Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

At Untracked Maps, we are committed to protecting your privacy through minimal data collection. Untracked Maps is designed as an educational and informational service to educate users about surveillance infrastructure. This Privacy Policy explains exactly what data we collect on our servers, how we use it, and how long we retain it in the context of providing this educational service.

Key principle: We believe in data minimization. We collect only what is absolutely necessary to provide route planning services. All data on your device stays on your device—we have no access to it.

2. What Data We Collect on Our Servers

Untracked Maps operates servers that process route planning requests. When you use our app, the following data is transmitted to our servers:

Route Planning Requests

When you request a route, your device sends origin coordinates, destination coordinates and routing parameters over TLS. That is the minimum needed to calculate a route. We do not collect your identity, phone number, or any personal identifiers with these requests.

We do not store your routes. A route request exists on our servers only for the seconds it takes to calculate it, and the finished answer stays readable just long enough for your phone to collect it (about three minutes). After that it is deleted automatically. Routes are never written to a database, a file, or a log line.

Server Logs

Our servers log operational metadata for maintenance and debugging only: job identifiers, camera counts, timings, HTTP status codes and error messages. Logs do not contain your origin, your destination, or any route geometry. Your IP address reaches the server because it must in order to answer the request; it is not stored with the request.

Coverage Requests

If a route cannot be calculated because we have no routing data for that region, you may ask us to add it. That request is stored as a single approximate zone — the destination rounded to about one kilometre. We deliberately do not store where you started, or the two points together, because that pairing would describe a trip.

Server Error/Crash Data

When errors occur, we capture server crash logs and error traces to diagnose and fix issues. These are technical debugging logs only, not user data.

What We Do NOT Collect or See

• Your device information (phone model, OS, app version)
• Your route history — we hold no history of where you have been
• Any data stored on your device outside of route requests
• Personal identifiers (name, email, phone number)
• Usage patterns or behavioral data across time
• Analytics about your routing habits or frequent destinations

Your device runs the Untracked Maps app locally. That local data—your saved locations, past routes, favorites, settings—belongs entirely to you and is never sent to our servers.

3. How We Use Server Data

• Provide routing services: Process your route planning requests and return calculated routes
• Server maintenance: Use server logs to monitor system health, performance, and availability
• Debugging: Use error logs to identify and fix technical issues
• Operational security: Detect and respond to system problems

We do not use server data to build user profiles, track behavior, target advertising, or any other secondary purpose.

4. Data Retention: Minutes, Not Days

Route data is not retained at all. A request lives in memory while it is being calculated, and the finished route remains pollable for about three minutes so your phone can collect it. It then expires automatically.

• Route requests and results: deleted automatically, typically within three minutes
• Server logs: operational metadata only — no coordinates — rolled off on the server's normal log rotation
• Coverage requests: one approximate (~1 km) destination zone, kept until we build routing data for the region or you ask us to remove it

Because no route history accumulates on our side, there is nothing older than a few minutes to disclose, subpoena, or leak.

5. Data You Control: Device-Side Data

We have zero access to data stored on your device. The Untracked Maps app on your phone may store:

• Your current location (only while using the app)
• The camera dataset, cached so the map works without a round trip for every pan
• Your search history
• Route history — on by default, switchable off in Settings → Privacy & Security, with a one-tap clear
• Your app settings, theme and (optionally) an app PIN

All of it stays on your device. Turning route history off also erases what was already saved. In Settings you can require a PIN to open the app, and optionally set a second “duress” PIN: entering it erases every piece of local data — camera data, map and routing downloads, search and route history, settings — and then opens the app normally.

Note that the map tiles themselves are requested from the tile provider as you pan, so that provider sees tile requests from your IP in the usual way.

6. Data Sharing and Disclosure

We do not sell, trade, or rent any data. We do not share server data with third parties for any reason. Server logs are retained only on our own servers and are not transmitted elsewhere.

We may disclose server information if required by law or legal process. In such cases, we will disclose only what is legally required.

7. Data Security

All communication between the app and our servers is encrypted using industry-standard TLS. Route data is held only in memory for the moments needed to answer a request, and never written to durable storage.

8. Your Rights

California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) Rights:

If you are a California resident, you have the following rights:

• Right to Know: Request what personal information we collect. We hold no route history and no identifiers; at most we may hold an approximate coverage zone and operational logs.
• Right to Delete: There is no stored route data to delete — it expires within minutes. Coverage zones and logs can be removed on request.
• Right to Opt-Out: We do not sell personal information (or any information).
• Right to Non-Discrimination: We will not discriminate against you for exercising your CCPA rights
• Right to Correct: Since we do not store personal information, correction is not applicable.
• Right to Limit Use: Your data is used only for route planning and server maintenance—no secondary uses.

All Users:

• Request a copy of server data we have (contact privacy@untracked.app)
• Have any stored coverage zone or log entry removed on request
• Full control over device-side data through app and device settings

9. Cookies and Tracking

The Untracked Maps app does not use cookies, persistent identifiers, or tracking mechanisms. We do not track you across sessions or devices. Each route request is independent and unrelated to previous requests.

10. Children's Privacy

Our service is not intended for children under 18. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 18. Since we collect only route coordinates without identifiers, we cannot target or intentionally collect from children.

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of significant changes through the app or email.

12. Contact Us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact us at:

• Email: privacy@untracked.app
• Data Deletion: Visit our Data Deletion page

13. Summary: Your Privacy with Untracked Maps

We've designed Untracked Maps from the ground up for privacy:

• ✓ Routes are never stored — they expire within minutes, automatically
• ✓ No identifiers, no accounts, no route history on our side
• ✓ We have zero access to your device data
• ✓ No tracking, cookies, or user profiling
• ✓ We don't sell, share, or monetize your data
• ✓ Server logs are for maintenance only, not analytics or marketing

Your privacy is fundamental to how Untracked Maps works. We believe navigation should be private by default.