Privacy Policy

1. What information we collect

When you create an account, we collect your name, email address, and username. Your password is stored only as a hash, never in plain text.

As you use First Night, we store the content you create: show logs, ratings, notes, watchlist entries, and any suggestions you submit. We also store the profile details you choose to provide, such as a tagline, a bio, and your avatar, along with preferences like your chosen colour theme.

If you opt in to our newsletter, we record that choice and the time you made it, which is what UK marketing law expects us to keep.

With your consent, we use PostHog (a product-analytics service hosted in the European Union) to understand how First Night is used, such as which pages are visited and how far new users get through key actions. Analytics only run after you accept analytics cookies, and you can decline or change your mind later. We record a small, fixed set of named events and, if you're signed in, your account ID. We never record your name, email, notes, or review text. See our Cookie Policy for detail.

We also use Sentry for error monitoring, so that crashes and broken pages reach us. Sentry runs whether or not you accept analytics cookies, because we need it to keep the service working. When something goes wrong it records technical information about the failure, which can include your IP address, browser, and the page you were on.

2. Tagging companions

You can record who you saw a show with. If they have a First Night account, we store the link between your log and their profile, and their name appears on that log. If they don't, we store the name you give us, and an email address if you add one, so that we can credit them and, in future, offer to connect the log to their account should they join.

A companion's name is shown on your log. Their email address is never displayed, and adding one does not contact them. We email a companion only if you explicitly choose to invite them to First Night, and only once. Please only add an email address for someone who would be happy to hear from us. If you have been tagged as a companion and would like the record removed, email hello@firstnight.io and we will delete it.

3. How we use your information

We use your information to:

• Provide and operate the First Night service
• Display your public profile, logs, and ratings to other users
• Send you service-related emails (such as email verification and password resets)
• Send you our newsletter, if you have opted in
• Improve and develop the platform

We do not sell your personal data to third parties.

4. Newsletter and marketing email

We only send marketing email if you ask us to. You can opt in when you create your account or at any time from the Newsletter section of your settings, and you can withdraw by clearing the same checkbox. Withdrawing is as easy as opting in, takes effect immediately, and does not affect your account in any other way. Service emails such as email verification and password resets are not marketing and are sent regardless, because they are needed to run your account.

5. How we store your information

Our database is hosted in the European Union, and our analytics provider is hosted there too. Some of the other providers we rely on, such as our email sender, our error monitoring, and the network that serves the website, operate outside the UK and European Economic Area. Where that happens, the transfer is covered by the safeguards those providers offer, such as standard contractual clauses.

Passwords are hashed and never stored in plain text. We take reasonable measures to protect your information, but no system is completely secure.

6. Sharing your information

Your profile, logs, and ratings are publicly visible to other users of First Night. Your email address is never displayed publicly.

We do not share your personal information with third parties for marketing purposes. We do use service providers who process data on our behalf in order to run the platform: hosting and database providers, Resend for email, PostHog for analytics, and Sentry for error monitoring. Each is bound by a data processing agreement and may only use the data to provide the service to us.

7. Cookies

First Night uses a small number of cookies and local storage to keep you signed in, to remember your preferences (such as your chosen theme), and to record your cookie choice. With your consent, we also use PostHog analytics cookies to understand how the site is used. We do not use advertising or social media tracking cookies. For more detail, see our Cookie Policy.

8. Your rights

Under UK data protection law (UK GDPR), you have the right to:

• Access the personal data we hold about you
• Request correction of inaccurate data
• Request deletion of your account and associated data
• Object to or restrict certain processing of your data

You can delete your account yourself, along with the data attached to it, from the Danger zone in your settings. You can edit your profile there too. For anything else, or if you would rather we did it for you, email hello@firstnight.io.

If you are unhappy with how we have handled your data, you can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk.

9. Contact us

If you have questions about this privacy policy or how we handle your data, please email hello@firstnight.io.