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Who can see my Polarsteps account and trips?

You can manage who can follow you and see your trips. Whether it's all your trips as a whole or your most recent adventure, you're in control. 

With that in mind, your account and trip privacy consist of a few parts:
  • Account settings (who can follow you).
  • The settings for individual trips (allowing you to decide, on an individual basis, if a trip can be seen by just you, your followers, or by everyone)
  • Limited public profile information (for more info, please read this article)
Basically, things can be as open or closed as you like. These are your memories in the making, and you get to choose who comes along for the ride.
 
In this article:

Account privacy options and how to switch between them

You control who can see the content of your account through the setting called 'Who can follow me'. There are two options to choose from:

  • Only people I accept (private account)

    People can only see your trips after you've accepted their follow request. This means that you’re only sharing experiences with people that you have already decided you can trust.

  • Anyone

    Your account is open for anyone to follow. Everyone who sends you a follow requests is accepted as your follower automatically. Perfect for those who love to share their story far and wide!

Note: When you join Polarsteps, your account is always set to 'Only people I accept' by default.
 

How to change your account’s privacy settings:

  1. Go to ‘Settings’
  2. Scroll down to ‘Account type’ > 'Who can follow me'
  3. Select your preference 
Remember, you can change your settings) at any time.
 

Trip privacy settings and how to set them for each trip 

As well as your account privacy, you control the settings for each individual trip. There are three privacy levels to choose from:

  • Everyone

    Your trip is visible to everyone – meaning even someone who doesn’t follow you or have a Polarsteps account can join in on your adventures. But remember, an active trip includes your location while on the road, which should be kept in mind when sharing widely! 

    Note: If you have a private account, but you set an individual trip to 'Everyone', that trip will still be visible to everyone.

  • Followers

    Only people that follow you on Polarsteps, or people who you’ve shared your secret link with, will be able to see your trip in its entirety. Not sure what a follower is? Read more here. 

    Note: If you want to approve people before they can follow you, make sure your account settings are set to private.

  • Only me (or Travel Buddies)

    This means that your trip, including details such as your current location, photos, and steps, are only visible to you. If you have added any Travel Buddies to your trip, they can also see it. 

Changing your trip’s privacy settings:

  • View the desired trip in your Polarsteps account
  • Press ‘Trip menu’ and then ‘Trip settings’
  • Scroll down to ‘Who can see this trip?’
  • Switch the toggle to your desired privacy setting
Note: The default privacy setting for all your trips is always 'Followers'. 
 

People can see your trip, but they are not your followers? What to check and how to stop it

If you have a private account, but people are still able to see your trips, there are two possible scenarios:

  1. The privacy level of your trip is set to 'Everyone'. Even if your account is private, trips that are set to public can still be viewed by everyone. To avoid this, make sure you set the privacy level to 'Followers' or 'Only me' for your trip. or;
  2. People are viewing your trip via your secret trip link. Everyone who has the secret link to your trip can see it in full. So, make sure you only share your link with people you trust to not share it with others or post about it on their social media accounts (without your permission). For more information about secret trip links, please read this article.

Can I choose which followers see which trip?

No, it’s not possible to choose which of your followers can see a trip on an individual basis. When you accept someone as a follower, that person can see all trips on your Polarsteps account (apart from the trips set to 'Only me’). 
 
Note: If you want someone to only see specific trips, consider sending them just those secret links rather than accepting them as a follower.