Privacy Policy
Who we are
PivotPlan is an iPhone and iPad app for planning trips. It is published by Breck Ashby, an individual developer in the United States ("we" and "us" in this policy). Under data protection laws such as the EU and UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), we are the controller of the personal data described here. You can reach us at [email protected].
What we collect
- Account details. When you sign in we receive your email address and create an account ID. With Sign in with Apple, Apple shares your name and email address; if you choose Hide My Email, we receive an Apple relay address instead of your real one. You also have a display name, which people you share trips with can see: the name Apple shares the first time you use Sign in with Apple, or one you enter. You can change it on the Account screen. If you sign in with a password, our sign-in provider stores it only as a secure hash.
- The trips you plan. Trip names, dates and destinations; days; anchors (your planned activities); sidequests you save; notes; logistics such as lodging and transport; planned spending; what you mark as done; whether you've turned trip reminders on or off; and the names and map coordinates of the places you add.
- Attachments. Photos and files you attach to logistics items, such as booking confirmations.
- Sharing. When you invite someone to a trip, we keep the invitation and the list of the trip's members. Members see the trip and each other's display names, never each other's email addresses.
- Smarter Suggestions usage. If you turn on Smarter Suggestions, we keep a count of how often it runs so we can keep usage within limits. What it sends is described below.
- Sign-in records. Our sign-in provider keeps a record of each device you're signed in on, including its IP address and device type, until you sign out there or delete your account. It also keeps a security log of sign-in events (the time, your IP address, and your email address).
- Technical logs. Like any online service, our providers' servers record basic request details, such as IP address and time, when the app connects or you visit this website. These logs are used for security and troubleshooting and are kept for a limited time.
- Messages you send us. If you email [email protected] or [email protected], we keep your message and email address so we can answer you.
What stays on your device
- Your current location, when you use Near me (see Location).
- When your reminders go off, and the notifications scheduled for them.
- What your widget and Live Activity show.
- Your app preferences.
Copies of your trips are also kept on your device so the app works offline.
What we don't collect
PivotPlan contains no analytics, advertising, or tracking code. We don't access your contacts, and we don't store where your device is. If you allow your device to share analytics with app developers (in iOS Settings, under Privacy & Security, Analytics & Improvements), Apple may give us anonymous crash reports; you control that setting.
How we use it, and why we're allowed to
We use your data only to provide PivotPlan. We don't use it for advertising or profiling. Laws such as the GDPR require a "legal basis" for each use:
| What we do | Data used | Legal basis |
|---|---|---|
| Run your account and sync your trips across your devices | Account details, trips, attachments | Providing the service you signed up for (contract) |
| Share trips with the people you invite | Display name, the shared trip | Contract |
| Send sign-in emails | Email address | Contract |
| Smarter Suggestions | The trip details listed below | Your consent, which you can withdraw at any time by turning it off |
| Find places near you | Your current location | Your consent, given through iOS location permission |
| Keep the service secure, prevent abuse, and fix problems | Technical logs, usage counts | Our legitimate interest in running a safe, reliable service |
| Answer messages you send us | Your message and email address | Our legitimate interest in helping you and handling your requests |
| Meet legal requirements | Whatever the law requires | Legal obligation |
Who we share it with
We share personal data only with the service providers below, who process it for us under contracts that require them to protect it and to use it only to provide their service to us; with the people you choose; and when the law requires. We never sell your personal data or share it for targeted advertising.
- Supabase runs our database, sign-in, and file storage. It stores your account, trips, and attachments on servers in the United States. (Supabase privacy policy)
- Resend sends our sign-in emails and receives your email address to do so. (Resend privacy policy)
- OpenAI receives trip details only if you turn on Smarter Suggestions; see Smarter Suggestions. (OpenAI's commitments for API data)
- Cloudflare hosts this website and forwards email sent to pivotplan.dev addresses, so it handles website visitors' IP addresses and the messages you send us. (Cloudflare privacy policy)
- Google hosts the inbox those messages are delivered to (Gmail). (Google privacy policy)
- Apple provides Sign in with Apple; Apple Maps search, maps, and Look Around imagery; and Apple Weather forecasts for your saved places on your trip dates. Apple handles that data under its own privacy policy.
- People you share a trip with see that trip and your display name.
- Authorities, if a law, court order, or someone's safety requires it. We'll tell you when we're allowed to.
