Glowstreet privacy policy

Effective 12 October 2026. Last updated 25 October 2026.

In short

The full policy below has the detail. In summary:

• Glowstreet is a free community map of decorated homes and streets, run by POWR DATA Pty Ltd in Brisbane, Australia. You can view it from anywhere. Glow spots can be added in Australia and New Zealand.
• You can browse without an account. An account needs an email, a username, a password and an icon style. You can save a home area, which is a suburb or postcode.
• Pins are public. A new glow shows the street and suburb only, at an approximate point. A leveled-up glow shows the address the map shows.
• Pins can carry over to the next year as unverified, as a guide to popular areas.
• If your home is on the map, you can ask for it to be removed. We check the request with a simple proof of address, then delete that proof. Once we confirm a request, we remove the pin and block the address.
• We do not sell personal information. News emails are opt-in only.
• You can see, correct and delete your information, and complain to us or to the privacy regulator where you live.

1. About this policy

Glowstreet is run by POWR DATA Pty Ltd (ACN 692 119 476, ABN 37 692 119 476), Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. In this policy "POWR DATA", "we", "our" and "us" mean POWR DATA Pty Ltd. We are responsible for the personal information described here.

This policy covers the Glowstreet app, glowstreet.app, the Glowstreet AI connector, and the emails and support we provide for them.

We handle personal information in line with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles, including the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme. For people in New Zealand we follow the Privacy Act 2020. Section 20 explains extra rights for people in the European Union, the United Kingdom and some US states.

Read this policy together with the Glowstreet Terms of Use at glowstreet.app/terms.

2. Who this policy applies to

This policy applies to:

• people who browse the map, wherever they are
• people who create an account and add, verify, rate or report glow spots
• people who live at a home shown on the map
• people who ask for a home to be removed
• people who contact us

3. Information we collect

We collect only what we need to run Glowstreet.

3.1 Account information

If you create an account, we collect:

• your email address
• your username
• your password, stored as a secure hash that we cannot read
• your icon style
• a home area, if you save one. This is a suburb or postcode, and the point we store is the centre of that area rounded to about 1 kilometre
• the date and version of the terms you accepted
• whether you opted in to news emails, and when
• a random account id that links these details together. If you delete your account, we delete the details. The id stays only in our internal records (section 16)
• whether your email is confirmed and whether your account is limited or suspended

3.2 What you add to the map

We keep the glow spots you add, your verifications, "Not there" flags, star ratings, and the reports you send with any note you write. We use these to build the map, glow levels, hot streets and your contributor rank.

3.3 What you can type

Glowstreet has no comments, messages, photos or public profiles. The only free text you can enter is your username, an address search (which must end with an address picked from a list), and an optional note on a report that only POWR DATA reads. Please do not include other people's personal information in any of these. What you type in an address or place search is sent to Photon, as described in 3.5.

3.4 Information about homes and the people who live there

Each pin records a location, a street address picked from an address list, the street, suburb, state, postcode and country, and glow details such as type and preset tags.

A street address does not name anyone. But it can be personal information about the people who live there, because it can be linked to them. We treat it with care:

• unverified pins show the street and suburb only, and the public map point is rounded to about 100 metres
• full addresses appear only once local people have confirmed the glow is real
• we do not collect residents' names, phone numbers or photos
• residents can ask for their home to be removed (section 8)
• an address we block after a resident's request cannot be added again while the block is in place (section 8)

3.5 Device location

If you allow it, the app uses your device location while it is open to centre the map and show glows nearby. Location is optional. If you say no, the map opens on Brisbane or on your saved home area.

We do not store your device location and we do not track where you go.

When you search for an address or place, what you type is sent to Photon, a search service run by Komoot in Germany, together with the map position you are looking at, rounded to about 1 km. When you tap or drop a pin and our own address files have no address within 40 m, the pin's coordinates are sent to Photon too. When you tap "Use my location", your device's coordinates are sent to Photon to find the nearest suburb. We do not send your name, email or account details. If you save that suburb as your home area, we store the suburb's centre, not your device's position.

The area of the map you are looking at is sent to our servers so we can load the pins in view.

3.6 Reports, removal requests and proof

If you report a pin, email us or ask for a home to be removed, we keep your message, your contact details and the address involved.

If you ask for your home to be removed, we ask for proof that you live at or are responsible for the property. Section 8 explains what we ask for and how quickly we delete it.

