Privacy, with you in mind

Who looks after your information

WalkPack is published by Almanac Apps. Contact [email protected] with questions about your information, a deletion request, or a concern about another player.

What you choose to share

WalkPack saves your dogs’ names, optional breeds and photos, pack membership, walks and progress on your phone. When you connect to the shared game, we keep your dog and pack profiles, photos, claimed land, walk distance and time, and game results. Other players can see your shared land, dog or pack name, photo, and basic walk stats.

A connected account has a random account identifier. Public shared play uses a verified email address and a password managed by Firebase Authentication. Firebase handles email verification, sign-in and password reset. WalkPack does not receive or store your password, and your email is not shown on the public map. We keep a login identifier and authentication sessions, including an encrypted identifier so account erasure can remove the login. You do not need to provide your real name or your Google account password.

Your walks and location

Location helps draw your walk, measure distance, show where you are when you tap Locate, and work out which land you can claim. Walk recording starts when you choose Start walk. It continues with a visible notification while your screen is locked. Pausing or finishing stops walk recording.

For a shared walk, WalkPack briefly receives the route to check the claim, then discards those route points. We retain the resulting land shape and basic walk stats. Other players never see your exact route or start and finish markers. Shared land can still reveal an area you visit, including land near home.

Choose Private walk to keep that outing out of the shared game. Places you explicitly protect are excluded from sharing. Without private backup, detailed history remains only on your phone. Removing the app can remove that local history. A private walk stays out of the shared game even when you choose to back it up.

Signing in and changing phones

Signing in does not enable private route backup. On another installation, your verified account can restore its shared dog and pack profiles, photos and completed shared-walk summaries already held by WalkPack. Those summaries include distance, duration and dates, but do not restore exact routes, elevation, protected places or walks kept private on your phone. Restore keeps the original identities and does not replay territory claims or competitive mileage.

You can skip shared sign-in and keep walking privately on your phone. Removing the app does not erase an existing cloud account. Information that was never backed up may remain only on the phone.

Free private backup and recovery

When you explicitly enable private cloud backup, we retain your dog profiles and photos, pack membership, completed walks, exact walking routes, elevation, protected places and progress for recovery. These records are separate from the temporary route checks used for the territory game. Only your signed-in account can retrieve your private backup; other players cannot see it. Private backups are encrypted during transfer and while stored on our WalkPack server. This is server-managed encryption, not end-to-end encryption.

Removing the app or signing out does not erase your cloud account or completed backups. To restore an existing private backup on a new installation, choose “Sign in & backup” and use your recovery email. Changes saved offline cannot be restored until their backup succeeds. The app shows the last completed backup and any changes waiting for connection. Restore does not replay territory claims or add competitive mileage.

Firebase Authentication handles email verification, sign-in and password reset. Firebase does not store your private walk backup. Backups are free and optional; you can sign out to stop new backups. To remove existing cloud copies, use “Erase account & data” or contact us. Read Firebase’s privacy information.

Apple Health and Health Connect

Connecting a health service is optional. On iPhone, you can choose to save a completed walk to Apple Health. On Android, you can choose to save its walking workout, start and finish times, duration and distance to Health Connect. WalkPack requests permission before writing and does not read your Health records or export your exact route to either service.

Restoring your WalkPack backup does not automatically add workouts to Health. We keep a saved-to-Health status with each walk to help avoid duplicate exports. You can remove access in Apple Health or Health Connect settings. Deleting a WalkPack walk or account does not delete a workout you previously saved in a health service; you can manage that copy in the health service.

Maps, hosting and messages

Mapbox provides the map. It receives the information needed to deliver it, such as your IP address and the map area you view. Its map tools may also collect location, device, interaction and performance information. Use the map’s information button to access its privacy choices. Read Mapbox’s privacy policy.

DigitalOcean hosts WalkPack’s shared game and website. Cloudflare helps deliver and protect our website. They may process connection information such as IP addresses and request times. We use Resend to send requested signup and welcome emails. We do not sell your information or include advertising in this early-access app.

Optional patch alerts

Choose whether WalkPack can send a notification when another dog reclaims your land. Apple delivers iPhone alerts; Google Firebase Cloud Messaging delivers Android alerts. To deliver them, WalkPack and the delivery provider process a notification identifier for your app installation and the alert content, which may include public dog or pack names. Firebase also processes installation identifiers and app and software version information. These identifiers are not shown on the shared map. We do not send your exact walking route, start or finish points, or dog photos through these notification services.

You can turn notifications off in your phone’s settings; Android also has a Phone alerts switch in WalkPack. Patch updates remain available inside the app. Removing your WalkPack account removes its notification registration from our live service. Google Analytics and advertising tracking are not enabled for these alerts. Learn more about Firebase’s privacy practices and Apple’s privacy policy.

Keeping the pack friendly

Reports about a dog, photo or name include the reported profile, your account identifier, reason and any details you choose to provide. We use them to investigate concerns and take appropriate action. Blocking a player hides their profile details from your view. It does not give you their land.

Your choices and deletion

You can delete individual walks, withdraw your shared land, or delete your WalkPack account. Account deletion removes your connected dog and pack profiles, photos, saved walk backups, walk summaries and current claims from the live service, revokes access from linked phones and requests deletion of the associated Firebase login. It requires clear confirmation; accounts with private backups use the authenticated backup-erasure flow. It cannot undo screenshots or copies other people have already made.

Shared land expires under the game rules unless renewed. Other account records remain until you delete them or request deletion. A hashed deletion receipt is kept for seven days so an interrupted deletion can finish safely. We retain a non-reversible hash of an erased sign-in identity to prevent old credentials from recreating deleted backups. Older copies in protected backups remain until those backups rotate out; they are not used to restore a deleted account to the game. Contact us for backup-retention details or a specific privacy request.

Deletion from the website cannot erase files on a disconnected phone. Reopen WalkPack while connected within seven days to finish clearing that phone automatically. After that, you may need to confirm “Clear this phone only” or remove its local app data. If you no longer have the app or a deletion code, email us; you do not need to reinstall to request deletion. We may ask for enough information to confirm the account is yours.

Website signup

Joining the early-access list stores your email address, phone platform, and signup permission and time. We use them for WalkPack welcome messages and invitations. Use the private removal link from your first signup or welcome email to leave the list. The website does not collect walking routes.

Who shared play is for

The current public shared-play release and Android closed test are for adults aged 18 and over. Shared participation for teens remains unavailable while the parental-consent experience is being completed. WalkPack does not offer medical or veterinary advice. Walk at a pace and distance that suit you and your dog.

Changes

We will update this page when our practices change. Questions or requests are welcome at [email protected].