What we do with your data.

1. Who we are

MapShifter ("MapShifter", "we", "us", or "our") is an independent developer of the MapShifter mobile application (the "App"). You can reach us any time at support@mapshifter.com.

For the purposes of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the UK GDPR, MapShifter is the data controller of the limited personal data described below. For the purposes of the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA/CPRA), MapShifter is the "business".

2. Scope

This Privacy Policy covers the MapShifter iOS app, its Apple Watch companion, its home-screen widget, and the website at mapshifter.com. It does not cover third-party services we link to from inside the app — those are governed by their own policies, listed under Third-party services below.

3. What we collect

MapShifter is designed to work without an account. We don't ask you to sign up, and we don't know who you are. The data handled by the App falls into four buckets:

3.1 Stays on your device

• Your precise location, obtained through iOS Core Location when you grant the "While Using the App" permission. This is used to center the map on you, show your heading, and compute routes from your current position. It is not transmitted to MapShifter's servers — we don't have any.
• Your preferences: the active skin, language, unit system, and similar settings. Stored locally on your device.
• Offline map regions you choose to download, cached locally for offline use.
• Search history (recent queries and chosen destinations), if enabled, stored locally so you can jump back to recent places. You can clear it from app settings.

3.2 Sent to third-party open-data services when you use them

MapShifter is built on top of the open mapping ecosystem. Some features are powered by independent services operated by third parties. When you actively use those features, your request goes directly from your device to the service in question, and that service may log it according to its own privacy policy. See Third-party services for the full list.

• Typing in the search bar sends the query and, optionally, a nearby coordinate for ranking, to the geocoding service.
• Tapping on the map to identify a place sends the coordinate to the reverse-geocoding service.
• Starting a route sends the start and end coordinates to the routing service.
• Requesting nearby POIs (points of interest) sends a bounding-box query to the Overpass/OpenStreetMap service.
• Viewing place information (descriptions, photos) queries Wikidata and Wikipedia using the place's name or Wikidata ID.
• Loading map tiles and styles fetches tile bundles by coordinate from the map-hosting CDN.
• On first launch, before you grant location permission, the App may query a public IP-geolocation endpoint to center the map on your approximate city. This is a one-shot call and is not used after you grant location access.

These services see the standard information every internet service sees when you make a request: your IP address, user-agent, and the query itself. MapShifter does not attach any stable identifier that would let these services correlate your queries with each other or with you.

3.3 Apple-provided data

If you contact us for support, we receive whatever you put in the email. If you leave a review on the App Store, Apple may share a pseudonymized nickname with us.

Apple itself collects diagnostic and analytics data depending on your device-wide settings (Settings → Privacy & Security → Analytics & Improvements). If you opt in to share diagnostics with app developers, Apple may share anonymous crash reports with us through App Store Connect. These reports contain stack traces and device model/OS version — no personal data.

3.4 Anonymous analytics and diagnostics

The App sends limited, pseudonymous product events to PostHog, such as whether onboarding was completed, which visual theme was selected, the kind of place opened, routing mode, route distance, and whether a route started, was cancelled, or failed. PostHog also receives ordinary lifecycle events such as app launch. We configure PostHog not to create person profiles or capture screens.

The App sends crash and sampled performance diagnostics to Sentry. We configure Sentry not to send default PII, screenshots, view hierarchy, logs, session replays, or profiling recordings.

These services receive a random app-install identifier and standard technical context such as app version, device model, operating-system version, and IP address. They do not receive your name, email address, search text, selected destination, route coordinates, or precise location from MapShifter.

The website uses Google Analytics to understand aggregate page usage. Google may receive cookie or device identifiers, approximate location derived from IP address, and page/referrer information according to your browser settings and Google's privacy terms.

4. Third-party services

MapShifter relies on the following independent services. Each is governed by its own privacy policy. We have no control over, and no visibility into, what they do with requests beyond what their policies describe.

