Plot Privacy Policy

Plot helps you keep places, journeys, notes and travel documents together. New trips start on your device. You choose whether to enable iCloud sync or share a trip.

This policy explains how the current Plot iPhone app and plot.guide handle information. Plot is provided by Tom Wicks (“we”, “us”), who is responsible for the personal information we process. Contact hello@plot.guide with privacy questions or requests.

1. Information you add to Plot

• Trip content: trip names, destinations, dates, saved places and coordinates, journey types, routes, stops, departure and arrival times, time zones, and notes. In a shared trip, this can include content added by other participants.
• Attachments: tickets, booking confirmations, photos and other files you select, together with their filenames, file types and sizes. Selected files are copied into Plot; they may contain personal information or embedded metadata.
• Preferences and cached data: settings, saved map state, place information and cover images needed to display and use the app.
• Support messages: if you email us, we receive your email address and anything you choose to send. The app’s feedback link includes its version in the email subject.

2. Local storage, iCloud and backups

You do not need a separate Plot account. New trips are stored in a local database. Turning on “Sync with iCloud” for a trip moves its trip content into Apple CloudKit storage associated with your Apple Account, with a copy on your device. Trips you join are accessed through CloudKit sharing. Plot does not maintain a separate server copy of your full trip database.

Attachments are stored separately on your device. Plot does not upload attached files or photos through its iCloud trip sync or include them in shared trips. They will not automatically appear on your other devices or for other participants.

Local trip data and attachments may be included in iOS or computer backups, depending on your device settings. This is separate from Plot’s trip sync. Apple or your backup software controls those backups.

3. Sharing trips

Sharing requires iCloud sync and an available iCloud account. People you invite can see the trip’s places, journeys, dates, routes and notes, and may edit them if you give editing permission. Sharing invitations can display the trip title, cover image and Apple-provided participant information, such as the owner’s name.

The owner can manage participants and stop sharing. Participants can leave a shared trip. Removing access does not erase screenshots, notes or other copies somebody has already made. Only add other people’s information if you are entitled to use and share it. Attached files and photos are not included in the shared trip.

4. Online services and information sent to them

• Apple Maps and location services: place searches, map regions, route endpoints and location lookups are processed using Apple’s services to find places, display maps, estimate journeys and resolve time zones. These services receive the information needed for each request. See Apple Maps & Privacy.
• Apple iCloud / CloudKit: Apple processes synced trip content, sharing information and background updates when you use cloud features. Apple Account and service information are handled under Apple’s privacy policy.
• Trip cover photos: Plot sends the trip’s first destination, or its title if no destination is available, to our image-search API hosted on Vercel. The API forwards this search text to Unsplash to find a cover image. Your device then downloads the image from the image provider. These requests do not include your notes or attachments. Our API does not write the search to an application database, but hosting services can process request information, including IP addresses and requested URLs containing search text, for delivery, troubleshooting and security. See Vercel’s privacy notice and Unsplash’s privacy policy.
• External searches and links: if you choose to search for a place on Google or TikTok, its name and location are passed to that service as a search query. Opening directions, a place website, a phone link or a photo credit also takes you to another app or service. Its own privacy terms apply. This is separate from importing social posts: the current app does not import TikTok or Instagram posts or send screenshots to an AI provider.

5. Device permissions

• Location: with your permission while using the app, Plot shows your current position and heading on the map. It does not build a history of your movements or send your live location to Plot’s image-search API. You can change permission in iOS Settings and still use saved trips and search for places.
• Photos and files: system pickers let you select the items to attach. Plot copies the selected items; it does not scan your entire photo library or file storage. Deleting an attachment from Plot does not delete the original in Photos or Files.
• Background updates: the app registers with Apple’s remote notification system to support CloudKit changes. These are service updates, not marketing messages.

6. Advertising, analytics and the website

The current app contains no advertising or third-party analytics SDKs, does not use the advertising identifier (IDFA), and does not track you across apps or websites. We do not sell personal information or share it for targeted advertising. Apple may separately handle App Store statistics or diagnostic reports according to your Apple settings.

The website and image-search API use Vercel hosting. Requests can expose your IP address, browser or device information, request time and URL to the hosting provider. The website loads fonts from Google Fonts, so your browser also contacts Google and sends the connection information needed to deliver those fonts. See Google’s privacy policy.

We do not add advertising cookies or analytics scripts to the website. The homepage does not store browsing preferences or read local browser storage. Browser caching and service-provider security mechanisms may also operate.

7. Why information is processed

Information is used to provide the features you request: saving and displaying plans, searching for places and cover photos, handling attachments, and enabling optional sync and sharing. Where we process personal information for these features, our lawful basis is performing our agreement with you. Information needed to deliver a requested online feature is necessary for that feature to work; attachments, sharing and location permission are optional.

We rely on legitimate interests to operate and secure the website and API, diagnose technical problems and respond to enquiries. These interests are providing a dependable service and helping users. We may also keep information when required by law. Where processing relies on your consent, you can withdraw it; for device location access, change the permission in iOS Settings.

8. Retention and deletion

• Trip content: you can edit or delete content in Plot, subject to your permissions in a shared trip. Cloud changes need an internet connection and may take time to reach Apple’s service and other devices. An owner deleting a shared trip affects participants; leaving a trip does not delete the owner’s copy.
• Turning off trip sync: when the app allows you to move a trip back to local storage, it keeps a local copy and removes the cloud copy when connected. Shared trips may require you to end sharing first. Turning off iCloud in device settings or signing out is not the same as deleting cloud data.
• Attachments: deleting an attachment removes Plot’s stored copy. Removing its place, journey or trip also triggers cleanup. Temporary previews or unused files can remain until the app’s cleanup runs; deletion does not remove originals, device backups or copies you saved elsewhere.
• Removing the app: deleting Plot removes its local app data, but does not necessarily remove synced iCloud data or existing backups. Offloading the app keeps its data. Manage cloud storage and device backups separately through Apple’s settings.
• Service and support information: the image-search API does not maintain a separate database of searches. Technical request information may remain in hosting logs or caches according to the provider’s configuration and policies. We retain support correspondence for as long as needed to resolve the enquiry, maintain relevant support history or meet legal obligations. Contact us if you want that correspondence deleted.

9. Security and international processing

Plot uses iOS storage protections for local attachments and Apple’s mechanisms for CloudKit access and sharing. Keep your device and Apple Account secure. No storage or network service can be guaranteed completely secure, and we do not claim that every item in Plot is end-to-end encrypted.

The services listed above may process information outside the UK, including in the United States. Their privacy notices explain their processing locations and transfer arrangements. Contact us for information about the safeguards applicable to personal information processed on our behalf.

10. Your privacy rights

Depending on where you live and the processing involved, you may have rights to access, correct or delete personal information, restrict its use, receive a portable copy, or withdraw consent. You may object to processing based on legitimate interests. Contact hello@plot.guide to exercise these rights. We may need to verify your request. We cannot retrieve device-only content from your phone or erase copies held independently by another trip participant.

You can complain to the UK Information Commissioner’s Office, or the data protection authority where you live. You can also contact us first so we can try to resolve your concern.

11. Children’s privacy

Plot is not directed to children under 13. If you believe a child has sent us personal information, contact us. We will help address the request, including explaining how to remove information stored locally or with Apple.

12. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as Plot changes. The latest version and its date will be available here. Where required, we will give additional notice of material changes. Questions or requests can be sent to hello@plot.guide.

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