Last updated: 24 August 2026
This policy explains what MeetupMoto does with your personal information, in plain language. It describes what the platform actually does — not a generic template.
The short version
- You can browse most of MeetupMoto without an account. To join groups, post, or attend rides you need to register.
- Analytics and session-recording tools are switched off until you accept them. If you decline, they never run.
- We do not sell your personal information, and we do not share it with advertisers or data brokers.
- We do use a small number of third-party services to run the platform — email delivery, maps, push notifications, analytics. They are all listed below.
- You can ask for a copy of your data, or ask us to delete it, at any time.
Who we are
MeetupMoto (“we”, “us”) operates meetupmoto.com and is the controller of the personal data described in this policy, based in the United Kingdom. Registered business details are available on request.
For anything to do with privacy or your data, contact [email protected].
What we collect, and why
Your account
When you register we collect your name or chosen username, email address and password (stored encrypted, never in readable form). Your profile may also hold a photo, cover image, bio, location, riding interests, the bikes you ride, and anything else you choose to add. Profile information is visible to other members, and parts of it may be visible to the public and to search engines — so treat your profile as public.
What you post and do
We store the content you create and the record of your activity on the platform:
- Activity posts, comments, replies and reactions
- Forum topics and replies
- Photos, videos, documents and other media you upload
- Groups you join or run, and events and ride-outs you create or attend
- Private messages between you and other members
- Ride journal entries
- Course enrolments, quiz answers, assignment submissions and grades, if you take a course
- Points, badges, achievements and leaderboard positions
- Reports you make about other members or content, and any moderation action taken
Private messages are private between the participants, but they are not end-to-end encrypted. They are stored on our servers, and administrators can technically access them — for example when investigating a safety report. We do not read them routinely.
Location
MeetupMoto is built around riding, so location matters. We may hold the general location on your profile, the locations of rides and events, and map data for routes and meeting points. Maps are provided by Google Maps.
If you use the mobile app and grant location permission, the app may use your device location to show rides near you. You can withdraw that permission in your device settings at any time.
A word of caution: photos can carry hidden GPS coordinates in their EXIF data. If you upload a photo taken at your home, that location may travel with the file. Consider stripping location data from photos before uploading.
Advertising on the platform
We show sponsored posts in the activity feed. When an ad is shown to you or you click one, we record that against your member ID so we can report to advertisers on how their ads performed and limit how often you see the same one.
This is measurement we do ourselves, on our own servers. We do not run third-party ad networks, we do not use advertising trackers, and we do not share your identity with advertisers — they receive counts and totals, never a list of who you are.
Technical information
Like any website, our servers record your IP address, browser and device type, and the pages you request. We use this to keep the site running, diagnose faults, and detect abuse and attacks.
Cookies, analytics and session recording
Essential cookies keep you logged in, remember your display preferences and protect forms against abuse. These are necessary for the site to work and cannot be switched off.
Analytics cookies are off by default. The first time you visit we ask. Nothing below runs unless you accept, and you can change your mind at any time:
- Google Analytics — tells us how many people visit, which pages are popular and how people arrive. Provided by Google.
- Microsoft Clarity — this one deserves a plain explanation. Clarity records how pages are used: mouse movement, clicks, scrolling and taps, replayed as an anonymised session. It helps us find confusing or broken parts of the site. It is a recording of on-screen behaviour, so we ask before it runs. Provided by Microsoft.
If you decline, these scripts are never loaded at all — they are not simply set to ignore you.
Who else handles your information
We use these services to operate MeetupMoto. Each one only receives what it needs to do its job.
| Service | What it does | What it receives |
|---|---|---|
| Hetzner (Germany) | Hosts the website and database | Everything, as our hosting provider |
| Amazon Web Services (SES) | Sends our emails — notifications, password resets | Your email address and message content |
| Google Maps | Maps for rides, events and locations | Your IP address and what you view on a map |
| OneSignal | Push notifications to the mobile app | A device token, not your name |
| Google Analytics | Visitor statistics (only with consent) | Usage data and identifiers |
| Microsoft Clarity | Session replay and heatmaps (only with consent) | On-screen interaction data |
| Patchstack | Security monitoring | Security-related technical data |
| Gravatar (Automattic) | Profile images, where used | A one-way hash of your email address |
We do not sell your personal information, and we do not share it with data brokers or advertising networks.
Where your information goes
We are based in the United Kingdom and our servers are in Germany, which is covered by a UK adequacy decision. Some of the services above are based in the United States — Amazon SES, Google, Microsoft and OneSignal — so certain information is transferred there. Those transfers rely on the UK International Data Transfer Addendum to the standard contractual clauses, or on equivalent safeguards those providers offer.
How long we keep things
- Your account and profile — for as long as your account is open.
- Posts, comments and uploads — kept while your account is open. If you delete your account, we remove or anonymise your content. Content already quoted or replied to by others may remain in that context.
- Private messages — kept while the conversation exists. Deleting your copy does not delete the other person’s.
- Email delivery logs — 14 days.
- Ad impression and click records — the link to your account is removed after 90 days, leaving anonymous totals for advertiser reporting. Where an advertiser has set a longer conversion window, we keep the link only as long as measuring that window requires. Deleting your account removes the link immediately.
- Security and server logs — a short rolling window, then overwritten.
- Moderation and safety records — kept longer where we need them to keep the community safe or to meet a legal obligation.
Your rights
Wherever you live, you can ask us to:
- Show you what personal data we hold about you, and give you a copy
- Correct anything inaccurate — most of it you can edit yourself in your profile
- Delete your account and personal data
- Restrict or object to particular uses of your data
- Take your data elsewhere in a portable format
- Withdraw consent for analytics, at any time, using the button above
Email [email protected] and we will respond within one month. These rights come from the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018.
If you are not happy with how we handle your request you can complain to the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office at ico.org.uk. If you live outside the UK, you can complain to the data protection authority where you live instead.
Keeping it safe
The site runs over encrypted connections, passwords are stored hashed rather than in readable form, and access to the servers is restricted and monitored. No system is perfectly secure, but if a breach ever affects your personal data we will tell you and the relevant authority as required.
Young riders
MeetupMoto is intended for adults. You must be at least 18 to hold an account. We do not knowingly collect information from children, and if we learn that we have, we will delete it.
Changes to this policy
If we change how we handle your information we will update this page and change the date at the top. For anything significant we will tell you directly rather than relying on you to notice.
Contact
Questions, requests or complaints: [email protected].