- A new owner. If PivotPlan is transferred, for example to a company formed to run it, your data moves with it under this policy, and we'll tell you before anything changes about how it's used.
Smarter Suggestions
Smarter Suggestions isn't available to everyone yet. Where it is, it's off until you turn it on, and the app asks for your permission first. The app shows you exactly what it shares:
When available, Smarter Suggestions uses OpenAI to choose and explain useful changes. Turning this on allows trip dates, anchor names and times, and suggestion text to be sent for ranking. When you tap to find something nearby, place names and categories, available time, and approximate distances may also be sent to choose activity ideas. Names can reveal places you plan to visit. Notes, account email, saved sidequests, and raw coordinates are not included in the request. Ordinary suggestions still work when this service is unavailable or turned off.
OpenAI processes this for us. Under its API terms, OpenAI does not use it to train its models. We ask OpenAI not to store the responses, but it may keep requests for up to 30 days to detect abuse. You can turn Smarter Suggestions off at any time on the Account screen.
Location, explained
PivotPlan uses two kinds of location, and handles them differently.
- Where you are right now. Only when you tap Near me, and only with your iOS location permission, the app reads your current location and asks Apple Maps for places around it. Your location goes to Apple for that search; it never reaches our servers and is not saved. You can turn location access off in iOS Settings at any time.
- Places you save. When you add an anchor, sidequest, or lodging, its name and map coordinates become part of your trip, so they sync to our servers like the rest of your plan. That is why the App Store lists "Precise Location" for PivotPlan.
Where your data is processed
Our servers are in the United States. If you live elsewhere, your data is transferred to the US. For transfers from the European Economic Area, the UK, and Switzerland, our service providers' data processing agreements include the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses and their UK and Swiss equivalents.
How long we keep it
- While you have an account, we keep your trips and attachments so you can use them.
- Removing a trip hides it from your trip list but keeps it in your account. It is permanently deleted when you delete your account.
- When you delete your account, we delete your account, the trips you own, their attachments, and your trip memberships right away. If you used Sign in with Apple, we also revoke PivotPlan's access to your Apple ID, and your sign-in records are deleted with your account. Limited copies, including entries in our sign-in provider's security log, may remain in our providers' logs or backups for up to 30 days before they are removed.
- Anything you added to a trip someone else owns stays with that trip, because it is part of their plan.
- Resend keeps records of the sign-in emails it delivers for a limited time under its own policy. OpenAI may keep Smarter Suggestions requests for up to 30 days, as described above.
- On the device you delete your account from, PivotPlan removes its copies of your trips and attachments right away. On your other devices, those copies stay until you delete the app there. People you shared a trip with may keep a copy of it on their devices.
- We keep messages you send us for as long as we need them to answer you and to keep a record of any privacy request.
Your rights and choices
In the app you can edit your trips, remove them from your trip list (removed trips are permanently deleted with your account), change your display name, turn Smarter Suggestions off, and delete your account (tap the Account button, then Delete Account). Location access and notifications are controlled in iOS Settings.
By email to [email protected], you can ask for a copy of your data, ask us to correct or delete it, ask us to restrict or stop a use of it, or withdraw a consent you gave. We answer within 30 days, free of charge, and may ask you to confirm the request comes from your account's email address.
In the EU, UK, and Switzerland you also have the right to data portability and the right to complain to your local data protection authority (EU authorities, UK ICO).
In the United States, depending on your state, you may have the right to know about, access, correct, and delete your personal data, and to opt out of its sale or use for targeted advertising. We do neither, so there is nothing to opt out of; the other requests work by email as above. We won't treat you differently for using any of these rights.
Security
Your data travels over encrypted connections (HTTPS). Our database lets each account read only its own trips and the trips shared with it. On your device, attachments are stored with iOS data protection. No system is perfectly secure; if a breach affects your data, we will notify you and the authorities as the law requires.
Children
PivotPlan is not directed at children under 13, or under the age of digital consent where you live (up to 16 in parts of the EU), and we don't knowingly collect their data. If you believe a child has given us personal data, email [email protected] and we will delete it.
Changes to this policy
When we update this policy, we change the effective date at the top. If a change is significant, for example a new kind of data or a new company we share it with, we will tell you in the app or by email before it takes effect. Past versions are available on request.
Contact
Breck Ashby, PivotPlan · [email protected]