The short version
- We use your data to run PacePal: to find runs and runners near you, track your runs, and award points.
- We use your precise location to show nearby runs and, while you are recording a run, to track it, even with the screen off.
- We never sell your data and we do not use it for advertising.
- Accessibility details you choose to share (for example if you are a blind or wheelchair runner) are only used with your consent, to help match you with suitable runs and guides.
- You can delete your account and its data at any time from inside the app.
1. Who we are
PacePal is run by PacePal Ltd, a company registered in England and Wales (company number 15571409), with its registered office at [REGISTERED OFFICE ADDRESS]. In this policy, “PacePal”, “we”, “us” and “our” mean PacePal Ltd.
We are the data controller for the personal information described in this policy, which covers the PacePal mobile app for iPhone and Android and the website at pacepal.co.uk. We are registered with the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) under registration number [ICO REGISTRATION NUMBER].
If you have any questions about this policy or your data, email us at info@pacepal.co.uk.
2. What we collect
Information you give us
- Account details: your name, email address and password (stored only in encrypted, hashed form). If you sign in with Apple or Google, we receive your name, email address and an account identifier from them instead of a password.
- Profile details: date of birth, gender, phone number, country, city, postcode, profile photo, a short “about me”, your running level and your preferred units (km or miles).
- Accessibility details (optional): whether you are a blind runner, a wheelchair runner, can guide blind runners, or have any additional needs you choose to tell us about. Because this can reveal information about your health, we treat it as special category data and only process it with your explicit consent. You can remove it from your profile at any time.
- Runs, clubs and leaderboards you create: for example the start location, date, time, distance, pace, terrain, group size and privacy settings of a run you host.
- Messages: the content of one-to-one, run and club chats you send through the app.
- Reports and blocks: if you report or block another user, we keep a record of who was reported or blocked and why.
- Reward orders: if you claim a reward, we collect the delivery details needed to send it to you (such as your city, state or county, postcode, country, email address and clothing size) and, only where a courier or customs process requires it, a national ID number.
- Referral codes you share or use, and anything you send us when you contact support.
Information collected when you use the app
- Precise location: with your permission, we use your device’s GPS location to show runs and runners near you, to set the location of runs you host, and to record your route, distance, duration and pace. While you are recording a run, the app continues to collect your location in the background (for example when your screen is locked) so your run is tracked accurately. We do not collect your location in the background when you are not recording a run.
- Run and activity data: your recorded routes, start and end points, distance, duration, pace, route images, the runs you join, and the points you earn.
- Location searches: places you search for in the app, so we can show relevant results and recent searches.
- Device and technical information: device model, brand and name, operating system and version, app version, screen size, time zone, language, mobile carrier, network type, battery level and charging state, and a push-notification token. We use this to keep the app working reliably, to fix problems, and to keep run tracking running when battery-saving settings might stop it.
- Crash reports: if the app crashes, we collect technical details about the error and your device so we can fix it.
Information from your contacts (optional)
If you choose to find friends from your contacts, the app reads the phone numbers in your address book on your device and sends them to our servers only to check which of your contacts already use PacePal. We do not read or upload your contacts’ names, and we do not store your contacts’ phone numbers after the check.
Photos and camera (optional)
If you allow it, the app can use your camera or photo library so you can set a profile photo or share a run. We only access the photos you pick, and we only save images to your library when you ask us to.
Information from connected apps (optional)
If you connect Strava, Garmin or Suunto, we receive your account identifier and the access tokens needed to keep the connection working, along with your activity data from that service (such as routes, distance, duration and pace) so your runs appear in PacePal and earn points. You can disconnect at any time from Connected Apps in the app.
3. How we use your information
- To create and manage your account, and to let you sign in.
- To show you runs, run clubs, leaderboards and runners near you, and to let you host and join runs.
- To record your runs and calculate your distance, pace and PacePal points.
- To help you add pals, message other runners and keep groups in the loop.
- To send you notifications you have asked for, such as run invites, join requests and messages.
- To help match runners with suitable runs and guides, if you have shared accessibility details.
- To send rewards you have claimed.
- To send important service emails, such as verification codes and password resets.
- To keep PacePal safe: investigating reports, enforcing blocks and preventing misuse.
