Last updated: 23 September 2026
Swiss Hike is a hiking app for Switzerland. It has no account, no login, no advertising, and no analytics. This page explains exactly what the app does with data - and what it deliberately does not do.
Swiss Hike (“the app”) is developed and published by an independent developer (“we”, “us”). For anything in this policy, write to alice.turcanu91@gmail.com.
None. The app does not create a user profile on any server, does not send us usage statistics or crash reports of its own, and contains no advertising or analytics libraries. We cannot identify you, contact you, or see how you use the app unless you choose to email us.
If you download the app from the App Store, Apple gives us anonymous, aggregated sales and crash statistics through App Store Connect. Those reports are produced by Apple, never identify individual users, and are governed by Apple’s privacy policy.
The app keeps your content locally, using standard iOS storage (UserDefaults and files in the app’s own sandbox). It is never uploaded. This includes:
| What | Where it lives |
|---|---|
| Favourites, collections, tags, saved searches, checklists, gear lists, goals and milestones | Local app storage |
| Notes, journal entries, trip plans, scheduled hikes and custom waypoints | Local app storage |
| Recorded hikes (the GPS track of a walk you chose to record) | Files in the app’s sandbox |
| Photos you attach to a hike’s photo log | Copied as JPEGs into the app’s sandbox |
| Offline map tiles and cached trail, weather and elevation data you downloaded for a route | Files in the app’s sandbox |
| Settings and preferences | Local app storage |
If you have iCloud Backup or an encrypted device backup enabled, iOS may include this app data in that backup. That is a feature of your device and your Apple Account, handled by Apple under their terms - the data still never reaches us.
Location access is optional, and the app only asks after you have opened a trail and it can explain why. If you grant it, your location is used to:
The app requests “While Using the App” permission and uses the background-location capability only while a recording is running, so the walk keeps recording with the screen off. iOS shows the blue location indicator the whole time this happens. The app cannot locate you when no recording is in progress.
Your location is never transmitted to us and never shared with any third party for advertising or profiling. Coordinates are sent to the public data services in section 6 only to answer a request you made - for example the weather at a point, the map tiles for an area, or the next departure from a nearby stop.
You can deny or revoke location access at any time in iOS Settings → Privacy & Security → Location Services. The rest of the app keeps working.
The app fetches maps and live conditions directly from public, key-free services. These requests carry only the coordinates or trail identifiers needed to answer them - no account identifier, no advertising identifier, no personal data:
api3.geo.admin.ch, wmts.geo.admin.ch) - swisstopo and SwitzerlandMobility / ASTRA: trail routes, closures, place names, elevation profiles and map tiles.api.open-meteo.com) - weather forecasts and historical weather, based on MeteoSwiss data.Like any web request, these carry your IP address to the service you are contacting. We do not operate those services and are not responsible for their own data practices; consult each provider’s terms for detail. Where the app offers a link to an operator’s own website, a webcam page, or Apple Maps, tapping it hands you to that site or app under its own policy.
The app may offer optional paid features or subscriptions. Any purchase is processed entirely by Apple through the App Store. We never see or receive your payment details - no card number, no billing address, no Apple Account credentials. The app only learns, from Apple’s on-device receipt, whether a purchase is currently active, and that check happens between your device and Apple. Purchase and billing data is handled by Apple under Apple’s privacy policy.
Nothing leaves the app unless you send it. When you export a GPX track, share a hike, or write a backup file of your data, iOS’s share sheet puts it wherever you choose - Files, Mail, another app. That destination’s own policy then applies. We receive no copy.
The app does not knowingly collect personal data from anyone, including children under 16, because it does not collect personal data at all.
Data-protection law (the Swiss FADP and the EU GDPR) gives you rights of access, correction, deletion and portability over personal data a company holds about you. We hold none, so there is nothing for us to disclose or erase. Your own copy is under your control: everything is on your device, exportable from within the app, and removed completely when you delete the app.
If this policy changes, the “Last updated” date above will be revised, and the current version will always be at this address. Continued use of the app after a change means you accept the updated policy.
We answer privacy mail within a few working days.