Privacy - APRS Connect

This Policy explains how AxelStack LLC ("we", "us", "our") collects, uses, and shares information in connection with the website at aprsconnect.com and the APRS Connect mobile app (together, the "Service").

Who is responsible. AxelStack LLC is the data controller for the information described here, which some laws call the responsable. Our postal address and the address for privacy requests are in section 14.

Where your data goes. We are a United States company, and the servers that receive crash reports, usage reports, feedback and in-app messages are run by us in the United States. Wherever in the world you use the app from, that is where information about your use of it is held. Section 11 sets out the rights you have over it, and they are the same wherever you live.

Whichever phone you are on. This Policy describes the app as it behaves on any device it runs on, and everything below is true of all of them. Where the platforms differ, for example in what a permission is called or where a subscription is cancelled, the app follows the one you are using rather than the one we happen to have written about.

1. Information we collect

Notification list. If you enter an address into a notify form on this website, we store that address, the date, and which form it came from, including, if you arrived on a download link, which link that was.
Feedback you send from the app. If you use Send feedback in the app, we store what you wrote, which screen you sent it from, and the app version and platform, plus your callsign and email address, but only if you chose to fill those in. Both are optional and a report sent without them is anonymous. A report written with no signal stays on your device until it can be sent, and you choose whether to keep it.
Messages you exchange with us in the app. The app has a Message-the-developer thread and a What's-new thread, carried over the app's own internet connection rather than APRS. If you write in them, we store what you wrote and when. Messages you send there also carry your app version, OS version and device platform, so we can troubleshoot without asking. The thread says so where you type. If you choose to send a diagnostics record from a channel's settings, or a support file from that thread, the record is stored as a file with that message; it includes the packets your channels received and sent, the app's own log of what it did and your main settings (never a passcode or password), and only our support staff can open it. Until you send it, the record stays on your phone. Announcements we send are recorded along with whether your app has received them and whether the message was opened.
Crash reports. If the app stops working, it writes down what happened and sends it the next time it has a connection. That report holds the error and where in our code it came from, a short list of what the app was doing just beforehand, the app version, your platform and OS version, and which of our builds you were running. It does not hold your callsign, anyone else's callsign, your position, or the contents of any message or packet. Screens are recorded as the kind of screen they are, never which station or conversation was open. You can switch this off in Settings under Privacy; switching it off deletes anything still waiting to be sent.
Installation identifiers. The first time the app runs it registers with us and is given a random identifier, which it sends with later requests so we can tell one installation from another. The app also creates identifiers of its own for the same purpose. They are created by us, not read from your phone: they are not a device serial, an advertising ID, or anything that follows you to another app, and reinstalling the app produces new ones. Alongside them we store what the app has reported about itself, such as its platform, version, subscription status and the country its internet address appeared to be in. None of it is linked to a person unless the app sends us your callsign for missed messages (below), or you tell us who you are, for example by leaving your callsign or email on a feedback report.
Your account, if you make one. An account is optional; the app works fully without one. If you make one, we store your email address, a hash of your password if you set one (never the password itself), whether you have confirmed the address, and when you created the account and last signed in. If you turn on two-step verification we also store the authenticator key, encrypted, and single-use recovery codes as hashes. We note which of your installations are signed in to the account, and any name you give them. We do not ask for your name.
Synced settings, if you use settings sync. Settings sync is part of APRS Connect Pro. When it is on, we store the settings your devices send so that each device signed in to your account can fetch them. You choose on each device what it sends; by default that includes your callsign, beacon profiles and radio connection settings (which can include an APRS-IS passcode), display, messaging and map choices, and any services you imported. They are stored encrypted. Whether a device is transmitting, emergency mode and your subscription are never sent. Deleting your account deletes them.
Synced messages, if you use message sync. Also part of APRS Connect Pro. We store the APRS messages your devices send so your other devices can fetch them: the text, the callsigns it was between, when it was sent or received and whether it was delivered or read, plus your pinned stations and blocklist. You choose on each device whether it sends them and how far back. They are stored encrypted, and deleting a message on a device deletes our copy. Messages with our support team are not included. Deleting your account deletes them.
Synced coverage, if you use coverage sync. Also part of APRS Connect Pro. Each device sends the coverage grid it built: roughly where packets, including your own, were heard being repeated by a digipeater, how many times, and when. That includes places your own station transmitted from. It is stored encrypted, you can turn it off on each device, and deleting your account deletes it.
Push notifications. So that a notification can reach you when the app is not open, the installation registers an address for it with your device's push notification service, and we store that address. Notifications we send are delivered through that service.
Missed messages. Unless you turn it off, the installation sends us your callsigns, and the stations and groups you have muted or blocked, so that we can tell you about APRS messages to you that it did not receive.
Content you create in the app. Messages, received packets, stations, beacons, settings, and your own position reports. This is held in a database on your device.
Radio and network identifiers. Your callsign and SSID, which APRS itself requires and transmits with every packet you send.
Location information. See section 2.
Microphone audio. See section 3. It is used on your device to receive radio packets and is not sent to us.
Usage and diagnostic information. Technical data such as app version, device details, screen and feature usage, and error reports, used to operate, secure, and improve the Service. See section 4.
Purchase information. APRS Connect sells a subscription. The purchase itself is made with the app store you installed from, which takes the payment and is the seller; it is managed for us by RevenueCat, a subscription provider. What reaches us is the status, which says what plan is running, whether it is a trial, and when it lapses. We also receive the customer identifier RevenueCat generates for your installation. We never receive your card details, your name, or your billing address, and we could not charge you if we wanted to. That identifier is generated on your device and carries no callsign and no account. It exists so that, if you write to us about a payment, we can find the subscription you are asking about. The app shows it to you under Settings → Subscription.

