Where Next Privacy Policy

Last updated: 6 November 2026

1. About this policy

This privacy policy explains how Where Next handles information when you:

• use the Where Next mobile application;
• visit https://wherenext.dev;
• use features provided through the Where Next API; or
• contact us.

Where Next is operated by Our Family of 5 Ltd (“Where Next”, “we”, “us” or “our”).

For UK data-protection purposes, the data controller is:

Our Family of 5 Ltd
Email: hello@wherenext.dev
Address: 17 Stonehenge Croft, Birmingham, B14 5PL

2. Summary

Where Next can be used without signing in. Optional Family Sharing uses email verification to let you create or join a family and share selected places, collections and visit plans across devices.

Personal saved places, plans, lists, notes, ratings, visit history, accessibility preferences and vehicle preferences are stored locally. When you explicitly share a place or collection, the supported shared details are stored on our family service and made available to members of your family.

Where Next may use a device’s location to provide nearby places, travel services, weather, routes and distances. Location is not used for advertising or cross-app tracking and is not linked by Where Next to a user account.

We do not sell personal information.

3. Information handled by the app

Information stored locally on your device

The app may store the following information locally:

• saved places, events and source URLs;
• lists and journey plans;
• favourites and visited status;
• notes and personal ratings;
• family-member nicknames and dates of birth;
• numbers of adults and carers;
• accessibility or Blue Badge preferences;
• vehicle, fuel and electric-vehicle preferences;
• app settings and temporary service caches.

Personal information listed above is stored using local application storage. Family Sharing does not automatically upload your personal library, private notes, personal ratings, visit history, dates of birth, accessibility preferences or vehicle preferences. Only the details you explicitly share and the information needed to operate Family Sharing are sent to our family service. If you separately create a personal account, the account-sync section below also applies.

Some details, such as a destination’s coordinates, name or URL, may be included in an external request when you use a feature that requires online information.

Location information

If you give the app permission, it may access your precise or approximate location.

Location may be used to:

• show places and travel services near you;
• calculate distances and routes;
• locate parking, fuel stations, EV charging points, toilets and other facilities;
• display weather relevant to your location or destination;
• open directions in a mapping application.

Where required to provide these features, coordinates may be sent to Where Next or an appropriate service provider.

Where Next does not use location for advertising, behavioural profiling or cross-app tracking. We do not intentionally link location searches to a named user or account.

You can refuse or withdraw location permission through your device settings. Some nearby-search features may then be unavailable, but you can still use other parts of the app.

Place searches and imported URLs

When you search for a place, add a destination, paste a URL or request a refresh from its original source, the following may be transmitted to an appropriate provider:

• search terms;
• place names and addresses;
• destination coordinates;
• place identifiers;
• website URLs;
• other information required to return place details.

Where Next uses this information only to provide the requested feature.

Travel-service requests

When you request nearby parking, fuel stations, EV charging, toilets or similar services, the app sends the requested coordinates, radius and relevant filters to the Where Next API.

The Where Next API may obtain or combine information from public or licensed data sources. These currently include Google Places, OpenStreetMap, Overpass, Nominatim, Open Charge Map and the UK Fuel Finder service.

These requests are not associated by Where Next with a user account.

Technical and server information

Our website, API and hosting provider may automatically process technical information such as:

• IP address;
• browser or device type;
• requested page or API endpoint;
• request date and time;
• response status;
• diagnostic or security information.

This information is used to operate, secure and troubleshoot the service, prevent abuse and maintain availability.

We do not use this technical information to build advertising profiles.

Optional usage analytics

If you choose to share usage analytics, the app sends a random installation identifier, app version, platform, general feature events, event times, outcomes and request durations to our analytics service. The event payload does not include your family email, private notes or personal place library. You can turn sharing off in the app settings.

Optional personal accounts and cloud sync

From version 2.1, you may create a personal account using a verified email address and one-time email codes. An account is optional; the app and Family Sharing can be used without one. Signing in enables automatic private library sync across your signed-in devices.

Our service stores your email address, secure session information and your synced personal library, which can include saved places and their coordinates, lists, trip bases, visit plans and history, photos, notes, ratings, memberships and app preferences. Synced family setup may include names, dates of birth, accessibility or disabled-visitor preferences and carer information you choose to enter. Only enter information about others where you have appropriate permission. Personal account content is not automatically visible to family members or the public.

We use this information to provide account access, storage, synchronisation, recovery on another device and security. Account content is protected by authenticated access and encrypted connections; it is not end-to-end encrypted. We do not use private account content for advertising or sell it. Hosting providers process it on our behalf to operate the service.

