OrbitPrivacy policy
Last updated 1 October 2026
Orbit is a private, invite-only tool that helps a person keep track of the people they know. It brings together the contacts, email, calendar and chat accounts that the person connects, so they can search their own network and see who could introduce them to someone. This policy explains what Orbit collects, why, where it is kept, who processes it, and the choices you have.
Who runs Orbit
Orbit is run by its operator, an individual based in the United Kingdom, who is the data controller for the information described here. You can reach the operator at yuviyukt@googlemail.com.
What Orbit collects
Orbit only collects data from accounts and files that a signed-in user chooses to connect or upload:
- Google account data (only if connected): email messages and their headers from Gmail, contacts and "other contacts" from Google Contacts, and events from Google Calendar. Access is read-only.
- Other connected accounts (only if connected): contacts and messages from services such as WhatsApp, Telegram, Slack, LinkedIn, Instagram, X and iCloud Contacts, and files the user uploads, such as data export archives, vCards, CSV files and calendar files.
- Account data: the user's email address, sign-in passkeys (public keys only), and session records needed to keep them signed in.
- Derived data: information Orbit works out from the above, such as which records belong to the same person, how often people interact, short summaries of conversations, facts such as someone's employer or school, and likely connections between people. Each derived item keeps a reference to the source it came from.
Orbit does not collect data about sensitive categories (health, religion, politics, sexuality, finances or criminal matters) on purpose, and it filters out such content when it builds summaries and facts.
How Orbit uses data
- To show the user their own network: search, person pages, timelines, closeness scores, introduction paths and answers to their questions.
- To keep the service secure and working, for example to detect errors and keep backups.
Orbit never sends messages, emails, invitations, likes or posts on anyone's behalf. It does not sell data, use it for advertising, or share it with other users.
Google user data
Orbit's use and transfer of information received from Google APIs to any other app will adhere to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements. In particular:
- Google data is used only to provide and improve the user-facing features described above for the user who connected the account.
- Google data is not transferred to others except as needed to provide those features (for example to the AI processors listed below, which act only on Orbit's instructions), to comply with the law, or as part of a merger or sale with notice to users.
- Google data is not used for advertising, and it is not used to train general AI or machine learning models.
- No person reads Google data unless the user asks for help and agrees, it is needed for security, or the law requires it.
Where data is stored
All data is stored on a private server in the European Union, rented from Hetzner Online GmbH. Encrypted nightly backups are stored with Backblaze in the European Union. Connection credentials, such as access tokens, are encrypted at rest.
Service providers that process data
To provide its features, Orbit sends limited parts of the data to these processors. They process it only on Orbit's behalf, under their business API terms, with any option to use the data for model training turned off.
| Provider | What for |
|---|---|
| Hetzner Online GmbH | Server hosting (EU) |
| Backblaze, Inc. | Encrypted backups (EU) |
| OpenAI | Reading conversations to extract facts and summaries, and understanding search questions |
| Anthropic | The same tasks when OpenAI is unavailable, and the assistant |
| TypeSafe AI | Quick classification, such as whether a conversation is worth summarizing |
| Voyage AI | Creating search indexes so you can search by meaning |
How long data is kept
Data is kept while the user's account is active. When a user disconnects an account, Orbit stops collecting from it. When a user deletes their Orbit account or asks for their data to be deleted, it is deleted from the server within 30 days and from backups when they expire, within 6 months.
People in your network
Orbit holds information about the people its users know, taken from the users' own accounts. If you believe Orbit holds information about you and you want to know what it is, or want it corrected or removed, contact yuviyukt@googlemail.com. A user can also choose to forget a person, which removes them and stops Orbit adding them again.
Your rights
Under UK and EU data protection law you can ask to access, correct, delete or export your data, and you can object to or ask us to restrict how it is used. You can also withdraw Orbit's access to your Google account at any time from your Google Account's "Third-party apps and services" page. If you are unhappy with how your data is handled, you can complain to the UK Information Commissioner's Office (ico.org.uk) or your local data protection authority.
Cookies
Orbit uses only the cookies needed to keep you signed in. It does not use advertising or tracking cookies.
Children
Orbit is not meant for anyone under 18.
Changes
If this policy changes, the date at the top will change, and users will be told about significant changes.