Markara · Legal

Privacy Policy

How Markara handles account, location, activity and website information

Effective date: 14 October 2026. This Policy is issued by Polina Mazur, a New Zealand sole trader trading as Markara. Privacy contact: support@markara.app.

1. Scope and privacy contact

This Policy describes personal information handled through the Markara mobile app, website and related services. We handle personal information in accordance with the New Zealand Privacy Act 2020 and other applicable privacy laws. You may contact us at support@markara.app to request access to or correction of personal information, ask a privacy question or make a complaint.

2. Information we handle

Account and installation

If you sign in with Google or Apple, we receive the provider identifier and available account information, such as an email address, display name and, for Google, a profile image URL. Apple may provide a private relay email address. A Markara account has its own identifier and can have both sign-in methods when you explicitly link them in Settings. Ordinary sign-in does not merge accounts by email. Markara also uses an installation identifier and a secret credential to recognise the app installation. The server stores a protected hash of that credential. Device registration may include the first available location fix and its time and accuracy.

Location, plans and activity records

The app processes location on your device when you use live maps or tracking. GPS records can include coordinates, time, altitude when available and accuracy. When you sign in, saved plans and completed activity records synchronize with your Markara account. These records include plan, session and recording identifiers; names and ordered routes; the original plan and route-network snapshot, including available geometry and elevations; session and recording start and end times and pause segments; and GPS points with coordinates, timestamps, available altitude and accuracy. Missing heights remain missing. Tracking and recording can use background location when you start the relevant feature and grant the operating-system permission.

Every completed hike is automatically queued for server submission for internal use, including tracking without Record and Release builds on supported platforms. The app saves the queue on the device and resumes from acknowledged packets after connection failures or a restart when execution is available. An upload failure does not prevent ending a hike or viewing its local history. These submissions are linked to the installation and its Markara account; they are personal information, not anonymous diagnostics. Individual histories are not published for other users. Test fixtures are excluded from submission.

Photos and location contributions

If you submit photos or other content about a location, we handle the content and associated information needed to store, review, organise and display it. Depending on your device and settings, a photo may contain metadata such as when or where it was taken. We may use submitted content to improve location descriptions and may choose to make some or all of it available for public viewing. You can request removal of your photos through the app. We remove them from the Service when the request is processed, subject to legal retention requirements and copies already saved by other users or outside the Service.

Purchases

If you make a purchase for paid access, the relevant app store processes the payment. We may receive transaction and product information needed to verify the purchase and provide access, such as the region purchased, transaction status and store-provided identifiers. We retain purchase information while needed to verify access, handle support requests and meet legal or accounting obligations. We do not receive or store your full payment card details through the app.

Terms acceptance records

Each Terms acceptance is saved on your device and sent to our server, with retries after connection failures. We record the Terms version and hash, acceptance date and time, time zone, installation identifier and available GPS coordinates, location time and accuracy. Location permission is optional; you can accept without coordinates. Each acceptance remains separate and is linked to your account when you sign in. We use these records to evidence acceptance and administer the Service, retaining them only while needed for that purpose or a legal obligation.

Website and technical information

Markara's public content pages load Google Analytics. The standalone legal document pages do not load that analytics script. On content pages, Google Analytics may receive information about page visits, interactions and the browser or device used to access the site. The website and API also process technical information needed to deliver requests, maintain security and diagnose service problems, such as network request metadata and error information.

3. How we use GPS track data

GPS tracks from signed-in users are used to provide account backup and restore and are also analysed to improve Markara's track geography. This can include checking and improving track geometry, connections between tracks, elevation calculations and related geographic information. We may create derived geographic data and aggregated statistics from GPS records. Individual GPS histories can reveal sensitive information about a person's movements, so they are treated as personal information while they can reasonably be linked to an account or person.

4. Purposes for handling information

5. When we share information

We share information only as needed to provide and operate the Service, including with Google or Apple for sign-in, Google for website analytics, Apple or Google for app-store purchases, and hosting and infrastructure providers such as DigitalOcean. Photos or other location content you submit may be made available to other users or the public as described in the Terms. Map and geographic information may be requested from LINZ or other relevant data providers. These providers may process technical request information when delivering their services. We may also disclose information where required by law or to protect the rights, safety and security of users or the Service.

