Privacy Policy

This app respects your privacy.

This Privacy Policy applies to both Lakes & Trails Pro and Lakes & Trails Lite (the “App”), operated by The Geordie Hiker Ltd (“we”, “us”, “our”). Some features noted below apply to Pro only. We're committed to protecting your privacy and being transparent about how we handle your information.

1. Information we collect

Data stored locally on your device

The following is stored only on your device and is never transmitted to us: your Wainwright completion progress, completion dates, app preferences, and onboarding status. This data stays on your device and isn't accessible to us. If you delete the app, it's permanently deleted.

Location Pro

With your permission, Lakes & Trails Pro uses your device location to show your position and find nearby points of interest. We retrieve weather data for all Wainwright locations, but we do not collect or store your personal location data.

Analytics (Google Analytics for Firebase)

We use Firebase Analytics, provided by Google, to collect anonymous usage data — such as which screens and features are used, session duration, crashes and errors, device type and OS version, and general country/region (not precise location). This data is anonymous and aggregated; it cannot identify you personally, and we can't see individual user activity. For more information, see Google's Privacy Policy at https://policies.google.com/privacy

AI Assistant Pro

Lakes & Trails Pro uses Google Gemini to power the AI hiking assistant. When you use this feature, your messages are sent to Google for processing, with no personal information attached. See Google's Privacy Policy at https://policies.google.com/privacy

Advertising & the Facebook SDK (Meta) Pro

Lakes & Trails Pro includes the Meta (Facebook) SDK — the Facebook iOS SDK (FBSDKCoreKit) with App Events. We use it for advertising and measurement: attributing app installs to our Facebook and Instagram ads, measuring in-app actions that result from those ads, and optimising and targeting ad delivery. (Lakes & Trails Lite does not use the Facebook SDK.)

What the SDK collects and shares with Meta:

• App events — app installs, opens and sessions, and key actions such as purchases and other custom events.
• Identifiers — the Identifier for Advertisers (IDFA), only if you grant permission via Apple’s App Tracking Transparency prompt, plus the Identifier for Vendors (IDFV) and other device signals.
• Device & technical information — device model, iOS version, language/locale, time zone and screen information.
• IP address.

Who receives it and why. This data is sent to and processed by Meta Platforms, Inc. (and Meta Platforms Ireland Ltd for UK/EU users), acting as a separate, independent controller, for ad attribution, measurement, optimisation and targeting. On iOS 14.5+, Meta’s Aggregated Event Measurement is used. Meta’s handling of this data is governed by Meta’s Privacy Policy at https://www.facebook.com/privacy/policy.

Your consent and choices. Because this involves tracking for advertising, we ask for your permission through Apple’s App Tracking Transparency prompt before any advertiser tracking or IDFA use begins. You can decline, or change your choice at any time in iOS Settings → Privacy & Security → Tracking, and you can control ad personalisation in your Meta account settings. Declining limits ad personalisation and measurement but does not stop the app working.

Legal basis (UK GDPR). We rely on your consent for advertising tracking — obtained before tracking begins and withdrawable as easily as it is given.

International transfers. Meta may process this data outside the UK, including in the United States. Where it does, transfers are protected by appropriate safeguards such as the UK International Data Transfer Addendum / EU Standard Contractual Clauses and, where applicable, the EU–US / UK–US Data Privacy Framework.

Retention. We do not store this advertising data ourselves; it is retained by Meta in line with Meta’s own policies.

Data we do NOT collect

• Your name, email address, or contact information
• Your precise GPS location or location history
• Photos or files from your device
• Contacts, calendar, or other personal data
• Payment or financial information (handled by Apple / Google)

2. How we use your information

Your local data (progress, preferences) is used solely to provide app functionality and never leaves your device. We use anonymous analytics to understand which features are popular, fix bugs and crashes, guide future development, and ensure the app works across devices. We don’t use our Firebase analytics to identify you, build personal profiles, or sell your data. Advertising and ad measurement are handled through the Facebook SDK (Meta), described below — and on iOS you’re asked for tracking permission first.

3. Data sharing

We do not sell, rent or trade your personal information. We share limited data only with the services that run the app: Google (Firebase Analytics, and Gemini for the Pro AI Assistant), Meta (via the Facebook SDK, as described above), and Apple / Google Play for payments — where payment is handled entirely by the store and we never see your payment details. See Google's Privacy Policy, Meta’s Privacy Policy and Apple's Privacy Policy.

4. Data retention

• Local data: stored on your device until you delete the app or clear app data.
• Analytics data: retained by Google Analytics for 14 months, then automatically deleted.

5. Your rights and choices

You can limit analytics by enabling “Limit Ad Tracking” in your device settings, or disabling analytics in Settings > Privacy > Analytics. To delete all local data, simply delete the app — your progress and preferences are permanently removed. Since we don't collect personal data, there's no personal data for us to provide; your progress is stored locally and visible to you within the app.

6. Children's privacy

The App is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us and we'll delete it.

7. Security

We take reasonable measures to protect information: local data is stored securely on your device using standard OS storage; analytics data is transmitted over encrypted connections; and we do not store any personal data on our servers.

8. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. We'll note significant changes in the app or by updating the “last updated” date above. Continued use of the App after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

9. Contact

Questions about this policy? Contact The Geordie Hiker Ltd at thegeordiehiker@gmail.com · www.thegeordiehiker.com

10. Additional information for EU/UK users

If you're in the EU or UK, you have additional rights under GDPR/UK GDPR — access, erasure, objection, and portability. As we don't collect personal data, these mainly apply to analytics data held by Google; see Google's data & privacy. For any privacy request, contact thegeordiehiker@gmail.com.