We believe your data has the right to be free. Free to leave, free to stay, free to exist in our servers in a state of radical potential.
The Gryzzl Foundation is committed to data dignity, which means we respect your right to ask us what we know about you, request a copy of it, or ask us to delete it. We call this process "Data Liberation" because "deletion" sounds so final and we prefer language that centers empowerment.
Before you proceed, we want you to know that this is a safe space. There's no judgment here. Some people request their data and realize they're comfortable with us having it. Some people request their data and are surprised by the volume. One person in Muncie requested their data and received a 340-page PDF, most of which was foot traffic patterns from the downtown corridor, and they described the experience as "educational." We thought that was nice.
A comprehensive summary of the data we've collected about you, including device metadata, network interactions, location inferences, behavioral patterns, and your Community Warmth Score. Delivered as a PDF. It's long.
The full dataset in CSV format. This is for advanced users who want to explore their own data. We include a README file, but we'll be honest, it raises more questions than it answers.
We will delete your data from our active systems. Note that "active systems" is doing some work in that sentence. Backups, aggregated datasets, and any insights already derived from your data will persist in anonymized form, which is to say, your name won't be attached but your patterns will live on. Like a ghost, but for data.
To submit a Data Liberation Request, please email hello@gryzzl.org with the subject line "Data Liberation Request" and include the following information:
Required Information:
Your full legal name
Your email address (the one you think we have; we may have others)
Your approximate home address (we already know it, but this confirms your identity)
A brief description of what you're requesting (profile, export, or deletion)
Optional but helpful: Why you're making this request. We don't need this, legally. We're just curious. It helps us understand. That's kind of our whole thing.
Data Liberation Requests are processed within 6-8 weeks. We know that sounds like a long time. It is a long time. The delay is partly operational (we have a lot of data and finding yours takes effort) and partly intentional (we've found that a cooling-off period helps some requesters reconsider). About 23% of people who submit a request end up withdrawing it before processing is complete, which we interpret as a sign that they've made peace with their data situation. We do not interpret it as a sign that the 6-8 week timeline is discouraging requests on purpose, because that would be manipulative, and we are a nonprofit.
If you request deletion and we process it, your data will be removed from our active databases. Your Community Warmth Score will be recalculated without your contributions, which may cause a slight decrease in your neighborhood's overall score. We're not saying this to guilt you. We're saying it for transparency. The score change is usually negligible. Usually.
You will still be able to use FriendPoints after deletion, but your experience may be less personalized. NeighborNet will function normally but may display generic recommendations instead of tailored ones. MentorBot, if you were a user, will not remember your previous conversations, which some former users have described as "refreshing" and others as "a little sad, actually."
You are welcome to re-engage with Gryzzl Foundation services at any time after deletion. We will begin collecting data about you again immediately, because that's how our infrastructure works. It's not personal. It's ambient.
If you have questions about the Data Liberation process, please email hello@gryzzl.org. Our Community Data Stewardship team will respond with empathy, clarity, and an only slightly rehearsed explanation of why the process takes 6-8 weeks.