Privacy policy
Pacekeeper measures how far you walk or run. This policy explains what the app does with your information. The short version: your walks, runs and routes stay on your phone. We run no servers, and we never receive them.
What Pacekeeper uses
Your location
Pacekeeper reads your phone's GPS position while a session you started is running, about once a second. It uses the positions to measure distance, pace and speed, and to draw your route.
While a session you started is running, Pacekeeper keeps reading your location even when the app is closed or not in use, for example while your phone is locked in your pocket. It stops when you press Stop.
Pacekeeper does not read your location when no session is running.
Your step count
With your permission, Pacekeeper reads the step counter built into your phone to tell walking from running, and to work out your steps per minute and stride length. The running count is used during the session and is not stored. The session's average steps per minute is saved with it.
Your weight
Calories need a weight. If you enter yours in Settings, Pacekeeper keeps it on your phone with the profile it belongs to, and uses it to estimate the calories and fat burned in each session. It is optional. Leave it empty and Pacekeeper shows no calories. Your weight is never sent anywhere.
What Pacekeeper stores, and where
Each session is saved in a database inside the app on your phone:
- start and end time
- distance, moving time, average pace, and whether it was a walk or a run
- the route: a list of positions with times, distance, speed and GPS accuracy
- the climb, worked out from the altitudes your phone reported
- the calories and fat burned, as estimates, if the profile has a weight
- your average steps per minute, if your phone counted steps
- which profile the session belongs to, when more than one person uses the phone
- the weather at the start, if you switched that setting on
Your settings, such as units, auto-pause, and any weight or target pace you entered, are stored on your phone too.
None of this is sent to iDevOpsLLC or to anyone else. Pacekeeper has no account, no sign-in, no analytics, no advertising, and no crash reporting.
What leaves your phone
Map images
When you open a saved session, Pacekeeper shows your route on a map. To draw the map, your phone downloads map images for the area on screen from a map tile provider. That provider is MapTiler, and its maps are drawn from OpenStreetMap data.
Like any website, the tile server receives your IP address and which map squares were requested. That reveals the general area you are viewing. It also receives the name of the app, so MapTiler can tell the request came from Pacekeeper. It does not receive your route, your times, or anything that identifies you by name.
MapTiler's privacy policy is at maptiler.com/privacy-policy. The MapTiler logo on the map opens their website in your browser if you tap it. If a later version of Pacekeeper uses a different map provider, this section will name it.
Pacekeeper works without a network connection. Without one, the map images do not load, and nothing is sent.
The weather, if you switch it on
If you turn on Record the weather in Settings, Pacekeeper asks MET Norway, the Norwegian Meteorological Institute, for the conditions where your session started. It sends a position rounded to about a kilometre, and nothing else: no identifier, no session, no history. The reply, which is the temperature, the conditions and the wind, is saved with that session on your phone.
The setting is off until you turn it on. With it off, Pacekeeper never contacts the weather service. MET Norway's terms of service are at api.met.no/doc/TermsOfService.
Files you export
If you tap Export GPX, Pacekeeper creates a file of that session and opens your phone's share sheet. The file goes wherever you choose to send it, such as another fitness app, email or cloud storage. That service's own privacy policy then applies.
Paying for the app
Pacekeeper is free to use. A single payment, made once, unlocks interval workouts, the Stats tab, track laps with pace alerts and cadence, route pictures and more than one profile. Apple or Google handles that payment in full. Pacekeeper never sees your card, your billing address or your store account, and receives no money information of any kind. What it keeps is one yes or no on your phone, recording that this device has paid.
Backups
Pacekeeper excludes its data from Google's automatic cloud backup, so your history is not copied to Google. On Android 12 and later, moving to a new phone with a direct device-to-device transfer can bring it with you.
On iPhone, Pacekeeper marks its database as excluded from iCloud Backup, so your sessions are not copied to iCloud. You do not have to take that on trust: Settings, under Privacy, reports what iOS says about your own phone. Because nothing is backed up, moving to a new iPhone means exporting the sessions you want to keep as GPX first.
How long data is kept, and how to delete it
Sessions stay on your phone until you delete them.
- To delete one session, open it in History and tap Delete.
- To delete everything, uninstall Pacekeeper. That removes all of its data from the phone.
Permissions and how to change them
You can change any permission at any time in your phone's Settings app.
| Permission | What happens without it |
|---|---|
| Location | Pacekeeper cannot measure distance. |
| Location all the time, or Always | Tracking with the screen off still works for sessions you start in the app. |
| Precise location | Pacekeeper cannot measure distance accurately, and asks you to turn it on. |
| Physical activity, or Motion and Fitness | Walking and running are told apart by speed alone. |
| Notifications, on Android | The live-distance notification is hidden. Tracking still works. |
Children
Pacekeeper is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect information from anyone. Because Pacekeeper stores nothing on our side, we hold no data about any user, child or adult.
Changes to this policy
If this policy changes, the new version will be posted at this address with a new effective date. If a change affects what leaves your phone, the app's release notes will say so.
Contact
Questions about this policy: support@nowidevops.com