Data and privacy

01Your history

MyWay stores coordinates, timestamps, GPS accuracy, speed and activity type on your phone to provide your personal exploration map and walking history. The last device position is saved locally so the map can reopen nearby. Recording and local history do not require an account. There are no ads. Optional usage statistics are explained below.

Optional Apple or Google sign-in uses Firebase Authentication. It processes your provider identifier, email address (including an Apple relay address) and profile name when provided. Signing in alone does not upload your walking history. When you save a backup or enable daily automatic backups, sessions, precise locations, timestamps, GPS accuracy, speed, activity classifications and the saved route are uploaded to private Firebase Cloud Storage linked to your account ID. Backups are encrypted in transit and at rest, but not end-to-end: the operator and Google can technically access them. Authentication and backup services also process technical request information needed to operate and secure the service. Firebase App Check confirms that requests come from the genuine app, using Apple App Attest or DeviceCheck on iPhone and Google Play Integrity on Android where available; these services see a device attestation, not your history. Firebase is provided by Google; see Firebase privacy information. Backup storage and application functions are configured in the europe-west1 region; this is not a promise that all provider processing occurs there.

One current cloud backup is kept per account until replaced, deleted or the account is deleted. Daily backups are off by default, require consent, may use mobile data and run when the operating system permits. They are not continuous synchronization. Restore replaces local history and requires recording to be stopped. iOS system backups may also include local app data; Android system backup is disabled.

Your steps: Read steps from Apple Health or Health Connect to see your daily total and steps during recorded walks and runs. Only step-reading access is requested. Counts may arrive late and are approximate around pauses. Health Connect needs a connected step source. Steps stay on this phone: they are not uploaded to backups or the leaderboard. Disconnecting clears MyWay’s saved step totals. Manage system access in Apple Health or Health Connect.

Watch apps record GPS routes, timestamps, duration and optional steps locally, including without a phone after initial pairing. Apple Watch requests workout access for background recording; MyWay does not save a workout to Apple Health. Wear OS uses Health Services. Completed recordings transfer to your paired phone using Apple WatchConnectivity or Google Wear Data Layer; Google may relay encrypted transfers. Watch step totals are separate from phone health totals and are not added to them or included in cloud backups. Delete an imported walk to remove its watch steps. A watch keeps its saved copy until the phone confirms import or discards it after a history reset. No analytics runs on watches.

Optional territory leaderboard (from version 1.2)

The leaderboard is off by default and requires separate consent and a chosen nickname. If you join, your nickname, explored area, rank and update time become public. Completed activity coordinates, timestamps, accuracy and activity types are sent to Firebase functions to calculate your score; leaderboard processing does not retain or log those coordinates. Private membership metadata links the score to your account. Backup consent remains separate. Leaving removes the public score when the server receives the request; offline removal is queued on this device and uploads stop immediately. Private generation and rate-limit metadata remains until account deletion to prevent stale updates and abuse. Signing out does not remove your public score. Account deletion removes leaderboard membership and score. Each update replaces the score using this device’s completed history; histories from different devices are not combined.

02Permissions

Location is used to show where you are and to record walks. Motion data helps tell walking and running apart from rides. Background exploration is turned on separately. While it is on, location may be used with the screen locked. You can stop recording and revoke permissions in your phone settings.

03Maps and routes

On Android from build 6, route suggestions and the openrouteservice connection are disabled: the app does not request an API key or send route points to that service. References to openrouteservice below apply only to earlier test builds.

OpenStreetMap receives network requests for the visible map tiles, including your IP address. These requests can reveal which area you are viewing. On iPhone, the points of a suggested walk are sent to Apple Maps. On Android, if openrouteservice is connected, route points and your personal key are sent to that service. Your full walk history is never sent to these services.

These providers handle requests under their own policies: OpenStreetMap Foundation, Apple Maps, openrouteservice. Recording works offline. Loading the map and building routes need a network connection.

Nearby sights are loaded from MyWay’s server (myway.p4.lv), using OpenStreetMap data for Latvia and Cyprus. Our server receives the viewed map area and your IP address, but not your recorded walks. Previously loaded places are saved on your phone for offline use and refreshed when viewed after a day. The cache is limited to 8 MB and is cleared when you delete all local history.