- To find and fix bugs and crashes, and to improve the app.
- To comply with the law.
We do not sell your personal information, and we do not use it for advertising or advertising profiles.
4. Our legal bases
Under UK data protection law (UK GDPR), we rely on the following legal bases:
- Contract: to provide the PacePal service you signed up for, including your account, runs, run tracking, points, messaging and rewards.
- Consent: for precise and background location, contacts, camera and photos, push notifications and connected apps. You give this through your device’s permission prompts or in the app, and you can withdraw it at any time.
- Explicit consent: for accessibility details that may reveal health information.
- Legitimate interests: to keep PacePal safe and secure, to fix crashes and improve the app, and to handle reports. We only rely on this where our interests are not outweighed by your rights.
- Legal obligation: where we must keep or share information by law.
5. What other runners can see
PacePal is a social app, so some of your information is visible to other users:
- Your name, profile photo, running level and city are visible to other PacePal users, for example in search results and pal suggestions.
- Runs you host are visible to other runners, unless you make them private, Pals Only or Favourites Only.
- Other people on a run, club or leaderboard can see that you have joined it, and leaderboards show your points.
- Messages you send are visible to the people in that conversation.
Your email address, phone number, date of birth and exact home location are not shown to other users in the app.
7. International transfers
Some of our service providers, such as Google, may process your information outside the UK. When this happens, we make sure appropriate safeguards are in place, such as a UK adequacy decision or the UK International Data Transfer Agreement or Addendum.
8. How long we keep it
- We keep your account information and run history for as long as your account is open.
- When you delete your account in the app, we delete your account and the runs, leaderboards and related requests and notifications you created, and remove you from runs, clubs and leaderboards you had joined. Backups are overwritten within [BACKUP RETENTION PERIOD].
- We keep crash reports and technical logs for [LOG RETENTION PERIOD].
- We keep reward order details for [ORDER RETENTION PERIOD] for accounting and legal reasons.
- We may keep reports about a user for longer where needed to keep the community safe or to meet legal obligations.
9. Keeping it safe
We protect your information with technical and organisational measures, including encrypted connections (HTTPS) between the app and our servers, hashed passwords, and access controls that limit who can see personal data. No system is completely secure, but we work hard to protect your data and will tell you and the ICO if a breach puts your rights at risk.
10. Your choices and app permissions
- Location, contacts, camera, photos and notifications: you can turn each one on or off at any time in your phone’s settings. Some features, like run tracking and nearby runs, will not work without location.
- Profile and accessibility details: you can edit or remove these in the app at any time.
- Run privacy: you can make runs you host private, Pals Only or Favourites Only.
- Connected apps: you can disconnect Strava, Garmin or Suunto from Connected Apps in the app.
- Blocking: you can block users to stop them interacting with you on PacePal.
- Deleting your account: you can delete your account from your profile settings in the app, or by emailing info@pacepal.co.uk.
11. Your rights
Under UK data protection law, you have the right to:
- ask for a copy of the personal information we hold about you;
- ask us to correct information that is wrong or incomplete;
- ask us to delete your information;
- ask us to restrict how we use your information;
- object to us using your information on the basis of legitimate interests;
- receive your information in a portable, machine-readable format;
- withdraw your consent at any time, without affecting anything we did before you withdrew it.
To use any of these rights, email info@pacepal.co.uk. We will reply within one month. If you are unhappy with how we have handled your information, you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office at ico.org.uk, but we would appreciate the chance to sort it out with you first.
12. Age requirement
You must be at least 18 years old to use PacePal. We do not knowingly collect information from anyone under 18. If you believe someone under 18 has created an account, please email info@pacepal.co.uk and we will delete it.
13. This website and cookies
This website does not use advertising or analytics cookies, and does not track you across other sites. The pace calculator on this website runs entirely in your browser, and nothing you type into it is sent to us. Links to the App Store, Google Play, Instagram and TikTok take you to those services, whose own privacy policies apply.
14. Changes to this policy
We may update this policy from time to time, for example when we add new features. We will change the “last updated” date at the top of this page, and if the changes are significant we will tell you in the app or by email before they take effect.
15. Contact us
Email: info@pacepal.co.uk
Post: PacePal Ltd, [REGISTERED OFFICE ADDRESS]