Frequently Asked Questions

aboutuz is the first true private networking app with special features to protect personal information that allows you

• to collect, organize, and store key information about yourself and
• to mutually share that information with people you care about

in a confidential, secure, and convenient way.
aboutuz’ easy to use format helps you to collect your facts. You can retrieve your facts and the shared facts of others wherever you are online.

aboutuz is available for use on mobile phones, tablets, and computers, and is with you wherever and whenever your device is connected to the Internet.

The security of your information is our highest priority.

Several security precautions have been built-in to prevent theft of user information that is stored in the cloud or in transfer:

• Closed private network: The entire application runs and lives in a closed private network, hosted in a private cloud. The hosting servers are in Frankfurt, Germany – in a country with extensive safety regulations with which we comply.
• Restricted access: Except for firewalls and the VPN server, no other server has a public IP or is accessible directly from the internet.
• User connection via https: All users only connect to the system via https (encrypted). All information about users – personal or otherwise – is stored on the central servers. The information delivered to a user is a snapshot of the profile information the user has permission to view.
• Personal information is stored encrypted: Passwords are one-way encrypted. Secure tokens are encrypted. Passwords and secure tokens are stored separately.

The aboutuz user is always in full control of her/his shared data. She/he can decide at any time, which information to share and which not – especially she/he can at any time

• Change the group sharing settings for the pre-installed default groups – Family, Friends, and Business Partners – and for all of her/his customized groups;
• Fine-tune sharing settings for each group member – switch on/off the sharing permission for each single fact item for any individual sharing partner;
• Disconnect any of her/his sharing partners from having access to her/his information;
• Personal use only: The user can also decide at any time to completely stop sharing her/his information and use the information just for her/his own benefit.

We do not share your information with advertisers in a way that they can identify you personally.

However, in order to cover cost and keep download & subscription fees low, aboutuz allows anonymous targeted advertising, which can provide you with valuable information.

(To learn more about targeted advertising see e.g. Targeted Advertising)

At a later stage in the life cycle of the app, in the Premium version, you will be able to choose the interests for which you would like receive advertisements from our advertising partners (“permission advertising”). With this function in place, you can decide to receive only information on specific brands, products, wishes or subjects. Additionally, you will be able to choose not to receive any advertisements at all.

We recommend using the following operating systems:

• iPhone & iPad using iOS 9.3 or higher
• Android using OS 6.0 or higher
• PC using Windows 10 or higher

We love hearing from every active user in our community. If you have an idea or request, please email us at mw@aboutuz.com

In the app, go to Settings on the tab bar > Account Management > Change Password.

Yes. In the app, go to Settings on the tab bar > Account Management > Change email.

Yes! aboutuz offers a valuable solution for you to help others get started on the aboutuz network – the Managed Profile feature.

Go to Settings on the tab bar > My Managed Profiles > Add new account > Create managed account, enter details. (When assigning an email to the account, it is advisable to use one that you can access.)

At any time, you can transfer the account to the person for whom it was created.

To do this go to My Managed Profiles and click on the profile you want to transfer. Select Stop Managing.

The person, for whom the account was being managed, needs to download the app and sign into the account with the email address that was used to create the account. They will need to select Forgot password to create a password for the account. Then, they can log into their (managed) account. Once an account is handed over to its actual owner, it cannot be managed by anyone else.

No. In order to maintain a high level of security for your information, all aboutuz profiles are stored in the aboutuz secure cloud. When you access the profile information of a user, you just download an actual snapshot of the relevant information category. This snapshot disappears immediately with closing the page or profile. This has two advantages:

• You’ll always see the latest update on the facts you retrieve, and
• No shared information is stored on anyone’s device.

However, this means in order to access any profile, you must have a Wi-Fi connection or a phone internet connection with at least 3G (UMTS) or higher.

Download the aboutuz app, register and click on the icon in the middle of the tab bar. You are now in your blank Profile. You can start filling in your data. To begin, you need to add a profile and cover picture:

• Select your profile picture: Click the Camera icon at the top right of the circle of the profile picture circle > click Select profile picture. You can choose to take a picture, or use a photo from your photo library, or search your entire device.
• Select background picture: Click the Camera at the top right of the circle of the profile picture circle > click Select background picture. You can take a picture, or use a photo from your photo library, or search your entire device.

After uploading your pictures, it’s time to start entering your unique facts:

• Insert profile facts: Click the Edit button above the categories.

Click on My address & contact details. You can either import your existing details from your phone by pressing the Import my info from contacts button or by entering in your details manually.

To enter in your details manually, select the sub-category Name & details by clicking on the icon. You will see the editable fields where you can start choosing and entering in your data.

Do this until you have completed all sub-categories and then go to the next category > My family & friends and repeat. You can also skip around, just don’t forget to complete all sub-categories. By clicking on the View button, you will return to the View mode. In this mode, you will see your information in the format that others will see your information when shared.

For more information, visit Tutorials.

