Privacy Policy

1. Information We Collect

Account Information

If you create or access an account using Google Sign-In or Sign in with Apple, we may receive information made available by the authentication provider, such as:

• Your name;
• Email address or Apple private relay email address;
• Profile photograph, if made available;
• A unique account or authentication identifier; and
• Authentication provider information.

We do not receive or store your Google or Apple account password. Authentication services are provided through third-party services, including Google, Apple, and Firebase Authentication.

Precise Location Information

The App uses device location because location-based functionality is central to the navigation experience. Depending on the permissions you grant, we may process precise location information derived from GPS, Wi-Fi, cellular signals, Bluetooth, or other device-based location technologies.

Location may be used to:

• Determine your current position;
• Identify historical sites, landmarks, businesses, attractions, and other points of interest near you;
• Determine when you approach or leave a point of interest;
• Trigger relevant audio narration and navigation content;
• Display your position on a map;
• Support navigation functionality;
• Record locations or points of interest visited as part of your navigation history;
• Calculate distance or related tour statistics;
• Avoid repeatedly presenting the same point of interest; and
• Improve the relevance and operation of location-based features.

Background Location

If you grant background-location permission and begin active navigation, the App may continue accessing your location when:

• The App is minimized;
• Another application is being used;
• Your device screen is locked; or
• The App is otherwise operating in the background.

Background location is used so that the App can continue identifying nearby points of interest and provide location-triggered navigation features and narration during an active tour.

We do not use precise background location for advertising or to build advertising profiles.

Background location is intended to operate in connection with an active navigation experience. You can stop navigation from within the App and can revoke background-location permission at any time through your device settings. Some functionality may be unavailable if location permissions are disabled.

2. Navigation History and App Activity

If navigation features are enabled, we may collect or store information such as:

• Points of interest visited;
• Date and time of visits;
• Tour activity;
• Approximate or precise locations associated with tour events;
• Distance traveled;
• Narrations played or listened to;
• Languages selected;
• User preferences; and
• Other interactions with navigation features.

This information may be associated with your account so that you can access your navigation history across sessions or supported devices.

3. User-Generated Content

The App may allow users to contribute information about points of interest, submit descriptions, corrections, historical information, recommendations, comments, ratings, or similar content.

When you submit user-generated content, we may collect:

• The content you submit;
• Your account identifier;
• The date and time of submission;
• The language of the submission;
• The point of interest associated with the submission;
• Ratings or votes associated with the submission; and
• Information needed to moderate, rank, or display the contribution.

Information you submit for public or community display may be visible to other users. Do not include sensitive personal information about yourself or other individuals in public contributions.

We may remove, limit, moderate, rank, or decline to publish submitted content in accordance with our terms, community standards, or applicable law.

4. Maps, Places, and Location-Based Services

The App may use Google Maps Platform, Google Places, or similar services to display maps, identify locations, retrieve information about nearby places, and support location-based features.

To provide these services, location coordinates, map requests, place identifiers, search terms, IP addresses, device information, or related information may be processed by Google or other mapping-service providers. The use of information by those providers is governed by their own terms and privacy policies.

5. Artificial Intelligence and Generated Content

The App may use artificial intelligence services, including Google Gemini or other Google AI services, to generate, summarize, translate, organize, or enhance historical and informational content about locations and points of interest.

Information sent to an AI service may include:

• A location or geographic area;
• Coordinates or nearby place information;
• A place name or place identifier;
• Publicly available information relating to a place;
• User-selected language;
• User-submitted point-of-interest information; and
• Prompts necessary to generate relevant tour content.

We seek to minimize personally identifiable information sent to AI services and do not intentionally send your Google or Apple account credentials to an AI model.

AI-generated information may contain inaccuracies. Users should not rely on AI-generated tour content for emergencies, navigation safety, legal advice, medical advice, or other high-risk decisions.

6. Advertising

The App may display advertisements through Google AdMob or other advertising providers. Advertising providers may automatically collect information such as:

• Advertising identifiers;
• Device identifiers;
• IP address;
• Device type and operating system;
• App interactions;
• Ad impressions, clicks, and other advertising activity;
• General or approximate location derived from an IP address or similar information; and
• Diagnostic or anti-fraud information.

