Privacy policy
Effective November 9, 2026.
Mapsheet is built so your work stays yours. It has no account and no analytics, and nothing about you is ever sent anywhere.
What stays on your device
Your maps, the points, tracks, lines, areas and photos you add, and your position are stored only on your iPhone or iPad (and in your device backups). Mapsheet does not send them anywhere.
Location
Mapsheet uses your location to show where you are on your maps and to record tracks you start, including while the phone is locked if a track is recording. Your location never leaves your device.
Camera and photos
If you attach photos to points, they are saved with your map on your device.
Optional online features
Mapsheet goes online only when you ask it to download something:
- A link or QR code you open: the app fetches that page or file from the site it points to (for example the national fire file share).
- Free maps: the app asks Mapsheet's server for the list of maps in the area you're looking at (by 1° grid square), then downloads the map you pick straight from its publisher (for example USGS or the Forest Service). If Mapsheet's server is unavailable, it may ask USGS's own map service instead.
- Fires: when you turn on fires, the app downloads the fire file for your country (US, Canada, Australia or New Zealand) from Mapsheet's server. The request names only the country, never your position.
- Aerial and topo maps: the app downloads map tiles for the area you choose from the publisher's public tile service (USGS), or asks Mapsheet's server to cut a map of that area (New Zealand imagery from LINZ).
Like any internet connection, the servers involved see your device's IP address. Mapsheet's server keeps no access logs; it stores nothing about you, only the map areas it's asked to build, for up to 48 hours so the map can be delivered. Publishers' own servers are covered by their own privacy policies. No account, identifier, contact detail or precise position is sent. Scanning a QR code happens on the device.
Ground heights: when you open the elevation of a line or track, Mapsheet downloads the terrain tiles for that area from the public AWS Terrain Tiles dataset (Amazon). The request names only the tile, not you or your position, and the tiles are kept on your device.
Watched folders: when you watch a map folder, Mapsheet checks that folder's listing in the background now and then (when iOS allows) and shows a notification on your device when new maps appear. It reads only the listing from the folder's own site and sends nothing about you.
Offline mode (Settings) stops all of these: with it on, Mapsheet never uses the internet.
Crew nearby
When you start or join a crew, your phone connects directly to the other crew phones within range, over Wi-Fi and Bluetooth (Apple's peer-to-peer networking, encrypted). No internet or server is involved, and nothing reaches Mapsheet. While you're in a crew, and only when you leave those switches on, the crew sees the name you enter, your position (about every five seconds) and the points, lines, areas and tracks you add or change. Photos are never shared. Nearby phones that aren't in your crew can see that a Mapsheet crew is around, but not its code, names or positions. The crew's points stay on your device until you clear them; positions are forgotten when you leave. iOS asks for Local Network permission the first time you use it.
Sharing
When you export features or send a crew pack, you choose where the file goes (AirDrop, Messages, Mail, Files…). Mapsheet only creates the file.
Purchases
Subscriptions are handled by Apple. Mapsheet receives only whether a subscription is active, never your payment details.
Contact
laddothis at gmail dot com