Privacy Policy

Last Updated: July 2026

Welcome to GeoDial (officially hosted at findapayphone.com). We believe that urban exploration should be fun, safe, and private. Because our game bridges the gap between the internet and the real-world telephone network, we want to be completely transparent about what data we collect and how we protect it. This Privacy Policy is designed to comply with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs).

Jurisdiction: The GeoDial service and application are exclusively intended for use within Australia. If you are accessing this site from outside Australia, you do so at your own risk and are responsible for compliance with local laws.

1. Anonymity and Information We Collect

In accordance with APP 2 (Anonymity and Pseudonymity), we strongly encourage players to remain anonymous. We do not ask for your real name, email address, or personal phone number to create an account. When you play GeoDial, we only collect the following data:

• Account Data: A randomly generated username (pseudonym) and a 5-digit PIN that you create.
• Game Logs: A database record of which payphones you have successfully logged, including the date and time of the discovery.
• Telephony Data: When a call is made to the GeoDial system, our telephony provider securely logs the Caller ID (the physical phone number of the payphone you are using) and the DTMF tones (the 5-digit PIN you type on the keypad) so our server can verify your location and log your find.
• User-Uploaded Media: If you choose to upload a "Proof of Discovery" photo of a payphone, that image is saved to our servers and linked to your anonymous Agent ID.
• Location Data (Local Only): If you tap the "Find My Location" GPS button on the map, your browser will ask for permission to view your location. This GPS data is processed entirely locally on your device to center the map. Your personal GPS coordinates are never transmitted to, or saved on, the GeoDial servers.

2. How We Use Your Information

We use your data exclusively to run the game and provide our services. Specifically:

• To authenticate your account using your PIN.
• To verify that you are physically standing at a payphone (by matching the incoming Caller ID of the payphone to our database).
• To track your game progress, calculate your completion stats, and update the global map.

3. Personal Mobile Phones

The GeoDial system is designed to be called only from public payphones. If you accidentally call the GeoDial system from your personal mobile phone, the system will instantly reject the call because your mobile number is not in the payphone database. We do not store, track, or harvest personal mobile numbers that call the system.

4. Data Storage, Security, and Third-Party Services

We take reasonable steps to protect your data from misuse, interference, loss, unauthorised access, modification, or disclosure (APP 11). We use a select few trusted third-party services to make GeoDial work:

• Telephony Providers (e.g., Telnyx): We use telecommunications platforms to receive the incoming phone calls from the payphones and securely transmit the keypad presses (your PIN) to our game server.
• Mapping Providers (CARTO / Leaflet): We use these services to render the interactive map tiles on your screen.

Some of these third-party service providers may process or store data on servers located outside of Australia (APP 8). By using our service, you acknowledge that your telephony data may be subject to cross-border disclosure solely for the operational purposes of verifying the game calls.

5. Data Retention, Access, and Deletion

Your game progress and uploaded photos are kept on our servers indefinitely so you can maintain your exploration history. Under the APPs (APP 12 and 13), you have the right to request access to or correction of any personal information we may hold about you. Furthermore, if at any time you wish to have your account, game logs, or photos permanently deleted from the GeoDial servers, please contact the system administrator, and we will purge your generated ID and data from the database.

6. Contact and Complaints

If you have any questions about this privacy policy, believe there has been a breach of the Australian Privacy Principles, or need to request a data deletion, please contact the GeoDial System Administrator at: Loading...

We take privacy complaints seriously and will respond to your inquiry within a reasonable timeframe. If you are not satisfied with our response, you may formally escalate the matter to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC).

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