Privacy Policy

We value your privacy and design MeTrail around an “offline-first, minimum data” principle. This policy reflects the real permissions the app uses and how its architecture keeps your data in your hands.

What we don’t do

No account registration is required.
No third-party advertising or analytics SDKs; we do not sell personal data.
Records stay on your device by default. Only when you enable iCloud sync, location sharing, or another external service is the relevant content sent to your chosen service.

How we use permissions

Location (Always + Precise): Enables background Visits logging, keeps Today/Footprints maps centered, and maintains geofence accuracy. With “While Using,” only manual pinpointing and basic map display work; continuous trip recording is not available.
Notifications: Used for arrival/departure alerts and status tips, enabled only after your consent and can be turned off anytime in system settings or Today > Settings > Notifications. If you turn on “Show Current Stay,” the place and elapsed time of the current stay appear as a Live Activity on the Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island; it is shown on this device only and never uploaded.
Photos (read & add): Read to attach photos to places/visits/pins, and, when you turn on the map’s Photos layer, to show photos with locations from that period where they were taken, on device only (not uploaded, no copy saved); Add Photos to save share cards or exports when you choose “Save to Photos,” and to save photos you take in MeTrail. No writes occur unless you trigger a save or take a photo.
Camera: Opened only when you tap “Take Photo.” The photo is stored in MeTrail and also saved to your library. No video, and the camera is never used in the background.
Motion & Fitness: Reads only the activity type (walking, cycling, in a vehicle, or stationary) to correct arrival and departure times and to show how you traveled between visits. It does not read steps, and nothing is uploaded.
Apple Health (optional): Off by default. MeTrail asks to read steps only after you turn on “Show Steps” in Today > Settings > Tools & Data > Apple Health (or on the Apple Health page during setup, or in a tip on Today); it reads no other health data and writes nothing to Health. Steps are read from Health only when shown. They are not saved to MeTrail’s database, synced to iCloud, or included in exports, share cards, Hook automations, or smart summaries, and they never leave this device.
Calendar (optional): MeTrail reads or writes your calendars only after you allow it, and needs full access. Reading: Visit details show the events that overlapped that visit; they are not saved to MeTrail’s database. Writing: Off by default. Only after you turn on “Add to Calendar” for a place does MeTrail add visits there as events to the calendar you choose, each with a MeTrail link back to the visit. MeTrail writes only while it is open in the foreground and only changes or deletes events it added itself, never your own events. Once added, events are stored and synced by Apple Calendar and your calendar account (such as iCloud), and anyone who can see that calendar can see them. Erasing MeTrail’s records doesn’t delete these events; you can remove them all at once in Today > Settings > Tools & Data > Calendar.
File access / iCloud Drive: Used only when you initiate export or backup, to write archives into Files or your personal iCloud Drive.
Network access: Recording is local by default. Network requests support iCloud sync, Apple Maps place lookup, Look Around and directions, arrival weather, and the alert forwarding, smart summaries and location sharing you choose to enable.
Smart summaries (optional): You supply the endpoint, model, and API key yourself; requests go straight from your device to the provider you chose. MeTrail never receives, relays, or stores what is sent. Only place names (optionally masked as Home / Work / Place A), cities, dates and hours, stay durations, visit counts, tag names, and search queries are sent; coordinates, addresses, and photos never are. A note is sent only when you tap Proofread or Rewrite in the notes editor, and only that note, together with its place name (left out when masking is on) and date. You can preview the exact payload for every scenario in Settings. The API key lives only in the on-device Keychain.

Data storage and sync

Local: Visits, locations, attachments, and logs stay in the device’s encrypted sandbox (Core Data + file system).
Cloud: iCloud sync writes to your private database, which we cannot access. Location sharing stores the content you confirm in the official or self-hosted service you choose, where anyone with the link and any required password can view it.
Coordinates, place names, and arrival and departure times within your chosen scope are uploaded to the official or self-hosted sharing service you select. Photos and notes are not uploaded.
Export: Advanced Export writes to a temp directory then hands off to the iOS share sheet; the app keeps no copy afterward.
Health data: Steps are read from Apple Health only when shown and are never written to the local database, iCloud, or export files.

Logs and diagnostics

Logs stay on-device by default and contain debug info and error codes, not sensitive content.
You may export logs for self-help or support; nothing leaves the device unless you do so.

Your control

Revoke any permission in system settings; related features degrade or turn off automatically.
You can delete local data or back up and restore it. Pause or end location sharing anytime; ending it stops the old link from showing visits and keeps your local records.

If you have questions about this policy or how permissions are used, please contact us via in-app feedback.

Web Viewer

Open a JSON viewer package exported from MeTrail in your computer’s browser. Replay visits by day and search places and cities. Files are parsed locally in the browser and are not uploaded.

OpenFreeMap street maps are on by default and can be turned off in the menu. Online maps request third-party map resources without sending the imported history.