Opening a place with a linked article may contact Wikipedia and Wikidata directly. Wikimedia receives the article or entity identifier and connection information such as your IP address, but not your recorded walks or GPS fixes. Saved descriptions use a separate cache limited to 4 MiB. They are refreshed when viewed after 30 days and cleared when you delete all local history. They are not included in account backups.

Wikimedia Privacy Policy

When you tap Request a description, MyWay receives the public OSM place ID and app language. The server sees your IP address to handle the connection and limit abuse, but request access logging is disabled. The queue stores aggregate counts by place and language, dates by day and source-review status, without account or device identifiers or walk history. Records expire after 90 days without new requests. Public place names may be sent to Wikipedia to find and check description sources. Strong article matches may be approved automatically; ambiguous results require review.

Update check. MyWay versions up to and including 1.9.0 check for updates using Firebase Remote Config: Google receives a Firebase installation identifier, app and device information and your IP address. From the next version, the app instead downloads a small file with the current version number from myway.p4.lv. Our server sees your IP address (the request may appear in standard web server logs) but receives no account data, device identifiers or walks. Neither check sends your location or history.

Usage statistics — optional

Website. The website uses Google Analytics only after you choose Allow in the statistics panel. You can decline or change your choice using Statistics preferences in the footer. Before consent, the Google tag is not loaded. With consent, Google receives page visits, store-button clicks, browser/device information and a cookie-based browser identifier; it may derive a broad location from network information. Page addresses sent by MyWay exclude query strings and fragments. Advertising personalization and enhanced measurement are disabled. Analytics cookies expire after up to 180 days. The consent choice is saved locally in your browser. Declining later stops collection and removes this site’s analytics cookies; it does not erase data already received by Google.

App. In app versions that include Usage statistics in Settings, Firebase Analytics is off until you explicitly enable it. It processes screen visits, app usage, device/app information and an analytics installation identifier; Google may derive a broad region from network information. MyWay does not send routes, precise coordinates, step counts, account details or backup contents to Analytics. Advertising features are disabled. You can turn statistics off in Settings to stop future collection and reset the local analytics identifier. Versions without this setting do not collect Analytics. Analytics data is processed by Google and may be processed outside Latvia; it is used to understand usage and improve MyWay. Consent is the basis for this optional processing. Event and user-level retention is set to two months without reset on new activity; aggregated reports may remain longer; contact us to request information or deletion, noting that analytics identifiers are not linked by MyWay to your account.

Google Privacy Policy

04Delete your MyWay account and data

Delete individual walks in History or all local history in Settings. This removes local recordings, saved routes and the cached position, but does not itself delete your cloud backup. In Settings → Account & backup, use Delete cloud backup or Delete account. Account deletion requires signing in again, removes the cloud backup and Firebase account, and revokes Apple authorization where applicable. Signing out or deleting the account keeps local history; delete it separately if desired. Deleting the cloud backup or account disables daily backups on this device.

To request MyWay account and associated cloud-data deletion without the app, email [email protected] with the subject “MyWay account deletion”, your sign-in provider and the email shown in MyWay (including a relay address if used). Do not send a password or verification code. We may ask for information to verify account ownership before acting. The request covers the Firebase account and cloud backup; it cannot erase recordings on a device or system backups. A deletion marker containing the account ID and deletion time remains to prevent interrupted operations from recreating deleted data. Provider security/operational logs and support correspondence may remain under their applicable retention practices; they are not removed by deleting local history.

05TestFlight beta and support

Apple processes testing, crash and feedback information under the TestFlight terms. If you email us or send feedback, we use its content and your contact details to reply and fix the issue. Only include your home address or personal routes if needed. To ask about or delete these messages, email [email protected].

06Your rights

Where the GDPR applies, you may request access, correction or deletion of your personal data and object to processing by contacting [email protected]. Depending on your choices, data may include account details, a cloud backup and support correspondence. You may also complain to the Latvian Data State Inspectorate.

07Children

MyWay is not directed at children. Contact us if you believe a child has supplied personal data through an account or backup.

08Changes

If this policy changes, we will update this page and the date at the top. We will announce significant changes in the app or in the release notes.