Privacy Policy — Littleways

1) Who we are

Littleways is an iPhone and Apple Watch app operated by ClickaByte Ltd (“ClickaByte”, “we”, “us”, “our”). It turns your walks into little adventures: your neighbourhood starts hidden under clouds on a hand-drawn storybook map, and the clouds clear from the streets you walk.

Littleways traces your wanders, counts your steps, spots streets you haven't walked before, plans walking loops, and lets you pin memories, notes and photos to the map.

Contact email: [email protected]

2) Scope

This Privacy Policy explains how Littleways handles information when you use the iPhone app, the Apple Watch app and the Home Screen widget, and when you contact us about Littleways.

Littleways does not require you to create an account with us. ClickaByte does not run an account system or a user database for Littleways.

3) Information Littleways uses

Location

Location is at the heart of Littleways. With your permission, Littleways uses your device's location to:

• trace the route of each wander and measure its distance;
• clear the clouds from the places you visit and show where you are on the map;
• spot streets you walk for the first time;
• work out which county and country you're in, for your Discoveries progress; and
• plan a walking loop from where you're standing, when you ask it to.

Littleways asks for “While Using the App” location permission. While the app is open, it follows your location so the map can stay centred and reveal where you are. While a wander is being recorded, on your iPhone or Apple Watch, Littleways keeps tracing your route in the background so it can carry on while your phone is in a pocket. iOS shows a location indicator while this happens. When the wander ends, background location stops.

You can change location access at any time in iOS Settings. Littleways can't record wanders without it.

Motion and steps

With your permission, Littleways uses your device's motion sensors (Motion & Fitness) to count your steps during a wander. Step counting happens on your device. If step counting isn't available, Littleways estimates steps from distance.

Your walks (adventures)

Each finished wander is saved as an adventure. An adventure includes:

• the route you walked (a series of location points), with start and finish times;
• your step count, distance and how much new map you uncovered;
• the names of streets you walked for the first time;
• its name, whether it is a favourite, and whether you marked it as rainy; and
• any note or photos you add.

Adventure names and fun facts are made up on your device.

Memories and photos

When you pin a memory to the map, Littleways saves its title, note, sticker, the date and the place you pinned it. If you add photos, you choose them with Apple's photo picker, which only gives Littleways the photos you select. Littleways does not have access to the rest of your photo library.

Photos you add to memories and adventures are stored only on the device you added them on. They are not uploaded to iCloud by Littleways or sent to ClickaByte.

Your little world

Littleways keeps a record of the parts of the map you have uncovered (stored as a grid of small squares, about 20 metres across), the streets you've discovered, your achievements and collectibles, the decorations you've placed on the map and where, and your county and country.

Settings

Littleways saves your choices, such as your little friend, your colours, light or dark appearance and whether the living map's weather is switched on.

Purchase status

Littleways keeps a note on your device of whether Littleways Plus is active, so the app can show the right features. See section 10.

4) How information is processed

Littleways is designed to keep your walks and memories on your device and in your own iCloud account. ClickaByte does not receive your routes, adventures, memories, photos, notes, steps or health data.

Only the following leaves your device:

• iCloud sync: your adventures, memories and progress are synced through your own private iCloud account, if you use iCloud (section 5).
• Map tiles: to draw the map, your device downloads map tiles for the area being shown from ClickaByte's map server (section 6).
• Apple services: location points are sent to Apple's mapping services to look up street and place names and to plan walking routes, and, with Littleways Plus, to Apple Weather for the living map (section 7).
• Apple Health: if you allow it, wanders are saved to Apple Health as walking workouts (section 8).
• Purchases: handled by Apple's App Store (section 10).
• Things you choose to share: postcards and monthly stories you share, and support emails you send (sections 9 and 11).

Your location can reveal sensitive information about you, such as where you live and the places you visit regularly. Littleways does not send your routes or your precise location to ClickaByte.

5) iCloud sync

If you are signed in to iCloud, Littleways uses Apple's iCloud services so that your little world follows you to your other devices and to a new phone:

• your adventures (including routes, notes and street names) and your memories (including their titles, notes and places) are stored in Littleways' area of your private iCloud database; and
• your uncovered map, achievements, placed decorations and settings are stored in iCloud's key-value storage for Littleways.

This data is stored in your iCloud account, under Apple's Privacy Policy and your iCloud terms. ClickaByte cannot see or access the private data in your iCloud account. Photos are not included in this sync.

If you are not signed in to iCloud, or have turned off iCloud for Littleways, your data stays on your device only.

6) Map tiles (ClickaByte map server)

Littleways draws its storybook map from map data served by ClickaByte's own map server at maps.clickabyte.co.uk. Map data comes from OpenStreetMap contributors.

