Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy

Effective Date: August 5, 2026

LOC8 respects your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how the LOC8 application handles information, on iPhone and on the Apple Watch companion app. This policy is provided by LOC8 LLC, a California limited liability company based in Roseville, California ("LOC8," "we," "us").

LOC8 was built for law enforcement officers, first responders, and public safety professionals. Privacy and operational security are foundational principles of this application.

INFORMATION WE COLLECT

LOC8 does not require an account, and we do not collect personal information that identifies you, such as your name, or any location history tied to your identity, except as described in this policy.

Specifically:

  • No account is created and no login is required
  • No name, email, or contact information is collected, except optionally when you submit a bug report
  • No location history that can be linked to you is built
  • No location data is ever used for or shared with any advertising service, under any setting (advertising measurement covers subscription events only, as described under Advertising Measurement)
  • No data is sold

LOC8 does transmit a limited amount of information in the specific cases described in this policy: resolving your coordinates into an address and related place information, showing local weather, an anonymous location-accuracy log used only to improve the app, anonymous in-app usage analytics, advertising measurement for our own ad campaigns, automatic crash reports, optional bug and content reports, and, if you choose to use it, the live Team Room feature. Each is explained below.

LOCATION DATA

LOC8 requires access to your device location in order to display your current street address, cross street, county, GPS coordinates, altitude, accuracy, compass heading, and Location Code.

To translate your latitude and longitude into a human-readable street address and cross street, your GPS coordinates are sent to geocoding services: our own geocoding server, a third-party reverse-geocoding provider, and Apple's geocoder. To generate the Location Code, your coordinates are sent to what3words. To show the weather chip, your approximate coordinates are sent through our server to a weather data provider (OpenWeather). These services receive only coordinates. They do not receive your device identifier, your name, or any other identifying information. They return an address, Location Code, or weather conditions, which are displayed to you.

LOC8 is an independent application. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by what3words, Apple, OpenWeather, or our reverse-geocoding provider. LOC8 integrates with these platforms to provide its features, and each service processes your coordinates under its own terms and privacy policy.

For these lookups, your coordinates:

  • Are sent only for the purpose of returning an address, Location Code, or weather conditions
  • Are not retained by us in any form linked to your identity
  • Are not associated with any account or user identity
  • Are not used for any purpose other than the lookup and the anonymous diagnostics described below

Locations you choose to save (using the Pin feature), including any custom labels and private notes you add to them, are stored only on your device, never on any server.

If you place the LOC8 complication on your Apple Watch face, the Watch may periodically (roughly every 15 minutes, and only if you have used the app recently) look up the address at your current coordinates so the watch face stays current. These lookups use the same geocoding service, carry no identity, and follow the same rules above.

LOCATION ACCURACY DIAGNOSTICS

To measure how often the address LOC8 shows is correct, and to improve it over time, the app and our geocoding server record anonymous service logs. Entries contain GPS coordinates, the address LOC8 displayed, reference addresses looked up at the same coordinates for comparison, and basic context such as the app version, accuracy, and whether you were moving.

These logs are anonymous by design:

  • They contain no device identifier, account, name, or email
  • They contain no identifier of any kind that could link entries to you or build a history of your movements. A temporary identifier that exists only for a single app session is used to group entries from that session, and cannot be connected to you or to other sessions
  • Their entries cannot be read back or re-associated with you by the app

These logs are stored in a private database operated by the developer and are automatically deleted on a rolling schedule. They are used only internally, for development purposes, to evaluate and improve the accuracy of the addresses LOC8 shows. They are not shared with any third party, are not used for advertising, and are never sold.

TEAM ROOMS

Team Rooms are an optional feature that lets a small group share live positions and messages with each other for a limited time. Nothing in this section applies unless you create or join a room.

How it works, and what that means for your information:

  • While you are in a room, your live position and the display name (callsign) you chose are visible to the other members of that room. That is the purpose of the feature. Members also see whether you are live or away.
  • Positions and chat messages travel through an ephemeral realtime relay. THEY ARE NEVER STORED ON ANY SERVER. We cannot read your room's chat or see its map after the fact; there is nothing to read back.
  • Chat history for an active room is kept on the members' own devices so the conversation survives an app restart, and it is deleted when the room ends.
  • What is stored server-side is minimal room metadata: the room code, an anonymous identifier of the creator, and the expiry time. Rooms expire automatically (1 to 24 hours) and this record is deleted on a rolling schedule.
  • Room codes are the only way into a room. Share them only with people you intend to share your position with.
  • Anonymous room-health diagnostics (event names, counts, and connection states only, never positions or message content) are recorded to keep the feature reliable.
  • Messages are filtered for abusive content on your device before sending and on receipt. You can hide messages from a specific member, and you can report a message: reporting sends that message's text to our private support database so we can act on abuse. This is the only way any chat content ever reaches us, and only you can trigger it, for a message you are reporting.
  • If you allow it, an active room keeps your location updating while the app is in the background so your dot stays live for your team. This is the only background location use in LOC8, it requires your explicit permission (iOS "Always" location), it runs only while you are in a live room, and it stops when you leave the room or the room expires.

ADVERTISING MEASUREMENT

LOC8 runs ads to reach new users, and we measure whether those ads work. To do this, the app includes the Meta (Facebook) SDK, used solely for advertising measurement of our own campaigns. There are no Facebook features in the app, and nothing you do inside the app is shared with Meta except the subscription activity described below.

On first launch, iOS shows the standard App Tracking Transparency prompt. If you allow tracking, your device's advertising identifier (IDFA) is used to connect our subscription events to the ad campaign that brought you. If you decline, no advertising identifier is collected, and measurement falls back to an anonymous app identifier provided by the Meta SDK.

What we share with Meta is strictly limited to subscription activity: trial starts, purchases, and renewals, with their prices, delivered server side through our subscription platform (RevenueCat) together with the identifiers described above and your IP address at the time of delivery. Your location, addresses, coordinates, pins, notes, messages, and anything you type are never shared with Meta or any other advertising service, under any setting.

You can change your choice at any time in iOS Settings under Privacy & Security, then Tracking.

ANALYTICS AND APP USAGE

LOC8 uses Mixpanel, an analytics service, to understand how the app's setup and subscription screens are used, for example which onboarding steps are viewed, which subscription options are selected, and whether setup completes. These events carry a randomly generated anonymous identifier (the same anonymous identifier described under Purchases), the app version, and your device model and iOS version. They never include your name, email, GPS coordinates, addresses, or anything you type. We disable IP-based location inference for these events, and this data is never used for advertising.

During initial setup and on the subscription screen only, Mixpanel may also capture a masked recording of those screens so we can see where setup fails or confuses people. All text, images, and map content in these recordings is blocked out on your device before anything is sent, recording permanently stops once you reach the main screen, and your location is never visible in them.

Separately, once you are using the main LOC8 screen, the app records anonymous counts of how you use its features, for example how often you pin a location, open the map, copy a Location Code, switch coordinate formats, or open the bug reporter. This helps us understand which features are useful and where to focus improvements.

These usage counts:

  • Contain no coordinates, no addresses, no saved place names or notes, and no text you type. They record only the name of the feature used and simple options or counts, such as which coordinate format you selected or whether a save succeeded
  • Are not recorded during onboarding or on the subscription screen. They begin only once you reach the main app
  • Are associated with the same anonymous RevenueCat identifier described under Purchases, which is a random identifier and not your name, email, or location, along with a temporary per-session identifier that is deliberately separate from the one used in the location-accuracy log, so feature usage can never be joined to location data
  • Are stored in the developer's private database, are used only internally to improve the app, and are never shared, sold, or used for advertising
  • Do not use any advertising identifier and are never linked with data from other companies

PURCHASES

Subscriptions and purchases are processed by Apple through the App Store. We do not receive your payment information.

LOC8 uses RevenueCat to manage subscription status. RevenueCat receives a randomly generated anonymous user identifier and your subscription outcome. It does not receive your name, email, payment information, or location data.

Apple, RevenueCat, and Mixpanel may collect and process information in accordance with their own privacy policies:

BUG REPORTS AND CONTENT REPORTS

If you choose to submit a bug report from within the app, the following information is sent at the time you submit:

  • The bug category you selected
  • The description you wrote
  • Your current GPS coordinates and address (so we can diagnose location-related issues)
  • Device model, iOS version, network connectivity status, battery level, and low-power-mode status
  • Technical diagnostics about the address lookup that produced what you were seeing (app version, update version, and geocoding decision details)
  • If the report is filed while you are in a Team Room, or shortly after leaving one, anonymous room-session health details (connection states and counts, never positions or chat), so room problems can be diagnosed
  • Optionally, the email address you provide

If you report a chat message in a Team Room, the reported message's text and anonymous sender context are sent with the report so we can act on abuse.

