Foreword introduces you to kindred strangers nearby, so the good part of your day can happen off your phone. That only works if you trust us with a little — so we take as little as possible, and here is all of it.
Your interview. The conversation you have at sign-up (and at check-ins) becomes your matching profile: a name to call you, interests, conversation hooks, where you're open to meeting people, and whether you're open to romance. If you use voice, transcription happens entirely on your phone; audio never leaves it.
Presence. When you arrive somewhere, your phone sends the venue and approximate coordinates so we can notice when a kindred stranger is in the same place. Presence is keyed to an anonymous device identifier, kept for at most 30 days, and never shown to anyone. Other members only ever learn "same venue" — never your location.
Your account, if you make one. Signing in with Apple, Google, or email stores your profile and your private list of encounters under your account so a lost phone doesn't lose them. Staying anonymous is always allowed.
Safety reports. If you report an encounter, the report goes to a human. Reports are moderation records and are retained even if you delete your account, so a report about someone can't be erased by the person it's about.
If you enter an event code (a conference, an offsite), your introductions are scoped to that event while it runs. The event's host sees only aggregate numbers — how many conversations happened — never your identity, your profile, your matches, or your words. Leaving an event (or its ending) returns you to the normal pool automatically.
No ads. No feed. No selling or sharing your data with data brokers. No tracking you across other apps or sites. No continuous location tracking — Foreword uses low-power arrival detection, not GPS following. Your conversations with the interview host are used to build your profile and for nothing else.
When you're matched, the other person sees your first name, one line about what you share, and a suggested opener. If you've added a portrait, it's shown only after you both say yes. Nothing else — no profile page, no browsing, no history.
Data is stored with Google Firebase (Firestore, US region) and processed by Anthropic's Claude API to conduct your interview and write introductions. Both act as processors for Foreword; neither is permitted to use your content to train models.
In the app, open the flyleaf and choose "Erase everything." Your profile, encounters, presence, and account are deleted from Foreword's servers immediately; safety reports are retained as described above. You can also email us to the same effect.
The Hardcover is billed through your Apple ID and auto-renews until cancelled in your device Settings. We never see your payment details.
Questions, or an erasure request: hello@meetforeword.com.