Privacy Policy — Wilderness Survival Companion

Overview

Wilderness Survival Companion is an offline reference application for backcountry emergencies, hiking preparation, and wilderness skills. All content is based on authoritative sources including FM 21-76, SAS Survival Handbook, CDC, EPA, NWS, and NOAA.

        No accounts, no servers, no tracking: The app has no backend, so nothing you enter, record, or measure is collected by us or uploaded anywhere. The only data that ever leaves your device is what you deliberately send yourself using the Share or Copy buttons.
      

Data Collection

We do NOT collect, receive, transmit, or share:

Personal information
Your location
Camera images or video
Heart-rate or other physiological measurements
Device identifiers
Usage analytics or crash telemetry
Browsing history

Some information is saved on your own device so the app is useful between sessions — see On-Device Storage below. That data stays on your device and is never uploaded.

        Nothing is sent automatically: The app performs all content lookup and all calculations on your device and never sends your data to us — there is no server behind it. Two deliberate exceptions are under your control: if you tap Share or Copy on a position, trip plan, or checklist, your device passes that text to whatever app or contact you pick; and if you use the web version rather than the iPhone or Android app, your browser downloads and updates the app's own files from the site hosting it.
      

On-Device Storage

The application saves the following on your device, so your settings and work persist between sessions:

Theme preference (4 adaptive display modes) and Survival Mode setting
Unit system preference (imperial/metric)
Bookmarked content entries
Pace calibration setting
Packing checklists and their progress
Waypoints you save, including their coordinates
Your check-in interval and the emergency plan you write for it — this is free text, so it holds whatever you type into it, which may include names, routes, or phone numbers
Trip plans you create
Survival scenario progress
Any photos you attach to a waypoint (stored in the app's local database)

This data stays on your device and is never sent to us or to anyone else. The one place a copy can go is your own device backup: on iPhone, if iCloud Backup is turned on, iOS includes this data in that backup, as it does for most apps. That backup belongs to your Apple account and we have no access to it. The Android app opts out of both cloud backup and device-to-device transfer. You can erase all of it at any time by deleting the app, or item by item within the app.

Location Data

Several tools can use your device's GPS location: the compass and waypoint navigator, the daylight and sun-position estimators, the UV exposure estimator, and the check-in timer. Location is requested only while one of these tools is open. A tool that shows a live position keeps it updated while it is on screen, and stops when you leave it.

Location is used on your device only, to show your position or perform the calculation you asked for
It is never transmitted to us or to any third party — there is no server to receive it
Most uses are transient: a reading is displayed, replaced by the next one, and never written to storage
Exception: if you deliberately save a waypoint, its coordinates are stored on your device until you delete that waypoint
If you tap Share or Copy on your position, you are choosing to hand those coordinates to another app — that is the one way location leaves this app, and only at your direction

        Location Permission: Location is optional and you may deny it. Some tools then accept manual latitude/longitude entry — the Daylight Estimator, for example — while others, such as the compass position readout, need a real fix and will simply show no position.
      

Camera

The app uses the camera for two features, and only while you are using them:

Waypoint photos — when you add a photo to a saved waypoint, your device opens its normal camera or picker sheet. The image you take or choose is saved on your device, in the app's local database, until you delete it.
SOS signal beacon — flashes your device's flashlight (torch) in an SOS pattern. On iPhone and Android the app drives the flashlight directly as hardware, which normally involves no camera prompt; where that direct path is unavailable it reaches the torch through the camera interface instead. No image is captured either way.

        Live camera frames are never recorded: For the SOS beacon, the camera's video track is used only to control the torch — no frames are read, analysed, or recorded, and the camera is released as soon as you leave the feature. The only images this app keeps are the waypoint photos you deliberately attach, and they stay on your device.
      

Heart rate is measured by manually tapping the screen once per heartbeat — it does not use the camera. The reading is an estimate for field awareness only. It is not a medical device and is not written to Apple Health. It is not saved, though if you choose to carry a reading into the triage tool it is passed along for that session.

Motion & Orientation Sensors

The step tracker, compass, slope/avalanche inclinometer, and sun tracker read your device's motion and orientation sensors (accelerometer, gyroscope, magnetometer). Your device may ask your permission the first time.

These readings are used live on your device to display a heading, angle, or step count. They are not recorded and not transmitted. Your step count is not written to Apple Health.

Permissions

Permissions the app MAY request (each optional, each only for the feature named):

Location — navigation, sun/daylight, UV, and turnaround tools
Camera — waypoint photos and the SOS flashlight beacon
Motion & orientation — step tracker, compass, inclinometer, sun tracker

Permissions the app explicitly DOES NOT request:

Microphone
Contacts
Photo library
Apple Health / HealthKit
Push notifications

Attaching a photo to a waypoint uses your device's standard photo picker. The app receives only the single image you choose — it never gains access to your photo library.

Third-Party Services

Wilderness Survival Companion does not use any third-party services. There are no analytics, advertising, tracking, or data-sharing integrations of any kind, and no third-party SDKs that collect data.

Children's Privacy

This is a general-audience educational app. We do not collect any information from any user, including children under 13. The app is COPPA-compliant by design — there is no data collection mechanism.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this privacy policy from time to time. Changes will be reflected in the "Last Updated" date at the top of this page. Continued use of the application after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

Contact

If you have questions about this privacy policy, please contact us at:

Email: privacy@martinapps.dev

Wilderness Survival Companion is published by Martin Apps LLC, an Alabama limited liability company. Company information is available at martinapps.dev.

Wilderness Survival Companion Privacy Policy