Your travel history stays yours.

The short version: Mapsake is a local-first, privacy-first app. Your travel data is stored on your device. The app has no advertising SDK, does not require a Mapsake account, and does not sell your data. This website uses Google Analytics to measure visits and download campaigns; it never receives your in-app atlas or photo library.

What the app stores, and where

Everything you create in the app - the places you mark as visited, lived, or next, along with any dates, notes, and imported data - is stored locally on your device. It is not uploaded to our servers, because we don't operate servers that hold your travel data.

If you use Apple features such as iCloud device backup, your app data may be included in your own iCloud backup under Apple's terms - that is between you and Apple, and is fully under your control in iOS Settings.

Photos & location

If you choose to import places from your photo library, the app reads the location info saved with your photos to figure out where they were taken. This happens on your device. We never receive your photos or their locations. Turning those locations into place names may use Apple's own services under Apple's privacy terms.

Maplight

Maplight turns photo locations into approximate illuminated origins. Before Maplight history is stored or synchronized, coordinates are reduced to an approximately 1 km geohash cell. Its private iCloud records contain only that approximate cell, the contributing source categories, and the earliest capture day. They never contain photo pixels or raw photo coordinates.

Removing a source photo does not remove a Maplight discovery. You can explicitly rebuild Maplight from sources currently available or erase its history. Friends sharing is off by default and sends totals only, never cells, dates, sources, or a footprint.

Public Maplight is a separate opt-in surface. When enabled, it publishes statistics and broader generalized cells without dates, sources, exact origins, photos, or private Maplight achievement history. The public page labels the result as generalized for privacy.

This website

This site uses Google Analytics to understand page visits, referral and campaign sources, general device and browser information, approximate geography, and actions such as opening an App Store link. Google may process identifiers, cookies, and IP-address information according to its own terms. We use this information to evaluate and improve the website and do not combine it with a Mapsake travel atlas.

You can limit cookies in your browser, use a content blocker, or use Google's browser add-on for opting out of Google Analytics. Standard server logs may also briefly record requests such as IP address and timestamp for security and reliability.

The free Photo Map Maker and Photo Location Finder read selected image metadata in your browser. Photo files, filenames, coordinates, dates, camera details, visited-map selections, airport itineraries, and radius coordinates are not sent to Google Analytics. Visited-map selections are saved in that browser's local storage until you clear them.

Website feedback

The text-only website feedback form stores the category, message, optional contact address, submission time, and a source label of Website. It does not accept files or collect app logs, photo data, Maplight data, or other in-app diagnostics. Feedback is used to answer support requests, reproduce problems, and improve Mapsake. It is not added to a marketing list.

The form uses Cloudflare Turnstile to prevent automated spam. Cloudflare processes browser and network information needed to evaluate the challenge under its privacy terms. Mapsake verifies the short-lived response and uses an IP address temporarily for rate limiting, but does not store that address with the feedback record.

Map search and tiles

The Map Radius Calculator sends location text to Mapsake only when you press Search. The server forwards that text to the OpenStreetMap Foundation's Nominatim service without forwarding your IP address, caches the returned place results for up to seven days, and does not include the query in Mapsake analytics. You can use map clicking or coordinates without place search.

The radius map loads map styles and tiles from OpenFreeMap. As with any remote tile service, the provider receives ordinary network request information such as IP address, user agent, and the tile areas requested. The other browser tools use geographic data bundled with this website and do not require a live tile provider.

What we don't do

• No ads. No ad networks. No ad tracking.
• No selling or renting of your data - ever.
• No account required to use the core app.
• No behavioral analytics on your in-app travel data.

Your control

Because your data lives on your device, you are in control. You can export it, back it up, restore it, and permanently delete all of it from within the app at any time. Deleting the app removes its local data from your device.

Children

The app is not directed at children under 13 and does not knowingly collect personal information from them.

Changes

If this policy changes, we'll update the date above and post the new version here. Material changes will be reflected in the app where appropriate.

Contact

Questions about privacy? Reach out via the support page or email [email protected].