GateBook Privacy Policy

Effective date: October 21, 2026

Last updated: October 21, 2026

GateBook (the “App”) helps you save and find access codes associated with places. This policy explains how the App accesses, uses, stores, and shares information on iOS and Android, including when you enable Nearby Alerts or cloud sync.

Developer / data controller: [TO BE COMPLETED: developer or legal entity name]

Privacy contact: [email protected]

1. Information the App handles

Information you save

The App stores access codes, place names, custom names, addresses, notes, geographic coordinates, and record creation and modification times. These records are stored on your device by default. Store only information you are authorized to use; avoid putting unnecessary personal information in names or notes.

Location information

With your device permission, the App accesses your current or last known location to show your position, calculate distances, sort nearby saved places, and help you add locations. While location features are active, location updates may be received as you move. If you save a place, its coordinates become part of the saved record.

If you enable Nearby Alerts and grant background location access, the operating system monitors geographic areas around saved places so the App can show a local notification when you arrive, including while the App is in the background or is not open, subject to operating system restrictions. The App may process a location supplied with a geofence event to refresh the monitored areas. It stores saved-place coordinates and the last alert time for a place to limit repeated alerts; it does not create a chronological travel history.

Settings, purchases, and cloud authorization

The App stores settings such as theme, map type, alert and sync preferences, sync timestamps, and premium entitlement status and purchase date. Apple or Google processes purchases. The App receives product and transaction information needed to unlock or restore premium features; it does not receive your full payment card details.

If you enable Google Drive sync on Android, Google handles account selection and authorization. The App uses an access token to read and write its own application data in your Drive account. It does not ask you to create a GateBook account or supply a name, email address, or phone number for basic use. Cloud providers handle your Apple or Google account under their own policies.

Service and diagnostic information

Google Maps and other system or third-party services may process network and technical information, such as your IP address, device and operating system details, service-specific identifiers, map requests or interactions, and SDK performance, diagnostic, or crash information. Their processing depends on the service, SDK version, and your settings. Map views and search requests can reveal the area you are viewing, even if you deny device location permission.

GateBook does not integrate a separate advertising, behavioral analytics, or automatic crash-reporting service operated by us. This does not disable diagnostics or data processing performed by the map SDK, operating system, app store, or cloud provider. If you contact support, we receive the contact details and information you choose to send. Please do not send access codes or cloud authorization tokens.

2. Permissions and your choices

Permission or access	Purpose	What happens if you decline or disable it
Location while using the App, including precise location where allowed	Show your position, calculate nearby distances, and help save a place	Current-location features are unavailable or less accurate. You can still view and edit saved records and select places manually.
Background location / “Always” location	Optional Nearby Alerts using system geofencing while the App is not open	Background arrival alerts cannot work. You can continue using saved records without enabling this feature.
Notifications	Show optional local arrival reminders	Arrival reminders cannot be displayed. Saved records remain available in the App.
iCloud access on iOS	Optional premium sync using your signed-in iCloud account	Records remain on the device unless you export them or enable sync later.
Google Drive authorization on Android	Optional premium sync in the App's hidden application data folder	Google Drive sync is unavailable. Basic local use does not require this authorization.
Files you select and system sharing	Import a selected backup or export a backup to a destination you choose	You can continue using the App without importing or exporting.

Nearby Alerts and cloud sync are off by default. Enable or disable them in the App's settings. You can also change location and notification permissions in device settings, and manage cloud access through your Apple or Google account. Approximate location may reduce distance accuracy and the reliability of arrival alerts. Turning off Nearby Alerts removes the App's registered geofences; it does not revoke foreground location permission or erase saved records.

The Android App also declares permissions to receive device restart events and keep the device awake briefly to support geofence processing, and billing access for purchases. These are system capabilities rather than permissions to access contacts or media. The App uses internet access for online maps, search, purchases, and cloud sync. It does not request camera, microphone, contacts, or photo-library access for its current features.

3. Maps, search, and actions you initiate

• Google Maps: Provides the map display. Map requests and relevant technical information are processed by Google. Displaying your location or moving the map to a saved place can expose the relevant geographic area to the map service. The App does not send access-code or note fields to the map service as part of map rendering.
• Place search and address lookup: On iOS, place search uses Apple MapKit, which receives your search text and an approximate search region when provided by the App. Address and coordinate lookup uses platform geocoding services, whose provider may vary by device. These services receive the text or coordinates needed to answer the request.
• Open in another map app: The App checks for supported installed map apps. When you open a saved place externally, its coordinates, display name, and address are passed to the selected app. The access-code field is not included in this action.
• Copy a code: Tapping copy puts that code on the system clipboard. Clipboard access and any synchronization across devices depend on your operating system and settings. The App does not automatically clear the copied code.
• Import and export: Import reads the backup file you select. Export creates a backup containing your saved records and opens the system share sheet. A destination or recipient you select receives that file and handles it under its own practices. Exported copies remain until you or the recipient delete them.

4. Optional cloud sync

Cloud sync is a premium feature that you choose to enable. It sends a snapshot of your saved records, including access codes, notes, names, addresses, coordinates, and record timestamps, to your own cloud account:

• iOS: The App's iCloud document container, operated by Apple.
• Android: A hidden application data folder in Google Drive, operated by Google. The App requests drive.appdata authorization for its own application data, rather than general access to your Drive files, Gmail, contacts, or photos.

