stipple. Privacy Policy
Effective date: [DATE] Developer: [YOUR NAME OR COMPANY] ("we", "us") Contact: [EMAIL ADDRESS]
stipple. is a personal life map. It turns your walks, photo locations, workouts and imported location history into a map of the places you've been. It is built so that this information stays on your phone. This policy explains what stipple. reads, what leaves your device (very little), and the choices you have.
The short version
- There is no account and no profile. We don't run servers that store your data.
- Your routes, places, photo locations, workouts and imported history are processed and stored only on your device.
- We don't sell your data, show ads, or track you across other companies' apps or websites.
- A few things do go over the network: map tiles, boundary maps for the countries you need, and subscription checks through our payment provider, Adapty. Each is described below.
- You can delete everything at any time from Settings → Your data → Delete all data, or by uninstalling the app.
1. Information stipple. uses on your device
stipple. only reads each kind of data below after you grant permission. You can change permissions at any time in your phone's settings. All of this data is stored in a database inside the app on your device.
| Data | What it's used for | Permission |
|---|---|---|
| Precise location | Recording walks you start. If you turn on Places in the background, it also adds places you pass while the app is closed. | Location (While Using; "Always" only for background recording and background places) |
| Photo dates and locations | Finding places you've been and coloring your map with your photos. stipple. reads each photo's date and location metadata. Photos are never uploaded. | Photos |
| Workouts and workout routes (Apple Health / Health Connect) | Adding the places you exercised to your map. Read only. stipple. never writes to Health. | Health / Health Connect |
| Motion and activity | Telling walking apart from travel by vehicle so distances and places stay accurate. | Motion & Fitness / Physical activity |
| Camera | Scanning a friend's stipple. code. Camera frames are processed on device and not saved. | Camera |
| Files you import | Location history you choose to import, such as a Google Timeline export, GPX, KML or GeoJSON files, or a Snapchat or Instagram data download. These are read on device. Only the location and time information is kept. | You pick the file |
| Things you enter | Your display name for friend codes, wishlist, trip names, places you mark as visited, and settings. | None |
| Friends' codes | Comparing maps with friends whose codes you scan or paste. | None |
Health data. Workout and route data from Apple Health or Health Connect is used only to put places on your map. It is never used for advertising or marketing. It is never shared with third parties, and it is never sent off your device by us. stipple's use of data from Health Connect follows the Health Connect Permissions policy, including its Limited Use requirements.
Widgets, Live Activities and notifications. Home screen widgets and Live Activities show data from a storage area on your device that only stipple. and its widgets can access. Notifications (such as On this day and new places) are created on your device. We do not use push notification servers.
2. What leaves your device
Map tiles
To draw street maps, the app requests map tiles for the area on screen:
- iOS: Apple Maps (Apple). Apple's privacy policy applies: https://www.apple.com/legal/privacy/
- Android: OpenFreeMap (tiles.openfreemap.org), using OpenStreetMap data.
As with any map, the tile provider receives your IP address and the map area being viewed. Your location history and your recorded routes are not sent.
Detailed boundary maps
The world map of countries and regions is built into the app. Finer maps (areas and neighborhoods) are downloaded per country from geoBoundaries (www.geoboundaries.org). For the United States, towns and cities come from the U.S. Census Bureau TIGERweb service. These downloads happen automatically for your home country and for countries you visit. You can also download them from Settings → Maps → Detailed maps.
These requests contain only which country's map is needed. They do not contain your location or history. However, like any web request, the server sees your IP address and which country map was requested.
Subscriptions (stipple. Pro)
Purchases are processed by the App Store or Google Play. We never see your payment details. To check whether you have an active subscription and to show the subscription screen, the app uses Adapty (adapty.io). Adapty receives:
- an anonymous app-specific profile ID,
- device and app information (device model, operating system and app version, language and region settings),
- your purchase and subscription status and transaction history from the store.
The app tells Adapty not to collect your IP address or any advertising identifier. Adapty does not receive your locations, photos, workouts or map. Adapty's privacy policy: https://adapty.io/privacy
Backups
Automatic backups are on by default. They are files that contain your stipple. data.
- iOS: backups are copied to a folder you pick in the Files app, for example Google Drive or iCloud Drive. That storage provider's terms and privacy policy apply.
- Android: a backup snapshot is stored inside the app and included in Android's own backup to your Google account, if you have device backup enabled. Google's privacy policy applies.
You can also export a backup manually and keep it wherever you like. We cannot access your backups.
Things you choose to share
stipple. sends data elsewhere only when you choose to share it:
- Share images and videos (cards, timeline videos, Instagram Stories) go through your phone's share sheet to the app you pick. Timeline videos you save go to your photo library.
- Your friend code contains your display name, the countries and regions you've been to, the countries and regions on your wishlist, and two summary counts. It does not include dates, routes, photos or exact locations. Anyone you give your code to can see this information.
3. What we don't do
- We don't collect analytics or crash reports.
- We don't use advertising identifiers or show ads.
- We don't sell or rent personal information, and we don't "share" it for cross-context behavioral advertising.
- We don't build a profile of you. We hold no copy of your data.
4. Keeping and deleting your data
Your data stays on your device until you delete it. You can delete:
- Everything: Settings → Your data → Delete all data, or uninstall the app.
- Backups: delete the backup files from the folder you chose (iOS), or manage your device backups in your Google account (Android).
- Individual items (marked places, wishes, trips, friends): from their screens in the app.
Adapty keeps subscription records as needed to provide and verify your purchases and to meet legal and accounting obligations. To ask for those records to be deleted, contact us at the address above.
5. Your rights
Depending on where you live (for example, under the GDPR in the EU/UK or the CCPA in California), you may have the right to access, correct, delete or move your personal information, to object to or restrict its processing, and to complain to a data protection authority. Almost all of your stipple. data is only on your device, so you can view, export and delete it directly in the app. For anything held by Adapty on our behalf, email us and we'll help. We won't treat you differently for exercising your rights.
Where the GDPR applies, we rely on: performance of our agreement with you (providing the app and your subscription), your consent (device permissions, which you can withdraw at any time), and our legitimate interest in keeping the service working.
6. Children
stipple. is not directed at children under 13 (or the minimum age in your country), and we do not knowingly collect their personal information.
7. Security
Your data is protected by your device's own security, such as its passcode and encryption. Network requests use HTTPS. Backups you store with a cloud provider are protected by that provider's security. Keep your backup files and your friend code in places you trust.
8. Changes to this policy
If we change this policy, we'll update the effective date above. If the changes are significant, we'll also tell you in the app.
9. Contact
Questions or requests: [EMAIL ADDRESS] [POSTAL ADDRESS, required in some regions, e.g. for EU users]