GeoTrackMe - Privacy Policy

Introduction

GeoTrackMe lets you share your live location with friends and family you have approved. This Privacy Policy explains what information the GeoTrackMe apps for iPhone and Android ("the App") collect, why, who can see it, how long it is kept and how you can delete it.

GeoTrackMe is developed by Apppico ("we", "us"). We are responsible for the personal data described here. You can reach us at uzunoglu.nt@gmail.com.

1. Summary

• Your location is end-to-end encrypted. It is encrypted on your phone before it is sent. Our servers store only ciphertext, which we cannot read; only the people you approved can decrypt it.
• Only your latest position is kept. There is no location history. When you turn sharing off, your stored location is deleted.
• Your email address is never shown to other users. People find you through an invite code that you can replace at any time.
• We do not sell your data and we do not track you across other companies' apps or websites.
• You can delete your account at any time, from the App or from the web. Your data is removed automatically within minutes.

2. Information We Collect

2.1 Account information

You sign in with Google (iPhone and Android) or with Apple (iPhone). From your sign-in provider we receive:

• Name and profile photo link — shown to the people you connect with. You can replace the name with one of your own choosing in Settings.
• Email address — used only to sign you in and to manage your account. It is held by Firebase Authentication and is not stored in our app database or shown to other users. If you sign in with Apple and choose "Hide My Email", we receive only Apple's relay address.
• User ID — a random identifier created by Firebase Authentication.

2.2 Location

When you turn on "Share my location", the App reads your device's precise location, including while the App is closed or not in use, at the interval you choose (from every 5 seconds to every 10 minutes). On Android a persistent notification is shown while this happens.

Your coordinates are encrypted on your device with AES-256-GCM before they leave it. Each person you approve receives the decryption key wrapped for their own device. Our servers store only the encrypted value, and only the most recent one; each update replaces the previous one.

Some related information is not encrypted, because the service needs it to work: the time of your last update, which people you share with or follow, and whether sharing with a person is paused. We can see this information; we cannot see where you are.

2.3 Connections

• Invitations between you and other users, and whether they are pending or accepted.
• Nicknames and labels you give to your contacts (for example "Mom" or "Parent").
• Your invite code — a random code linked to your account that others use to invite you. You can replace it at any time; the old code stops working.
• Family plan membership, if you organize or join a Family plan.

2.4 Encryption keys and recovery

• Each of your devices creates its own key pair. The public key is stored with your profile so your contacts can share with that device. The private key never leaves the device.
• If you create a recovery code, a backup of your key is stored encrypted with a key derived from that code. We do not have the code and cannot decrypt the backup.

2.5 Purchases

If you buy a plan, we store your plan, product, expiry date and store (App Store or Google Play) so the App can unlock the matching features. Payments are handled entirely by Apple or Google; we never receive your card or payment details. To prevent one purchase from being reused by too many accounts, we keep a record of the store's purchase identifier and the account IDs it has been applied to (at most six).

2.6 Device and notification data

• Push notification token — so we can notify you when someone who marked you as their parent stops sharing with you, and before your subscription ends. It is removed when you sign out.
• Device name (for example "iPhone 13") of the device currently sharing your location, so you can choose which of your devices shares.
• App language — so notifications arrive in your language.

2.7 Advertising

The free plan shows ads from Google AdMob; paid plans do not. The AdMob software in the App collects, for Google: your IP address (from which an approximate location can be inferred), device and advertising identifiers, interactions with ads, and diagnostic information. We request non-personalized ads only and we do not give Google your name, email address or account ID. On iPhone we do not ask for permission to track and the advertising identifier is not used. In the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom and Switzerland, Google's consent message is shown before ads load, and you can change your choice later under Settings → Ad Privacy Options.

2.8 What stays on your device

• Your PIN and biometric data (Face ID, Touch ID, fingerprint). The App only receives a yes/no answer from your device.
• Photos you choose for your contacts.
• QR codes you scan with the camera. They are read on the device; images are not uploaded.
• The last known locations of your contacts, kept encrypted so the map works without a connection.
• Your settings.

2.9 What we do not collect

We do not collect your location history, your contacts or address book, your photos, or usage analytics. The App contains no analytics or crash-reporting service of our own.

3. How We Use Information and Legal Bases

• To provide the service — your account, connections, location sharing, notifications, the plan you bought. Legal basis: performance of our contract with you.
• To keep the service secure — verifying that requests come from the genuine App, enforcing plan limits, preventing a purchase from being reused. Legal basis: our legitimate interests in security and fraud prevention.
• To show ads on the free plan. Legal basis: our legitimate interest in offering a free plan, and your consent where the law requires it.
• To comply with the law. Legal basis: legal obligation.

