Privacy Policy & Legal Declarations

1. Data Sovereignty & Offline-First Policy

MapCraft is built upon a strict local-first, offline-sovereign database model. Unlike traditional cloud GIS platforms, all spatial data collected on the app — including project folders, layer maps, recorded routes, triangulation targets, location points, and attributes — is stored completely locally inside the device's secure SQLite / Room database containers.

We do not operate servers that gather, harvest, monitor, index, or store your coordinates, maps, or field logs. Your data remains fully your own, and you have exclusive access and rights to export, delete, or clean up your GIS databases at any time.

2. Android System Permissions

To provide high-accuracy mapping and network dead-zone logging, MapCraft requires specific system permissions. Here is a transparent breakdown of why these are requested and how they are handled:

ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION

Required to determine your current GPS coordinate position, display the location indicator on the map screen, map vector tracks, calculate triangulation angles, and verify signal logging points. Location data is processed locally on the CPU and never transmitted to external APIs.

ACCESS_BACKGROUND_LOCATION

Required if you utilize the Network Deadzone Recorder or route mapping tools when the screen is locked or the app is minimized. This allows continuous background GPS polling to construct signal-quality trails without interruption.

READ_PHONE_STATE

Required strictly by the Network Recorder to monitor cellular signal quality parameters (such as signal dBm values, active network carrier, and signal generation type like 4G/5G). It does not access call histories, SMS contents, or contacts.

CAMERA & WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE

Required to allow field officers to take photographs directly inside mapping features and attach them to marker files. External storage permissions allow caching of offline raster maps (.mbtiles format) under the /MapCraft/OfflineMaps/ directory.

3. Professional Mode & Synchronisation

If you choose to activate Professional Mode using a department code, the app will make HTTP connections to the official Git repositories and endpoints configuration files configured by your department. This fetch pipeline checks for GIS boundary revisions and retrieves layers. During this process, only the department identifier and version number are transmitted; no personal field data is uploaded.

4. Cookies & Web Storage

This documentation and support website does not use cookies for tracking or analytics. We utilize HTML5 Local Storage strictly to remember your preference for Light or Dark theme styling to improve readability.

5. Contact & Legal Compliance

For legal inquiries, GDPR data requests, compliance certificates, or support regarding custom setups, contact:

Email: privacy@mapcraft.app