Privacy · DriveTracks
DriveTracks privacy.
DriveTracks records your own driving trips so you can see your mileage and routes. Your trips and earnings stay on your device — there's no account and no DriveTracks server. To draw maps and show weather, the app sends only the map area you're viewing and a coarse location to map and weather providers. Here's exactly what it accesses and where your data goes.
Last reviewed: June 22, 2026 · All privacy classifications
Permissions & why
DriveTracks requests only what it needs to record a trip. It does not request camera, microphone, contacts, SMS, phone, storage/photos, Bluetooth, calendar, or body-sensor access.
| Permission | Why DriveTracks needs it |
|---|---|
| Location (while using the app) | The core feature — records your trip's GPS trail, live mileage, and where you mark each pickup, dropoff, and stage. Provided by Google Play Services' fused location provider. DriveTracks requests "while using" location only — not "all the time" / background location. |
| Notifications | Shows the persistent "Recording your location trail" notice that Android requires while a trip is recording. |
| Foreground service (location) & wake lock | Keeps the GPS trail continuous and accurate while your screen is off or you're using another app mid-trip — shown the whole time by the ongoing notification. |
| Internet & network state | Loads map images (the OpenStreetMap basemap on the free tier; Mapbox on Pro) and the current weather, and fetches road data to fill GPS gaps; checks connectivity and falls back gracefully offline. |
How location is used
- Location is used only to record your own trip — the GPS trail, distance, and where you marked each event. It powers your on-device route map, live mileage, and trip reports.
- Your precise route and earnings stay on the device — they're never sent to DriveTracks (there's no server). Maps and weather receive only the map area you're viewing and a coarse (~1 km) location, just to draw the map and show the forecast.
- Location is provided by Google Play Services' fused location provider and recorded by a foreground service so the trail stays accurate with the screen off or while you use another app.
- Recording only happens during an active trip you start, and stops when you end it. There is no always-on or background tracking.
- A persistent notification is always shown while recording, so you're never tracked silently.
Your data & where it goes
Stored on your device only. There is no DriveTracks account, login, or server. Everything lives in the app's private storage:
- Trip records — GPS trail, pickup/dropoff/stage events, distance, and payouts/expenses you enter (Pro)
- Settings — units, display, map and location preferences
- Generated reports — CSV (free), and PDF on Pro — created on-device; they leave only when you tap Share or Print and pick a destination
Shared with third-party services
To draw maps and show weather, the app contacts the services below — and only those, only when the related feature is active, always over an encrypted (HTTPS) connection. Each receives the minimum it needs: the map area you're viewing, or a coarse (~1 km) location for weather. Your trips, routes, and earnings are never sent to any of them, these calls are not used to build a profile, and Just Bored Corp runs no backend that aggregates your data. In shared PDF reports, markers are drawn with an enlarged halo so they don't pinpoint exact buildings.
| Service | What's sent | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Open-Meteo — default weather (privacy) | Coarse (~1 km) coordinates | Show the local weather in the weather widget |
| National Weather Service — optional US weather (privacy) | Coarse (~1 km) coordinates | Show the local weather when you choose NWS |
| CARTO / OpenStreetMap — free-tier map (privacy) | Map tile coordinates for the area you're viewing | Draw the OpenStreetMap basemap in the app and reports |
| Mapbox (Pro) (privacy) | The map area you're viewing | Render the live interactive map and the static map image in PDF reports (Mapbox usage telemetry is disabled) |
| Overpass / OpenStreetMap (privacy) | A bounding box around your current area | Fetch road geometry to reconstruct the trail where GPS drops out |
Payments
The Pro subscription is purchased through Google Play Billing. Google processes the payment under its own terms; DriveTracks receives only whether your subscription is active — never your card or payment details — and no DriveTracks server is involved.
Advertising
DriveTracks shows no ads — in either the free or Pro tier. There's no ad SDK, no banner ads, and no Android advertising identifier (AD_ID). The app is funded by optional Pro subscriptions, not advertising.
Your controls
- Grant or revoke location anytime in Android Settings → Apps → DriveTracks → Permissions. DriveTracks only ever asks for "while using the app" location — it never requests background ("all the time") access.
- Turn off notifications (Android still requires the recording notification during an active trip).
- Skip the weather widget or the Pro map to avoid those network calls entirely.
- Delete a trip to remove its data; uninstalling the app removes all on-device data.
What is not collected
- No account, email, password, or contacts
- No call/SMS, microphone, camera, or photo access
- No selling of personal data
- No ads, no ad SDK, and no advertising ID (AD_ID)
- No first-party analytics — DriveTracks bundles no analytics or crash-reporting SDK of its own
- Your location is never sent to a DriveTracks-operated server — there isn't one
Questions about DriveTracks data? Get in touch.