Your cloud library remains until you delete individual items or delete your account. In Your account, Delete my account removes the private cloud library and account access; locally retained copies on devices must be removed separately. Remove account data from this device clears the personal device library while keeping the cloud library. Signing out of the personal account keeps local data, stops that account syncing on this device and does not end Family Sharing. Cached copies on another offline device may remain until that device reconnects or its local data is removed. Contact hello@wherenext.dev to request assistance with account or data deletion.

Optional Family Sharing

When you use Family Sharing, our service processes your verified email address, the display name you enter, your family name and membership, invitations, adult/child editing permissions, and secure session information. Other family members can see shared items, member display names, Want to go choices and relevant family activity.

Explicitly shared content can include place names, public addresses and coordinates, source and booking links, photographs, facilities, memberships, collection names, trip dates, starting points and shared visit plans. Choose carefully before sharing a private address as a trip starting point. Your private notes, personal ratings and visit history are not shared with family members. If you use a personal account, they may sync privately between your signed-in devices.

We store this information on our WordPress family service hosted by 20i. Verification and invitation emails are sent through our email service. If you enable family notifications, device notification tokens and notification preferences are used with Expo and the Apple or Google notification services to deliver family activity notifications.

Family details are available only to authenticated members of that family. The organiser manages membership and adult editing permissions. Children can contribute places and choose Want to go, while shared detail edits and family visit plans are restricted to adults.

Shared content is cached locally for offline use for up to seven days after access was checked. Signing out removes cached family content from that device. Email verification and invitation codes expire after 30 minutes; sessions normally expire after 30 days. Shared records remain while the family uses them, until the owner stops sharing or the organiser closes the family. Leaving a family removes your membership and your owned shared records. Temporary security, invitation and sync records may persist until their scheduled expiry. Contact hello@wherenext.dev for a request concerning information retained by the service.

4. Third-party services

Where Next uses external services to provide certain features. Depending on the feature used, information such as a search term, destination, URL, IP address or coordinates may be processed by:

• Google Maps Platform and Google Places – place search, place details, photographs and routes;
• Apple Maps – maps and directions on Apple devices;
• WeatherAPI.com – current weather and forecasts;
• what3words – three-word location references;
• Microlink – extracting public information from a URL supplied by the user;
• OpenStreetMap, Overpass and Nominatim – map and nearby-service information;
• Open Charge Map – EV charging information;
• UK Fuel Finder – fuel-station and fuel-price information;
• Brandfetch – displaying brand assets where configured;
• WordPress and our hosting providers – website and API hosting;
• mapping or navigation applications selected by the user – directions and navigation.

These providers operate under their own terms and privacy policies. Some services may process information outside the United Kingdom.

We select providers needed to operate the app, but their separate processing is governed by their own privacy notices.

5. Affiliate links

Where Next may display links to ticketing, parking, accommodation or other travel providers.

Some links are affiliate links. If you follow one of these links and make a purchase, Where Next may receive a commission at no additional cost to you.

Opening an affiliate link may provide the affiliate network or merchant with:

• the affiliate identifier contained in the link;
• your IP address and browser information;
• the page or service from which the link was opened;
• information about a subsequent purchase or conversion.

Where Next may receive aggregated referral or commission reports. We do not receive your payment-card details.

Affiliate networks and merchants process information under their own privacy policies.

6. Website information

Contact forms and correspondence

If you contact us, we may process your name, email address, message and any information you choose to provide.

We use this information to answer enquiries, provide support and manage feedback.

Comments

If comments are enabled and you leave a comment, the website may collect the information entered in the comment form together with your IP address and browser user-agent information for moderation and spam prevention.

Comments may be checked using an automated spam-detection service.

Cookies

The website may use cookies that are necessary for:

• website operation and security;
• remembering basic preferences;
• WordPress administration and login functions;
• comment preferences, where comments are available.

Where legally required, non-essential cookies will not be used without consent.

The mobile app does not use website cookies for advertising or cross-app tracking.

Embedded content

Pages may contain embedded maps, videos, images or other material supplied by another website. Embedded content may behave as though you visited the external provider directly and may be subject to that provider’s cookies and privacy policy.

7. Why we process information

Depending on the circumstances, we rely on the following lawful bases:

• Consent – for access to device location and any optional non-essential cookies;
• Legitimate interests – to operate, secure and improve the website and API, prevent misuse, answer enquiries and provide requested functionality;
• Contractual necessity – where processing is needed to provide a service you have specifically requested;
• Legal obligation – where information must be retained or disclosed to comply with the law.

Where we rely on legitimate interests, we consider the impact on users and limit processing to what is reasonably necessary.

8. How information is shared

We may share limited information with:

• hosting and infrastructure providers;
• service providers listed in this policy;
• security and spam-prevention services;
• professional advisers;
• affiliate networks and merchants when a user follows an affiliate link;
• regulators, law-enforcement bodies or courts where legally required;
• a purchaser or successor if the service or business is reorganised or transferred.

