Privacy Policy
1. Controller and scope
FiveToClose (“we,” “us,” or “our”) operates the website wheretheyask.com and the WhereTheyAsk software service (collectively, the “Services”). This Privacy Policy describes how we collect, use, disclose, retain, and protect personal information in connection with the Services. By accessing or using the Services, you acknowledge that you have read this Policy. Seller of record is FiveToClose. WhereTheyAsk by FiveToClose, 2618 Gravois Ave, Suite 19, St. Louis, MO 63118, USA. Support: support@fivetoclose.cloud.
2. Categories of information we collect
We may collect and process:
- Identity and contact data — name and email address obtained when you sign in with Google, and any name displayed on your Google profile. If you sign in with an email link, we use the email address you type.
- Account and authentication data — Google account identifier, session cookies, a confirmation token for your email, and sign-in timestamps. We do not receive or store your Google password. An email sign-in link is random. We store a hash of it, not the link. The hash is deleted when you use the link or after 15 minutes.
- Second step. If you turn on a second sign-in step, we store your phone number and the secret that makes the authenticator code. The phone number and the secret stay on your account. They are not shown on your public page. We do not send a text message to that number.
- Calendar and mail access. Adding events to Google Calendar is off until you turn it on for the whole account. Sign-in does not store a Google refresh token. If you choose “Add to Google Calendar” and Google grants Calendar access, we store a refresh token and the scopes Google returned. That choice can write future events you list, are invited to, or mark as going. Each event’s name, time, place and details are written to the Google Calendar of that same Google account. An invite can also be sent from your Gmail to the friends you picked. Guest names are not written into the calendar event. We do not read your inbox or the rest of your calendar. Choosing “Keep it here” or turning Calendar off deletes any Google refresh token stored on the account and asks Google to revoke it. Tokens saved by earlier versions of sign-in stay only until you do that, or until we remove them. Events already on Google stay until you remove them there.
- Community content — the profile, posts, replies, photos, pages, groups, events, and live chat you submit, plus camera and microphone media while you host a live room in your browser. Direct messages are stored for the two people in that conversation and are not shown on a public page. A song, a background, and the look of a profile are shown on that profile only. A song the member does not own is kept as a 5 second clip.
- Block and mute choices — who you have blocked or muted, so those features work. See section 7.
- Auto-delete setting — whether auto-delete is on for a chat, and for how long (off, 1 day, 7 days, or 30 days).
- Older billing data — if you were charged before the Services were free: plan, purchase dates, paid-through dates, Stripe customer and subscription identifiers, and amounts paid. Full payment card numbers are processed by Stripe and are not stored on our servers.
- Technical and usage data — profile view counts that do not name the visitor, and diagnostic logs used to operate and secure the Services. We do not write IP addresses or browser type into the member data file. An IP address may be held in memory for up to 15 minutes to slow repeated join tries and reports, and for up to an hour to slow repeated email sign-in links. A timer drops those entries when the window ends. They are also dropped when the process restarts. The web server writes an access log and an error log. See section 10.
- Google Analytics 4 — the page path and the fixed title WhereTheyAsk, plus a client id Google stores in a first-party cookie, and only after you accept. We do not send your email, your account id, your session id, or a sign-in, callback, admin, or report address. See section 9.
- Communications data — messages you send to support and related metadata.
3. Purposes of processing
We process personal information to:
- Create and authenticate your account, including the confirmation link sent to your email, and a one-time sign-in link when you ask to sign in with email;
- Ask for a 6 digit authenticator code when you have turned the second step on;
- Email the Google address you signed up with, from support@fivetoclose.cloud, when someone adds you, messages you, replies to you, writes on your page, invites you to an event, says they are going, or follows a page or joins a group you run. These start on. Turn it off on Account, or turn one kind off there.
- Show your page, feed, groups, events, and live rooms to the people allowed to see them, and deliver a direct message only to the person it was written for;
- Apply your Block and Mute choices;
- Count each signed-in visit to a page. The page shows that number as profile views. It does not show who visited.
- When you choose “Add to Google Calendar” for your account, write future events you list, are invited to, or mark as going onto the Google Calendar of the account you used to sign in, and send an invite from that account's Gmail to friends you choose;
- Keep records of older charges, prevent fraud, and maintain accounting records;
- Provide customer support and service announcements;
- Review content that members report;
- Secure the Services, debug faults, and improve product quality;
- Count page views with Google Analytics 4 after you accept cookies, without your email, account id, or session id. See section 9;
- Comply with legal obligations and enforce our Terms of Service.
4. Legal bases (where applicable)
Where data-protection laws require a legal basis, we rely on: (a) performance of a contract (providing the Services to you); (b) legitimate interests (security, product improvement, limited service communications); (c) consent (where required, including adding events to Google Calendar, the optional traffic-quality script, and Google Analytics 4); and (d) legal compliance.
5. Google sign-in
Sign-in uses Google OAuth. Google authenticates you and returns a verified email address, name, a stable account identifier, and the address of your Google profile picture. We use that information to create or recognize your WhereTheyAsk account. If your WhereTheyAsk page has no photo, we save one copy of that profile picture as your photo. We never replace a photo you already have, and you can change it on your page. Sign-in does not ask for Google Calendar or Gmail.
If you choose “Add to Google Calendar,” we ask again, with offline access, and that Google account must be the same one you used to sign in. We store a refresh token only when Google grants the Calendar scope. You can say no and still use WhereTheyAsk. A later sign-in does not replace a Calendar-scoped token with a basic one. We do not write events unless that Calendar scope is stored. Choosing “Keep it here” or turning Calendar off deletes any Google refresh token stored on the account and asks Google to revoke it. Tokens saved by earlier versions of sign-in stay only until you do that, or until we remove them. It does not delete events already on Google.
We do not read your inbox, and we do not post to YouTube or any other Google product. Once an event is in Google Calendar, Google holds those details under Google’s privacy policy. We cannot encrypt or delete them there. Your use of Google is governed by Google’s terms and privacy policy.
Data we receive from Google sign-in, Google Calendar, or Gmail is used only to provide user-facing features. We do not sell it. We do not use it for ads. Humans do not read it except with your consent, for security, or when the law requires it. Our use of information received from Google APIs adheres to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements.
6. What we do not do, and what we can do
We do not sell personal information. We do not read your Gmail. The only write to your Google account is an event on your calendar when you choose to add it, and an invite email you asked us to send. Photos, SnapShots, and live video stay on this service for the people allowed to see them. A SnapShot is removed from view after a day.
If a Replayo is shared with a public link, anyone with that link can watch the video without an account. The page shows the clip, the line "Someone shared this Replayo with you. Want to make your own?" and a button that says "Join WhereTheyAsk". It does not show the uploader's name, handle, profile photo, or caption. A member who can see the Replayo can create that link. The author can revoke the current link. Revoking it does not stop a new link. The author can lock sharing, which revokes current links and blocks new ones until the author unlocks it. A WhereTheyAsk account with review permission can also lock or unlock it. Unlocking does not restore the old links. A fresh visit to a revoked or locked link shows a "not found" page. Anyone who watched the clip while the link worked could have saved or re-shared it, and revoking or locking cannot undo that. The video, its preview image, and the link preview may stay cached and viewable for up to five minutes after a link is revoked or locked. Public share pages ask search engines not to index them.
Event details, and direct messages sent before encryption was turned on for a chat, are not end-to-end encrypted, and WhereTheyAsk can read them. Newer direct messages are encrypted in your browser before they are sent. Our server still sees who messages whom, when, how often, message size, read receipts, and the notifications we send. If the law requires it, we comply and hand over the data we hold. A valid court order or other legal request is enough. We do not promise to tell you when that happens. See section 7.
7. Messages, events and encryption
- Connection. Everything between your browser and WhereTheyAsk is sent over an encrypted connection (HTTPS).
- Stored messages and events. Direct messages and event details (the name, the time, the place, and the description) are stored encrypted on our server. This protects them if our data file is stolen. It does not stop WhereTheyAsk itself from reading them, and we can be required by law to hand data over. If the law requires it, we comply and hand over the data we hold, for example under a valid court order or other legal request. Posts, replies, photos, and profile text are not encrypted this way. The event’s web address can still contain a short form of the name. The list of invited accounts is stored as account ids so the invite works. Those ids are not encrypted.