3.7 Technical information

Our hosting, map and search providers process technical information such as your IP address, browser or device type and request times, so they can deliver the service and keep it secure. Our servers keep security logs and rate-limit counters for a short time.

We do not use session replay. We keep an activity log of sign-up, sign-in, adds, ratings, reports, and errors, stored with the account id only, and delete it after 90 days.

4. How we collect information

We collect information:

• from you, when you sign up, add to the map, change your profile or contact us
• automatically, when your device talks to our servers and our providers
• from public sources, for some pins (see below)
• from other users, when they add, verify, rate or report a pin

Pins from public sources

To help the map start with real glows, we add some pins from public sources such as news stories, public groups and community lists of decorated homes. These pins:

• are added as unverified, so they show the street and suburb only
• include the glow location and short glow details, not people's names or posts
• can be confirmed, flagged "Not there" or removed like any other pin

Pins from last year

Pins can carry over from one year to the next as unverified. They are a guide to popular areas while the community verifies them again or flags them "Not there". A carried-over pin shows the street and suburb only until it is verified again.

5. Why we use information

We use personal information to:

• create and run your account
• show the map, glow levels, hot streets and your contributor rank
• check that pins are real and keep the map accurate
• carry pins over between years as a guide to popular areas
• deal with reports, removal requests and misuse
• send account emails, such as email confirmation and password resets
• send news emails, only if you opt in
• keep Glowstreet secure and stop spam and abuse
• fix problems and improve Glowstreet
• meet our legal obligations

We do not sell personal information.

6. What is public

Anyone can see pins, their street and suburb, the full address of verified pins, glow type and tags, glow levels, rating counts and averages, verification counts and when a pin was last confirmed.

Your username, email and home area are not shown on pins. Your verifications, flags, ratings and reports are not shown with your name. The only exception is when we feature a glow spot you added, as set out below.

Public pins can also be seen through the AI connector (section 11) and in links people share.

We may feature glow spots on glowstreet.app and our social channels. When we do, we may show the username of the member who added the glow spot and the glow spot's suburb. We never show the street or address in these features, and we never publish your real name unless you agree. If you would rather we didn't show your username, email hello@glowstreet.app.

7. Children and young people

Anyone can view the map, including children with a parent or carer.

You must be 16 or over to create an account, or older if the law where you live requires it. By signing up, you confirm you are 16 or over. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 16.

If we learn that someone under 16 has an account, we will delete it. If you are a parent or carer and think your child has an account, email us.

We will review this section when the Australian Children's Online Privacy Code takes effect.

8. If your home is on the map

You can ask for your home to be removed at any time.

• In the app, open the pin, tap Report and choose "This is my home, please don't share it".
• Or email hello@glowstreet.app with the address. You do not need an account.

While we review your request, we may hide the street number or the pin.

Proof we ask for

We ask for reasonable proof that you live at the property or are responsible for it. You choose one of:

• a recent bill, rates notice, lease, insurance notice or official letter showing the address, with your name, account numbers and other details blacked out
• a photo of the front of the property taken from the street, showing a handwritten note with a reference code we email you, with no people or number plates in the photo
• another reasonable option we agree with you

We do not ask for passports, driver licences or other identity documents. Please do not send them. If you do, we delete them straight away.

If being on the map puts you or someone in your home at risk, tell us. We hide the pin as soon as we see your request. We do not ask for proof.

We aim to acknowledge and decide within 7 days of receiving proof.

How we handle proof

• Proof is used only to check your request.
• It is kept in a restricted mailbox or storage area that only the people reviewing removal requests can open.
• We delete it within 7 days of our decision, or within 7 days of closing a request that went unanswered.
• We keep only a short record of the request: the address, the date, the type of proof checked, the outcome and the reason. We keep this so the address stays blocked and so we can answer questions about the decision.

Once we confirm a request, we remove the pin and block the address. It cannot be added again, in any season, while the block is in place. We keep a private record of the location so it stays off the map. We can lift the block if we change our decision, for example after a review. Please think about this before you ask.

If we cannot confirm your request, the pin may go back to normal, or we may keep it at street level only.

The Terms of Use (section 10) set out the timeframes and how to ask for a review.

9. Emails

We send account emails that you need, such as email confirmation, password resets and replies to your requests. You cannot turn these off while you have an account.

