RunSpotter Privacy Policy

Last updated: August 4, 2026

RunSpotter ("we," "our," "us") provides a solo-activity safety and live-tracking app that lets a runner, hiker, cyclist, or other solo athlete (a "Runner") share their live location with chosen family members or friends (their "Spotters") so those people can follow along and be alerted if something seems wrong. This policy explains what information we collect, why we collect it, and how it is used and protected.

Information we collect

• Account information — name, email address, role, selected sport/activity preferences, and profile photo you provide when creating an account.
• Precise location data — GPS coordinates, route points, expected return time, last known location, and safety-mode locations collected while you are actively running an activity, including while the app is in the background or closed. We use this so your Spotters can follow your route in real time and so we can detect signal loss, an overdue return, low battery risk, a prolonged stop, SOS, fall detection, or a pickup/help request.
• Spotter / safety-net contact information — names, relationships, phone numbers, and/or email addresses of people you choose to add as Spotters or family sponsors, so we can share your live tracking link, send invite messages, and deliver push, SMS, and email safety alerts.
• Device address book (optional) — if you choose to add a Spotter from your phone's contacts, we read the contact you pick so its name, phone number, and email can be saved as a Spotter. We do not upload or store your full address book, and you can add Spotters by typing them in instead.
• Spotter account information — if you use RunSpotter as a Spotter, we collect your name and email, the athlete email address you enter to request a connection, your notification preferences (which alerts you want on push, email, or SMS), and the athlete connections you are approved for.
• Device & sensor data — battery level, motion and accelerometer signals (used for fall detection and prolonged-stop detection), app state, push notification tokens, and basic device information used to power safety features and alerts.
• Photos — profile photos, optional start-of-activity photos, and any activity photos you choose to upload, stored so you and your Spotters can view them later. Screenshots you attach to an in-app bug report are also uploaded.
• Support & feedback — the content of bug reports and feature requests you submit in the app, along with your email address so we can reply.
• Usage & diagnostic data — crash reports, performance data, and first-party in-app events (for example, which screens and features are used) that we use to fix bugs and improve the app. We do not use third-party advertising or ad-tracking SDKs.
• Subscription/billing data — Apple App Store and Google Play process your payment details. We receive purchase identifiers, product IDs, subscription status, expiration/renewal status, and receipt or purchase-token validation results needed to manage access. We do not receive your full payment card details.

How we use your information

• To share your live location and activity status with the Spotters you choose.
• To generate live tracking pages, maps, route previews, weather overlays, and navigation links for your activity.
• To send automated SMS and/or push notifications for events such as: signal lost, overdue return, low battery, SOS, rescue/pickup request, a possible fall, or stopping for an unusually long time.
• To maintain your activity history, safety streaks, protection-ring progress, and personal statistics.
• To let you start an activity from a home-screen widget, the app icon, the Lock Screen, or a Siri voice phrase. These shortcuts open the app and start an activity; they do not send us additional data, and Siri phrase processing is handled by Apple under Apple's own privacy policy.
• To connect you with a Spotter when one of you requests a connection, and to honor each Spotter's per-alert notification preferences.
• To operate, maintain, secure, and improve the app, to diagnose crashes, and to respond to your support requests.
• To process and manage your subscription.

Emergency alerts always go through

Spotters can choose which routine alerts they receive and on which channels, and they can unsubscribe from routine emails. Emergency alerts — SOS, a detected fall, and rescue/pickup mode — are always delivered on every channel we have for that Spotter (push, email, and SMS) and cannot be switched off. This is a deliberate safety design. If someone does not want to receive emergency alerts, they should be removed as a Spotter.

Background location use

RunSpotter requests "Allow all the time" location access so that it can keep tracking and sharing your position with your Spotters even when the app is in the background or your screen is off — this is the core safety feature of the app (so a Spotter is not left wondering whether your run is going fine). Location is collected in the background only while you have an activity actively in progress; you can stop sharing at any time by ending your activity in the app. We do not collect or sell your background location for advertising purposes.

Who we share information with

• Your chosen Spotters — see your live location, route, expected return status, battery level, safety alerts, and profile photo for the duration of your shared activity. They may also see activity history if you grant or configure that access.
• Safety-net recipients — receive SMS/email/push alerts and live-map links when you invite them or when a safety alert is triggered.
• Anyone you send a tracking link to — a live tracking link is a secret web address. Anyone who has the link can view that activity's live map while it is active, so only share it with people you trust.
• Service providers who process data on our behalf under contract, including Firebase/Google Cloud (authentication, Firestore, Realtime Database, hosting, storage, and Cloud Functions), Expo (push notification delivery), Twilio (emergency SMS alerts and invite messages), Resend (transactional and alert email), Sentry (crash diagnostics), Superwall (subscription paywall presentation and analytics), MapTiler (map tiles and map display), OpenWeatherMap (weather conditions and overlays), OSRM and Google Maps (walking/driving directions to your location when a Spotter or you request a route — a coordinate is sent to generate the route), Apple App Store, and Google Play.
• Legal requirements — we may disclose information if required to do so by law or in a good-faith belief that such action is necessary to comply with legal process or protect the safety of any person.

We do not sell or share your personal information for advertising, and we do not use your location for advertising or profiling.

Data retention & deletion

We retain your account data, safety-net contacts, subscription entitlement, and activity history for as long as you maintain an account, so you can review past activities and safety stats. Live activity data is stored in Firebase while the activity is active and may be retained with your activity history after the activity ends unless you delete your account or we remove it under our retention practices. Diagnostic logs are kept only as long as needed to maintain and debug the service. An activity that stops reporting entirely — for example if your phone dies or the app is force-quit — is automatically closed on our servers after about 24 hours of silence, so it stops appearing as live and stops generating alerts.

You can delete your account at any time from Settings → Account → Delete Account inside the app. Account deletion removes your Firebase account, profile, contacts, uploaded photos, and activity records from our systems, subject to limited backups, logs, legal, security, or payment records we are required to keep. You can also request deletion by emailing us at the address below.

Your choices

• You control who your Spotters are and can remove them at any time.
• You can revoke location, photo, or notification permissions at any time through your device's system settings (this will limit or disable core safety features).
• You can stop sharing your live location by ending your activity, or pause an activity to suspend location collection without ending it.
• Spotters can choose which routine alerts they receive on push, email, and SMS, and can unsubscribe from routine emails using the link in any alert email. Emergency alerts cannot be turned off — see above.
• You can request a copy of your data, or ask us to correct or delete it, by emailing us at the address below. Depending on where you live (for example California or the EU/UK), you may have additional rights to access, correct, delete, or port your personal information, and to not be discriminated against for exercising them. We will not ask you to pay for exercising these rights.

Children's privacy

RunSpotter is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us so we can remove it.

Security

We use industry-standard safeguards (including Firebase Authentication and encrypted connections) to protect your information. No method of transmission or storage is 100% secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security. Our servers and service providers are located in the United States, so if you use RunSpotter from another country your information is transferred to and processed in the U.S.

Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will post any changes on this page and update the "Last updated" date above.

Contact us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or your data, contact us at support@runspotter.app.