Privacy Policy
Rochester Skyways app and website · Effective 2026-10-06
No tracking. No accounts. No analytics. One local sponsor space.
Former Android beta signups
The Android tester recruitment form has been retired. Google account emails previously submitted through it are used only to administer the private Google Play test and tester list. They are not published, sold, used for advertising, or added to a general mailing list. Standard server metadata (IP address and received time) is retained for abuse protection. You may ask us to remove your former signup at any time using the contact address below.
Location
If you grant location permission, your location is used on your device to show where you are on the map and to start routes. Ordinary map and routing use does not transmit your location to us or to anyone else. Location permission is optional. You can plan routes by picking a start point instead. If you choose to save feedback through Improve this map, the report includes the location shown in that form, as described below. Opening the form requests a location if a fresh one is not already available. Nothing is sent until you save.
The web app remembers whether you enabled location and Follow me, so it can request a fresh position when you reopen it. It does not save your ordinary blue-dot coordinates or movement history. Stop location turns off this automatic resumption. Tracking pauses while the page is hidden; returning starts a fresh request, subject to browser permission and the phone's ability to obtain a location. The circle shows reported uncertainty, not a verified indoor corridor or floor.
Your current walk
To help you pick up a walk after reopening, the app saves only the current starting place, destination, walking options and step progress on your device for up to 12 hours. It does not save GPS coordinates, movement history or a list of past walks, and this record is not sent to us. Reopening checks current map data and access before restoring progress; changed routes start again at the first step. Use Forget saved walk, Change this walk or Finish walk to remove the record. Your browser can also remove it or deny storage.
Map data downloads
The app periodically downloads map data and advisories from our server. Like any web request, our server transiently sees your IP address in order to respond. We do not use these requests to identify, profile, or track you.
Contributions you choose to send
The map and the apps have an optional “Improve map” feature for verifying an entrance, walking an indoor connection, tracing an outdoor path, correcting a location, adding a missing one, or telling us anything else the map gets wrong. Every web feedback report requires a location. The form shows the position that will be included. You can use GPS, choose a mapped place or mark a point on the map if GPS is unavailable or inaccurate. Only when you save an observation do we receive the report. It includes the following.
- structured entrance, public-access, accessibility, posted-hours, indoor-segment and outdoor-path observations; your note text; and the name and level of any place you propose adding or correcting,
- the report location, how it was selected, its capture time and any reported GPS accuracy and altitude, plus any separate entrance pin or outdoor walking trace you record,
- any photos you attach,
- the map dataset version, displayed map level, nearby mapped place and any selected starting place, destination and current walking step. A displayed map level or nearby place is context, not proof of your actual indoor floor or building.
Saving feedback first keeps a copy in private storage inside the web app. Once that save is confirmed, you can close the form and keep walking while it sends. Unsaved drafts are not stored. The form asks before you discard an edited draft. If the connection fails, retries run while the app is open, with increasing delays. Automatic retries stop after 8 attempts or 30 days. Rejected reports also stop retrying. Nothing is silently deleted when those limits are reached. Use Saved feedback below the planner to inspect, download, retry eligible reports or remove them. New saves are limited to 50 reports and 32 MB on this device. A downloaded report contains its original location and any photos. Keep it private. A saved copy is removed automatically only after our server confirms acceptance. Removing a local copy cannot undo one already accepted by our server. Ordinary blue-dot and route-planning locations are never put in that queue.
Each saved report has a random report id so a retry does not create a duplicate. It does not identify your device or connect separate reports to a person. Retry attempts preserve the original report location, capture time and walking context. Your current GPS position is never added to an older report.
Photos are resized and re-encoded on your own device before they are sent. That step strips embedded camera metadata, including the GPS coordinates most phones write into a photo file. The only location we receive is the one you deliberately submitted. Camera and photo-library access are requested only at the moment you choose to attach a photo, and declining them does not stop you sending everything else.
Contributions include standard server metadata (IP address, received time), which we keep only for moderation and abuse protection. Everything you send is reviewed by a person and used solely to improve the map. Nothing you submit is shown to other users, published, sold or shared.
What we don't do
- No ad SDKs, ad identifiers, behavioral advertising or location-targeted ads.
- No analytics or tracking SDKs.
- No app accounts; former beta signup emails are used only to administer that test.
- No selling or sharing of any data with third parties.
Offline map storage
The web app stores its interface on your device. When you choose Save map for offline use, it downloads a complete map and routing snapshot. Saved hours and closures reflect the download date; current weather requires internet. Your browser or phone can remove stored data, so check the saved status before walking offline. You can remove it through your browser's website-data settings.
Local sponsorship
One small sponsor placement below the map can help fund this free service. On each page load, your device randomly chooses one sponsor from a list bundled with our app, including offline. The placement stays the same while that page is open. We use no advertising scripts, tracking pixels, cookies or personal targeting for this selection. Sponsors have no influence on routes and receive no location or usage data. Following a sponsor link opens that business's website, which has its own privacy policy.
Children
The app collects no personal information from anyone, including children, except the optional suggestion submissions described above.
Changes and contact
If this policy changes, the new version will be posted at this address with a new effective date. To request deletion of a contribution, email us with enough detail to identify it. We will delete any matching submission and attachments. Send questions or deletion requests to ops@rochesterskyways.app.