Your data & your choices

WakeTrek privacy policy

Who operates WakeTrek

WakeTrek (formerly WakeTrail) is a paddling journal and GPS recording app operated for this beta by David Potts. For privacy questions or requests, email admin@waketrek.com. This policy describes the current beta, not proposed community features. Effective September 30, 2026; app name updated October 2, 2026.

What stays in the app

WakeTrek keeps its primary trip history on your device: route coordinates and timestamps, distance and speed, launch and destination, craft and equipment, weather and water observations, ratings, wildlife, notes, and the photos you choose. These support recording, recovery, journaling, comparisons and share creation. Permission choices and preferences are stored locally. WakeTrek has no account system, advertising, advertising tracking, analytics SDK or developer-operated trip-upload server. The developer does not automatically receive your trip history.

Location and optional online services

iOS location permission allows GPS recording, including in the background during an active paddle, and location-based features. You may decline or revoke location permission in iOS Settings; GPS recording then cannot work normally. Online services require a separate in-app choice. Before that choice, or when disabled, WakeTrek does not initiate online map, weather, water-level or launch-search requests. You can still record locally with location permission and use saved trip information.

When you enable online services, Apple Maps processes the map areas you view and areas along your route for map snapshots and story videos. Open-Meteo receives the coordinate used for weather and sunset, which may be your current location, selected launch, or trip endpoint. USGS receives a geographic search area around your location or selected launch and station identifiers. Launch lookup sends a search center and radius to Overpass servers operated by Private.coffee and/or overpass-api.de, using OpenStreetMap data. Waterway identification sends coarse grid areas around your selected launch or saved route to these servers; it does not send your raw GPS track or its timestamps. This can occur when planning, after completing a paddle, or when you request identification from a saved trip. Failed searches may contact the fallback Overpass server. Automatic weather and water observations may be requested at trip start/end and during use.

Waterway suggestions, their OSM element identifiers, lookup dates and matching method are saved locally separately from your confirmed waterway name. Saved monitoring observations include station, parameter, time-series identifier where supplied, timestamps and the basis for station selection. A name match is not proof of a hydrological connection. Small, temporary in-memory caches reduce repeat provider requests; your saved trip observations remain until you delete the trip.

Providers receive normal connection information, including your IP address, and may process or retain service logs under their own terms, including on servers outside your region. Coordinates or search areas can reveal where you are paddling. These requests are not anonymous. WakeTrek does not attach your journal, selected photos, star ratings or HealthKit data to these requests. Disabling online services in Settings cancels pending WakeTrek requests and removes interactive maps; information already received by a provider cannot be recalled. Apple may manage its own map caches.

Provider information: Apple Maps & Privacy, Apple Privacy Policy, Open-Meteo terms and privacy, USGS privacy, Private.coffee privacy, and overpass-api.de. Opening these external links contacts the linked website, even when in-app online services are off.

Open-Meteo's published free-API policy says its troubleshooting logs may contain coordinates and IP addresses and are deleted after 90 days. Consult the current provider policies for their latest retention details; WakeTrek does not control those logs.

Apple Health, Watch and Lock Screen

Apple Health integration is optional and needs separate HealthKit authorization. WakeTrek writes its paddlesports workouts, timing, distance and GPS workout routes when enabled; it does not request permission to read existing HealthKit records, heart rate, medical records or other apps' workouts. Local trip storage remains independent of HealthKit. Removing a trip in WakeTrek does not remove its Apple Health copy; manage that copy and permissions in Apple Health. Apple manages Health storage and synchronization under your Apple settings.

The optional Watch companion receives paddle status and statistics from your paired iPhone through Apple's WatchConnectivity and retains the most recent status locally. Live Activities can display trip statistics on your Lock Screen. Other people who can see your screen may see this information. Manage Live Activity visibility in iOS Settings.

Photos, diagnostics and deliberate sharing

WakeTrek imports only photos you select with Apple's photo picker. It may use the selected photo's capture time and location to place it along your paddle. Some photos may be retrieved by Apple's picker from your photo library's cloud storage. WakeTrek does not request access to your entire library.

GPS diagnostic mode is optional. When enabled for a trip it stores raw locations, accuracy, altitude, speed/course, timestamps, acceptance/rejection decisions, tracking events, device/OS/app details and location configuration locally. Diagnostic export also contains the processed trip route. Diagnostics are not automatically sent to the developer.

Sharing a card, video, route, diagnostic file or backup is your choice using Apple's export/share interfaces. Backups and diagnostics may disclose precise routes, dates, photos, notes and other identifying information; removing your name does not make a route anonymous. Review what you share and choose recipients carefully. A share recipient or destination service controls its own copy. You may send data or support messages to David Potts voluntarily; they will be used to respond to your request or investigate the issue, not to populate a public conditions database. Request deletion of support correspondence and attachments using the contact above; necessary legal records may have to be retained.

Retention, backup and deletion

Saved trips and associated data remain until you delete them or remove the app. Delete a trip by swiping in the trip list and confirming, or use Delete in Edit Story. This removes it from the current local history and removes its diagnostic file; recovery copies or unreferenced photos may persist until a subsequent successful save/cleanup. Temporary export files can remain in the app's temporary storage until cleanup or app removal. Uninstalling removes the app's local container, not copies you saved elsewhere. Offloading an app may preserve its data.

WakeTrek does not provide its own iCloud sync service. Your device's system backup settings may include app data. A backup you explicitly save to Files, iCloud Drive, a computer, or another service is separate. You must separately manage or delete exported copies, system backups, Apple Health records, and copies held by share recipients. Turning online services off keeps your existing history; it is not a deletion request. The developer cannot remotely access or delete your device's trip archive. Provider logging retention is controlled by the provider; contact the relevant provider for those records.

Security and your choices

WakeTrek uses the iOS app sandbox and HTTPS for its weather, water and launch requests. No security measure guarantees confidentiality. Protect your device and backups. You can disable online services in Settings, revoke location/Health permissions in Apple's settings, choose not to add photos or diagnostic logging, export your data, and delete trips. Contact the operator for access, correction or deletion requests concerning information you have sent directly. Applicable rights depend on your location; this policy does not waive them.

No future-data consent hidden here

This beta does not upload trips for community ratings, conditions analysis, public profiles or research. Any future optional contribution system will need its own clear explanation, data minimization and opt-in before new data uses. Existing GPS records are not automatically anonymous, and this policy does not grant permission to repurpose previously shared files or HealthKit data. Material changes will be described before new sharing is enabled.

Data credits and limitations

Automatic weather is from Open-Meteo, licensed under CC BY 4.0. WakeTrek selects, formats and converts observations; personal journal corrections and synthetic test trips may differ from provider data. Launch data © OpenStreetMap contributors, under the Open Database License. Maps are provided by Apple; water readings by USGS.

Weather, maps, launch access, water readings and return estimates may be missing, stale or inaccurate and are not safety advice. A nearby gauge may be on a different waterway. Verify conditions and access independently. This policy is a beta privacy disclosure, not a guarantee of legal compliance or Apple approval.