Privacy Policy

Overview

National Parks Walker ("the app") is a fitness tracking app that lets you walk your way across the continental US, visiting every National Park. This policy explains what data we collect, how we use it, and your rights.

We collect the minimum data necessary to run the app. Your health data never leaves your device.

Data We Collect

• Display name — shown on your profile and friends leaderboard
• Email address — used for account creation and sign-in
• Home city or address — used to calculate your starting point on the route; stored as a coordinate and approximate address only
• Daily step goal — your chosen target, stored with your profile
• Step count & walking distance — read from Apple HealthKit and synced to our server to power leaderboards and journey progress
• Awards & achievements — shared as activity with friends you add
• Friend connections — the list of friends you choose to add by code or QR scan

How We Use Your Data

• Account management — authenticate you and maintain your profile
• Journey tracking — calculate your progress across the national parks route
• Friends leaderboard — rank you and your friends by weekly or all-time steps
• Challenges — display your score on group challenge leaderboards you join
• Notifications — send award and activity alerts (only if you enable them)

Data Sharing

Your display name and step count are visible to friends you add. No other users can see your data.

We use the following third-party services to operate the app:

• Firebase (Google) — authentication, database, and cloud functions. Firebase Privacy Policy
• Google Sign-In — optional sign-in method. Google Privacy Policy
• Apple Sign-In — optional sign-in method. Apple Privacy Policy

We do not sell, rent, or share your personal data with any other third parties.

Health Data

Step count and walking distance are read from Apple HealthKit. This data is only used to track your progress and leaderboard ranking. It is never used for advertising, shared with third parties other than as described above, or used for any purpose unrelated to the app's core fitness features.

Data Security

All data is transmitted over HTTPS and stored in Firebase with server-side security rules that restrict access to your own data. Authentication is handled by Firebase Auth with support for Sign in with Apple and Google.

Your Rights & Data Deletion

You can delete your account and all associated data at any time from Settings → Delete Account within the app. Deletion is permanent and removes your profile, step history, friend connections, and awards from our servers.

You can also request data deletion or a copy of your data by contacting us at the email below.

Children's Privacy

National Parks Walker is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child has provided us with personal data, please contact us and we will delete it promptly.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy from time to time. When we do, we'll update the date at the top of this page. Continued use of the app after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

Contact

Questions or requests about your data? Reach us at:
privacy@nationalparkswalker.app