Privacy Policy

The WildMap partnership is committed to managing personal information in an open and transparent way. This policy is published at wildmap.com.au/privacy and is bundled with the iOS and Android apps. Material changes will be reflected by updating the "Effective date" at the top, and significant changes will be surfaced in-app on next launch.

If you have questions about how WildMap handles your information, you can contact us at privacy@wildmap.com.au at any time.

WildMap only collects information necessary to deliver its mapping, navigation, and field-recording functionality. Where we collect information, we do so directly from you through your use of the app.

2.1 Account information

• Email address: required to create an account and to recover access if you forget your password.
• Password: submitted by you during sign-up or sign-in. WildMap never stores your password in plaintext. Authentication is handled by Supabase, which stores only a salted hash; the plaintext password is never written to our database or logs.
• Session tokens: short-lived JWT access tokens and longer-lived refresh tokens are issued by Supabase to keep you signed in across app launches. These are stored securely on your device.
• Third-party sign-in tokens: if you choose Apple Sign-In or Google Sign-In, an opaque identity token is exchanged with Supabase. We do not receive your Apple or Google password, and we receive only the email address and, where you allow it, the name you authorise the provider to share.

2.2 Location information

Specifically we may collect:

• Precise GPS coordinates while the app is in use: to display your position on the map and provide navigation.
• Background location while a track recording is active: only when you explicitly start a recording. Background recording stops when you stop the track or sign out.
• Coordinates attached to user-created records: waypoints, planned routes, GPS tracks, harvest log entries (shot logs), field notes, and any photos you choose to geotag carry the coordinates you set or capture.
• Coordinates sent to look things up: to show weather, place names, routes and land information, the app sends your position, the centre of the map, or the point you tap to the mapping, weather and government land-information services listed in Section 5. This happens whether or not you are signed in.

We do not run location tracking when the app is closed unless you have started a track recording. We do not share your live location with other users unless you start or join a Live Party (Section 2.6).

2.2.1 Background location (Android)

When you tap Track Record to start a GPS track, WildMap collects your device's precise location in the background, that is, even when the app is not in the foreground or the screen is locked. This is required so the app can record a continuous track while your phone is in your pocket during a hunt.

• Purpose: background location is collected solely to record the active GPS track you started, and for no other purpose.
• Local-first: the track is written to your device first. If you are signed in, it then synchronises to our cloud (Supabase) under your account; if you are not signed in, the track stays on your device.
• Visible while active: while a recording is running, Android shows a persistent notification in your notification shade. Tapping Stop in the app, or swiping the notification's stop action, ends background collection and removes the notification.
• You are in control: you can revoke the background-location permission at any time from Settings → Apps → WildMap → Permissions → Location, and you can stop a recording at any time from within the app.

On iOS, equivalent behaviour is governed by the iOS location-while-using and always-allow permission flow described to you by the system at the point of permission request.

2.3 User-generated content

• Waypoints, tracks, planned routes, saved offline map areas, drawn polygons, field notes, and harvest log entries.
• Photos you capture or attach (including any embedded EXIF metadata such as time and GPS coordinates, which we do not strip).
• Free-text fields including notes, names, species, and observations that you choose to record.

2.4 Device and diagnostic information

• App version, operating system version, and device model.
• Crash reports and error diagnostics. In release versions of the app these are sent to our error-monitoring provider (Section 5). They include the error, the app and device version, and a short record of what the app was doing beforehand, which can include the web addresses of recent requests. Diagnostics may also pass through Apple or Google where enabled by your device's operating system.
• Basic request logs (IP address, timestamp, endpoint) at our hosting and authentication providers, used for security and abuse prevention.

2.5 Camera, photo library and microphone access

WildMap asks for camera and photo library permission only when you choose to attach photos to a record or save an exported map image. It asks for microphone and speech recognition permission only when you use voice dictation; the audio is processed by your device's speech recognition service (Apple or Google). Permission can be revoked at any time in your device settings.

2.6 Sharing with other users

Nothing you record is visible to other users unless you choose one of the following.

• Live Party: while you are in a party, the app sends the other members of that party your position, your display name (your name if we hold one, otherwise your account email address), your battery level where your device provides it, and any waypoints you choose to share with the party. Your position is sent about every 30 to 60 seconds. A party is joined with a short code, so anyone you give the code to can join it. You stay in a party, including after closing and reopening the app, until you leave it. Party positions and chat messages are relayed live and are not stored in our database.
• Shared trips: you invite people to a trip by email address. The people you invite can see your email address and the trip's name, dates and notes. Once they accept, every member of the trip can see and edit the waypoints, routes, tracks and areas in it, including photos attached to those waypoints. Field notes and harvest logs are not shared.
• Huts and camping grounds: photos and corrections you submit for alpine huts and camping grounds are reviewed by us and, once approved, shown to all users. They are not labelled with your name or account.
• Things you send yourself: GPX files, map images, permission letters and the emergency SMS leave the app only when you send them through your device's share sheet or messaging app.

We use information for the primary purpose for which it was collected: to operate WildMap. Specifically:

• Rendering maps, overlays, and your current position.
• Recording and replaying GPS tracks.
• Storing and syncing your waypoints, tracks, harvest logs, field notes, photos, and saved offline areas across your devices.
• Authenticating you and maintaining your session.
• Diagnosing crashes, performance issues, and abuse.
• Communicating with you about your account and subscription: sign-up and password emails, a welcome email, receipts and billing notices, a reminder before a free trial ends (which you can switch off), and service-critical issues such as security incidents.

If we ever introduce contextual sponsorship (for example, a sponsored item shown on a relevant map screen), it will be served from our own systems based on the screen you are viewing, not by sharing your personal information, location history, or hunting records with an advertising network. Any such change will be disclosed in an updated version of this policy before it takes effect.

