple App Store · Google Play — payment and management of the KORE Premium subscription.
• Google Maps Platform — map display, address search and geocoding.
• Google Cloud Translation — automatic translation of submissions and reviews.
• TMAP (SK Telecom) and Apple Maps Server API — walking-route calculation. Only when you request a route, the start and destination coordinates and names ("Current location" and the restroom's name) are sent; no account information is sent.
• The TMAP, KakaoMap and Naver Map apps — tapping a directions button passes the destination's coordinates and name to that app, and KakaoMap and Naver Map also receive your current location as the start point. That app's own policy then applies.
• Expo (EAS Update) — checking for and delivering app updates.

Data is stored and processed primarily in Google Cloud's Seoul region (asia-northeast3); by the nature of these services some processing may take place outside Korea. We do not sell your personal information.

5. How long we keep it

• Deleting your account immediately deletes your account details, profile (nickname, photo, country), submissions and edit suggestions, "only me" markers, feedback, notification tokens and scheduled notifications.
• Reviews, star ratings, "Is it open?" answers, favorites, history and game records are not deleted by deleting the account; they remain with the anonymous identifier (reviews keep the nickname they were written under, and game boards show them as anonymous). Ask for them to be deleted as described in section 6.
• Feedback and replies are kept after we answer, so we can follow up on the same issue; they are deleted when you delete your account or ask us to.
• Rejected submissions are deleted immediately, although the operator may instead turn a suggestion, photos included, into an "only me" marker visible to its author alone. Restroom information published to the map remains after account deletion, because it has become part of the map others use (no longer linked to you).
• You can delete your reviews, favorites and history in the app at any time, and change your star ratings and open-status answers (email us to have those deleted).
• Records of the free traveller period are kept to confirm its dates and are deleted on request.
• Notification tokens stop being used when you sign out or turn notifications off, and are deleted with your account.
• Crash reports are deleted automatically after the retention period set by Firebase Crashlytics.
• Usage analytics are deleted automatically after at most 14 months, per the Google Analytics data-retention setting.

6. Your rights and how to delete

While signed in, go to All → Account card → Delete Account and the information listed in section 5 is deleted immediately, along with your nickname on the contributor board. To also remove the reviews, ratings, answers, favorites, history and game records that stay, email us before deleting the account, from the address you signed up with. To access, correct, delete or restrict processing of your information — including anything you sent without an account — email us at the address below and we will act on it without delay.

You can turn off personalised ads or reset your advertising ID at any time: on iOS in Settings → Privacy & Security → Tracking, on Android in Settings → Google → Ads. In the EEA and UK you can change your consent under All → Ad privacy settings in the app. Subscriptions can be cancelled from your App Store / Google Play subscriptions.

7. Security

All traffic is encrypted with HTTPS, and passwords are stored hashed by Google Firebase Authentication. The database is protected by per-document access rules, so only you can edit or delete what you wrote. Requests to our servers are verified with App Check.

8. Children

The app is not directed at children under 14, and we do not knowingly collect their personal information. If we learn that a child's information has been collected, we delete it immediately.

9. Changes to this policy

When this policy changes, the new version is posted on this page with a new effective date. Significant changes are announced in the app or in its update notes.

10. Contact

For anything about how your information is handled, email cyshim0715@gmail.com. Feedback sent from the app's All → My markers · Feedback · History → Feedback → Send Feedback reaches the same place.

Other languages

The full text is available in English and in 한국어. Below are summaries for readers of the app's other languages; where they differ, the Korean text governs.

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