Privacy Policy
Last updated: October 13, 2026
Publisher and contact
Contact us about support, privacy, account deletion or content reports. Do not send passwords or private invitation keys.
Data we use
TrailRelay uses precise location to record routes, guide active trips, show consenting group members and deliver safety alerts. A TrailRelay ID, display name, group information, route reports and optional report photos are used only to provide features you choose.
What stays on your iPhone
Saved routes, recording drafts, safety history, private invitation keys and your private identity key are stored on your device. Private keys are protected by the iPhone Keychain.
What reaches our service
When you create or join a shared trip, TrailRelay sends an account identifier, trip metadata and encrypted route or live-location payloads to Supabase. Route and live-location contents are encrypted on your iPhone; the private route key is not sent to the service. Apple Maps receives map requests under Apple's terms and privacy policy.
Accounts, chat and feedback
A new anonymous account is created only after you choose cloud features and agree to the sharing disclosure and Terms of Use. Local recording and already downloaded maps do not require a new account. Trip chat is encrypted on your iPhone. Sending feedback uploads your message, selected images and app/device details. Reporting a chat message sends the selected readable text to our support team. APNs device tokens are stored to deliver safety notifications.
Photos and camera
You choose photos from the system picker or take a photo after granting camera access. New chat photos are compressed to at most 250 KB before encryption; profile photos to at most 40 KB. Profile names and photos are visible to people using the related sharing features. Account IDs, trip names, memberships and timestamps are not hidden by trip-content encryption.
Offline maps and trip preparation
Downloaded maps, terrain tiles, walking graphs, saved forecasts and local trip plans are stored on your iPhone. Shared plan notes, checkpoints and photos are encrypted before upload; trip owners control contributor access. Map requests disclose the requested area and network address to OpenFreeMap. Walking routes request a bounded area through our backend from OpenStreetMap Overpass using Private.coffee or VK Maps; elevation tiles are requested from the public Mapzen terrain dataset on AWS. Weather requests pass a destination through our backend to MET Norway, rounded to three decimal places. Provider data is cached by area; short-lived account request records enforce rate limits. Saved forecasts may be stale offline.
Hazard reports and watches
GDACS provides regional flood and wildfire reports, not complete street-level warnings. Feed requests disclose your network address, not your precise GPS position. Watch connections are optional; an approved connected watch may receive trip, location and safety information. Bluetooth access can be turned off in iPhone Settings.
Sharing and consent
Location is shared only after you start or join an active Relay and enable sharing. Other members of that Relay can see your current position and safety status. Sharing stops when you leave or the Relay ends.
Trip chat retention
Ending a trip deletes its chat, photos and live alerts for the whole group. Leaving removes your access while other members keep their data. Saved routes and offline maps are kept. Photo cleanup retries on the server if needed.
Copies and support records
Trip deletion cannot erase screenshots or exported copies kept by other people. Feedback and content reports already submitted to support are separate from temporary trip chat and are not automatically deleted when a trip ends. Contact us to request access, correction or deletion; server backups and security logs may be subject to separate retention.
Retention
Local routes remain until you delete them. Invitation rooms expire on their displayed date. Temporary live-location and live-route rows are removed when a Relay ends; expired server trips are scheduled for automatic cleanup. Safety history is limited on device and can be deleted in Settings.
Your choices
You can deny location, camera or notification access in iPhone Settings, stop live sharing, delete local routes and safety history, or permanently delete your TrailRelay account and associated server data inside Privacy & Data.
Tracking
TrailRelay does not use advertising identifiers, third-party advertising or cross-app tracking.
Deletion requests
End or leave an active trip before deleting your account in Settings > Privacy & Data. If you cannot open the app, email the publisher. We may need to verify the request belongs to your account; never send your password or invitation key.
Safety
TrailRelay is a coordination aid, not an emergency service. SOS delivery depends on device power, connectivity and system notification availability. Contact local emergency services when immediate help is required.
Satellite source and license
Satellite imagery: EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless, modified Copernicus 2016–2017 (CC BY 4.0). Download requests reveal the selected tile area and network address to EOX; saved imagery stays on this iPhone. CarPlay uses Apple Maps driving directions and the phone location permission.
Apple · Supabase · OpenFreeMap · EOX CC BY 4.0 · OpenStreetMap · GDACS · MET Norway
Shared plans and deletion
Shared plans are saved on your phone and encrypted on the server. Closing the app does not remove membership. The owner can delete the shared plan; an invited member leaving removes only their own access and local copy. Invitations expire after 24 hours, not the saved plan.
Support and content reports
Email [email protected] for privacy requests or harmful shared content. Include only evidence you choose to share; never send private trip keys. We aim to review reports within 24 hours. Resolution time depends on the case.
Current release
Trip chat and chat photos are unavailable in this version. Policy references to chat apply to earlier versions and retained support records.
TrailRelay · 2026-10-13
Report a profile from its friend detail page or shared content from its plan page. Hold a member to block or unblock them. A reported photo is sent to support only if you choose to include it. Live safety alerts remain available.
Names and plan text are checked before sharing. Photos are checked on-device when iOS enables analysis. Disabled analysis permits photos; a sensitive result blocks publishing and an analysis error requires retry. No analysis verdict is sent to the server.
Offline download limits
OpenFreeMap permits user-selected offline downloads within its terms: at most 3,000 tiles or 50 MB per download, no more than four parallel requests, and an app-identifying User-Agent. TrailRelay limits selected areas by tile count and pauses incomplete downloads at 50 MB. Smaller areas or lower detail may be required. Map size estimates are not guarantees. Keep OpenMapTiles and OpenStreetMap attribution; larger downloads require provider approval.