2. Location information

With your permission, the app uses your device location to build APRS position reports and to centre the map. You can grant or revoke location access at any time in your device settings, and the app is usable without it.

Position beaconing is off until you turn it on. When it is on, the app transmits your position over APRS, which is public (see section 6).

3. Microphone

The app includes a software modem that receives amateur radio packet data as audio, through a cable from your radio into your phone's audio input. With your permission, it uses the microphone input for that purpose while an audio channel is switched on. No other part of the app uses the microphone. Bluetooth, USB and the internet APRS-IS network do not use it at all.

Audio is processed on your device to recover radio packets and is then discarded. We do not record it, store it, or send it anywhere, and it is never used for speech recognition or advertising. Because reception has to continue when the app is not on screen, the microphone is held by a foreground service while an audio channel is running, and a notification says so for as long as it is.

If you use the diagnostic recording button in an audio channel's settings, a short recording is saved in the app's own private storage on your device, where the next one replaces it. It is never sent to us.

You can grant or revoke microphone access at any time in your device settings. Without it, audio channels cannot receive; every other way of connecting is unaffected.

4. Analytics & cookies

We use Matomo, an analytics tool we host ourselves, to understand how the Service is used, diagnose problems, and improve it. Because we host it, this usage data is not sold or handed to third-party advertising networks. Analytics coverage is still being extended, and is not yet enabled everywhere.

Website. On aprsconnect.com we count page views and record which pages and links are used, and whether someone joined the notification list. Page views are counted for everyone; cookies are only set if you accept them on the banner, and declining costs you nothing on this site.
App. The app reports how it is used and how it is performing, such as which screens and features are opened, how its radio and internet connections behave, daily totals of the traffic it handled, errors, and technical details about the installation such as the app version, your platform and OS, display characteristics, settings you have chosen, equipment you have connected, and whether the installation is on the free tier, a trial, or a paid plan. Traffic figures are only daily totals and distances. They never include the packets themselves, or who they were from or to. It is keyed to a random identifier created on first launch and stored on your device.
IP address. Reports from the app carry the internet address your device sent them from, and we work out roughly where in the world the app is being used from it. We store the country rather than the address. An IP address can identify a household or a connection, so this data is not fully anonymous, and we describe it that way rather than calling it anonymous.

What these reports never contain. Not your callsign, and not anybody else's. Screens that show a station, a conversation, or a group are recorded as the kind of screen they are, never which one. Not your position. Not the contents of your messages, and not anything you type into an APRS service. We record that a service was used and which one, never what was said to it.

Turning it off. Settings → Privacy → "Share usage data". Switching it off stops the reporting and deletes anything queued on your device that has not been sent. Crash reports are a separate switch in the same place, "Send crash reports", and behave the same way. They are deliberately independent, so declining to share usage data does not also stop us hearing that the app is broken. To have past reports removed, write to support@axelstack.com. We can find them by the address they were sent from, so tell us roughly when you used the app and we will do our best to locate and delete them.

The app reports when it has a connection and holds events on the device when it does not, so using it away from coverage does not lose them. They are sent, with the times they happened, once a connection returns. Reports go to a server we run at aprsconnect.com, which passes them to our own Matomo.

This site sets cookies where they are functionally required: a short-lived cookie carrying the result message after you submit a form, an anti-forgery token, and a session cookie for staff signing in to the private admin area. Those are set whatever you choose on the banner.

Analytics cookies are set only if you accept them. Your choice is remembered in your browser's local storage, so you are asked once. There are no advertising or cross-site tracking cookies here at all.

In the app, where you are decides how the switch starts. Usage reporting stores an identifier on your device. Where the law that covers you requires us to ask before doing that, the switch is off when the app is installed, and nothing is collected, queued or sent until you turn it on. Turning it on is the permission, and you can withdraw it at any time. Everywhere else the switch starts on and you turn it off if you would rather, which is the same choice arriving in the other order. Either way it is the same control in the same place, switching it off deletes anything not yet sent, and no part of the app depends on your answer.

5. How we use information

Provide, maintain, and improve the Service;
Email you about the launch if you asked us to;
Diagnose crashes and failures, and understand which features are used;
Protect the Service against abuse and security threats;
Comply with legal obligations and enforce our Terms.

