Privacy Policy

Information we collect

We collect the information you provide directly, such as your name, email address, and the contacts and connections you choose to import. With your permission, we also process data from the accounts you connect (for example, your address book and calendar) to build your network and surface warm introduction paths.

Data protection

We treat contact, calendar, and email-header data as sensitive. Orbit protects that data with the following mechanisms:

• Encryption in transit: all data exchanged between your devices and Orbit travels over TLS.
• Encryption at rest: stored account data, imported contacts, calendar interactions, Gmail metadata headers, and OAuth tokens are encrypted at rest on our managed cloud infrastructure.
• Account isolation: each user’s data is isolated with row-level access controls so one Orbit account cannot read another account’s network.
• Least privilege: we request the narrowest OAuth scopes needed for the features you turn on. For Gmail, that means headers only (From, To, Cc, Subject, Date) via gmail.metadata—never message bodies or attachments.
• Access control: OAuth tokens and imported Google user data are stored on protected servers, used only to sync the features you authorize, and are not sold or shared with other Orbit users. Internal access is limited to what is needed to operate and secure the service.
• User controls: you can disconnect Google, revoke access in your Google account permissions, delete imported contacts, or delete your Orbit account at any time.

Additional detail is available on our Security page.

How we use information

We use your information to provide and improve the product, map relationships across your network, suggest introductions, secure your account, and communicate with you about your account and the service.

Research and search personalization

Orbit may use public sources to research your professional background and build your self-profile. That research stays private unless you turn on Share Profile; when sharing is on, Orbit may use it to complete your details for another Orbit user who already has you in their network. Orbit also derives private, owner-scoped signals from search actions, such as topics and results that appear useful, to improve ranking for your account. You can turn off the use of those signals for search personalization.

How we share information

We do not sell your personal information. We share data with service providers who help us operate Orbit (such as hosting, infrastructure, analytics, and AI model providers), and only as needed to deliver the service. We may disclose information if required by law.

In the iPhone app, Orbit uses PostHog for product analytics while you are signed in: which screens you open and a session recording of taps in which every word, text field and image is hidden. Recording pauses on screens about a person, a group, a conversation or the map. This data is linked only to your Orbit account id, never your contacts, notes or messages, and you can turn it off in Profile → Privacy & security → Share usage analytics.

Your network is private by default. If you explicitly turn on Share LinkedIn connections, people who already have you saved in Orbit may see which first-degree LinkedIn connections you both imported and use those shared connections for warm-introduction suggestions. Orbit shows names, roles, and companies for those shared connections, but not phone numbers, email addresses, notes, or your private address book. You can turn this sharing off at any time.

Mutual connections are on by default. If you imported your LinkedIn connections, someone who has you in their Orbit, and whom you have in yours, may see you listed as a mutual connection when they look at a person you are connected to on LinkedIn. They see only your name and photo as they already have them, never your connection list, and nobody is notified. You can turn this off at any time under Privacy & security → Show me as a mutual connection.

Orbit contacts who are also Orbit users may see your online and last-seen status. This setting is on by default and can be turned off under Privacy & security; when it is off, Orbit shows only an approximate activity range rather than your precise activity.

Connected accounts

When you connect a third-party account, we request only the access needed to import your contacts, the people you meet with, and—when you explicitly authorize Gmail metadata—the people you exchange email with. You can disconnect a connected account at any time, and we honor the data-handling requirements of each platform we integrate with.

Apple Contacts on iPhone

When you connect Apple Contacts in the Orbit iPhone app, we upload your contacts, including the notes saved on them, to your private Orbit account to create or match contacts. We do not create, edit, or delete contacts on your iPhone, and we do not notify the people you import.

When you import your iPhone contacts, Orbit uses an AI service to read the notes on those contacts and suggest tags, where you met, connections between people you know, and dated reminders. What it learns stays in your private Orbit and isn’t shared with other users. Orbit does this only after you allow it in the app; it is off until you do. The AI service is a third-party AI model provider that processes the notes on our behalf to return these suggestions. You can turn it off at any time under Privacy & security (“Use AI to read imported contact notes”), which stops Orbit sending notes, and you can remove what Orbit learned from notes there too.

