Terms of Use

The SOS button alerts members of your group. It does not call an ambulance (115 in Vietnam), the police (113) or a rescue service. In a dangerous situation, call the emergency services first.

1. Accepting these terms

By downloading, opening or using Buddy, you agree to these terms and to the Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, please do not use the app. Buddy is provided by Steve Tran.

2. Who may use Buddy

You must be 13 or older. Users aged 13 to under 16 need the consent of a parent or guardian. You are responsible for activity that takes place on your device.

3. Acceptable use

Buddy is for consensual location sharing between people travelling together on the same trip. You must not:

• Track, monitor or locate anyone without their knowledge or consent.
• Use the app to harass or threaten anyone, or for any unlawful purpose.
• Install the app on someone else’s device in order to track them.
• Reverse-engineer, tamper with, probe or overload the system, or use bots or automated tools to access the service.
• Resell, rent out or commercially exploit the service without written permission.

We may suspend or terminate access if we find a violation.

4. Safety on the road

Do not use your phone while driving or riding. Buddy is designed to stay in your pocket and be checked only once you have stopped safely. You are responsible for obeying traffic laws and choosing a suitable route. Buddy only displays information; it does not navigate for you and does not assess how safe a route is.

5. Limits of the service

Location accuracy depends on GPS, the mobile network and each person’s device. Areas without coverage, flat batteries, the operating system stopping the app in the background, or a user turning off location permission can all make data late or missing. Falling-behind and SOS alerts depend on a network connection and may arrive late or not at all. Do not treat Buddy as your group’s only safety plan.

6. Content you create

Trip names, display names, avatars and anything else you enter remain yours. You grant us a limited licence to use them to operate the service (storing, transmitting and displaying them to members of the same trip). You must not post content that breaks the law or infringes the rights of others.

7. Free and paid plans

Buddy is free for groups of up to 10 people and for day trips. Paid plans (if any) are sold through the App Store or Google Play; payment, renewal and refunds follow the policies of Apple or Google, depending on where you bought them. We may change the limits of the free plan and will give notice in the app beforehand.

8. Intellectual property

The “Buddy” name, logo, interface and source code belong to the operator. You are granted a personal, non-exclusive, revocable licence to use the app.

9. Disclaimer and limitation of liability

The service is provided “as is”. To the extent permitted by law, we are not liable for indirect damages arising from the service being slow or interrupted, from inaccurate locations, or from alerts that do not arrive. Our total liability, if any, is limited to the amount you have paid for Buddy in the preceding 12 months. This does not exclude any liability that cannot be excluded by law.

10. Termination

You may stop using and delete the app at any time; your data is deleted on the schedule set out in the Privacy Policy. We may suspend the service for maintenance, or terminate it if you breach these terms.

11. Changes to these terms

We may update these terms. For significant changes we will give notice in the app at least 14 days in advance. Continuing to use the app after the effective date means you accept the new version.

12. Governing law

These terms are governed by the laws of Vietnam. Disputes will first be resolved through negotiation; failing that, they will be brought before the competent court in Ho Chi Minh City.

Questions about these terms and general support: contact@stevetran.work