Privacy Policy

Last updated: July 10, 2026

MyFD Connect (“we,” “us,” or the “app”) is a private communications app for volunteer and combination fire departments. Your department invites you to join, and the app is used only among the members of your own department. This policy explains what information the app collects, how it is used, and the choices you have.

Who controls your information

Your fire department is the organization that invites members and administers the app for its personnel. We operate the app and its infrastructure on the department’s behalf. If you have questions about your department’s use of the app, contact your department administrator.

Information we collect

• Account & identity: your first and last name, email address, station, assigned role(s), and the department you belong to. These come from the invite your department administrator creates.
• Contact info: a phone number you optionally add to your profile, plus your choice of whether to show it in the department directory.
• Content you create: announcements, chat messages and any photos you send, form responses, @mentions, acknowledgements, and message reactions.
• Files you attach: photos and PDFs you upload in answer to a form question — for example a receipt for an expense reimbursement. These are stored with your response and are visible to whoever your department has allowed to see that form’s results.
• Camera & photo library: used only when you choose to take or pick a picture. The app opens them at your request and uploads only the image you select.
• Notification tokens: a push-notification token for each device you sign in on, used only to deliver alerts to your device.
• Usage records: timestamps, read/seen markers, unread counts, and — if you report a message or announcement — the report and a snapshot of the reported content.

Location

If you allow it, the app uses your device’s approximate location for two things only: showing local weather on the home screen, and putting nearby results first when you type an address. Your coordinates are used on your device and sent only to the weather and address-lookup services needed to answer those requests. We do not store your location, we do not keep a location history, and we do not share it with your department or anyone else. The app works without location access; you will just see no local weather and less relevant address suggestions.

Information kept only on your device

If you enable Face ID / biometric unlock or a PIN, that is handled by your device’s operating system and secure storage. Your biometric data never leaves your device and is never sent to us.

How we use information

• To provide the app’s features — announcements, chats, the member directory, and forms.
• To sign you in using a secure email link and keep you signed in on your device.
• To send push notifications you’ve opted into (you control these in the app).
• To let department administrators review reported content and keep the department’s spaces appropriate.

We do not sell your information, we do not use it for advertising, and we do not share it outside your department except with the service providers below that make the app work.

Analytics and advertising

The app contains no advertising, no third-party analytics or tracking SDKs, and no cross-app or cross-site tracking. Nothing here is used to build an advertising profile of you.

Service providers

• Google Firebase / Google Cloud — hosting, authentication, database (Firestore), file storage, and server functions. Your data is stored and processed on Google Cloud infrastructure.
• Expo — delivery of push notifications to your device.
• Email delivery — sending sign-in links and department-ID emails from [email protected].
• Weather and address lookup — when you allow location, approximate coordinates are sent to a weather service to fetch the local forecast, and to the map service on your device (Apple or Google) plus an open address directory to suggest addresses. These requests are not tied to your account.

Sharing within your department

By design, other members of your department can see the content you post to shared spaces (announcements, the chats you belong to, form results where enabled) and your directory profile. Your phone number is shown in the directory only if you turn that on.

Your choices and controls

• Delete your account: in the app, go to Profile → Delete account. This permanently removes your profile, your mentions, your form responses, your channel memberships, and your sign-in account. Announcements and chat messages you posted may remain as department records.
• Block members: you can block another member so you no longer see their messages or announcements, and unblock them later from your profile.
• Notifications: turn announcement and @mention notifications on or off, or mute specific kinds, in your profile.
• Directory visibility: choose whether your phone number is visible to the department.

Your department administrator can also remove or disable your access to the department at any time.

Data retention

We keep your information for as long as you are a member of a department. When you delete your account, your personal data is removed as described above. Content posted to shared department spaces may be retained as part of the department’s operational records.

Security

Data is encrypted in transit using industry-standard TLS, and access is restricted by server-side security rules so members can only reach their own department’s data. On-device access can be further protected with Face ID / biometrics or a PIN.

Children

The app is intended for fire department personnel and is not directed to children under 13. We do not knowingly collect information from children under 13.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. When we do, we’ll revise the “Last updated” date above and post the new version at this address.

Contact us

Questions about this policy or your data can be sent to [email protected].