We do not sell personal information to data brokers or advertisers.

9. International transfers

Some service providers may process information outside the United Kingdom.

Where UK data-protection law requires safeguards for an international transfer, we will rely on an applicable adequacy decision, approved contractual safeguards or another lawful transfer mechanism.

10. Retention

We retain information only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purpose for which it was processed.

In particular:

• locally saved app information remains on the device until you delete it, clear the app’s data or uninstall the app;
• temporary app and API caches expire or are refreshed automatically;
• API request information is not intentionally used to create a persistent user profile;
• routine server and security logs are retained only for operational, diagnostic and security purposes;
• support correspondence is retained for as long as needed to resolve the enquiry and maintain an appropriate record;
• approved website comments may remain until they or the associated page are deleted;
• financial or affiliate records may be retained where required for accounting, tax or legal obligations.

Information may be kept longer where necessary to investigate abuse, establish legal claims or comply with the law.

11. Security

We use reasonable technical and organisational measures designed to protect information against unauthorised access, loss, alteration or disclosure.

No internet or storage system can be guaranteed to be completely secure. Users should protect access to their devices and email account. Saved plans and settings may be held locally and, when personal account sync is enabled, on our service.

Delete your Where Next family profile or data

To request deletion of your Where Next family profile and associated server data, email hello@wherenext.dev from the email address used for Family Sharing, with the subject “Where Next family data deletion”. Tell us whether you want to remove your profile and all associated data, or only particular shared items. We will verify that the request concerns your information before processing it.

For immediate controls in the app, open Settings → Family sharing. A member can Leave family to remove their membership and owned shared records; an organiser can Close family to remove the whole family and its shared places, collections and plans. Closing a family affects all of its members. Sign out afterwards to remove cached family content from that device. Personal places, private notes and visit history remain on your device; delete them separately in the app or clear its storage if you also want to remove them.

A profile deletion request covers the email-associated family membership, display name, permissions, notification registrations and associated shared content held by our family service. Verification, invitation, session and temporary security records expire separately; sessions normally expire within 30 days. Limited records may be retained where necessary for security or legal obligations, as described in the retention section above.

12. Your choices and rights

You can:

• refuse or withdraw location permission through your device settings;
• delete individual saved places, plans and lists in the app;
• remove locally stored app data by deleting the app or clearing its storage;
• choose whether to follow an affiliate or external link;
• manage website cookies through the available controls or browser settings;
• contact us about information held by the website or server.

Under UK data-protection law, you may have rights to:

• request access to your personal information;
• ask us to correct inaccurate information;
• request deletion;
• restrict or object to processing;
• receive certain information in a portable format;
• withdraw consent;
• complain to a data-protection regulator.

To exercise a right, contact hello@wherenext.dev.

You may also complain to the UK Information Commissioner’s Office:

https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/

13. Children and family information

Where Next is designed to help adults and families plan activities. A parent, guardian or responsible adult should manage family membership, invitations and information shared about children. Family members who join through email verification provide an email address and display name to our family service; the organiser controls their editing permissions.

Dates of birth and accessibility preferences entered in personal family settings are not included in Family Sharing. They remain on the device unless you use a personal account, in which case saved family settings sync privately with that account. Member display names, permissions and explicitly shared contributions are stored by the family service.

A parent, guardian or responsible adult should manage information entered about children and control access to the device.

14. External websites and applications

Where Next may open external websites, merchants, maps or navigation apps. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of those third parties.

You should review the privacy policy of any external service before providing personal or payment information.

15. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy when the app, website, providers or legal requirements change.

The latest version will be published on https://wherenext.dev, with the updated date shown at the top.

Material changes to data use will also be reflected in the app and the relevant app-store privacy disclosures.

16. Contact us

For privacy questions or requests, contact:

Our Family of 5 Ltd
Email: hello@wherenext.dev
Address: 17 Stonehenge Croft, Birmingham, B14 5PL

Personalised notification suggestions

If you allow notifications, Where Next may use your saved and visited places on your device to choose a day-out suggestion. For personalised notifications, the app sends only one suggested saved-place name, its app link identifier and the relevant weekend date to our notification service, together with your device notification token and notification preferences. Your full place lists, private notes and photos are not sent for this purpose. The suggested place is retained temporarily for up to seven days and is replaced or removed when your device next updates its registration. Notification content is processed by Expo and Apple or Google to deliver it to your device.

You can turn notifications off in the app or your device settings. If no suitable suggestion is available, a campaign may send a general message or skip your device. Opening an alert for a suggested place takes you to that place in Where Next.