When you sign up, a separate box lets you choose to get news about Glowstreet and other POWR DATA products. It starts unticked. If you tick it, we record the date and time you opted in.

You can turn news off at any time in Profile or with the unsubscribe link in any news email. We follow the Spam Act 2003 (Cth), the New Zealand Unsolicited Electronic Messages Act 2007 and similar laws where you live.

Emails are sent through Resend from mail.glowstreet.app.

10. Reports and moderation

Anyone with an account can report a pin. The reasons are Offensive, Fake, Privacy, "This is my home, please don't share it" and Other. You can add a note.

We keep your report, the reason, your note and the pin it is about. Only POWR DATA reads reports. Other people never see who reported.

A report does not remove a pin by itself. A "This is my home, please don't share it" report starts a removal request (section 8). We read every report. We aim to review reports within 24 hours.

When we review a report, we keep the pin, hide it or remove it. We can put a hidden pin back. Removing a pin after a report does not block the address. Only a confirmed removal request does that (section 8).

A pin can also leave the map when its owner removes it, when enough people flag it "Not there", or when the person who added it deletes their account. Those pins are removed, not blocked. The address can be added again later.

There is no block button. Glowstreet does not show who added a pin, so there is no one to block. Report the pin instead.

If you delete your account, we delete the reports you made, including your notes (section 16).

11. The Glowstreet AI connector

We run a public, read-only connector so AI assistants such as ChatGPT and Claude can look up glow spots and hot streets. The address is https://mcp.glowstreet.app/mcp.

A lookup takes a suburb, postcode, or area. It does not take a precise coordinate from the assistant. A new glow is shared as the street and suburb only, with the point rounded to about 100 metres. A leveled-up glow can include the address the map already shows. The connector never shares account details, emails, who rated or reported a pin, or removal requests.

People choose to add a display. If your home is on the map, you can ask for it to come down as section 8 describes, including by email to hello@glowstreet.app without an account.

When you use an AI assistant, what you type and the answers you get are handled by that assistant's provider under its own privacy policy. We receive only the lookup request, such as an area or suburb, plus the technical information in section 3.7. We keep a place name for up to 30 days so we do not look it up again, and a hash of the caller address for about five minutes to limit how often one network can ask. We do not store the raw network address. We also keep a daily count of connector requests, the tool that was called, and whether the call failed. That count uses Brisbane time, stores no query, address, account or network address, and is deleted after 90 days. Photon receives the place name when it is not already saved. Map pictures are drawn on our server from OpenFreeMap tiles and kept for about ten minutes. The card inside the assistant does not load scripts or tiles from anyone else. Connector requests pass through Cloudflare at mcp.glowstreet.app.

Approximate locations and private homes

Glow spot locations shown through AI assistants, and on maps people share, are approximate. A spot may be a private residence. View it from the street, respect privacy, and do not trespass.

12. When we share information

We share personal information only:

• with the service providers in section 13, so they can run parts of Glowstreet for us
• where the law requires or allows it, for example a lawful request from police or a court
• where needed to prevent or lessen a serious threat to someone's life, health or safety
• to investigate misuse, unlawful activity or a security incident
• with professional advisers or insurers where reasonably necessary
• if POWR DATA sells or restructures the business, with the new owner, who must protect it in the same way
• with your consent

Providers receive only what they need for their role.

13. Service providers and where information goes

This list is current as at the last-updated date at the top of this policy. We update it when our main providers change.

The Australian and New Zealand address files load from data.glowstreet.app. Your device asks for the file that matches the street, suburb or map square you are looking at. The request carries no account details, but the host sees your IP address and which file you asked for.

The Apple App Store and Google Play distribute the app. They do not receive the information you add to Glowstreet.

Because we are based in Australia and our providers are in several countries, your information may be processed outside the country where you live. When we send personal information to another country, we take reasonable steps to make sure it is protected:

• for Australia, in a way consistent with the Australian Privacy Principles
• for New Zealand, with protections comparable to the Privacy Act 2020
• for the European Economic Area and the United Kingdom, using the European Commission's standard contractual clauses or the UK addendum, or another lawful transfer method

Providers may also have to follow the laws of their own countries.