We do not intentionally provide your precise GPS location, precise route, or background-location history to AdMob for personalized advertising.

Advertising providers may use information in accordance with their own privacy policies and applicable consent choices. Where required by applicable law, the App will request consent before using information for personalized advertising or related tracking. You may be given the ability to select personalized, non-personalized, or limited advertising where required or supported.

7. Device, Technical, and Diagnostic Information

We and our service providers may automatically process technical information necessary to operate, secure, diagnose, and improve the App, including:

• Device model;
• Operating-system version;
• App version;
• IP address;
• Device and installation identifiers;
• Network information;
• Error information;
• Crash information;
• Performance information; and
• Security and fraud-prevention information.

If analytics or crash-reporting services are enabled, additional app-usage or diagnostic information may be processed by the applicable service provider.

8. How We Use Information

We may use information collected through the App to provide and operate the navigation service; authenticate users; determine your location and identify nearby points of interest; provide background tour functionality; generate or deliver audio narration; display maps and place information; save your preferences and navigation history; generate, translate, or improve informational content; operate community features; process ratings and contributions; display advertising; maintain security and prevent abuse or fraud; diagnose technical problems; comply with legal obligations; respond to support requests; enforce our terms and policies; and improve the App and its features.

We do not use precise location information for purposes unrelated to the location-based functionality disclosed in this Policy without obtaining any consent required by applicable law.

9. Third-Party Service Providers

We may use third-party companies to provide infrastructure and features necessary to operate the App. These providers may include:

• Google Firebase for authentication, database services, cloud functions, hosting, security, and related infrastructure.
• Google Sign-In for account authentication.
• Apple Sign in with Apple for account authentication.
• Google Maps Platform and Google Places for maps, geographic information, location search, and point-of-interest information.
• Google Gemini or other AI services for generating, translating, summarizing, or enhancing informational content.
• Google AdMob for advertising and related measurement, fraud prevention, and ad-delivery services.
• Apple App Store and Google Play for application distribution, purchases if applicable, security, and platform services.

These providers may process information on our behalf or independently under their own privacy policies and terms. We require service providers acting on our behalf to process information for authorized purposes and to provide appropriate safeguards consistent with applicable requirements.

10. Sharing and Disclosure of Information

We may disclose information to service providers that operate features described in this Policy; when you intentionally submit information for community or public display; to comply with law, legal process, court orders, or government requests; when reasonably necessary to protect the rights, property, security, or safety of users, the Company, or others; to investigate abuse, security incidents, or violations of our policies; or as part of a merger, financing, acquisition, reorganization, sale of assets, or similar business transaction.

We do not sell your precise geolocation information.

We do not provide precise navigation history information to advertising networks for targeted advertising.

11. Location Permissions and Your Choices

You control whether the App can access your device location. Depending on your device and operating system, you may choose permissions such as:

• Approximate location;
• Precise location;
• Location while using the App; or
• Background or "Always" location.

You may change location permissions through your Android or iOS device settings. If you revoke location permission, the App will stop receiving location information through that permission, but previously stored information may remain until it is deleted in accordance with this Policy. You may also stop active navigation within the App to stop navigation-related background processing.

12. Advertising and Privacy Choices

Where applicable, you may receive privacy choices relating to advertising, including personalized or non-personalized advertising. You may also be able to change advertising or tracking settings through your device's privacy settings.

For users in jurisdictions requiring advertising consent, we may use a consent-management platform to obtain and manage applicable choices. Declining personalized advertising does not necessarily mean you will receive no advertisements. You may instead receive contextual, non-personalized, or limited advertisements.

13. Account Deletion

You may request deletion of your Trusty Steed account and associated personal information.

Account deletion may be initiated:

• Within the App: Settings > Account > Delete Account
• By contacting us: support at trustysteed.app

When an account-deletion request is completed, we will delete or de-identify personal information associated with the account unless retention is reasonably necessary for security, fraud prevention, dispute resolution, enforcement of agreements, legal compliance, or another lawful purpose.