WildMap is designed local-first. Your records live on your device in IndexedDB so the app remains fully usable offline. When you are signed in, records are also synchronised to our cloud (Supabase) so they are available on your other devices.

• If you do not sign in, your records stay on your device only and are not synchronised to our servers. Lookups that need a coordinate (Section 2.2) are still sent.
• If you sign in, new and modified records are pushed to Supabase under your account. Row-level security ensures only your account can read or write your records, except records in a trip you have shared, which the members of that trip can also read and edit (Section 2.6).
• Tile cache: offline map tiles you download are stored in IndexedDB on your device. The download itself is fetched from Mapbox; we do not store your map tile cache in our cloud.

4.1 Soft-delete lifecycle

When you delete a record (waypoint, track, harvest log, field note, etc.), it is initially marked as deleted (soft-deleted) so that the deletion can be propagated to your other devices. If you want immediate hard-deletion, contact privacy@wildmap.com.au.

We disclose personal information to the service providers listed below, only to the extent necessary for them to deliver the service we have engaged them for, and to other users only where you choose to share with them (Section 2.6). Each provider operates under its own privacy policy and, where we have engaged it, contractual obligations to us.

Several of our service providers are based outside Australia. Taking the providers listed in Section 5 together, the jurisdictions involved are the United States, Switzerland, the wider European Union, the United Kingdom, and Israel. Cloudflare delivers map layers from data centres around the world, usually the one nearest you. By using WildMap, you acknowledge that your personal information (including account email, location data, hunting records, and photos) will be transferred to and processed in those jurisdictions.

Before engaging an overseas provider, we take reasonable steps to confirm they handle personal information in a manner consistent with the Australian Privacy Principles. However, you should be aware that overseas privacy laws may differ from Australian law and that, in some cases, the OAIC may not be able to enforce APP obligations against an overseas recipient.

• Encryption in transit: all communication with our cloud providers uses TLS 1.2 or higher.
• Encryption at rest: Supabase and Cloudinary encrypt stored data at rest using industry-standard encryption.
• Row-level security: Supabase row-level security policies ensure each user can only access their own records and the records in trips shared with them.
• Password hashing: passwords are hashed with bcrypt by Supabase. We never see and never store your plaintext password.
• Local data: data stored in IndexedDB inherits the security of your device. We strongly recommend using a device passcode or biometric lock.
• Least privilege: only a small number of authorised personnel of the partnership have access to production systems, and only when necessary for support or incident response.

No system is perfectly secure. Despite our safeguards, we cannot guarantee that unauthorised access will never occur. If we become aware of an eligible data breach, we will respond as described in Section 10.

Hunting records (waypoints, tracks, harvest logs, photos) can be sensitive. We treat them as your information and we do not volunteer them to third parties.

We will not disclose your records to government agencies, regulators, or other third parties unless one of the following applies:

• You have given consent.
• We are compelled by a valid Australian warrant, court order, subpoena, or similarly binding legal instrument issued by a body with jurisdiction over us.
• Disclosure is required or specifically authorised by Australian law (for example, under a permitted general situation in section 16A of the Privacy Act).
• Disclosure is necessary to protect life or to investigate suspected unlawful activity directed at WildMap or its users.

Where we receive such a request, we review it for validity and scope, and we limit disclosure to the minimum information actually required. Where it is lawful and practical to do so, we will notify you before disclosure so you have an opportunity to respond.

WildMap is intended only for lawful hunting activity in compliance with relevant state and federal law. Using the app does not authorise any activity that would otherwise be unlawful, and recording such activity in the app may itself constitute evidence.

You have the following rights with respect to your personal information:

• Access and update: you can view and edit your account email, waypoints, tracks, harvest logs, and field notes from within the app at any time.
• Delete individual records: any record you create can be deleted from within the app. Deletions are propagated through the soft-delete lifecycle described in Section 4.1.
• Delete your account: you can permanently delete your account and all cloud-synced data from Settings → Account → Delete Account. This action is irreversible. Payment and billing records are kept by Apple, Google, Stripe and RevenueCat under their own policies, and we keep subscription records that no longer identify you. If you can no longer access the app, follow the steps at wildmap.com.au/delete-account or email privacy@wildmap.com.au to request deletion. Local data on your device may be cleared by uninstalling the app.
• Request a copy: you can request a portable export of the personal information we hold about you by emailing privacy@wildmap.com.au.
• Correct inaccuracies: if any information we hold about you is inaccurate, you can correct it in-app or ask us to correct it.
• Make a complaint: see Section 11.

WildMap is subject to the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme under Part IIIC of the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth). If we become aware of an eligible data breach (that is, unauthorised access, disclosure, or loss of personal information likely to result in serious harm), we will:

• Promptly assess the suspected breach.
• If confirmed, notify affected individuals as soon as practicable, with information on the nature of the breach and recommended steps you can take.
• Notify the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) as soon as practicable.

More information about the NDB scheme is available at oaic.gov.au.

If you have a privacy concern, complaint, or request, please contact us first so we have an opportunity to resolve it:

We aim to acknowledge complaints within 7 days and to resolve them within 30 days. If you are not satisfied with our response, you can lodge a complaint with the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner at oaic.gov.au.

WildMap is rated 9+ on the App Store and Everyone/G on Google Play. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If we learn we have collected such information without verified parental consent, we will delete it promptly. Parents or guardians who believe a child under 13 has provided personal information to WildMap should contact privacy@wildmap.com.au.

We may update this policy from time to time. The "Effective date" at the top reflects the latest version. Material changes will be surfaced in-app on next launch, and where they materially affect how we use information you have already provided, we will seek your renewed acknowledgement.