Privacy Policy
This policy explains how Compass: Navigation & Vault, developed by BR Technologies Studio / Bijoy Rajkhowa, handles information.
| Version | Advertising | Paid upgrade |
|---|---|---|
| Google Play | Yes — see section 4 | Yes — see section 5 |
| Indus App Store (versions up to 1.0.0) | None | None |
In every version: there is no account, no sign-in, and no server of ours that holds anything you create. What you save stays on your device.
1. Information kept on your device
The following is created by you, stored in the app's private storage, and never uploaded by us. There is no cloud copy and no way for us to read it.
| What | Why it exists |
|---|---|
| Waypoints you save — coordinates, name, note | So you can navigate back to a place |
| Recorded trips — the sequence of GPS fixes, with time, altitude, speed and accuracy | Distance, elevation and route statistics, and GPX/KML export |
| Saved grid references and route points | Map reading and navigation exercises |
| Private Space contents — photos, videos, audio, documents and notes you import | Encrypted local storage |
| Settings — theme, units, map style, datum, compass preferences | To remember your choices |
This is a change from the previous version of this policy. Earlier releases read location transiently and stored none of it. Versions from 1.1.0 onwards save the waypoints and trips you deliberately create, because a navigation app that cannot save a place is not useful. All of it remains on your device.
You can see everything stored, export it, and delete any or all of it from Settings → Your location data. Private Space contents are managed inside Private Space itself. Uninstalling the app, or clearing its data, permanently removes all of it — there is no backup for us to restore from.
Private Space encryption
Files you import into Private Space are encrypted with AES-256 and written to app-private storage. Access is protected by a PIN, pattern or biometric lock that you set. Android's application backup is disabled for this app, so the encrypted store is not copied off the device by the operating system either.
Recording a trip
A trip recording keeps running when you leave the app, lock the phone or put it in a pocket — otherwise it would only record the part of the walk you spent looking at the screen. While a recording is running:
- An ongoing notification is shown for the whole time, so the recording is never invisible to you.
- It starts only when you start a recording, and stops when you stop it. Nothing starts it on its own.
- The positions go to the trip on your device. They are not uploaded, and no one else receives them.
Outside a recording, location is read only while a screen that uses it is open. The app has no background tracking of any other kind.
2. Permissions, and what each is for
| Permission | Used for |
|---|---|
| Precise and approximate location | Compass bearing relative to where you are, your position on the map, grid references, trip recording, local weather, sunrise and sunset. Read while a screen that needs it is open, and — only while you are recording a trip — while the app is in the background. See “Recording a trip” below. |
| Internet, network state | Map tiles, the weather forecast, and — on versions that have them — advertising and purchase verification. |
| Biometric | Optional fingerprint unlock for Private Space. Biometric data never leaves the device and is never seen by the app; Android performs the check. |
| Advertising ID | Advertising, on versions that show it. See section 4. |
| Billing | Google Play in-app purchases, on versions that offer them. |
| Ad services (topics, attribution) | Declared by the Google Mobile Ads SDK for Android's Privacy Sandbox, on versions that show advertising. Used to measure whether an ad led to an install, without identifying you to us. |
| Foreground service, wake lock | Keeps a trip recording running when the screen is off or another app is in front. It starts when you start a recording, shows a notification for as long as it runs, and stops when you stop the recording. The app does not track you at any other time. |
The app does not request access to your photo library, contacts, microphone, camera, SMS, or call logs. Files enter Private Space only through Android's own system file picker, which you control. A push-notification permission is declared by the Firebase libraries the app links against, but the app sends no push notifications and has no messaging component.
You may decline any optional permission and continue using the rest of the app. Features that depend on a declined permission stay unavailable until you grant it.
3. Outside services
Each service below receives only what it needs to answer a specific request.
| Service | What it receives | When |
|---|---|---|
| Open-Meteo | Your approximate coordinates | When you open or refresh the weather screen |
| OpenStreetMap | The map area being displayed | While a map is on screen |
| Google Maps | The coordinates of a point | Only when you choose "Open in Maps" |
| Firebase Crashlytics | Anonymous crash and error diagnostics | If the app crashes or errors |
| Google AdMob (versions with advertising) | Advertising identifier, device and ad interaction data | While advertising is displayed |
| Google Play Billing (versions with a paid upgrade) | Purchase and subscription state | When you buy or restore an upgrade |
We never send your saved waypoints, recorded trips, grid references or Private Space contents to any of these services, or to anyone else.
4. Advertising
Applies to versions that contain advertising — see the table at the top.
Advertising is supplied by Google AdMob. AdMob may collect and use an advertising identifier and device information to select and measure advertisements, in accordance with Google's own privacy policy.
- Advertising is never shown inside Private Space.
- Advertising is never shown while you are actively following a bearing.
- We do not pass your location, waypoints or trips to the advertising system.
- Users in the European Economic Area and the United Kingdom are shown a consent form, provided by Google's User Messaging Platform, before personalised advertising is used. Your choice can be changed at any time from the privacy options in the app.
- Purchasing any paid upgrade removes all advertising.
You can reset or delete your advertising identifier at any time in Android Settings → Privacy → Ads.
5. Purchases
Applies to versions that offer a paid upgrade — see the table at the top.
Compass Pro is an optional upgrade, offered as a monthly subscription, a yearly subscription, or a one-time lifetime purchase. On Google Play these are processed by Google Play Billing; we never see or store your payment details. Subscriptions renew automatically until cancelled, and are managed in your Google Play account, not in this app.
What you have purchased is recorded on your device so the app works offline between checks. That record contains the plan and its expiry, and no payment information.
Features that were free in earlier versions remain free permanently. Users who installed the app before paid upgrades existed keep everything they had.
6. Diagnostics
Release builds use Firebase Crashlytics to collect anonymous crash and error reports, so failures can be diagnosed and fixed. Reports contain technical information about the failure and the device. They never contain Private Space file contents, your saved waypoints, or your recorded trips.
7. Children
Compass: Navigation & Vault is a general-purpose utility intended for a general audience. It is not directed at children, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children.
8. Your choices and rights
- See what is stored: Settings → Your location data.
- Export it: the same screen exports everything as a standard GPX file.
- Delete it: individually, by category, or entirely, in the same screen. Deletion is immediate and permanent.
- Advertising: reset or delete your advertising identifier in Android settings; change consent from the app's privacy options.
- Everything at once: uninstalling the app removes all local data permanently.
Because the app has no accounts and holds no data on any server of ours, there is no account to close and no server-side record for us to erase on request. If you have a question about your data, write to the address below.
9. Security
Private Space contents are encrypted with AES-256 in app-private storage. Network traffic uses HTTPS; cleartext traffic is disabled at the operating system level. Android application backup is disabled for this app so its private data is not copied off the device automatically.
10. Changes to this policy
We update this policy when the app's features or the legal requirements change. The effective date at the top identifies the current version. Material changes accompany an app update rather than appearing silently.
11. Contact
BR Technologies Studio / Bijoy Rajkhowa
Support and privacy: brtechnologies.apps@gmail.com