Deletion may include, as applicable:

• User account information;
• Navigation history information;
• Stored location-related history;
• User preferences;
• Personally associated usage records; and
• Other information associated with the account.

Content that you intentionally submitted for public or community use may be deleted, anonymized, or disassociated from your identity, subject to applicable law and legitimate operational needs. Deleting your Trusty Steed account does not automatically delete your separate Google or Apple account.

14. Data Retention

We retain personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy, to provide the App, maintain security, resolve disputes, and comply with legal requirements.

Account information and associated navigation history are generally retained while your account remains active.

After a valid account-deletion request, we intend to remove applicable personal information from active systems within 30 days, unless a longer period is reasonably required for security, fraud prevention, legal compliance, or similar purposes.

Residual copies may remain in secured backups for up to 90 days or the applicable backup-retention cycle, after which they are deleted or overwritten. Aggregated or de-identified information that can no longer reasonably identify you may be retained for analytics, security, research, or service-improvement purposes.

15. Security

We use reasonable administrative, technical, and organizational safeguards designed to protect information against unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, loss, or misuse.

These measures may include encryption in transit, access controls, authenticated services, security rules, restricted administrative access, and security features provided by our cloud-service providers. No method of electronic storage or transmission is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

16. International Processing

Our service providers may process information in the United States and other countries. As a result, information may be transferred to or processed in a country whose privacy laws differ from those where you live. Where required, appropriate legal mechanisms or safeguards will be used for international transfers of personal information.

17. Your Privacy Rights

Depending on where you live, you may have rights concerning your personal information, including the right to request access, correction, deletion, portability, restriction, or objection to certain processing. You may also have the right to withdraw consent where processing is based on consent.

To exercise a privacy right, contact us at privacy at trustysteed.app.

We may need to verify your identity before completing certain requests. You will not be discriminated against for exercising applicable privacy rights.

18. California and Other U.S. State Privacy Rights

Residents of certain U.S. states may have additional privacy rights under applicable state law. Depending on the law and circumstances, these rights may include access, correction, deletion, portability, and the ability to opt out of certain forms of sale, sharing, targeted advertising, or profiling.

We do not sell precise geolocation information.

Where our use of advertising services constitutes "sharing," "targeted advertising," or a similar regulated activity under applicable law, we will provide any opt-out mechanism required by law.

Requests may be submitted through privacy at trustysteed.app.

19. European Economic Area, United Kingdom, and Switzerland

Where applicable European privacy law applies, we process personal information under one or more lawful bases, which may include:

• Your consent;
• Performance of a contract or providing services you request;
• Our legitimate interests in operating, securing, and improving the App, where those interests are not overridden by your rights; and
• Compliance with legal obligations.

You may have rights to access, rectify, erase, restrict, or receive a portable copy of certain personal information and to object to certain processing. You may also have the right to lodge a complaint with the applicable data-protection authority.

Where required, consent will be requested before using information for personalized advertising or certain device-storage technologies.

20. Children

The App is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13 without legally required parental consent.

If we learn that personal information has been collected from a child in violation of applicable law, we will take reasonable steps to delete the information.

If you believe a child has provided personal information through the App inappropriately, contact us at privacy at trustysteed.app.

21. Third-Party Links and Content

The App may display links, maps, business listings, websites, or content operated by third parties. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of third-party websites, applications, or services that you independently access. You should review the privacy policies of those third parties before providing them with personal information.

22. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy as the App, applicable laws, or our practices change. When we make material changes, we will update the "Last Updated" date and, where appropriate, provide notice through the App or another appropriate method. Your continued use of the App after an updated Privacy Policy becomes effective is subject to applicable legal requirements regarding notice and consent.

23. Contact Us

If you have questions, concerns, privacy requests, or account-deletion requests, contact:

Email: support at trustysteed.app
Account Deletion: support at trustysteed.app or click here
Privacy Requests: privacy at trustysteed.app or use the form below