The snapshot also contains a sync timestamp, format version, and platform name. Sync can run when the App starts, returns to the foreground, or saved data changes, as well as when you request it manually. GateBook does not route these snapshots through a developer-operated sync server.

Turning sync off stops future sync from that installation and, on Android, signs out of the App's Google authorization session. It does not delete the existing cloud snapshot or copies on other devices, and is not the same as revoking access in your Google account. Re-enabling sync can merge cloud records back onto the device. iCloud and Google Drive are separate storage services; the App does not automatically transfer records between them.

5. Storage and security

Local records are stored in a SQLite database in the App's private storage. The database is not encrypted by GateBook at the application level. Device protections, including the app sandbox and any operating system storage encryption, depend on your device and settings.

Exported backup contents and the record portion of cloud snapshots use AES encryption. The current implementation uses an application-embedded shared key and a fixed initialization vector; it does not use a secret chosen by you or a separate encryption key for each user. This is not end-to-end encryption with a user-controlled key, and possession of a backup should be treated as potential access to its contents. Some snapshot metadata is stored outside the encrypted record portion. Cloud requests made by the App use HTTPS; cloud providers apply their own security controls.

Nearby Alert notifications contain the place name and access code. Depending on device settings, they may appear on your lock screen, in notification history, or on connected devices. You can hide notification previews in device settings or disable Nearby Alerts.

Use a device passcode, protect your cloud account, and choose export recipients carefully. No storage or transmission method can guarantee complete security.

6. Disclosure and third-party services

We do not sell or rent personal information, use saved access codes for advertising, or operate a public database of your records. The App discloses information as described above to provide maps, search, optional cloud sync, purchases, system notifications, and actions you initiate. Local notifications are generated on your device; GateBook does not send their contents through a developer-operated push notification server.

Third-party providers handle information under their applicable terms and policies:

• Google Privacy Policy — Google Maps, Google Drive, Google authorization, and Google Play.
• Apple Privacy Policy — MapKit, iCloud, the App Store, and Apple system services.
• External map apps and export destinations — the policies of the provider you choose.

If we hold information you send us directly, such as support correspondence, we may disclose it when legally required or necessary to address fraud or protect legal rights. This does not give us remote access to records held only on your device or in your cloud account.

7. Retention and deletion

• Local records: Kept until you delete them in the App or remove the App's local data. You can delete individual records from their detail view. Removing the App, rather than merely offloading it on iOS, normally removes its local app data. Device backups, exported files, cloud snapshots, and copies on other devices are separate.
• Cloud records: Remain until removed from the relevant cloud service. The App currently has no dedicated “delete cloud snapshot” action. Use Apple's iCloud storage management to remove GateBook data where available. For Google Drive, use its settings for managing connected apps and deleting hidden app data; see Google's storage management instructions. Revoking authorization alone does not necessarily delete stored data.
• Deletion across devices: A local deletion is not a guaranteed erasure of every cloud or device copy. Sync can merge records retained on another device back into your data. To remove all copies, first turn off sync on all devices, remove local records and cloud data, and delete exported files and any backups you control before enabling sync again.
• Settings and alert metadata: Settings, premium status, sync timestamps, and per-place alert timestamps remain in local app storage until cleared with the App's data or removed by the operating system. Deleting a record does not necessarily erase its previous alert timestamp or an already displayed notification. You can dismiss existing notifications in the system notification interface.
• Support information: If you contact us, we retain correspondence only for as long as needed to handle the request and any applicable legal obligations. App stores and service providers retain their own records under their policies. We do not set a separate fixed retention period for their diagnostics or purchase records.

The developer cannot remotely erase information held only on your device or in your personal cloud account. Contact us if you need help identifying the appropriate deletion controls.

8. Your privacy rights

You can view, edit, delete, and export saved records in the App, stop optional sync and alerts, revoke device permissions, and manage cloud authorization. Declining an optional feature does not require you to stop using basic local record management.

Depending on the law that applies to you, you may also have rights to access, correct, delete, or receive a copy of personal information we hold, restrict or object to its processing, withdraw consent where processing relies on consent, and complain to a relevant supervisory authority. Contact the privacy address above to make a request. We will respond within the period required by applicable law. Requests concerning information controlled by Apple, Google, or another provider may need to be made directly to that provider.

Where applicable law requires a legal basis, processing necessary to provide features you request relies on providing that service; permission-based location and optional cloud access rely on your authorization and, where required, consent. Support and security processing may rely on legitimate interests or legal obligations, subject to applicable law. Withdrawing consent does not affect processing already carried out lawfully.

9. International processing

Using maps, search, app-store services, cloud sync, or an export destination may cause information to be processed outside your country or region. Processing locations and transfer safeguards depend on the provider and your account settings. Local storage by itself does not mean that all App-related information stays on the device. See the providers' policies linked above for their transfer practices.

10. Children's privacy

GateBook is intended for general adult use and is not directed to children under 13, or a higher age where applicable law requires parental consent. We do not knowingly request children's personal information. A parent or guardian with a concern can contact us for help removing information within our control and identifying device or provider deletion controls.

11. Changes and contact

We may update this policy as features or data practices change. The date above identifies the latest revision. We will provide any notice and request any additional consent required by applicable law; continuing to use the App does not replace a required permission or consent.

For questions or privacy requests, contact [email protected] and identify GateBook in your message.