• OpenStreetMap — underlying map data, tiles, and Nominatim reverse-geocoding. Privacy policy.
• OpenFreeMap — map tile hosting. Site.
• OSRM (Project OSRM) — route computation. Site.
• Photon (Komoot) — search suggestions and forward geocoding. Privacy policy.
• Overpass API — POI and nearby-places queries.
• Wikidata and Wikipedia (Wikimedia Foundation) — descriptions and imagery for places. Privacy policy.
• ipapi.co — approximate IP-based location on first launch only. Privacy policy.
• Apple — Core Location, App Store, MapKit sharing sheets, push-style notifications for navigation, CloudKit sync of preferences across your own devices (if enabled). Privacy policy.
• PostHog — anonymous product analytics. Privacy policy.
• Sentry — crash and performance diagnostics. Privacy policy.
• Google Analytics — aggregate website analytics. Privacy policy.

5. What we don't collect

For the avoidance of doubt, MapShifter does not:

• Require or create a user account.
• Embed advertising or attribution SDKs.
• Transmit your location to MapShifter servers (we don't operate app servers).
• Build a profile of your movements or behavior.
• Sell or share personal information for cross-context advertising.
• Use your data to train machine-learning models.

6. How we use data

We use the limited data described above only to:

• Provide the core mapping, search, and navigation features.
• Remember your preferences and downloaded offline regions.
• Understand anonymous feature usage and improve the App.
• Diagnose crashes, hangs, and performance problems.
• Reply to your support emails.

7. Legal basis (GDPR)

If you are in the EEA or UK, our legal bases for processing are:

• Contract — processing necessary to provide the App you asked for (e.g., routing queries you initiate).
• Consent — access to precise location via the iOS permission prompt. You can revoke at any time in iOS Settings → Privacy & Security → Location Services.
• Legitimate interest — improving product features, diagnosing crashes, measuring website usage, and responding to support emails.

8. Retention

Data that stays on your device is retained until you clear it or uninstall the App. Support emails are retained as long as needed to handle the conversation and comply with legal obligations, typically up to 24 months. Analytics and diagnostic data are retained according to our configured vendor retention periods and are deleted or aggregated when no longer needed.

Third-party services have their own retention policies — please consult them directly.

9. Your rights

Depending on where you live, you may have the right to access, correct, delete, port, or restrict the processing of your personal data, and to object to processing or withdraw consent. Since MapShifter does not operate an account database, many of these rights are exercised by interacting with your device directly:

• Access / portability: the data is on your device — you have direct access.
• Deletion: uninstalling the App removes all locally stored data. You can also clear search history from settings.
• Revoke location: iOS Settings → Privacy & Security → Location Services → MapShifter.
• Revoke notifications: iOS Settings → Notifications → MapShifter.

If you believe we've mishandled your data, email support@mapshifter.com. EU/UK users have the right to lodge a complaint with their local data protection authority. California residents have rights under the CCPA/CPRA, including the right not to be discriminated against for exercising those rights.

10. Children

MapShifter is not directed to children under 13 (or under 16 in the EEA), and we do not knowingly collect personal data from them. If you believe a child has provided us with personal data, please contact us and we'll delete it.

11. International transfers

MapShifter does not operate its own app backend. Analytics, diagnostic, website, and open-data services are located in various jurisdictions, including the United States and Europe. Where applicable, those services rely on appropriate safeguards such as Standard Contractual Clauses for international transfers.

12. Security

All network traffic from the App uses HTTPS. Precise location is not sent to our analytics or diagnostic providers; it leaves your device only for mapping, search, and routing requests you initiate. That said, no system is perfectly secure — if you spot a security issue, please email support@mapshifter.com and we'll investigate promptly.

13. Changes to this policy

If we change this policy in any material way, we'll update the "Last updated" date at the top and, where appropriate, surface the change inside the App before it takes effect. Continued use of the App after a change means you accept the updated policy.

14. Contact

Questions, complaints, or data requests: support@mapshifter.com.