Updated 9 October 2026

Privacy notice

The Missing Alien is operated by Prashant Kumar Ray in India. This notice explains how the travel community uses your information. For a question, correction, copy or account closure, use the controls in your dashboard or write to hello@themissingalien.com from your account email. We may ask you to verify ownership before sharing or changing account information.

Information we collect

When you register or apply, we collect your account email, password through our identity provider, name, age, city, phone number, Instagram handle, photos, biography, travel preferences and verification answers. When you use the community, we process plans, requests to connect or join, direct and circle messages, alerts, blocks, reports and moderation decisions. We also receive ordinary technical information needed to serve and secure the site, such as request and device data. Please do not put sensitive details in a public bio or travel plan.

Application progress

While you complete your application, text details save automatically and privately to your account for 7 days. Photos, passwords and your agreement are not saved as drafts. You can delete a saved draft from the application form. We also record account-linked timestamps for signup, confirmed access, starting a profile, selecting photos and submitting it, to find problems in this process. These progress records contain no form answers, photos or message contents, are visible as counts only to admins, and are removed after 90 days or when account closure is requested.

Why we use it

We use this information to create and protect accounts, review applications and plans, show approved members to eligible members, coordinate trips and conversations, send service notifications, respond to requests, and investigate safety or abuse reports. We do not sell member profiles or use them for advertising. We do not arrange transport or accommodation.

Who can see it

Moderators can inspect an application and its photos during review. Approved members can see approved profiles, including name, age, city, Instagram, bio, travel preferences and approved photos. A public visitor can see limited trip previews and community cards with member names, ages and heavily blurred photo copies. Your phone number and account email are not displayed on profile cards. Messages are available to eligible conversation or circle participants and may be reviewed for safety when reported. Other members may keep copies of material they saw; account closure cannot erase those copies.

Circle Expenses and emergency tools

Circle Expenses stores amounts, shares, member identifiers, payment confirmations and correction history. Only current approved members of that circle can read or change permitted records. Entries remain after a participant leaves, so other members’ balances do not change unexpectedly. Closing a participant’s account removes their profile; their non-name expense records remain labelled as a former or unavailable member while the circle exists. Deleting the host’s trip deletes its expense ledger and history. The platform does not hold or transfer funds.

The Safety & Emergency Help page does not ask for location until you press Get my location. A location fix and message draft stay in page memory until you choose to share or copy them; they are not uploaded to The Missing Alien. A trusted contact is stored in this browser only if you choose Save on this device, and remains until you clear it, including after logout. Avoid saving contacts on shared devices. Sharing passes the message to the app you select; opening a map link sends location coordinates to that map provider. Clear message & details removes the on-page draft, but cannot erase already copied or sent messages. Loading your trip details is optional and requires current circle access.

Providers and locations

Netlify hosts the website and processes sign-in, functions, database records and photos. Resend delivers service emails such as approval notifications. Brand fonts and editorial images are served from this website. Image licences and attribution are available separately. Providers may process information outside India under their own terms and safeguards.

Saved application details

While you fill your application, your unfinished text fields are stored privately against your account for 7 days. Only your signed-in account can retrieve them. Drafts do not include photos, passwords or your agreement checkbox. You can delete the draft from the application screen. Expired drafts are inaccessible and removed by the daily cleanup; account closure also removes your saved draft.

How long we keep it

We keep account and community data while your account is active and needed to run the service. When you confirm closure, we hide your profile immediately and remove your login, applications, stored photos, trips, connections and related messages as the closure completes. Open safety reports require human review before final removal; a failed deletion remains queued for retry. Reports and moderation information may need to be kept while a safety matter is investigated or legal obligations apply. Completed access and correction request records are removed after 90 days; unresolved requests remain until handled. Backups and providers’ operational copies can take additional time to expire.

Your controls

In the dashboard you can edit some public profile details, ask for a copy of your information, request corrections, or close your account by confirming your current password. Name, age and Instagram changes require human review. Approved members can update their own photos without restarting approval. You can also contact hello@themissingalien.com if you cannot sign in or need to raise a privacy concern. We will reply to your account email after checking ownership. You may stop using the service or withdraw from membership by closing the account. Some safety information may remain while a live report is reviewed.

Security and changes

Access checks restrict pending and member data, and we use human review and moderation controls. No online service can promise perfect security. We may update this notice as the product or applicable requirements change; the effective date above will change when we do. For immediate safety concerns, follow the community guidelines and contact local emergency services when appropriate.

Profile updates and account reminders

Gender is optional and can be changed in your profile. If you choose to share it, approved members can see it; public previews do not include it. Administrators can correct existing members’ gender using information the member has provided.

You can update your photos after approval. Original review photos are kept privately for up to 90 days after the first photo update for review context, then removed if no longer used on your profile. Only administrators can access this archive. Account closure includes these photos.

For up to 90 days, we keep signup email and completion-stage records to help with incomplete profiles. An administrator may send at most two profile-completion reminders, at least seven days apart. Each reminder has a stop-reminders link. Account and security emails are separate.

Public trip links display destination, dates, availability and trip status. If the host adds a public invitation, it and the estimated cost are visible without login. Hosts can optionally show their first name. Original member photos, participant lists, private descriptions, meeting points and messages remain behind community access controls.

Public community previews

Approved, active members may appear on the homepage with their name, age and a heavily blurred copy of their main photo. The public copy is reduced and blurred on the server. Original photos, gender, contact information and full profile details remain restricted to approved members.

Trip applications and founding membership

When you explicitly apply for a trip, we store your account identifier, application note and the version of the trip requirements you accepted. The application waits for profile approval before reaching the host. You can withdraw a waiting application from your dashboard. Hosts see approved applicants, and make their own selections. For creator collaborations, covered costs, applicant expenses, content deliverables, selection criteria and application deadlines are public.

Founding membership records your eligibility and badge so reapproval does not issue a second place. Your badge may appear with your profile, including the public blurred preview. Staff, test and duplicate classifications are private administrative records. These personal records are removed on account closure, subject to an unresolved safety report. The aggregate count of founding places issued does not identify you.

We also count trip-page visits without storing a visitor fingerprint or IP address in the journey tracker. A browser-tab session marker avoids repeated counts in the same tab. Signup records can include the first trip link, its source label (Instagram Story, shared trip link or direct), and whether an account returns after 24 hours; these records expire after 90 days. We aggregate visits by trip and source to understand the signup journey. A source label can remain on a forwarded link and does not prove a Story was posted or identify an Instagram account. Story cards are generated on your device from public trip details and our brand artwork. Copying or downloading a card does not publish it; you choose what to post and add the link in Instagram. Identified test and staff accounts are excluded from these account metrics.

Activity email and device notifications

We use your account email for updates about requests, unread conversations and plans you participate in. Manage these categories in notification settings, or stop activity emails using the unsubscribe link in each email. Security and account-verification emails are separate. Web push is optional: when you enable it, we store your browser’s subscription endpoint and public encryption keys to deliver alerts through its push service. Lock-screen alerts do not contain names or message text. We use delivery, failure and authenticated link-opening records to operate notifications and understand whether they help members return. Email delivery providers and browser push services process the details necessary for delivery. Bounce and spam-complaint suppression records prevent further unwanted or undeliverable activity email. A one-time reminder may be sent for eligible unread activity, subject to these notification preferences. A minimal account/email record prevents this reminder being repeated after delivery history expires. This record, account-linked delivery records and push subscriptions are deleted when the profile is deleted. You can turn off device notifications in settings; signing out disconnects the current subscribed browser.

Community invitations and journey activity

Community invitation emails from Ray are optional and off until you opt in on your dashboard or in Notification settings. We record that choice and send no more than one campaign per seven days. Each invitation has a separate unsubscribe link; unsubscribing does not turn off your request, message or security alerts. Administrators can review eligible recipients and delivery results. Failed addresses and spam complaints are suppressed.

To understand how reviewed members use the platform, we record recent activity in broad sections and actions such as opening a plan, starting the plan form, submitting a plan, requesting a connection or place, and uploading a Moment. A visible, recently used tab can send a lightweight presence signal approximately once a minute. Administrators can see your name, recent section and activity timeline. This does not record private message contents, keystrokes, screen recordings, precise location, or unidentified visitor browsing. You can disable journey tracking in Notification settings; doing so removes your stored journey details and community-email return tracking. Operational plans, requests and delivery records remain necessary to provide their features.

Individual journey details expire after 30 days; community campaign records expire after 90 days. A campaign return is recorded only when you open its link while authenticated as its recipient and have journey tracking enabled. Subsequent actions within seven days can be attributed to the most recent campaign return; this does not prove the email caused the action. Staff, test and duplicate accounts are excluded when classified. Historical journeys before this feature was installed cannot be reconstructed.

Profile review and account confirmation

We send account emails for profile review outcomes and account-closure confirmation. Review messages include the reviewer’s note and a link to your dashboard. Operational delivery records are kept for up to 90 days and removed on completed account closure, subject to safety holds. Closure codes expire after 30 minutes; their temporary records are removed after expiry. Instagram is optional on the profile form.