Privacy Policy

Effective date: 6 October 2026

This policy covers the Waymark app for iPhone, the website at https://waymark.simonilincev.com, and the optional Waymark One tracker if it is released. Waymark is made by Simon Ilincev ("we", "us").

The short version

• Your atlas stays on your iPhone. Your routes, places, photos' locations, medals and settings are stored on your device. We never receive them.
• No account, no server, no ads. Waymark has no sign-in, no Waymark server and no advertising. It contains no analytics, tracking or crash-reporting code.
• We don't sell or share your location. Not to advertisers, not to data brokers, not to anyone.
• The map itself comes from the internet. To draw the map, your iPhone downloads map pieces ("tiles") from two public services, OpenFreeMap and Amazon Web Services. Like any website, they see your IP address and which pieces of the map were requested. Details are below.
• Two things go out only when you use them. An address you type to set a place goes to Apple's search. If you start or join a friends group, your name, the city you were last in and how much of each place you've explored are shared with that group through iCloud, never your map or routes.
• You can take everything with you, or delete everything, from Settings in the app.

1. Who is responsible

Simon Ilincev is responsible for the Waymark app and website. For anything about privacy, email simon@simonilincev.com.

Because the app keeps your atlas on your device, we never hold a copy of it. We are still responsible for how the app is built to handle your information, and we are the controller of the small amount of personal data we do receive: the Waymark One waitlist addresses described in section 7, and any email you send us.

2. What the app stores on your iPhone

Everything in this section is stored only on your iPhone, in the app's private storage. We cannot see it.

Imported files. When you import a file (GPX, FIT, TCX, KML or GeoJSON, a Strava archive, a Google Maps Timeline export, or a Fog of World Sync folder), Waymark reads it once on your iPhone and keeps the routes it finds. It does not keep a copy of the file and does not send it anywhere.

Photos. Waymark reads only the location and time stored with your photos, on your device. It does not copy, upload or analyze the pictures themselves, and it does not download originals from iCloud Photos. Thumbnails are shown straight from your library.

Device backups. If you back up your iPhone with iCloud Backup or to a computer, iOS includes Waymark's data in that backup, like any other app's data. Those backups are handled by Apple and by you under Apple's terms. Downloaded terrain is left out of them because it can be downloaded again. Waymark's own optional backup to your iCloud Drive is described in section 5.

3. Permissions the app asks for

Waymark asks for each permission only when you choose a feature that needs it, and works without any of them (you can always import files). You can change every permission later in the iPhone's Settings app.

Location (While Using, and optionally Always). Used by phone mode to record where you go.

• With "While Using", Waymark records while it is open or recording in the background, and iOS shows the location indicator while it does.
• With "Always", Waymark can keep recording after iOS closes it, and "Record automatically" can start and stop recording for you. To do this, Waymark asks iOS to wake it when you move a significant distance, when iOS notices you arrive at or leave a place, and when you leave a small area (about 150 m) around where you last stopped or one of your hidden places. iOS handles this watching on your device.
• "Places only" uses rough, low-power location to note the cities and countries you pass through, without drawing routes.
• Your location is used only to build your atlas on your iPhone. It is never sent to us or to anyone else.

Motion & Fitness. If you allow it, Waymark reads your iPhone's own motion activity (for example still, walking, cycling or in a vehicle) to switch GPS on when you set off and rest it when you stop, which saves battery, and to notice if recording missed part of a trip. It reads this on your device and keeps only what it needs for that: the latest reading and the times of any gap. Motion data is never used for advertising and never leaves your iPhone.

Photos. Used to read the location and time of your photos, as described above. With limited access, Waymark only sees the photos you select.

Bluetooth. Used only to find, pair with and sync Waymark One. Waymark does not use Bluetooth to detect other devices or to locate you.

Files. When you import, you pick the file in the iOS file picker. Waymark sees only the file you choose.

Notifications. Waymark has no push notifications: no server, ours or anyone's, sends notifications to it. The only notification it can show is the optional Sunday recap. If you turn it on (Settings › General › Sunday recap), Waymark asks for permission and schedules one local notification for Sunday evening with the week's new ground, journeys, new paths and places. It is written on your iPhone from your atlas, and nothing is sent anywhere to make it. You can turn it off in Waymark or in the iPhone's Settings app.

Apple Health (read-only). If you choose to import from Apple Health, Waymark asks permission to read your workouts and their routes. It never writes to Apple Health. See section 4.

4. Apple Health data

If you connect Apple Health, these rules apply to anything Waymark reads from it:

• Waymark reads workout routes (and the workout's type and times) only to add those routes to your atlas, on your iPhone. It reads nothing else and writes nothing to Apple Health.
• Health data stays on your iPhone. We never receive it, and Waymark does not store it in iCloud.
• It is never used for advertising, marketing or data mining, and never sold.
• It is never shared with or disclosed to any third party.
• You can stop Waymark reading Health data at any time in the Health app (Sharing › Apps › Waymark) and remove imported workouts in Waymark.

