AltitudeTracker Privacy Policy

AltitudeTracker ("the app") is an Android Automotive OS app that shows your altitude, trip statistics, weather and a topographic map in your car. It is developed by Polestapps, Spain ("we", "us"). This policy explains what data the app uses, where it goes and why.

In short

• Your trips are stored in your car, and only leave it if you decide to export or share them.
• We have no user accounts and show no ads. We do not sell your data or share it with advertisers.
• Some data has to leave the car for the app to work: your position, rounded to about 1 km, to show the weather; the map area you are looking at, to load the map; and anonymous usage statistics.

What data is used, and why

1. Location and trips

The app reads the car's GPS position to calculate altitude, elevation gain and loss, the trip profile and the map view.

• Your trips (time, position, altitude, speed and the car's energy consumption, about one point per second while moving) are stored in your car so you can review them in the trip history.
• They stay there until you delete them or uninstall the app.

2. Vehicle data

The app reads the car's speed, odometer, battery level, charging power, battery capacity, outside temperature and make, model and model year. They are used for trip statistics and energy consumption and are stored with your trips in the car. Make and model are also included in the anonymous statistics (section 6).

3. Weather

To show the weather, weather alerts, the snow line and the freezing level, the app sends the car's position, rounded to about 1 km, to our weather servers:

• wea.polestapps.com, which forwards the request to WeatherAPI.com;
• oma.polestapps.com, our own Open-Meteo server, hosted in the EU.

The position is used only to answer the request and is not linked to you. Your exact position is never sent.

4. Map

The topographic map is loaded from OpenTopoMap (tile.opentopomap.org). Like any map service, it receives the map tiles you are looking at (which reveal the area) and your connection's IP address, under its own policy.

5. Exporting and sharing trips (only when you choose)

• Export to CSV or GPX: the file is shared only over your local Wi-Fi network, by scanning a QR code with your phone.
• Send to polestats.com: the trip is encrypted in the car (AES-GCM) before it is uploaded to our server sync.polestapps.com. The decryption key never reaches our server: it travels only inside the QR code or the code you type on your computer. The server keeps only the encrypted data, in memory, for 15 minutes. Your IP address is used only to prevent abuse and is never logged.

6. Anonymous usage statistics

To find bugs and improve the app, it sends anonymous events to Aptabase (EU-hosted, privacy-focused analytics), for example: a trip started, stopped or was exported.

• Events include app version, Android version, car make and model, system language and the name of the city where a trip starts. The city name is obtained on the device through Android's geocoding service, provided by Google.
• They do not include your name, email, account, exact position or routes.
• Aptabase does not store IP addresses. The identifier it uses is random and changes with each session.

7. License check

Google Play verifies that the app was purchased. Google's privacy policy applies.

Permissions

• Location (precise and approximate): GPS for altitude, trips and the map.
• Foreground service (location): keeps recording the trip and updating the widget while you drive.
• Car energy, speed, information, outside environment and power policy: consumption, speed, battery, odometer, outside temperature and the car's model.
• Internet and network state: weather, map, statistics and, if you choose, sending trips.

Legal bases (GDPR)

• Providing the service you asked for (contract): trips, weather, map, exports.
• Your consent: location permission, which you can withdraw at any time in the car's settings.
• Our legitimate interest in keeping the app working well: anonymous usage statistics.

Who receives data

• WeatherAPI.com (through our server) and our own Open-Meteo server: rounded position for the weather.
• OpenTopoMap: map tiles.
• Google: city name lookup and license check.
• Aptabase: anonymous statistics.
• Our sync server: only encrypted trips, only when you send one.

We do not sell or rent data, and we do not share it with advertisers or data brokers. Some of these providers may process data outside the EU under their own safeguards.

Retention

• Trips: in the car, until you delete them or uninstall the app.
• Shared trips on our sync server: 15 minutes, encrypted.
• Anonymous statistics: according to Aptabase's retention policy.

Your rights

You can access, correct or delete your data, object to its use or withdraw consent. Your trips live in your car, so you control them directly: delete them from the trip history or uninstall the app. For anything else, contact us (below). If you are in the EU, you may also complain to your data protection authority (in Spain, the AEPD).

Children

AltitudeTracker is meant for drivers and is not directed at children under 16. We do not knowingly collect data from children.

Security

Shared trips are encrypted end to end, and all connections to the internet use HTTPS.

Changes

If this policy changes, we will update the date above and publish the new version at this address.

Contact

Polestapps — privacy@polestapps.com