Is This App Watching Me?

Let's say the scary part out loud, because everyone's thinking it: a dating app… that knows where you are. "She downloaded the app. Little did she know…" [cue horror-movie music].

It's a completely fair worry. So instead of brushing it off, let's pull Found apart and look at exactly how location actually works — because the truth is the opposite of the horror movie.

1. It's not following you around all day

The biggest fear is that the app is tracking you twenty-four-seven, quietly, in the background — knowing you went to the servo at 11pm. It isn't. Found only ever looks at your location when the app is open and you choose to check in. The moment you close it, it stops. Completely. No background tracking, none — Found is, deliberately, like a polite houseguest who leaves when you do.

2. Your location is blurry on purpose

Here's the clever part. Even when you do check in, Found never stores your exact spot. It rounds you off to a rough area — about a kilometre wide. So the system knows you're "around Bondi," not which couch cushion you're sitting on. Your precise pin is never written down anywhere someone could grab it.

3. Other users never see where you are

This is the one that matters most, so let's be crystal clear: another person never sees your location. Not a map, not a pin, not an address — nothing. What they see is a friendly little label like "a few blocks away" or "in your neighbourhood." It's a vibe, not a location. Your exact whereabouts stay locked in a private vault only you can open.

4. Locked by design — and never sold

That vault isn't a polite "please don't peek." Your exact coordinates live in a part of the system that's locked to you, and the rules literally forbid anyone else from reading it. It's a wall, baked in. And your location is only ever used for one thing — introducing you to a compatible person nearby. It is never sold to advertisers, never to anyone. You're not the product here.

5. Real people, and you stay in control

Safety isn't only about location. Found verifies real photos — a camera check plus AI that's genuinely good at catching fakes — so the people you meet are who they say they are. You can flip on invisible mode any time you want to disappear for a bit. And your contact details — your number, your Insta — are only ever shared when you both say yes. Mutual, or nothing.

Because for a dating app, trust isn't a feature you bolt on at the end. It's the whole foundation. Found was built by one person, from her apartment, with her own name on it — and when you build something like that, you don't cut corners on people's safety. You can't.