Privacy Policy
How we handle your data at AVO
Last updated: May 1, 2026 · v1.0
1. Introduction
This Privacy Policy explains how the AVO app (operated by AVO Nomadic Experiences) collects, uses, stores, and protects your personal data, with special emphasis on facial data.
AVO is an iOS app built to enrich the traveler's experience during AVO Nomadic Experiences expeditions. The audience is restricted: people who know AVO and plan to travel with us, or clients who have already joined (and continue joining) our expeditions. Inside the app, the traveler can:
- Follow their journey: see the itinerary, timing, meeting points, and information about the contracted expedition.
- Find their photos in expedition galleries: the AVO team photographs every moment of the trip and publishes the images in the app's galleries. With optional facial recognition, the traveler automatically finds the photos in which they appear — no need to sift through hundreds of images.
- Post and share memories in the Customers feed: an internal expedition feed where the traveler shares their own photos, comments, and messages with the group.
- Earn badges in the passport: a gamification system that awards badges for every completed expedition and for special milestones (first trips, iconic destinations, group achievements). The passport is a visual record of the traveler's journeys with AVO.
- Chat with Customers: messages and audio exchanges between travelers on the same expedition.
AVO does not sell products and does not process payments. Expeditions are booked through AVO Nomadic Experiences' official channels, outside the app.
We comply with Brazil's General Data Protection Law (LGPD — Law 13.709/2018), specifically articles 7 sections V (contract performance) and IX (legitimate interest), and the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) where applicable.
2. Data we collect
We only collect what's necessary for the app to work:
| Category | Data | When |
|---|---|---|
| Identity | Email, name, optional avatar photo | Signup |
| Profile | Home city, interests, optional Instagram | Onboarding |
| Facial recognition | Encrypted mathematical representation extracted from a selfie (not a photo) | Only if you opt in (optional) |
| Content | Customers feed posts and messages, uploaded photos, badge passport | Normal app usage |
| Technical | Push notification token, app version, language | Automatic |
3. Facial data — full disclosure
This section directly answers what the App Store and LGPD require us to be transparent about regarding biometric data. Read carefully.
3.1. What facial data do we collect?
A single selfie, captured by you when you opt in to the "Photos with my face" feature in Settings or onboarding. Facial registration is fully optional — you can use every other AVO feature without registering your face.
3.2. How do we process the selfie?
When you upload the selfie, it travels under TLS 1.2+ (encrypted in transit). Processing is performed by the integrated and secure system of PhotoShared, a AVO partner specialized in facial recognition that meets every security requirement applicable to this kind of processing. The result is an encrypted mathematical representation of your face.
The original image is discarded immediately after extraction and never written to disk. Once PhotoShared has extracted it, the encrypted mathematical representation is returned and stored in AVO's database, linked to your user record — that's what allows future searches to be matched to your face. This representation is not a photo: it's not possible to reconstruct your selfie from it.
3.3. What do we use this representation for?
One purpose only: to let you find your own photos in AVO expedition galleries. When the expedition team publishes event photos, mathematical representations are generated for the people in those photos and compared so that the images you appear in surface under the "Photos with my face" button.
We do not use it for anything else: no identification outside the app, no model training on your data, no advertising profiles, no sale to any third party.
3.4. Do we share facial data with third parties?
No. Your face's mathematical representation is stored exclusively on AVO's own servers, encrypted. To run the comparison, AVO uses a secure direct API with PhotoShared — our partner only compares mathematical representations to find matches; it does not store your facial data nor use it for any other purpose. No advertiser or analytics service has access.
3.5. Where and how is it stored?
Your face's mathematical representation is stored in AVO's database, linked to your user record, on AVO's own servers. It is encrypted at rest with AES-256 and in transit with TLS 1.2+. PhotoShared does not retain any copy: after extracting the representation, it is delivered to AVO and discarded on the partner's side.
3.6. How long do we retain it?
The mathematical representation stays as long as your facial registration is active. You can delete it at any time, two ways:
- Settings > Privacy & Security > Facial Recognition > Remove my face — deletes only the facial registration, keeps your account.
- Settings > Privacy & Security > Delete my account — deletes the facial registration along with all other data on your account.
In both cases, removal is immediate and irreversible. We do not keep specific backups of the facial registration after deletion.
4. Camera and photo library permissions
AVO only asks for access to your phone's camera and photo library when it makes sense for what you are trying to do:
- Camera: used so you can take the selfie for facial registration and to send photos during the expedition. Your registration selfie is never kept as an image — only the encrypted mathematical representation used for comparison.
- Photo Library: used so you can pick an existing selfie for facial registration and to save memories from your experiences.
You can revoke these permissions any time at iOS Settings > AVO.
5. Where data lives
Our storage is minimal and auditable:
- AVO servers: hold your profile data, posts, messages, expedition records, and your face's encrypted mathematical representation. Database with AES-256 encryption at rest.
- Media storage: photos, audio, and chat attachments live in dedicated storage, accessible only via links with opaque (non-enumerable) keys.
- PhotoShared (facial-recognition partner): receives only already-encrypted mathematical representations to perform the comparison and return the match. Does not store your data.
- Apple notification service: only to deliver pushes to your iPhone. Receives only the notification payload, no sensitive personal data.
All traffic between the app, our servers, and partners uses TLS 1.2 or higher.
7. Your rights (LGPD art. 18)
You can, at any time:
- Access your data — inside the app, in Settings.
- Correct outdated or inaccurate data.
- Delete your account and all data — directly at Settings > Privacy & Security > Delete my account. Removal completes within 24h.
- Request portability of your data — via the email below.
- Revoke consent for facial registration without affecting the rest of your account.
8. Retention
We keep your data while your account is active. After deletion, all personal data (including your face's mathematical representation) is removed within 24 hours.
Exception: we retain a 12-month audit log containing only a one-way hash (SHA-256 with a secret pepper) of the email of deleted accounts, solely for abuse prevention (e.g., repeated account creation to game promotions). The hash cannot be reversed to identify the original email.
10. Minors
AVO is not directed at children under 13. If you are a guardian and believe a child created an account, email contato@yazexperience.com.br and we will remove it immediately.
11. Data Protection Officer (DPO) and contact
For any question, rights request, or privacy-related communication, contact our DPO:
Email: contato@yazexperience.com.br
We respond within 15 business days.
12. Changes to this policy
We will announce any material change to this policy at least 30 days in advance, both in the app and on this page. Current version is v1.0, effective from May 1, 2026.