To show the map, the app, the widget and the Apple Watch map ask the server for the map tiles covering the area on screen. Each request goes over HTTPS and contains:

• which map tile is needed. A tile covers an area that is usually around a kilometre or more across, so a request shows the general area being viewed, not your exact position;
• an identifier for the app and its map software in the request's User-Agent, such as the app's name and version and the iOS version; and
• the technical details that accompany any internet request, including your device's IP address.

Tile requests do not include your route, your exact location, your name or any account information. Our server may keep standard access logs of these requests (such as the IP address, the tile requested, the time and the User-Agent) for a limited period to keep the service running, fix problems and prevent abuse. We do not use them to identify you, to follow your movements or for advertising.

Tiles are cached on your device so the same area doesn't need downloading again.

7) Place names, routes & weather (Apple)

Street and place names

During a wander, Littleways sends location points from your walk (no more often than about every 60 metres) to Apple's mapping services to find the name of the street you're on, so it can spot new streets. While the app is in use, it also occasionally asks Apple which county and country you're in.

Planned loops

When you ask Littleways to plan a walk, it sends your starting point and the points along the planned loop to Apple's mapping services to get walking directions.

Weather (Littleways Plus)

If you have Littleways Plus and the living map's weather is switched on, Littleways sends your current location to Apple Weather (WeatherKit) to get the current conditions, so the map can show rain, snow, storms and night skies. This is refreshed about every ten minutes, or when you've moved a few kilometres. You can switch live weather off in Settings, and no weather requests are made without Littleways Plus.

These requests go to Apple and are handled under Apple's Privacy Policy. We do not receive them. Weather data is provided by Apple Weather.

8) Apple Health & Apple Watch

Apple Health on iPhone (only if you allow)

• Reading: if you connect Apple Health, Littleways reads your step count to show your all-day steps alongside your wanders in Discoveries and your monthly stories.
• Writing: if you allow it, Littleways saves each wander to Apple Health as an Outdoor Walk workout, with its distance and route, so it appears in Health and Fitness.

Apple Watch

When you record a wander on Apple Watch, Littleways uses the watch's location and motion sensors to trace your route and count your steps, and runs a walking workout. During the workout, Apple Watch measures heart rate, active energy and walking distance, which are saved to Apple Health as part of the workout.

When the wander ends, the watch sends its route, times, distance and steps to the Littleways app on your paired iPhone, where it is saved as an adventure. While you wander, your iPhone sends map pictures to your watch. These transfers go directly between your own devices.

How health data is used

Data from Apple Health is used only to show your steps and to record your walks. Littleways does not save Health data in its own storage or in iCloud, does not send it to ClickaByte or anyone else, and never uses it for advertising or marketing. You can change Health access at any time in the Health app or iOS Settings.

9) Widgets, notifications & sharing

Widget

The Littleways widget shows your storybook map around your current location, and during a wander shows its time, steps, distance and new streets. To do this, the app saves a picture of the map and your latest wander details in storage shared only between Littleways and its own widget. Anyone who can see your Home Screen can see what the widget shows, including roughly where you are.

Notifications

After your first adventure, Littleways may ask to send notifications so it can tell you about achievements you unlock, for example after a watch wander is imported in the background. These notifications are created on your device. Littleways also uses silent background notifications from iCloud to keep your data in sync. You can turn notifications off in iOS Settings.

Sharing

You can share or save adventure postcards and monthly stories. These can include a drawing of your route, your stats and any photos, and a route can show where you started, such as your home. Nothing is shared unless you choose to share it, and once shared it is handled by the app or person you shared it with.

10) Subscriptions & payments

Littleways Plus is offered through Apple's App Store using StoreKit, as an auto-renewing subscription (monthly or yearly) that may include a free trial.

• Apple processes subscription payments and payment-card information.
• ClickaByte does not receive or store your payment-card details.
• The app uses StoreKit purchase and entitlement information on your device to determine whether Littleways Plus is active. If you tap Restore Purchases, Littleways asks Apple to re-check your purchases.
• Apple gives us sales and subscription reports that do not identify you personally.

Subscription management, billing, refunds and cancellation are handled through your Apple account and App Store settings.

11) Support communications

If you email us for support or feedback, we receive the information you choose to provide, such as your email address, message content and any attachments you send.

We use this information to respond to you, investigate problems and maintain Littleways. Please avoid sending sensitive personal information, such as screenshots that show where you live, unless it is necessary for your support request.

12) Advertising, analytics & tracking

Littleways does not require an account, does not show third-party advertising, does not include advertising software, does not use Apple's advertising identifier, and does not track you across other companies' apps and websites.

We do not sell your information, and we do not use your location, walks, memories, photos or health data to build advertising profiles.