6. APRS traffic is public

APRS is an open, unencrypted radio protocol. Anything you transmit, whether messages, positions, beacons or status, can be received by anyone in range, and is typically archived indefinitely by public internet gateways such as aprs.fi, which are operated by third parties and outside our control. No app can change this. Treat everything you send over APRS as permanently public.

Third parties you reach through the app also see your traffic: APRS-IS servers see your callsign and connection, APRS message services (weather bots, gateways, spotting networks) receive whatever you send them, and map tile servers see requests for tiles that are not already cached on your device. Opening a station lookup on an outside site such as QRZ, aprs.fi or aprs.to sends that callsign to them in the web address, the same as typing it there yourself. Their handling of that data is governed by their own policies, not this one.

7. How we share information

We do not sell your personal information. We share information only:

With service providers who help us operate the Service (for example hosting, email delivery, notification delivery, map tiles, and purchase processing), under obligations to protect it;
Publicly, for anything you choose to transmit over APRS (see section 6);
For legal reasons, where we believe disclosure is required by law or necessary to protect the rights, safety, or property of users or the public;
In a business transfer, if the Service is involved in a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets.

8. Data retention

Data the app stores on your device stays there until you delete it or uninstall the app; you can export all of it to a JSON file and restore it later. Addresses on the notification list are kept until you unsubscribe or ask us to remove them. Feedback sent from the app is kept while we are still acting on it, and you can ask us to delete yours at any time. Crash reports are kept while the fault they describe is still worth investigating. Installation identifiers are kept while the installation is in use; uninstalling the app ends its identifier's usefulness, and you can ask us to delete records tied to one. An account is kept until you delete it, which you can do yourself in the app under Settings → Account. Deleting it removes the account and everything stored with it straight away, and signs every installation out.

9. Security

We take reasonable measures to protect information we hold, but no method of transmission or storage is completely secure. APRS traffic in particular is transmitted in the clear by design.

10. Your choices

Every promotional email we send carries an unsubscribe link, and you can opt out at any time. Email about your own account, such as a sign-in link or a notice that your password or two-step verification changed, is only sent because you have the account, and stops when you delete it. You can control location access, and whether the app beacons, from the app and your device settings. You can switch off usage reporting in the app at Settings → Privacy, and crash reports beside it; on this website you can decline analytics cookies on the banner. None of these costs you any part of the app.

11. Children's privacy

The Service is not directed at children under 13 and we do not knowingly collect information from them. Where the law that covers you sets a higher minimum age for agreeing to this kind of processing, that age applies instead of 13. If you believe a child has given us information, write to us at support@axelstack.com and we will delete it.

12. Your rights over your information

These are yours wherever you live. Some countries grant them by law and some do not; rather than work out which one you are in, we give everybody the same set. You can ask us to:

Tell you what we hold about you, and why;
Correct anything that is wrong;
Delete it;
Hand it over in a form you can take elsewhere;
Stop or limit a particular use of it, or object to that use;
Withdraw a permission you gave us, which does not undo what was done while it stood.

Those first four are known in some places as ARCO rights, and this Policy is also meant to serve as the formal privacy notice that some countries require, called the aviso de privacidad in some of them.

How to ask. Write to support@axelstack.com. We do not charge for this and we will not make you create an account to ask. Because most of what the app collects is keyed to a random installation identifier rather than to you, it helps enormously if you tell us roughly when you used the app, or send the request from the address you left on a feedback report. We answer as quickly as we can, and always within any deadline your law sets.

Why we are allowed to hold it

Where the law that covers you asks us to name a basis for each use, these are ours:

Your consent: usage analytics in the app, and analytics cookies on this website. Section 3 describes how each is asked for.
Performing the service you asked for: registering the installation, delivering your subscription, and carrying the messages you send us in the app.
Our legitimate interests: crash reports, keeping the Service secure, and acting on feedback you choose to send. Our interest is in the app working; the data is deliberately stripped of callsigns, positions and message contents, and you can switch crash reporting off.
Legal obligation: where the law requires us to keep or disclose something.

Where your data is held

We are a United States company and the data described in section 1 is held on servers we operate in the United States. We are not handing it to a separate company abroad; we are the ones holding it, and the law where you live applies to us because we offer the Service to people there. The protections we apply are the ones in section 9, and the rights above are yours regardless of where the servers are.

If you think we have got it wrong

Please tell us first. Most things are a misunderstanding and we would rather fix it than argue about it. But you do not have to go through us: if there is a data protection authority or privacy regulator where you live, you can complain to them directly, and nothing here asks you to wait.

Email we send you

We only email addresses that asked to hear from us, or that belong to an account and need to hear about it. Anything promotional we send, such as a release announcement, carries our name, our postal address and a working unsubscribe link, and we act on an unsubscribe immediately. These are the strictest rules any country applies to us, and we apply them to everyone rather than working out who is owed which.

13. Changes to this Policy

We may update this Policy. The date at the top changes with it.

14. Contact us

Privacy requests, including anything in section 12: support@axelstack.com. Anything else, including help with the app: support@axelstack.com.

AxelStack LLC
294 Dolphin Dr #1222, Elizabethtown, KY 42726

Privacy Policy