- Encrypted direct messages. New direct messages are encrypted in your browser before they are sent, and are stored on our server in encrypted form. This is not Signal-level protection. Our server still sees and keeps information about your messages: who you message, when, how often, message size, read receipts, and the notifications we send you. Messages sent before encryption was turned on for a chat, and event details, are not end-to-end encrypted, and we can read them. This version has no forward secrecy: anyone who gets one of your device keys can open every message sent to that key. Your private key stays on your device. An optional backup, protected by a passphrase you choose, also stays on your device and is never sent to us. If you lose your device, clear your browser data, or forget your passphrase, those messages may be lost, and we cannot recover them. Our site delivers the code that does the encryption, so you are trusting what our site sends. Compare safety numbers with the person you are talking to; if a number changes unexpectedly, don't approve it until you have checked with them. If being watched could put you in danger, use an app built for that, such as Signal.
- What stays visible to us. Who you message and when, message size, read receipts, notifications, your account email, your People listing if you are listed, and an IP address only while it sits in memory for up to 15 minutes to slow repeated join tries and reports, or up to an hour for email sign-in links. A timer drops those entries. We do not save IP addresses in the member data file.
- How long we keep things. Server logs: 14 days. Direct messages stay on our server. There is no way to delete one message. If auto-delete is on for a chat, messages there are deleted after the period chosen for that chat (1, 7, or 30 days), including messages already older than that period when it is turned on. You can delete your account on the account page by typing delete. That removes the account. A banned account cannot sign in. Email support@fivetoclose.cloud if you cannot sign in to do it.
- Google Calendar. If you turn on Google Calendar for your account, future events you list, are invited to, or mark as going can go to Google under Google's privacy policy. We send the name, time, place and details. We cannot encrypt or delete them there.
- Reports. You can report a post, comment, page, group, or profile. The report and the content it points at are shared with our review team. Direct messages cannot be reported from the site.
- Block and Mute. Who you block or mute is not shown to other members or on any page. Admins see only how many times an account has been blocked, not who blocked it. When we ban an account, we delete the block records linked to it. Mute records linked to that account are deleted too. A blocked member is not sent a notice. Unblocking deletes that block.
- High-risk conversations. If being watched could put you in danger, use an app built for that, such as Signal, for sensitive conversations.
8. Service providers and disclosures
We may disclose information to:
- Payment processors (Stripe) for older charges, invoicing, refunds, and fraud prevention;
- Authentication and email providers (Google for sign-in, our mail host for the confirmation link after Google sign-in, and Resend, which sends the one-time email sign-in link). Cloudflare Turnstile checks the email sign-in form. We send Cloudflare the check token and the visitor address for that check.
- Google, for events you add to Google Calendar and invites sent from your Gmail;
- Infrastructure providers necessary to host the Services;
- Google Analytics 4 (Google), only after you accept cookies, for the page-view measurement in section 9. We do not send your email, account id, or session id. Ad storage stays denied.
- Our review team, for content that members report;
- Legal requests. If the law requires it, we comply and hand over the data we hold. That includes a valid court order or other legal request from a court, the police, or another authority. It can include event details and older direct messages, which we can read; encrypted messages in the form we store them; and information about messages, such as who messaged whom, when, and read receipts;
- Professional advisers and authorities when required by law or to protect rights, safety, and integrity of the Services.
Providers are instructed to process data only as needed to perform services on our behalf.
10. Retention
We keep data only as long as we need it to run the Services:
- Web server access logs and error logs: 14 days. They are written to /var/log/nginx/wheretheyask.access.log and /var/log/nginx/wheretheyask.error.log, which the server's existing nginx log rotation already covers (/var/log/nginx/*.log, 14 daily files on Debian and Ubuntu). This service does not add a second rotation. We do not store IP addresses in the member data file. An address held in memory to slow abuse is dropped within 15 minutes by a timer, within an hour for email sign-in links, or sooner if the process restarts.
- Direct messages: they stay on our server. There is no way to delete one message. If auto-delete is on for a chat, messages there are deleted from our server after the period chosen for that chat (1, 7, or 30 days), including messages already older than that period when it is turned on. The other person could still have copied or screenshotted them. Email notices already sent do not include the message text, and auto-delete does not unsend them. Search reads the data file, so a deleted message leaves search as well.
- Email sign-in links: we keep the hash until you use the link or 15 minutes pass, then we delete it. If you do not open the link, we do not create an account.
- Accounts: you can delete your account on the account page by typing delete. That removes the account, its posts, and its messages from the site. A banned account cannot sign in. Email support@fivetoclose.cloud if you cannot sign in to do it.
- Backups: this app does not run backup rotation. Deleting something here does not change a copy of the data file that was already taken. Encryption covers the data file. The key is kept in the server environment file, not in the data file. A backup that also includes that environment file includes the key.