We do not sell identifiable GPS histories to advertisers or data brokers. We do not make an individual's private activity history public.

6. Where information is processed

Markara is operated from New Zealand. Our hosting and service providers may process or store information in New Zealand or other countries where their systems operate. The exact data-centre region may depend on the service configuration. Where information is disclosed overseas, we take steps required by New Zealand privacy law and applicable local laws.

7. Retention and deletion

While your account remains active, account-linked saved plans, completed hike submissions, GPS journals and associated recordings are retained for synchronization, history recovery and internal geographic improvement. We do not currently apply a shorter fixed retention period to these account-linked records. Signing out preserves unsynchronized local data in a separate archive belonging to that account, so another account on the same device does not receive them. Photos remain in the Service until you request their removal through the app, your account deletion is completed, or we remove them. Information stored only on your device remains there until you remove it or remove the app, subject to the device's own backup settings.

You can request deletion of your Markara account in the app under Settings → Delete Account, with fresh confirmation through a linked Google or Apple identity. This deletes the Markara account and does not delete your Apple ID or Google account. The request is sent immediately. We process the request and delete account-linked information, including saved records, GPS data, submitted photos, account identifiers and server backups, within 30 days. After deletion, we may retain geographic results that have been aggregated or de-identified so they can no longer reasonably identify you. Limited operational deletion and security records are handled separately as described below. Information we must retain to meet a legal obligation may be kept for that purpose and protected from other use.

To prevent deleted data returning from an old backup or offline installation, we retain the former Markara account identifier and limited deletion-request status for up to 35 days after deletion is completed. Pending requests remain until processed. These suppression records do not contain profile details, email addresses, plans or GPS histories. We also retain one-way fingerprints of revoked installation credentials to block their reuse; these entries contain no account reference, installation identifier, location or timestamp. They are used only for deletion protection and security.

Account deletion also permanently ends access to purchases and paid entitlements linked to that Markara account, including offline regions. Creating a new account or signing in again does not by itself recover those entitlements. Markara does not offer a refund, credit or compensation solely because you choose to delete your account; mandatory consumer rights and applicable app-store refund and restoration rules remain unaffected. See the Terms for the purchase conditions. Deleting a Markara account does not delete purchase history held independently by Apple, Google or another payment provider. Those providers handle their records under their own policies and legal obligations.

Deleting the app does not itself delete your Markara account. Contact support@markara.app if you cannot access Settings or want to ask about a request.

8. Your choices and rights

You can browse maps and plan without signing in and can control location permissions through your device settings. First sign-in requires an internet connection. Tracking and synchronization require a Markara account; after a successful sign-in, fully downloaded saved routes can be tracked offline. Completed tracking always queues server submission, including sessions without Record. If you do not want this submission, do not start tracking. Signing out separates the previous account's local files; it does not delete the server account. You can request removal of submitted photos through the app. You may request access to or correction of personal information we hold about you and may complain to us at support@markara.app. You may also contact the Office of the Privacy Commissioner in New Zealand if you are not satisfied with our response. Other rights may apply depending on where you live.

9. Security

We use reasonable safeguards to protect information, including access controls and encrypted connections for data sent between the app and our services. No online service can guarantee absolute security. Keep your device and account credentials secure and contact us promptly if you believe your account has been accessed without permission.

10. Children

Markara is a general outdoor mapping and tracking service and is not designed specifically for children. Parents and guardians should supervise a minor's use and should not share a child's identifiable location information without appropriate authority.

11. Changes to this Policy

We may update this Policy as the Service changes. We will update the effective date and provide appropriate notice of material changes. We will seek consent where required by law.

12. Contact and complaints

Privacy contact: Polina Mazur, trading as Markara. Email: support@markara.app. You may contact the New Zealand Office of the Privacy Commissioner if you are dissatisfied with our response.

New Zealand Privacy Act 2020, IPPs 5, 6, 7, 9 and 12. Retention: privacy.org.nz/privacy-principles/9/