Party Squasher was built with host and guest privacy in mind. View our Privacy Policy for detailed privacy information.

The Party Squasher device counts the number of mobile devices nearby using Wi-Fi and we follow key guidelines and principles of the Future Privacy Forum Code of Conduct. Specifically, we anonymize MAC addresses before storing this information on our servers.

Our goal is not to precisely count the number of people in an area, but rather to detect significant spikes in the number of mobile devices –  without compromising guest privacy.

Party Squasher estimates the number of mobile devices and doesn’t access or record private information as follows:

  • We cannot identify the name, phone number or mailing address of a guest
  • We cannot count or trace the IMEI, Bluetooth ID, serial number of the device
  • We cannot identify the mobile carrier
  • We cannot collect the content of any communication sent by the device
  • We cannot perform surveillance on any individual, because we store anonymous, aggregated data.

We recommend that hosts disclose to guests that they are using device detection to help enforce their house rules.

Party Squasher helps owners enforce house rules without having to film or record their guests.

In addition to counting mobile devices, the technology can be used to:

  • Help verify that the number of expected guests isn’t grossly understated (12 guests instead of 2)
  • Help verify that the check-in or check-out time isn’t grossly outside of policy (unexpected mobile device traffic showing up 1-2 day(s) before or after check-in/out)
  • Help indicate whether the power or internet may be off in the home

Party Squasher was created to help protect homes from unwanted parties using our patented technology. We’ve spent months considering numerous use-cases, privacy concerns and user benefits: we at BlueFox care greatly about the Party Squasher product as we are Airbnb and HomeAway hosts and guests, in addition to our day jobs. A key difference between BlueFox and many other start-ups is that we started with privacy in mind. Countless host and guest considerations were made while designing Party Squasher and prior to launching the service. Read the Party Squasher story recently published for more background information.