Usage analytics (TelemetryDeck)

Littleways uses TelemetryDeck, a privacy-focused analytics service operated by TelemetryDeck GmbH in Germany, to understand how the app is used so we can improve it. TelemetryDeck processes this analytics data on servers in the European Union.

What is sent: Anonymous usage events, such as a walk being started or finished, a screen being opened, an achievement unlocking, a memory being saved, the Littleways Plus page being shown, and a purchase or restore completing. Each event includes the app version, device model, iOS version, language and region, and whether Littleways Plus is active. Walk events also include distance and duration grouped into broad bands, such as “1–2 miles”, rather than exact values. If something goes wrong, the app also sends the error name and a numeric code to help us fix it.

What is never sent to TelemetryDeck: Your location, routes, street names, place names, adventure titles, notes, photographs, Health data, or anything you type.

How usage is counted: Littleways does not send TelemetryDeck your name, email address, Apple ID or advertising identifier. Instead, Apple's identifier for apps from the same developer is transformed on your device using a one-way hash before being sent. TelemetryDeck applies a further hash on its servers. This lets us count how many people use a feature without receiving the original device identifier or knowing who you are.

How the data is used and retained: We use this data to produce usage statistics and improve Littleways. We do not use it for advertising, sell it, or combine it with data from other apps or websites. TelemetryDeck retains anonymous event data to support statistical analysis and currently does not specify a guaranteed deletion timeframe. Further information is available in TelemetryDeck's Privacy FAQ and privacy policy.

Opting out: Open Littleways, go to Settings, and turn off “Share anonymous usage data”. Littleways stops sending usage events immediately. Apple's analytics sharing settings in iOS control Apple's own analytics and do not affect this Littleways setting.

Apple analytics and crash reports

If you have chosen to share analytics with app developers in your iOS settings, Apple may provide us with aggregated information about how Littleways is used, along with crash reports. These reports are provided by Apple separately from the usage analytics Littleways sends to TelemetryDeck.

13) Retention & deletion

• Adventures and memories: kept until you delete them. You can delete an adventure from its page, or a memory from the map, which also removes their photos from the device. Deletions sync to your other devices through iCloud.
• Uncovered map: “Let the clouds roll back in” in Settings covers the map again. Your adventures, memories and achievements are kept.
• On-device data: stays on your device until you delete it or delete Littleways. Data on your device may be included in backups of your device, according to your Apple backup settings.
• iCloud data: stays in your iCloud account until you delete it. Deleting the app does not remove it from iCloud. You can remove Littleways' data from iCloud in iOS Settings, under your Apple Account's iCloud storage settings.
• Apple Health: workouts saved to Apple Health stay there until you delete them in the Health app.
• Map server logs: kept for a limited period, as described in section 6.
• Apple requests: place, route and weather requests are kept by Apple under its own practices, which we do not control. ClickaByte does not keep a copy.
• Support messages: may be retained for as long as reasonably necessary to respond to your request, maintain support records, resolve disputes, prevent abuse, or meet legal obligations.

14) Security

We design Littleways to keep your walks and memories on your device and in your own iCloud account, and to limit what is shared. Map tile requests are made over HTTPS, and iCloud data is protected by Apple's iCloud security.

No method of electronic storage or transmission can be guaranteed to be completely secure.

15) Children

Littleways is not directed at children and is not designed to create user profiles or collect children's personal information. The app does not require an account.

If a child contacts us directly for support and provides personal information, a parent or guardian may contact us to request appropriate action.

16) Your privacy rights

Depending on where you live, you may have rights over personal data that ClickaByte holds about you, including rights to access, correct, delete, restrict or object to certain processing, and to request portability where applicable.

Because Littleways keeps its app data on your device and in your own iCloud account, ClickaByte generally cannot access or retrieve your routes, adventures, memories, photos or health data. To remove that data, delete it in the app, delete the app, and remove Littleways' data from iCloud as described in section 13.

If you have contacted us by email and would like to exercise a privacy right relating to information we hold through that communication, or about our map server logs, contact [email protected]. To exercise rights over information held by Apple, contact Apple directly.

UK and EEA users may also have the right to complain to their local data protection authority. In the UK, this is the Information Commissioner's Office (ico.org.uk).

17) This privacy-policy webpage

This page is hosted on ClickaByte's website. The webpage may use website analytics, including Google Analytics, to understand visits to the site, and loads fonts from Google Fonts, which means your browser connects to Google's servers. This website activity is separate from the Littleways app itself.

18) Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy when Littleways changes, when our data practices change, or when legal requirements change. The effective date at the top of this page shows when this version was last updated.

19) Contact

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or how Littleways handles information, contact:

ClickaByte Ltd
Email: [email protected]

Apple, iPhone, Apple Watch, Apple Health, iCloud and App Store are trademarks of Apple Inc. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors.