Staying safe

Last updated 17 September 2026

Meeting people you do not know is the point of Voolo and the reason to be careful with it. Here is what the app does, and what is still yours to do.

What Voolo does

• Coarse location only. The app asks the phone for reduced accuracy, so it shows the area you are in and cannot show the spot you are standing on.
• Honest last-seen times. Coverage dies in the places worth going to. Voolo says when somebody was last active rather than implying they are there now.
• Visibility you control. Choose who can see you, or leave the map entirely, in one tap.
• Report and block on everything. Blocking is silent and immediate.
• Consent before anybody can write to you. A wave carries no words. Nobody can send you a message until you have waved back.
• Adults only, and accounts we find to be under 18 are removed.

You do not have to travel with strangers at all

Every trip has a link. Send it to the people you already know and they come straight in, whether or not the trip is open to the map. A trip closed to strangers is still a shared plan, a group chat and a split — with your own friends. The map is an option, not the price of entry.

Before you meet somebody

• Talk in the app first. How somebody writes about their plans tells you a lot.
• Meet the first time in a busy public place, in daylight, and travel there yourself.
• Tell somebody at home who you are meeting and where.
• Treat a verification badge as one signal among several, not a guarantee.

While you are travelling together

• Keep your own money, phone and documents on you. Do not hand your passport to anybody.
• Keep your own way out: your own room booking, or the fare home.
• Leave if it feels wrong. You do not owe anybody an explanation, and no plan is worth staying for.

Money

• Log expenses as they happen, so the ledger is not an argument later.
• Settle through your own payment app, directly with the person. Voolo never asks for card or bank details, and anybody on Voolo who does is a problem you should report.
• Be wary of anyone who wants money up front for a booking they will make for you.

If something goes wrong

If you are in danger, call local emergency services with your phone's own emergency dialler — it works without Voolo, without unlocking, and without a signal on your own network. Then block the person, which is silent and immediate, and report them, which sends us what we need to act.

You can also write to safety@voolo.in. A person reads it, and reports involving someone's safety come first.