Apple Calendar on iPhone

When you connect Apple Calendar in the Orbit iPhone app, we request full calendar access so we can scan the last 12 months of calendars available on your device, including event titles, dates, and attendee names and email addresses when available. We upload that data to your private Orbit account to create or match contacts and build a private meeting timeline. We do not create, edit, or delete calendar events, and we do not notify attendees. Calendar-derived data is not automatically sent to third-party AI or profile enrichment services or used to build shared identity links. You can stop future access anytime in iOS Settings; revoking access does not delete data you already imported.

Google user data

When you connect a Google account, Orbit requests read-only access to .../auth/contacts.readonly and .../auth/calendar.readonly. If you choose the Gmail metadata connection, Orbit also requests .../auth/gmail.metadata. We use Contacts (People API) to read your saved contacts and “other contacts” (name, email, phone, company, job title, and photo) so we can populate your private contact list. We use Calendar to read events on your primary calendar (event start time, title, and attendee name/email only) so we can identify the people you meet with and build a private “last met” interaction timeline. We request read-only access only and never create, edit, or delete your contacts, calendar events, or email.

With Gmail metadata, Orbit reads only the From, To, Cc, Subject, and Date headers of recent messages. We use those headers to identify people you exchange email with and add subject-and-date interactions to your private contact timeline. Orbit does not request, access, or store Gmail message bodies or attachments. Google OAuth tokens and imported header data are stored on Orbit’s protected servers so the connection can sync the features you authorize.

Google Drive in Messages: when you choose Google Drive in a chat’s attach menu, Google’s own file picker opens and Orbit requests .../auth/drive.file, which reaches only the files you pick there, never the rest of your Drive. Orbit reads each picked file’s name, type, and size and downloads a copy to your iPhone (Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides as PDF or Excel files). That copy is sent to the people in that chat only after you tap Send, exactly like a file from your phone. Orbit does not store this Drive access, revokes it as soon as the copies are downloaded, and never changes the file’s sharing settings in Drive, so the people you message get the copy you sent, not access to your Drive.

Orbit’s use and transfer of information received from Google APIs adheres to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements. Specifically, we use Google user data only to provide and improve the user-facing features described above; we do not sell it; we do not use or transfer it for serving advertisements; we do not use it to develop, improve, or train generalized or non-personalized AI and/or machine learning models; and we do not allow humans to read this data unless we first obtain your affirmative consent, it is necessary for security purposes (such as investigating abuse) or to comply with applicable law, or the data has been aggregated and anonymized. Each user’s Google data is private to that user and is not shared with other Orbit users, except a Google Drive file you choose to send in a chat.

Google user data is never used to train generalized or non-personalized AI models. Gmail metadata is not used for advertising, sold, or shared with other Orbit users.

You can revoke Orbit’s access at any time from your Google account permissions. Disconnecting Google in Orbit or revoking access stops future collection. You can also remove imported contacts in Orbit or delete your Orbit account.

Apple Messages

Orbit is an iPhone app and does not read your iMessage or SMS threads. If you connected Messages in the former Orbit Mac app, the short snippets and summaries it saved stay in your private Orbit, where they can appear in contact timelines and search, until you delete those contacts or your Orbit account. We do not send messages on your behalf.

LinkedIn and other connections

If you connect LinkedIn, Orbit uses your LinkedIn password once to sign in and never stores it. Orbit keeps your LinkedIn email and an encrypted LinkedIn session, uses them only to import your connections and check for new ones, and deletes them when you disconnect LinkedIn. Orbit no longer connects to Instagram; people imported from Instagram earlier stay in your private Orbit until you delete them or your Orbit account. Orbit does not send messages on your behalf. You can disconnect any connection to stop future syncs.

Data retention and deletion

We retain your information, including search prompts and Orbit chat history, while your account is active so you can revisit prior work and Orbit can provide the service. You can delete contacts at any time and delete your account and associated data from the product or by contacting us. Disconnecting a connected Google account stops future imports. If you choose “remove contacts” while disconnecting, Orbit removes contacts whose sole source was that Google connection; contacts also supported by another source are kept. Deleting your Orbit account deletes the associated Google-derived contacts, calendar interactions, Gmail metadata interactions, and stored connection tokens from our systems.

Your choices

You can access, update, or delete your information from within the product, and you can revoke access to connected accounts at any time.

Anyone, Orbit user or not, can ask Orbit to remove them from other people's Orbits and stop looking them up, on our removal page. We confirm the request with a one-time code sent only to the email or phone being removed, keep only a one-way hash of it so it is never imported or researched again, and never tell the requester who had them as a contact.

Contact us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or your data, contact Orbit LLC at privacy@orbitmy.co.