Privacy Policy

1. Who we are

MapScore (the “App”) and mymapscore.com (the “Website”) are provided by Life Like(“Life Like”, “we”, “us” or the “Developer”). You can reach us at [email protected].

This Policy explains what information the App and the Website handle, where it goes and the choices you have. Because MapScore is designed to keep your diary on your device, the Developer acts as a data controller only for the small amount of personal data that actually reaches us or our service providers: purchase records processed by RevenueCat, ad-measurement events processed by Google Analytics for Firebase, any messages you send us and, only if you turn sharing on, the coarse map squares you share with the World fog.

2. Data that stays on your device

The following data is created and stored only on your phone, in an encrypted database. It is not sent to the Developer, and the Developer has no way to access it. The one exception is World fog sharing (section 5): only if you turn it on, the App sends a coarse list of the map squares you have covered.

Recap and trial-reminder notifications are built on your device from your local history. Android cloud backup and device-to-device transfer of MapScore’s app data are disabled, so your diary is not copied to Google Drive by Android. On iPhone, the diary is excluded from iCloud and device backups.

Tracking continues while the App is closed when you have granted location permission and your device settings allow it. On Android an ongoing notification shows when MapScore is recording; on iPhone the recording status is shown in the App. You can pause tracking at any time.

3. Permissions

• Location (precise, and “Allow all the time” on Android or “Always” on iPhone) records your movements, including while the App is closed or not in use. This is the core purpose of the App, and MapScore explains it before asking.
• Physical activity (Android) or Motion & Fitness (iPhone) helps detect when you start moving and how you travel.
• Notifications show recaps and trial reminders, and on Android the recording notification.
• Internet is used only for the optional services in section 4, for the World fog in section 5 (downloading the public map when you open the World view, and sharing your squares only if you turn sharing on), and for purchases.
• Run at startup (Android) and Background App Refresh (iPhone) let recording and the diary resume after the App closes or the phone restarts.

You can change or revoke any permission in Android settings, or in iPhone Settings › MapScore. Without location permission, MapScore cannot record.

4. Data shared with other services

Google Maps (optional)

When Google Maps is turned on, street maps are loaded from Google while a map is on screen. Google may receive the map area you view, your IP address, device and Maps SDK information, an SDK identifier, crash data and map interactions. Your recorded routes and diary are not sent. You can turn Google Maps off in Settings; MapScore then draws your recorded routes locally without streets. Google’s handling is described in theGoogle Privacy Policy and the Maps SDK data disclosures forAndroid andiOS.

Automatic address names (optional, off by default)

If you turn this on, MapScore may send the coordinate of a newly confirmed stop to your phone’s geocoding service to look up an address. Your route and diary history are not sent. The provider depends on your device and is often Google.

Your phone’s location and motion services

MapScore receives location and activity updates from your phone’s system services: Android and Google Play services on Android, and Apple’s Core Location and Core Motion on iPhone. How those services work, including whether they use Google Location Accuracy or Apple’s Location Services, is controlled by your device settings and by Google’s or Apple’s terms, not by MapScore.

Google Play and the App Store

Google Play (Android) or Apple’s App Store (iPhone) delivers the App and optional downloads such as the on-device Ask model, and processes all payments. We do not receive your payment card details. Their handling is governed by the Google Privacy Policy and theApple Privacy Policy.

RevenueCat (purchases)

MapScore is free to use: recording, every day of your history, the Lifetime map, Insights and export need no purchase. MapScore Premium only lets Ask answer from history older than the last 7 days, and when a subscription ends nothing is removed or locked except that.

We use RevenueCat, Inc., a subscription service provider, to confirm your purchases and subscription status. RevenueCat receives an anonymous app user ID created on your device, purchase and subscription records (product, price, currency, dates and status) and technical data such as app version, device model, operating system version, locale and IP address. MapScore does not enable RevenueCat’s collection of advertising or device identifiers, and never sends your location, routes, stops, places, diary or onboarding answers to RevenueCat. See theRevenueCat Privacy Policy.