14. How we protect information

We take reasonable steps to protect personal information from misuse, interference, loss and unauthorised access, change or disclosure. These include:

• encryption in transit (HTTPS) and encryption at rest in our database
• database rules so each person can read and change only their own account details
• masking unverified pins in every public read, not only in the app screen
• passwords stored as secure hashes
• server-side checks before anything is added or changed
• rate limits to stop spam and bulk scraping
• restricted admin access with strong sign-in protection
• keeping removal proof in a restricted place and deleting it quickly
• keeping secret keys off devices and out of the app

No system is perfectly secure. Use a strong, unique password and tell us straight away if you think your account has been misused.

15. How long we keep information

We keep personal information only as long as we need it.

When we no longer need information, we delete it or make it anonymous.

16. Deleting your account

You can delete your account in Profile, or at glowstreet.app/delete-account.

When you delete your account, we delete:

• your email address, username and password
• your sign-in details
• your profile, icon style, home area and settings
• your news email choice
• the reports you made, including your notes
• your ratings and verifications. Pin levels are worked out again without them.

We keep a random account number in our internal records of changes to pins and ratings. It is not your name or your email. We cannot use it to find out who you are.

Pins you added that have not leveled up are removed from the map. The address can be added again later.

Pins that have leveled up stay on the map. Other people have confirmed them. They show no name.

Records of how the app was used are deleted after 90 days. If you have a removal request that is still open, we keep your email on it so we can finish it.

Copies may stay in encrypted backups until those backups expire. If a backup is ever restored, we apply deletions again.

17. Accessing and correcting your information

You can see and change most of your account details in Profile.

You can also ask us to:

• give you a copy of the personal information we hold about you
• correct information that is wrong, out of date or misleading
• explain how we have handled your information

Email hello@glowstreet.app. If you have an account, we will usually ask you to write from the email on your account. We only ask for more if we need it. We aim to respond within 30 days. There is no charge to make a request. If we refuse a request, we will explain why and tell you how to complain.

18. Data breaches

If we suspect a data breach, we will assess it quickly, and within 30 days.

If a breach is likely to cause serious harm, we will tell the people affected and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, as the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme requires. We will also notify other regulators and affected people where their laws require it, such as the New Zealand Privacy Commissioner, or an EU or UK regulator within 72 hours.

19. Complaints

If you think we have mishandled your personal information, email hello@glowstreet.app. Tell us what happened, when, and what outcome you would like. We will acknowledge your complaint and aim to respond within 30 days.

If you are not happy with our response, you can contact the privacy regulator where you live, for example:

• Australia: Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, www.oaic.gov.au, 1300 363 992
• New Zealand: Office of the Privacy Commissioner, www.privacy.org.nz, 0800 803 909
• United Kingdom: Information Commissioner's Office, ico.org.uk
• European Union: your local data protection authority, listed at edpb.europa.eu

20. Extra information for people in other countries

Glowstreet can be used from anywhere. If the privacy law where you live applies to us, you have the rights that law gives you, as well as the rights in this policy.

European Economic Area and United Kingdom

If the EU General Data Protection Regulation or the UK GDPR applies, POWR DATA is the controller of your personal information. We rely on these legal bases:

• contract, to run your account and the map features you use
• legitimate interests, to keep the map accurate, keep Glowstreet secure, moderate pins, carry pins over between years and handle removal requests. Our interest is a useful, safe community map, and we limit what is public to protect residents
• consent, for news emails and the optional device location. You can withdraw consent at any time
• legal obligation, where the law requires us to keep or share information

You have the right to access, correct, delete, restrict or object to our use of your information, and to receive your information in a portable format. You can object at any time to the use of your home's address under legitimate interests, using the removal process in section 8. You can also complain to your local data protection authority.

United States

Some US state privacy laws, such as the California Consumer Privacy Act, give residents rights to know, correct and delete their personal information. We do not sell personal information. We do not share it for targeted advertising. We will not treat you differently for using these rights.

Other countries

If you live elsewhere and your local privacy law gives you rights, email us and we will help.

21. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy when Glowstreet, our providers or the law change. The current version is always at glowstreet.app/privacy, with its effective and last-updated dates at the top.

If a change significantly affects how we handle information you have already given us, we will tell you in the app or by email first, and ask for consent where needed.

22. Contact us

Privacy Officer

POWR DATA Pty Ltd

Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

Email: hello@glowstreet.app

Website: glowstreet.app