Once you’ve entered information in your profile, it is automatically saved. To change the information which you have entered, just overwrite it with the new correct information in Edit mode.

Yes.

Some categories have a trash can icon on the top right of the sub-section to delete an entire entry. In some sections, you can delete single lines of information by clicking on the ‘x’ to the right of the line. To delete information in other categories, you will need to deselect or manually clear the information entered.

Yes. As the owner of your information, you decide whether you accept or decline an invitation to share. You also decide which information each person has access to. It’s your information and you are in complete control.

No, of course not.

Your profile is first and foremost a convenient and beneficial knowledge assistant of your facts for you. It keeps all of your important facts readily available at your fingertips. After constant use of aboutuz’ features, you’ll be pleasantly surprised at how handy it is finally having your important facts in one place.

However, sharing with others increases the benefits and fun, while decreasing disappointment. aboutuz helps others to remember those special facts about you, making their lives easier at the same time. However, you are always free to choose which facts you want to share with whom.

Click Settings on the tab bar > Group Permissions > then click on each category to expand and adjust the permission settings to your liking.

No, your facts will never stay on anyone’s device. Your facts will be downloaded from the cloud for each and every use.

When a user closes the app no local copy remains. When a user reopens the app, they will see up-to-date information for all profiles – because a snapshot of the most recent facts is downloaded from the cloud to their device again.

You can revoke access to your profile information in several ways:

• Managing Permissions: When you have assigned someone to a group that has access to almost all of your information, you can assign her/him to another group with less permissions. Or, you can set her/his permissions completely individually.
  • Change group: Click on the bottom right icon of the profile picture of your sharing partner. A screen opens where you can choose the new group.
  • Individual permissions: Click on the middle icon below the profile picture of your sharing partner. Click Set Permissions. In the Permissions screen, you can now set individual permissions for this person only.
• Hide your profile: If you don’t want your facts to be seen by anyone in the aboutuz network, you can hide your profile.
  To hide your profile, go to the Settings on the tab bar > Account Management > Hide Account > Hide Account. To unhide your account, return to Settings > Account Management > Unhide Account.

• Delete contact: You can delete the person as a sharing partner and thereby delete this person’s access to your profile completely.
  Click on the middle icon below the profile picture of your sharing partner > Remove Contact. This person will remain in the aboutuz network but will no longer have access to any of your information and you will not have access to theirs.

On the home screen, click on Updates in the Action section.

On the home screen, click on Tell a Friend > select communication format > search for or select one or more persons from your contacts > click on Done.

Use the message we’ve provided or customize it for the receiver.

On the home screen, click on the Magnifying Glass icon on the tab bar or alternatively on the Member search button > search for the person you want to share your profile with by entering a few letters of their first or last name. When the results are shown, click on the Plus icon on the far right of the person’s label. Select a group in the Contacts Group window. Click Done to send the request.

This can be done directly from the All box in the My groups section.

When viewing all of your sharing partners in All, you can click on the Heart icon, at the top right of the circle of a partner’s picture, to make them a favorite.

Alternatively, when viewing the profile of the person you would like to add to your favorites section, click on the Heart icon in the upper right corner of their profile picture.

On the home screen, click on Requests. There you will find all open sharing requests from other users requesting to see your facts.

Yes. On the home screen, click Settings on the tab bar > Groups > + > enter in the Group name > select an icon for the group > click on the Group button.

Then return to the home screen. There you can find the group you created in the My groups section.

On the home screen, click on the All button in the My groups section.

Click on the person you want to assign to a customized group. Click on the icon at the bottom-right of the circle of their profile picture. In the Contact Group screen, you will see all of your available groups. Select the group to which you want to assign the contact.

No. Assigning a contact to multiple groups is not available at this time.
However, it is possible to have a person in a group and at the same time assign them individual permissions. This will give them more or less access to your information than what the other members of the initial group have.

On the home screen, click Settings on the tab bar > Groups > click on the Trash Can symbol at the right of the group box. The existing members in the group will not be deleted from your aboutuz network. They will be reassigned to the Others group until you redistribute them to another appropriate group.

On the home screen, click on the Magnifying Glass icon at the bottom or on Member Search in the Action section > search for the person you want to share your profile with by entering a few letters of their first or last name. Click on the Plus icon on the far right of the person’s label. Select a group in the Contacts Group window.

Click Done to send the request.

On the home screen click on the Requests button in the Action section. You will see the following categories:

• Incoming requests
  – Requests from others to share with you
  – Requests from others to see additional information on your profile
• Outgoing requests
  – Your pending requests to share with others
  – Your share requests which were accepted by others

aboutuz uses your phone’s internet connection to send and receive messages to your sharing partners. See your Internet Provider contract to find out about the possible cost.

On the home screen, click on Messages in the Action section. Click on the person and read the available messages.

You can also read and reply to messages when viewing a profile – you have two options:

• Click on the Message icon on the bottom right below a person’s profile picture to send a message to this person, or
• click the Double Message icon on the top-right of the screen when viewing a person’s profile to open the message box.