5. What leaves your iPhone

Waymark sends nothing about you to us. These are the only times the app itself connects to the internet:

Map tiles from OpenFreeMap. The base map (streets, water, place names, and the fonts for labels) comes from OpenFreeMap, a free public map service run by Hyperknot Software Kft. in Hungary. Your iPhone requests the map pieces for the area on screen (the fog reads the coastlines from those same pieces), for the areas of your journeys when it draws their thumbnails, and for the place you picked when it draws the Home map widget. OpenFreeMap receives your IP address and which map pieces were requested, which shows roughly which area was being looked at. Its privacy policy says it does not store IP addresses in its regular logs: openfreemap.org/privacy.

Terrain tiles from Amazon Web Services (AWS). The contour lines in the fog, on every map style, and the sea depths on the Chart map style come from the open Terrain Tiles dataset, hosted by AWS. Your iPhone requests terrain for the area on screen. It also downloads, in the background, a low-detail terrain map of the whole world and the terrain around the places in your atlas, so the fog's contours work offline. Those background downloads are regional map squares, roughly 80 to 160 km across depending on where you are in the world, and never finer than that. Finer terrain is downloaded only when you look at an area. So AWS receives your IP address and a set of squares that cover and surround places you have been, though not your routes, times or anything else. Terrain is downloaded once and kept on your iPhone. If you turn off Contours in Map options, Waymark stops downloading terrain; on the Chart map style it still downloads the sea depths for the area on screen, and nothing in the background. AWS's privacy notice: aws.amazon.com/privacy.

Waymark sends no identifiers, account details, routes or history with these requests. Neither service receives anything that says who you are, beyond your IP address.

Apple. Your iPhone works out its location using Apple's Location Services, which is covered by Apple's privacy policy. Downloads, purchases and refunds go through the App Store (section 8).

Address search, only when you type one. When you set Home or another place, you can search for an address or a place by name. What you type goes to Apple's search, the same one Apple Maps uses, together with the rough area of the map on screen (its centre rounded to about 10 km, and at least about 100 km across) so that nearby places come first. Nothing is sent until you type, coordinates you type or paste are never sent, and nothing from your atlas goes with a search. The place you pick is kept only on your iPhone. Apple handles searches under its own privacy policy.

Friends groups (only if you start or join one). A friends group lets people you invite compare how much of each place they've explored. If you start or join one, Waymark stores, for each member: the name they show in the group, the city they were last in and when, and their explored share and area of each place they've been to (cities, counties, states, countries), with how much of that is new this week. Never a map, a route, a point or a photo. This is kept with Apple's CloudKit in the iCloud account of the person who started the group, shared only with the people in the group, and read by each member's own Waymark. A new group can be joined by anyone who has its invitation link, so it can be shared in any app; whoever started it can limit it to the people they invite, and remove anyone, in the group's iCloud share options. We have no server and can't see it. Your entry updates when your atlas changes, including once after a walk while Waymark runs in the background. Leaving a group removes you from it; the person who started it can end it for everyone. Delete all data removes the copies on your iPhone.

iCloud Drive backup (only if you turn it on). Automatic backup is off until you turn on "Back up to iCloud Drive" in Settings › Your data. Then Waymark saves a backup file once a day, and after big changes, in a Waymark folder in your own iCloud Drive, which you can see in the Files app. It keeps the 7 most recent daily backups and 4 weekly ones, and deletes older backups it made. A backup holds your whole atlas, including your places, hidden journeys, and the location and time of photos (with a reference to each photo, not the photo). It leaves out Recently deleted journeys, stretches you erased, and workouts read from Apple Health, which Waymark never stores in iCloud. The files are stored by Apple in your iCloud account, not sent to us, and we can't see them. Apple encrypts iCloud Drive in transit and on its servers. With Standard Data Protection, Apple holds the keys; with Advanced Data Protection turned on, iCloud Drive is end-to-end encrypted and only your trusted devices can read it (Apple's iCloud data security overview). The backup file has no password of its own, so anyone who can open your iCloud Drive, or a copy of the file, can read it. Turning the setting off stops new backups; backups already in iCloud Drive stay until you delete them in Files.

When you share or export. Anything you share is made on your iPhone and goes only where you send it with the iOS share sheet. That is up to you. A medal card shows the medal and a number, such as how far you've walked on new paths. A passport shows counts, the countries you've been to and your share of the world, never a map of streets. A map image or a Replay video shows the ground you've explored in the area on screen, with your hidden places left out and without your location dot. Exports (GPX, CSV or JSON) can contain precise locations and times. By default, exports leave out your places, journeys you've hidden and points inside hidden places; turning on "Include private data" includes them.

Diagnostics. Waymark contains no crash reporting or analytics. The app keeps a short log of its own errors on your iPhone (when each happened, the app version and what went wrong, never your locations, places or names), which leaves your iPhone only if you choose to share it from Settings › About › Diagnostics, and then goes only where you send it. If you have turned on "Share with App Developers" in iOS Settings, Apple may give us crash reports and anonymous usage statistics. These come from Apple under Apple's privacy policy and contain no atlas data.