Google Analytics for Firebase (ad measurement, Android)

We advertise MapScore with Google Ads. To learn which ads lead to people installing the App, viewing the subscription screen, starting a free trial or subscribing, the Android app uses Google Analytics for Firebase, provided by Google. Google receives those few app events (first open, subscription screen viewed, trial started, purchase with its plan, price and currency), an app instance ID, your device’s advertising ID, device model, operating system and app version, language and an approximate location derived from your IP address. MapScore does not log screens, and never sends your location, routes, stops, places, diary, Ask questions or onboarding answers to Google Analytics. RevenueCat may forward subscription renewals and trial conversions for the same app instance ID. If your phone is from the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom or Switzerland, MapScore denies all of Google’s consent types, so these events are sent without identifiers or storage. You can reset or delete your advertising ID in your phone’s settings (Settings › Privacy › Ads, or Settings › Google › Ads). Seehow Google uses data from apps that use its services and the Google Privacy Policy.

Files and images you share

Exports (GPX, GeoJSON, CSV) and encrypted backups are saved only to a location you choose. ExplorerScore share images are created only when you tap Share and go only to the app you pick. They contain scores and totals, never a map, route, place name, country list or coordinate. Temporary copies are kept in the App’s cache for up to a day. A diagnostics file you choose to export from Settings › Diagnostics, for example to send to us for support, contains that day’s recorded locations and tracking details, so share it only with people you trust. Once a file or image leaves MapScore, it is under your control and the control of whoever you share it with.

5. World fog (optional)

The World fog is a shared map of the world that stays fogged except where MapScore users have chosen to share the ground they have covered. You can see it on the Website and in the App, in the World view of the Lifetime screen. Sharing is optional and off unless you turn it on.

Viewing the World fog in the App

Opening the World view downloads the public map from mymapscore.com. It is the same list of squares for everyone, and the request carries no location, no contributor code and no other identifier beyond the IP address that every internet request has. Viewing the World fog never shares anything.

How we ask

The first time you open the World view, the App asks once whether you want to share, with the choices “Share my squares” and “Not now”. Nothing is sent unless you choose to share. You can turn sharing on or off at any time in Settings › World fog.

What the App sends if you turn sharing on

About once a day, at a random time, the App sends:

• A random contributor code created on your phone. It is not derived from your device, account, advertising ID or purchases, and we cannot tell who it belongs to. It exists only so that you can delete what you shared.
• The map squares you have covered (geohash-6 cells), each about 1.2 km by 0.6 km at the equator and narrower further from it.

What is left out

Before anything is sent, your phone removes the squares around your confirmed home and work, the places where you have stopped on three or more days and the places where you have stayed overnight, each together with its eight neighbouring squares.

What is never sent

Routes, tracks, coordinates or GPS positions, the order, dates or times of your visits, place names, your diary, statistics or Ask questions, and your name, email, account or device identifiers.

How the public map is built

• Our server, hosted on Cloudflare, stores each square only with a one-way SHA-256 hash of your contributor code, never the code itself, and with no date or time.
• A square appears on the public map only once at least 10 different contributors have shared it, so one person’s squares never appear on their own. The public map is rebuilt a few times a day, not live, and lists squares and totals only, never contributors.
• To prevent abuse, the server keeps daily counters of uploads per contributor code and per network address. A network address (IP address) is stored only as a hash made with a random key that changes every day. Counters, hashed addresses and keys are kept for up to two days, then deleted.

Turning it off and deleting

Turning sharing off in Settings, or erasing your data in the App, deletes everything stored for your contributor code from our server, and squares that fall below the threshold leave the public map straight away. The App retries until the deletion reaches our server, then discards the code; turning sharing on again later creates a new one. Because we cannot link a contributor code to a person, deletion works only through the App, which holds your code. If you uninstall the App without turning sharing off first, the squares you shared stay on the server, anonymous, and we have no way to find them.

The legal basis for World fog sharing is your consent, which you can withdraw at any time by turning sharing off.

6. What we never do

• We do not sell or rent personal data.
• We do not show ads in the App. Its only analytics are the ad-measurement events described in section 4, on Android.
• We do not build profiles about you, and we make no automated decisions with legal or similar effects.

