Privacy

Last updated October 14, 2026

Who we are

Porchlight is a small, independent app based in California. It lets you tell a few friends and neighbors when you're home and up for company, and send simple event invites. You can reach us at [email protected].

Porchlight is for adults. You must be 18 or older to use it.

What we collect, and why

Your account

When you sign in with Apple or Google, we receive your name and email address. If you use Apple's Hide My Email, we only see the private relay address Apple gives us. We use this to run your account and to contact you about it.

Your phone number

Members add a phone number so friends who already have it in their contacts can find them on Porchlight. We don't show it to anyone.

Contacts you choose to share

If you share your contacts, we store the names and phone numbers in them. We use them only to show you which of your contacts are on Porchlight and to help you invite the rest. We never contact the people in your contacts ourselves: invites go out from your own phone. You can stop sharing and remove your uploaded contacts at any time.

What you do in Porchlight

• Your circles and the people in them.
• When your light is on, the note you add, and who responds with "Swing by" or "Next time."
• Where you're hosting: your home address if you share it with a circle, or another place you choose, such as a park or a local business.
• Events you create or are invited to, RSVPs, host updates and comments.
• If you host events for a business, the business's name and the events you post.

Guests who RSVP on the web

To RSVP from an event's web page, guests give us their name plus an email address, or a phone number with their consent to receive texts about that event. We only text people who agreed to it, and only about events they RSVP'd to; reply STOP to any text to opt out. Event updates and comments are in the app.

Technical information

To send notifications, we keep a push token for your device. Our servers also keep basic logs, such as the app version and errors, so we can keep Porchlight running and secure.

Who else handles your information

We don't sell your information, and we don't share it with advertisers, data brokers or anyone who wants to market to you.

A few companies help us run Porchlight: hosting and database providers, Apple and Google for sign-in and push notifications, email and text-message providers for messages about events you've joined, and Cloudflare for this website. They process information only to provide their service to us, under contracts that limit what they can do with it.

We'll disclose information if the law requires it, and only as much as it requires.

How long we keep it

• Your light turns off on its own, and light history is deleted automatically after a short period.
• Everything else stays until you delete it or delete your account.
• When you delete your account, we delete your information within 30 days, except where the law requires us to keep something longer.

Your choices

• Choose which circle sees each light, and hide your address from any circle.
• Turn off contacts access in your phone's settings and remove contacts you've shared.
• Download a copy of your information, or delete your account, from the app's settings or by emailing [email protected]. See how to delete your account.

California privacy rights

If you live in California, you can ask what personal information we hold about you, ask us to correct or delete it, and ask how we use it. We don't sell personal information or share it for advertising. Email [email protected] to make a request; we won't treat you differently for making one.

Security

Information is encrypted in transit, and access to our systems is limited to the people who run Porchlight. No system is perfectly secure; if something goes wrong that affects you, we'll tell you.

Changes to this policy

If we change this policy, we'll update the date above and tell you in the app before the change takes effect. We won't weaken the four promises for information we already have without asking you first.