This information is sent only when you tap "Submit" and is used only for diagnostic and safety purposes. It is stored in our private support database, is deleted on a rolling schedule, and is not shared with any other party.

If you do not submit a report, none of this information is collected.

CRASH REPORTING

If LOC8 crashes or hits a fatal error, a technical crash report is sent automatically to Sentry, a crash-reporting service, so we can find and fix the defect. A crash report contains the technical details of the failure (where in the code it happened and the error type), your device model, iOS version, app version, and a randomly generated installation identifier used to measure how many devices are affected.

Crash reports never include your GPS coordinates, addresses, saved locations, notes, or anything you type. The app filters its own location-bearing diagnostic lines out of crash reports on your device, before anything is sent. Crash data is used only to fix defects, is retained on a bounded rolling schedule, and is never used for advertising.

Sentry may process this information in accordance with its own privacy policy:

DATA SHARING

We do not sell your information.

LOC8 shares information with service providers only for the purposes described above:

  • Our geocoding server, a third-party reverse-geocoding provider, and Apple's geocoder — receive GPS coordinates to return a street address and cross street
  • what3words — receives GPS coordinates to generate the Location Code
  • OpenWeather — receives approximate coordinates, through our server, to return local weather conditions
  • RevenueCat — receives an anonymous user identifier and subscription status
  • Mixpanel — receives anonymous app-usage events (screen views and button taps, tied to a random identifier); never your location, name, or anything you type
  • Sentry — receives technical crash reports (device model, iOS version, app version, and failure details, tied to a random installation identifier); never your location, addresses, or anything you type
  • Apple — handles payment processing
  • Members of a Team Room you join — see your live position and callsign while you are in the room, by your choice
  • A private database operated by the developer — stores bug and content reports you submit, minimal Team Room metadata, anonymous room-health diagnostics, the anonymous location-accuracy log, and anonymous in-app usage analytics

The geocoding, Location Code, and weather providers receive only coordinates for a lookup and return a result; they do not receive any identifier for you. LOC8 is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by these providers, including what3words. We do not share information with any other party.

BACKGROUND ACTIVITY

LOC8 is designed to work while open on your screen, and its location features stop when you close it, with three narrow, transparent exceptions:

  • Team Rooms: if you grant "Always" location permission and are in a live room, your location continues updating in the background so your team sees your live dot. This stops when you leave the room or it expires, and it never happens outside a room.
  • Apple Watch: to make the watch app open with your position instantly, the Watch may keep its GPS warm for a bounded period after the screen dims or the app moves to the background. During this hold, nothing is looked up and nothing is transmitted; it only keeps the radio ready.
  • Watch complication: if you place it on your watch face, it periodically looks up your address as described under Location Data.

Outside of these, there is no background GPS usage, no background data collection, and no background processing. A force-quit of the app ends all of them.

CHILDREN'S PRIVACY

LOC8 is not directed to children under the age of 13. The app does not knowingly collect information from children. If you are a parent or guardian and believe your child has provided information through LOC8, please contact us at the address below and we will address it promptly.

DATA RETENTION

Diagnostic and analytics data described in this policy (the accuracy log, service logs, usage analytics, room diagnostics, crash reports, and bug and content reports) is retained on bounded, rolling schedules and then automatically deleted. Team Room positions and chat are never retained at all. Saved locations and notes exist only on your device and are deleted when you delete the app.

CHANGES TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY

If we make changes to this Privacy Policy, we will update the effective date above. Continued use of the app after the effective date constitutes acceptance of the revised policy.

CONTACT

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy, or any privacy request, you may contact:

LOC8 LLC
6770 Stanford Ranch Road, #1351
Roseville, CA 95678
United States

info@loc8app.com

California residents may direct any privacy request to the address above, including requests about information associated with a bug report or about the advertising measurement described in this policy. Declining the iOS tracking prompt at any time in Settings has the same effect as an advertising opt-out within the app.