- Copies of the data file include encrypted direct messages in the form we store them, plus the information about messages described in section 7.
- Block records: kept while the block is on. Deleted when you unblock. When an account is banned, block and mute rows are deleted whether that account blocked someone or was blocked.
- Campaign rows: raw rows are kept 90 days, then folded into the aggregate counts at /admin/src. The tag on an account stays while the account stays.
- Admin action log: kept for 365 days.
- Account, community, and older billing records: for as long as your account is active and thereafter as reasonably necessary for billing disputes, legal compliance, security, and legitimate archival needs, unless a longer period is required or permitted by law.
You may request deletion as described below. Events you added to Google Calendar stay in Google Calendar until you remove them there.
11. Security
We use administrative, technical, and organizational measures designed to protect personal information, including encrypted transport (HTTPS) and access-restricted servers. The sign-in cookie is signed so it cannot be forged. The session id stored in the data file is a random value, not a hash of that cookie.
nginx tells browsers to connect over HTTPS for one year, including subdomains (HSTS: max-age=31536000). The app does not send that header. It does not ask browsers to preload that rule. Direct messages, event details, the Google refresh token, the authenticator secret, and the phone number are stored encrypted, with the key kept in the server environment file, separate from the data file. This protects a stolen copy of the data file. It does not protect a copy that also includes the key. It does not protect against someone who takes over the running server, and it does not stop WhereTheyAsk from reading that data. Losing the key means those encrypted fields cannot be read. New direct messages are also encrypted in your browser before they are sent; see section 7.
A public page may be shown inside a preview frame on buildhop.io. Sign-in leaves that frame. No other site may frame the page. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure. You use the Services at your own residual risk.
12. International transfers
Our infrastructure and service providers may process data in the United States and other jurisdictions. Where required, we take steps reasonably designed to ensure that transfers receive an adequate level of protection under applicable law.
13. Your rights
Depending on your location, you may have rights to access, correct, delete, or restrict certain processing of your personal information, to object to processing, or to data portability. To exercise rights, email support@fivetoclose.cloud. We may need to verify your identity before fulfilling a request. Internal operator accounts used to run the Service are not customer records.
14. Children
The Services are not directed to individuals under 18. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe we have done so, contact us and we will take appropriate steps to delete such information.
15. Changes to this Policy
We may revise this Privacy Policy from time to time. The “Effective date” above will be updated when material changes are posted. Continued use of the Services after the effective date constitutes acceptance of the revised Policy, except where applicable law requires additional consent.
16. Contact
Privacy inquiries: support@fivetoclose.cloud. WhereTheyAsk by FiveToClose, 2618 Gravois Ave, Suite 19, St. Louis, MO 63118, USA. Please check spam and promotions folders for replies.
17. California privacy
If you are a California resident, the California Consumer Privacy Act, as amended by the CPRA, gives you the rights below.
- Categories. Identifiers (name, email, Google account id), commercial information from older billing, the campaign tag, profile view counts that do not name the visitor, and content you post, including direct messages. After you accept cookies, Google Analytics also receives the page path, the fixed title WhereTheyAsk, and a client id. We do not send your email, account id, or session id to Google Analytics.
- Right to know, delete, and correct. Email support@fivetoclose.cloud. We verify the request before we fulfill it.
- Sale and sharing. We do not sell personal information. We do not share personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising.
- How to request. Email support@fivetoclose.cloud, or use the contact page. Include the address on your account.
- Non-discrimination. We will not deny the service, change the price, or change the quality because you exercised these rights.
18. European Economic Area and United Kingdom
If you are in the European Economic Area or the United Kingdom, we rely on these legal bases: performance of a contract, legitimate interests (security and running the service), consent, and legal obligation.
The non-essential traffic-quality script is served by this site and runs only after you consent on the cookie banner. It may contact isyourtrafficreal.com. You can withdraw that consent at any time with Cookie settings in the footer. Google Analytics 4 uses that same choice. It loads only after Accept, it does not load after Decline or before a choice, and Decline withdraws it for later pages. See section 9. Withdrawing consent does not affect processing that happened before the withdrawal. You may have rights to access, correct, delete, restrict, or object, and to data portability. Email support@fivetoclose.cloud. You may also complain to your local supervisory authority.
© 2026 FiveToClose. WhereTheyAsk by FiveToClose, 2618 Gravois Ave, Suite 19, St. Louis, MO 63118, USA. Questions: support@fivetoclose.cloud.