Privacy Policy

Last updated: 23 September 2026

Bike Universe respects your privacy and is committed to protecting your personal data.

This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect, why we collect it, how it is used and shared, and what rights you have when using Bike Universe.

1. Who We Are

Bike Universe is an independent cycling community project operated from Portugal.

For privacy, data protection, or account-related questions, contact us at support@bikeuniverse.xyz.

For the purposes of applicable data protection law, including the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Bike Universe is responsible for the processing described in this Privacy Policy.

2. Who Can Create an Account

Bike Universe accounts and account-based features are intended for users who are at least 18 years old.

We do not ask users to provide their date of birth and do not intentionally collect personal data from children through registered accounts.

If we become aware that an account has been created by a person under 18, we may delete the account and associated personal data where appropriate.

3. Information We Collect

Account and authentication information

When you create or use an account, we may process:

• your email address;
• account and authentication identifiers;
• display name;
• profile photo or avatar;
• country and city;
• account creation and confirmation information;
• sign-in activity;
• authentication provider information when you use services such as Google Sign-In.

Passwords and authentication credentials are handled through our authentication infrastructure. Bike Universe does not store passwords in plain text.

Profile and community information

Depending on the features you use, we may process information associated with your profile, including your display name, avatar, location information at country or city level, and community roles such as club member, business owner or event organizer.

Places and photos

When you add or contribute to a Place, we may process:

• information you submit about the Place;
• descriptions and categories;
• address and geographic coordinates;
• website, telephone number and opening hours where provided;
• uploaded photos and photo captions;
• your user identifier as the creator or uploader;
• timestamps and moderation or publication status.

Content submitted for publication may become publicly visible on Bike Universe.

Events

If you create or participate in cycling events, we may process:

• event information and description;
• organizer information;
• event dates and times;
• city, country and meeting point;
• geographic coordinates;
• distance, elevation, difficulty and bicycle type;
• event image;
• participation information and the time you joined an event.

Favorites and reviews

When you use community features, we may process:

• Places you save as favorites;
• ratings you give to Places;
• review comments;
• the relationship between your account and your submitted review;
• timestamps and moderation status.

Reviews and ratings intended for publication may be visible to other users and visitors.

Business claims

If you request control or verification of a business listing, we may additionally collect:

• contact name;
• role or relationship to the business;
• contact email;
• contact telephone number;
• information submitted for verification;
• claim and verification status.

Payments, subscriptions and promotions

Bike Universe may offer paid subscriptions, business listings, promotions or other paid features. Payments are processed using Stripe.

Bike Universe may store payment-related information such as:

• Stripe customer identifier;
• Stripe subscription identifier;
• payment or invoice identifier;
• subscription type and status;
• subscription period;
• information about paid promotions.

Bike Universe does not store your full payment card details in its own database. Payment card information is processed by the payment provider.

Communications

If you contact us, we may process your email address and the content of your correspondence so that we can respond to your request, provide support, investigate problems or handle privacy requests.

Technical, analytics and cookie information

When you visit Bike Universe, certain technical information may be processed automatically, including information associated with your browser, device, interaction with the service and website usage.

We use necessary storage required for the operation of the service. With your consent, we may also use Google Analytics and Google advertising or conversion technologies to understand how Bike Universe is used and to measure the effectiveness of our promotion.

Optional analytics and advertising technologies are controlled through our cookie consent mechanism.

4. How We Use Your Information

We process personal data where necessary to:

• create and maintain user accounts;
• authenticate users and secure accounts;
• provide Bike Universe features;
• display and manage Places, Events and community content;
• allow users to save Places, participate in Events and submit reviews;
• process business listing claims;
• administer subscriptions, promotions and payments;
• moderate content and prevent misuse;
• communicate with users and provide support;
• maintain the security and reliability of the service;
• comply with legal obligations;
• understand and improve Bike Universe;
• measure website usage and promotional performance where you have consented to optional analytics or advertising technologies.

