Wanderdot is an app made by haynes lab LLC ("we"). This page explains what the app does with your information. The short version: your walks, notes and photos stay on your phone. To draw maps and check candidate spots, the app downloads map tiles from OpenStreetMap Foundation, OpenFreeMap and VersaTiles. Tile requests reveal the viewed or checked area and your IP address to those services. Detailed display tiles can reveal a precise area. haynes lab does not receive or store those location requests.
What the app stores, and where
Everything below is stored only on your phone, inside the app's private storage:
- Your walks: where you started, the spot that was picked, when you set off and arrived, and whether you checked in.
- Your notebook: titles, notes, photos you add and the stamp made for each walk. Before a photo is saved, its location data (EXIF, including GPS) is removed.
- Settings: units, default radius, preferred maps app, theme.
- Map data cache: downloaded map tiles reduce repeated downloads and are refreshed as needed.
What leaves your device
- Map tiles and spot checks. The app makes encrypted HTTPS requests to
tile.openstreetmap.orgfor displayed maps,tiles.openfreemap.orgfor road, water and other map checks, andtiles.versatiles.orgfor mapped construction and brownfield exclusions. Requests name map tile coordinates (zoom, column and row), including areas near sampled candidates, the selected spot and the line from your start to that spot. They also include an app identifier and support contact. Display tiles can identify a precise viewed area; validation uses larger zoom-14 tiles. These services receive your IP address and may keep operational request logs under their own policies. No name, account, unique device identifier, advertising identifier, journal or photo is included. haynes lab does not receive these requests. Map data is from OpenStreetMap contributors; the VersaTiles dataset also includes ESA WorldCover data. Provider information: OpenStreetMap Foundation, OpenFreeMap, and VersaTiles. - Directions. When you tap Open in Apple Maps or Open in Google Maps, the spot's coordinates are passed to Apple Maps or Google Maps, and that app's own privacy policy applies.
- "Tell someone where I'm going." If you use it, the message (the spot as a map link, your start time and when you expect to be back) goes only to the people and apps you choose in the share sheet.
- Export. If you export your notebook, the zip file goes wherever you send it.
- Links. The privacy policy and terms open in a browser view and load from our website like any other visit. Contact support opens your own mail app.
There are no accounts, no ads, no analytics and no crash reporting in this version. We do not sell your data or use it for advertising or tracking. The map-service requests and actions you choose above are the data transfers made by this version.
Permissions
- Location, only while you use the app: to pick a spot near you and to notice when you arrive. Wanderdot never uses location in the background. If you allow only approximate location, spots are less precise.
- Camera: only when you choose to take a photo for a walk.
- Photos: only when you choose to add a photo from your library.
- The app also reads your battery level (to suggest charging before a long walk) and whether you are online, on the phone itself. Neither is sent anywhere.
How to delete your data
- Delete a walk from your notebook.
- Delete everything from Settings.
- Uninstalling the app deletes all of its data from the phone.
- We hold no copy of your data, so there is nothing for us to delete on our side. Tile request logs are kept by the tile service under its own policy.
Safety
Map data can be incomplete or out of date. Construction and brownfield checks exclude polygons marked in the provider's map data, not every real-world site or recent change. When required map data is missing, expired in the local cache or cannot be read, the app does not generate an unchecked spot. Use your judgement, stay on public paths, respect private property and obey local signs and laws.
Children
Wanderdot is meant for adults and is not directed at children.
Changes
If a future version changes what is described here (for example, adds an optional account), we will update this page and its effective date before that version is released.
Contact
Questions about privacy: [email protected]
haynes lab LLC