6. Waymark One (optional tracker)

If you use Waymark One, it records location points in its own memory while you carry it. When you sync, the points move to your iPhone over an encrypted Bluetooth connection that needs a pairing code. The tracker's log is erased after the points are safely stored on your iPhone. The tracker has no internet connection and sends nothing to us.

7. The website and the Waymark One waitlist

The website sets no cookies, loads nothing from other companies' servers, and has no analytics, trackers or advertising.

Waitlist. If you join the Waymark One waitlist, we store: your email address, when you joined, which list it's on, the version of the wording you agreed to under the form, and when you confirmed it. If we email you a link to confirm your address, we also store a scrambled (hashed) copy of that link's code, when we sent it, and how many confirmation emails we've sent (never more than three). A link stops working after 7 days.

We use your address only to send you one email when Waymark One can be ordered, and never for anything else. We don't share it or sell it.

To stop spam, the site keeps a short-lived count of sign-up attempts under a scrambled (salted and hashed) version of your IP address that changes every day. We never store your IP address itself.

The website and the waitlist are hosted by Cloudflare, which processes this data for us under its data processing agreement. Like any web host, Cloudflare handles your IP address to deliver the site: cloudflare.com/privacypolicy.

How long we keep it, and how to leave. We keep your address until you ask us to remove it, and we delete the waitlist once its email has gone out, when Waymark One can be ordered, or if Waymark One is cancelled. To be removed at any time, reply to any email from us or write to simon@simonilincev.com.

8. Purchases

Waymark Plus is a one-time in-app purchase handled by Apple. We never see your payment details. Apple tells the app whether Plus is unlocked on your Apple Account, and Family Sharing may share it with your family. A code for Plus is redeemed in the App Store and checked by Apple. Refunds are handled by Apple.

9. How long data is kept, and how to delete it

• In the app: until you delete it. You can delete a journey (it goes to "Recently deleted" until you remove it for good), delete an import, or erase everything with Settings › Your data › Delete all data. Deleting the app also deletes its data from your iPhone. Copies in your own iPhone backups or exported files are yours to delete.
• Waymark One: its log is erased after each successful sync, and you can erase it from the app.
• Waitlist: as described in section 7.
• Emails you send us: kept as long as needed to answer you, and no longer than 24 months.

10. Your rights

Depending on where you live (for example under the GDPR in the EU, the UK GDPR, or US state laws such as the CCPA), you may have rights to access, correct, delete, restrict or object to the use of your personal data, to receive it in a portable format, and to withdraw consent.

• App data: because it's only on your iPhone, you exercise these rights yourself in the app: export it (Settings › Your data), edit it, or delete it. We can't access or delete it for you because we never have it.
• Waitlist and emails: write to simon@simonilincev.com. We'll answer within one month.
• Withdrawing permission: turn off Location, Motion & Fitness, Photos, Bluetooth or Health access at any time in the iPhone's Settings app.
• Complaints: you can complain to your local data protection authority. We'd appreciate the chance to fix things first.

Legal bases (EU and UK). We handle waitlist addresses with your consent, which you can withdraw at any time. We handle emails you send us to answer them (our legitimate interest). We keep scrambled IP counts to protect the waitlist from abuse (our legitimate interest).

We do not sell or "share" personal information as the CCPA defines those words, and we don't use sensitive personal information, such as precise location, for anything beyond providing the app's features on your device.

11. Children

Waymark is not directed at children under 13, or under 16 where local law sets a higher age. We don't knowingly receive personal data from children. If you believe a child has joined the waitlist, write to simon@simonilincev.com and we will delete the address.

12. Security

Your atlas is protected by your iPhone's own encryption and passcode. Waymark One syncs over Bluetooth with a pairing code and encryption, and release versions of the app refuse to sync with a tracker that isn't set up securely. Exported files are not encrypted, so keep them somewhere you trust. If we ever learn of a security problem that affects your data, we will tell you.

13. Data transfers

The app sends no personal data to us, so there's no transfer of your atlas. Waitlist addresses are stored by Cloudflare, which may process them outside your country under the EU standard contractual clauses and the EU–US Data Privacy Framework.

14. Changes

If we change this policy, we'll update the date at the top and describe the change on this page. If a change affects what leaves your iPhone, the app will tell you before it happens.

1 October 2026. A journey now has one privacy switch, Hide: a journey you hide is gone from your map, your stats and exports until you show it again. Journeys could be marked "private" before (kept off the map unless you chose to see them, and out of exports); every private journey is now a hidden one, so it still stays out of exports, and it leaves your map and stats too. Nothing new leaves your iPhone.

15. Contact

Simon Ilincev. Email: simon@simonilincev.com. This policy is governed by the laws of the State of New York, USA.