Background location access is requested only after an in-app explanation, and you can withdraw it at any time in your device settings.

4. Who Can See Your Information

4.1 People you approve

A person you have accepted can see your name, profile photo and, while you share with them and have not paused it, your latest location and when it was updated. If you mark someone as a parent, they receive a notification when you stop sharing with them. You can stop sharing with one person or everyone, or remove a person, at any time.

4.2 Service providers

We use the following providers, which process data on our behalf or provide the platform the App runs on:

• Google Firebase (Google Ireland Ltd. / Google LLC) — sign-in (Authentication), database (Cloud Firestore), server functions (Cloud Functions), push notifications (Cloud Messaging) and app integrity checks (App Check, using Play Integrity on Android and App Attest on iPhone). Firebase privacy information
• Maps — Google Maps on Android and Apple Maps on iPhone display the map. Your contacts' decrypted locations are drawn on the map on your device.
• Apple App Store and Google Play — purchases and subscriptions.

4.3 Google AdMob

On the free plan, Google receives the advertising data described in section 2.7 and processes it under its own privacy policy. How Google uses information from apps that use its services

4.4 Legal requirements

We may disclose information if required by law or a valid legal request. Because your location is end-to-end encrypted, we cannot disclose your coordinates; we do not have them.

We do not sell your personal information, and we do not share it for cross-context behavioral advertising.

5. Where Your Data Is Stored

The App's database is stored in Google Cloud's European multi-region and our server functions run in Belgium. Firebase Authentication and Cloud Messaging are global services and may process data in the United States and other countries. Google protects such transfers with the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses and the EU–U.S. Data Privacy Framework.

6. How Long We Keep Data

• Account and profile data — until you delete your account.
• Location — only your latest position, replaced on every update and deleted when you turn sharing off.
• Connections — until you or the other person removes the connection, or either account is deleted.
• Push tokens — until you sign out on that device or the token expires.
• Server logs, which may contain your user ID — up to 30 days.

When you delete your account, the following are deleted automatically, usually within a minute: your profile and public profile, your stored location and its keys (including keys other people shared with you), your invitations in both directions, your invite codes, your recovery backup, your push tokens, your purchase account link and your Family plan records. We do not keep separate backups of the App's database.

Kept after deletion: the purchase record described in section 2.5 (the store's purchase identifier, the product and the account IDs it was applied to — no name or email), so that a purchase cannot be reused by more accounts than allowed. Apple and Google keep their own records of your purchases under their own policies.

7. Security

• End-to-end encryption of your location (AES-256-GCM; keys exchanged with P-256 ECDH and stored in the Secure Enclave or Android Keystore where available).
• All traffic is encrypted in transit (TLS).
• Database access rules that let each person read only what they are allowed to see.
• App Check, so that only the genuine App can call our servers.
• Turning location sharing on or off asks for your screen lock, so someone holding your phone cannot change it quietly.

No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, but we design the App so that your location remains unreadable to us even if our servers were compromised.

8. Your Choices and Rights

• Stop or pause sharing — for everyone or for one person, in the App.
• Change permissions — location, notifications and camera, in your device settings.
• Ads — Settings → Ad Privacy Options (where available), or buy a plan without ads.
• Delete your account — in the App under Settings → Delete Account, or at apppico.com/delete-account.html.

Depending on where you live (for example under the GDPR in the EU/EEA and UK, Turkey's KVKK, or California's CCPA/CPRA), you have the right to access your data, correct it, delete it, receive a copy of it, restrict or object to its processing, and withdraw consent. To exercise these rights, email uzunoglu.nt@gmail.com from the address linked to your account. We reply within one month. We will not treat you differently for exercising your rights. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority.

9. Children and Families

GeoTrackMe is designed for teenagers aged 13 and over and for adults, including families who want to stay in touch with their teens. The parent feature lets a teen tell a parent when they stop sharing; it never lets a parent see anything without the teen's consent, and the teen can always stop sharing.

GeoTrackMe is not designed for children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect their personal information. If you believe a child under 13 has created an account, contact us and we will delete it. If you are below the age at which you can consent to data processing in your country (for example 16 in some EU countries), use GeoTrackMe only with the consent of a parent or guardian.

10. Changes to This Policy

If we change this policy, we will update the date at the top of this page. If a change significantly affects how your data is used, we will also tell you in the App before it takes effect.

11. Contact

Questions or requests about your privacy: uzunoglu.nt@gmail.com