5. Legal Bases for Processing

Performance of a contract or steps taken at your request: where processing is necessary to create and operate your account, provide requested features, manage subscriptions or provide paid services.

Legitimate interests: where necessary to operate, secure, moderate, maintain and improve Bike Universe, provided those interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms.

Consent: where required, including for optional analytics and advertising technologies. You may withdraw your consent through the available cookie settings.

Legal obligations: where processing is required to comply with applicable law, accounting requirements, lawful requests or other legal obligations.

6. Public Content

Bike Universe is a community platform. Information that you intentionally submit for publication may be visible publicly.

This can include:

• your display name and avatar;
• Places you create;
• uploaded photographs and captions;
• Events you organize;
• ratings and reviews;
• business listing information.

You should not publish personal or confidential information that you do not want to make public. Public content may also be accessible to search engines or third parties outside Bike Universe.

7. Services We Use

Bike Universe relies on third-party service providers to operate the platform. These currently include:

• Supabase — authentication, database infrastructure and file/photo storage.
• Vercel — application hosting and delivery infrastructure.
• Stripe — payment, subscription and billing processing.
• Google — Google Sign-In when selected by the user, Google Analytics and advertising/conversion measurement where consent has been provided, and links to Google Maps for navigation.
• OpenStreetMap — map data and map tiles.
• Nominatim / OpenStreetMap — geocoding functionality.

These providers may process information according to their respective roles and privacy terms.

We may also disclose information where required by law, necessary to protect the service or its users, or in connection with the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims.

8. International Data Transfers

Some service providers used by Bike Universe may process or store personal data outside Portugal or the European Economic Area.

Where international transfers of personal data are subject to the GDPR, applicable legal transfer mechanisms and safeguards are used where required.

9. Data Retention

We retain personal data only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, including providing the service, maintaining security, resolving disputes and complying with legal, accounting or regulatory requirements.

Account information is generally retained while your account remains active.

User-generated content may remain available while it forms part of the Bike Universe community service, unless it is deleted, removed through moderation or subject to a valid deletion request.

Payment and transaction-related records may need to be retained for longer periods where required for accounting, fraud prevention, dispute resolution or legal compliance.

Some information may temporarily remain in backups or technical records after deletion from the active service. Such information will not normally be restored to active use except where required for recovery, security or legal purposes.

10. Your Data Protection Rights

Depending on applicable law and the circumstances of the processing, you may have the right to:

• access personal data we hold about you;
• correct inaccurate or incomplete information;
• request deletion of your personal data;
• request restriction of processing;
• object to certain processing;
• receive certain personal data in a portable format;
• withdraw consent where processing is based on consent;
• lodge a complaint with a competent data protection supervisory authority.

These rights are not absolute and may be subject to conditions or exceptions under applicable law.

To exercise your privacy rights, contact support@bikeuniverse.xyz.

We may need to verify your identity before completing certain requests.

11. Cookies and Similar Technologies

Bike Universe uses necessary technologies required for website and account functionality.

Optional analytics and advertising technologies are used only according to the choices available through our cookie consent system.

You can accept or reject optional technologies and change your preferences using the available cookie controls.

12. Security

We use reasonable technical and organizational measures intended to protect personal data against unauthorized access, loss, misuse, alteration or disclosure.

However, no online service or method of electronic storage can guarantee absolute security.

13. Third-Party Links

Bike Universe may contain links to external websites and services, including websites associated with Places, businesses, events and navigation services.

Bike Universe is not responsible for the privacy practices of independent third-party websites. We recommend reviewing their privacy information before providing personal data.

14. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy when Bike Universe changes, when new features or service providers are introduced, or when legal requirements change.

The current version will be published on Bike Universe with its latest revision date. Material changes may also be communicated through the service where appropriate.

15. Contact

Bike Universe
Portugal
Email: support@bikeuniverse.xyz