7. Legal bases

Where the GDPR, UK GDPR or similar laws apply, we rely on: performance of a contract to provide purchases you make (via RevenueCat); legitimate interests to answer your messages, keep the App and Website secure and measure our advertising in aggregate (without identifiers in the EEA, the UK and Switzerland); and your consent for optional features such as Google Maps, automatic address names and World fog sharing, which you can withdraw at any time in Settings. Withdrawing consent for World fog sharing deletes what you shared. Location processing for your diary happens on your device under your control, based on the permissions you grant.

8. Retention and deletion

• On your device: your diary stays until you delete it. Open Settings › Data & privacy to erase all MapScore data, or uninstall the App. Diagnostics are removed after 14 days.
• World fog (only if you opt in): shared squares are kept until you turn sharing off or erase your data in the App. Abuse-prevention counters and hashed network addresses are kept for up to two days.
• Google Analytics for Firebase: ad-measurement events are kept by Google for up to 14 months, then deleted.
• RevenueCat: purchase records are kept while needed to provide your subscription and to meet legal, tax and accounting obligations.
• Emails to us: kept only as long as needed to handle your request and keep reasonable records, then deleted.

9. Your choices and rights

In the App you can pause tracking, turn off Google Maps and address names, turn World fog sharing off (which deletes what you shared), revoke permissions, export your history, and permanently delete it. On Android you can reset or delete your advertising ID in your phone’s settings to stop ad measurement being linked to you.

Depending on where you live (for example under the GDPR, UK GDPR, the California Consumer Privacy Act as amended by the CPRA, or India’s Digital Personal Data Protection Act), you may have the right to access, correct, delete or port your personal data, to object to or restrict processing, to withdraw consent, and to complain to your data protection authority. We will not discriminate against you for exercising these rights.

Because we do not hold your diary, most requests are best handled directly in the App. For purchase records held by RevenueCat, email [email protected] and include your Google Play order number (it starts with “GPA.”) or, for iPhone purchases, the order ID from Apple’s receipt email, because the app user ID is anonymous and we cannot find your records otherwise. We may need to verify your request before acting on it.

10. Security

Your diary is stored in a SQLCipher-encrypted database whose key is protected by the Android Keystore or, on iPhone, the Keychain. Encrypted backups are protected by a password that only you know; it cannot be recovered if lost. Exported GPX, GeoJSON and CSV files are not encrypted, so store and share them carefully. No method of storage or transmission is completely secure, and the security of your device, its screen lock and the files you export is your responsibility.

11. Children

MapScore is not directed at children under 13, or under 16 where local law sets a higher age for consent. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children. If you believe a child has sent us personal data, contact us and we will delete it.

12. International transfers

Google (including Google Analytics for Firebase), Apple, RevenueCat and Cloudflare may process data in the United States and other countries. Where required, they rely on safeguards such as Standard Contractual Clauses.

13. This website

The Website is hosted by Cloudflare. To deliver and protect it, Cloudflare processes standard server logs, such as IP address, browser type, requested page and time. The Website uses no cookies, no analytics and no third-party trackers, and its fonts are self-hosted. The one exception is the World fog page, which shows a map built from OpenStreetMap data: your browser loads the map tiles and label fonts from OpenFreeMap, which receives standard request data such as your IP address, browser details and the map area you view. That page also loads the public World fog squares from our server; nothing about your visit is stored with them. If you email us, we receive your email address and whatever you write.

14. Your responsibility and ours

MapScore is a tool that you run on your own device. Because the Developer never receives the data the App records,we cannot see, control, verify or be responsible for how you, or anyone with access to your device, your exports, your backups or your shared images, use or disclose that data. You are responsible for using the App lawfully, only on your own device and only to record your own movements, as set out in theTerms of Use. This Policy is provided for information and does not create contractual rights or obligations beyond those required by applicable law.

15. Changes to this Policy

We may update this Policy from time to time. The “Last updated” date above shows when it last changed. If a change materially affects how your data is handled, we will highlight it in the App or on this page.

16. Contact

Questions or requests about privacy: [email protected].