Understanding location features helps you control your privacy on Recon. This breakdown details how we collect, store, and display data.
Recon is a proximity-based platform, making location an important part of how you find other members and how they find you. However, we give you full control over the data you share, and we take deliberate steps to limit the accuracy we store and display to others.
How You Can Share Your Location
Whenever you use Recon, you will be prompted to choose how you would like to share your location. There are two primary options:
- Geolocation: If you opt in, mobile devices and browsers can share live location data. On iOS or Android, you can explicitly choose whether to share a "precise" or "approximate" location. On a desktop or laptop without GPS, the location will be estimated via your IP address through your Internet Service Provider (ISP). Please note that using a VPN will likely cause this automated location to be incorrect.
- Manual Entry: If you prefer not to share GPS or IP-based data, you can choose to enter your location manually by selecting a spot on a map. This allows you to choose your own level of accuracy, such as picking a general neighbourhood or the nearest town centre.
How We Store Your Location
Whichever method you choose, Recon never stores your precise, exact coordinates. We automatically round all latitude and longitude coordinates to three decimal places. Depending on where you are in the world, this corresponds to roughly a 100-metre square grid (the scale of a street or a city block rather than an individual building).
App Refresh Rates and Active Tracking
It is important to note that whilst Recon will continuously track your location as you move with the app open, the profile lists are not a live, real-time reflection of where members are at that exact moment.
Instead, the grid is ordered based on where the app or website was initially opened and where the location data was obtained at that specific time. Because the Nearby list displays profiles that have been active within the last 30 days, the data only updates when a member manually refreshes the Nearby profile list or reopens the app after a set period. If a member changes location after opening the app, their position will not immediately update automatically for other members viewing the Nearby or Explore lists.
Habitual Patterns and Proximity Data
As with any proximity-based platform, frequent use of an app from a single fixed location can naturally result in behavioural or habitual pattern recognition over time. For example, if your profile consistently appears within the same grid coordinate during specific hours, other members might deduce general routines. This is also applicable in sparsely populated areas, as this can make it easier to be identified, especially when there are fewer buildings relative to the number of members present in an area.
However, the built-in privacy functionality and tools available on Recon mean that members remain in full control over how much information they expose. If you wish to disrupt predictable patterns, you can swap to using a manual location at any time to place your profile in an alternate neighbourhood.
How We Display Your Location and Distance
We use a secure third-party data service to translate grid coordinates into a readable area name, aiming to display your location at a broader neighbourhood or town level.
When you view another profile or look at search results, the distances shown are always approximate, calculated from grid point to grid point. To protect your privacy and prevent anyone from attempting to triangulate your exact position, we use the following methods:
- Minimum Distance Limitation: Recon will never display distances smaller than 100 metres to prevent exact locations from being pinpointed.
- Data Snapping: All coordinates are immediately snapped to a grid rather than storing exact coordinates.
- Anti-Triangulation: Distance displays are calculated between grid points, not your exact location. Your exact physical location data is never stored or published.
- Restricted List Refresh Rate: The profile lists are only updated upon opening the app or performing a manual refresh, meaning your real-time movements are never actively broadcasted.
- Pattern Disruption: You decide whether to use automated device location or a manual map entry and can swap methods dynamically to protect your personal routines.