RoadLore
Privacy Policy.

Overview

RoadLore is an audio guide app developed by Scaleworks LLC. It uses your device's location to surface narrated stories about nearby places of interest — history, nature, landmarks, and local curiosities — as you drive or walk. Stories play hands-free and update as you move.

This policy describes what data RoadLore collects, why, and how it is handled.

Location Data

RoadLore requests your precise location (GPS) while in use. When you start a drive session, your coordinates and approximate heading are sent to the RoadLore server to identify places of interest ahead of you and return relevant stories.

We do not:

• Store your location history on our servers
• Link live location queries to your optional RoadLore account
• Share location data with advertisers or data brokers
• Build profiles based on where you drive

Each location query is processed transiently. Once the relevant stories are returned, the coordinates are not retained.

You can also grant background location access, which allows RoadLore to continue finding stories while the app is not in the foreground. This is optional — the app works without it, but stories may not queue as smoothly if the app is backgrounded.

Optional Account & Cloud Sync

RoadLore works without an account. If you choose Sign in with Apple, we request your name but not your email address. Apple provides a stable account identifier; we do not receive or store your Apple ID password.

To restore your experience on another device, our server stores an internal account ID, your display name, hashed session tokens, app preferences, points and listening progress, explored map tiles, and story landmarks you heard. Synced landmarks include the place name, coordinates, and listening time. This cloud data is linked to your RoadLore account; live location queries remain separate from it.

You can permanently delete your RoadLore account from Explorer → Account → Delete account. Deletion removes your account, cloud settings, progress, explored map, story landmarks, active sessions, and reports associated with the account. Data stored locally on your device remains until you delete it in the app or remove the app.

Microphone (Community Pins)

RoadLore includes an optional Community Pins feature that lets you record a short audio note at a location and share it with other travelers passing that spot. Microphone access is only requested when you tap the pin-recording button — it is never accessed passively.

Recorded audio pins are uploaded to our server and stored so other users can hear them. Pins include a title, geographic location, timestamp, and a random per-install creator key used to let that installation remove the pin; they are not linked to your RoadLore account. Reports are tied to a signed-in account to prevent duplicate abuse reports. You can report a pin that violates community standards, and pins reported by multiple accounts are removed.

Data We Do Not Collect

• Your email address, phone number, or contacts
• Your Apple ID password
• Device advertising identifiers (IDFA)
• Health or fitness data
• Contacts, photos, or media library
• Crash reports or analytics unless you explicitly enable anonymous analytics

Third-Party Services

RoadLore discovers and grounds stories using public information from services such as Wikipedia, Wikimedia, OpenStreetMap, and the National Park Service. Relevant public place material and narration preferences may be processed by OpenAI to generate story text, audio, and trivia; RoadLore does not send your RoadLore account identity or raw GPS coordinates to OpenAI.

The RoadLore server infrastructure is hosted on Railway (railway.app). Coordinates sent to our server pass through Railway's infrastructure subject to their privacy and data handling policies.

Sign in with Apple and in-app purchases are processed by Apple. RoadLore receives the account and purchase information needed to authenticate cloud sync and unlock purchased features. Apple may also collect diagnostic and usage data as part of iOS, subject to your device settings and Apple's privacy policy.

If you enable anonymous analytics in RoadLore's Privacy settings, limited product-usage events and Apple Ads attribution identifiers such as campaign, ad-group, and keyword IDs are sent to PostHog. GeoIP enrichment, location and route data, place names, recordings, personal text, screen capture, automatic interaction capture, and session recording are excluded. Analytics are off by default and can be disabled at any time.

RoadLore does not integrate third-party advertising SDKs.

Data Retention

RoadLore stores app preferences and progress locally. During signed-out use, session preferences and played-place history may remain on our server for up to 30 days so the narration session works consistently; live GPS coordinates are not retained. Cached generated stories and trivia may remain for up to 90 days and are not tied to your account.

If you sign in, cloud profile and explored-map data remain until you delete your account. Session tokens expire after 180 days and are deleted with the account. Community pin audio remains while the pin is active; the creating installation can remove it, or you can contact us for help. Opt-in analytics are retained under our PostHog settings and can be stopped at any time by disabling analytics.

Children's Privacy

RoadLore is not directed at children under 13 and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children. An account is not required. If we learn that a child's personal information was collected, we will delete it; a signed-in user can also delete the account directly in the app.

Changes to This Policy

If we update this policy in a material way, we will post the revised version at this URL with an updated effective date. Continued use of RoadLore after a change constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.