Privacy Policy

This policy explains what information the Walking Past (“WaPas”, “we”, “us”) mobile app and this website collect, why, and the choices you have. In short: your location is used on your phone to find monuments near you. We don’t sell it, we don’t build a history of where you’ve been, and you can switch it off at any time.

1. Location

Location is the core of the app. It’s how Walking Past knows which city you’re in, sorts monuments by distance, and tells you when you’re within about 150 metres of one.

Location while you use the app

With “while using the app” permission, the app reads your device’s location to show nearby monuments and their distance from you.

Background location

If you also allow location “all the time” (Android) or “Always” (iOS), the app keeps checking your location when it’s closed so it can send you a notification as you pass a monument. This is optional: you can say no, turn it off with the toggle on the app’s home screen, or change it in your phone’s settings, and everything else in the app keeps working. On Android, background location may restart the app’s location service after your phone restarts, only if you’ve allowed it.

Motion and activity

The app uses your phone’s motion sensors to tell whether you’re moving or still, so it can pause location updates while you’re stationary and save battery.

Where your location goes

• Your location is processed on your device to match it against the list of monuments. We do not send it to our servers or keep a record of where you’ve been.
• When you open a monument, the app sends your current position and the monument’s position to the Google Maps Platform to work out the road distance. Google handles that request under its own privacy policy.
• If you tap “Directions”, your maps app opens with the monument as the destination.

2. Other information the app uses

• Questions you ask the guide. When you use the Ask tab, your question is sent, together with that monument’s published description and safety notes, to our server (hosted on Google Firebase) and on to our AI provider, Anthropic, to write the answer. Please don’t include personal details in your questions. We don’t use your questions to identify you.
• Bookmarks and settings are stored only on your device. Uninstalling the app removes them.
• Notifications about nearby monuments are created on your device. You can turn them off in your phone’s settings.
• Monument content (stories, photos, safety notes) is downloaded from our servers. Like any website, those servers briefly record technical details such as your IP address and device type in their logs, for security and to keep the service running.
• Contacting us from the app opens your email or phone app. We receive whatever you choose to send.

The app does not require an account, does not show advertising, and does not track you across other apps or websites.

3. This website

• Contact form. If you send us a message, we store your name, email address, topic and message, along with your IP address and browser type to help us block spam. We use these only to reply to you and improve the app.
• No tracking cookies. This website does not use advertising or analytics cookies.
• Server logs. Our web server records standard request details (IP address, pages requested, browser type) for security.

4. Who we share information with

We don’t sell your information. We share it only with the services that make the app work, and only what they need:

• Google (Firebase and Google Maps Platform): hosting, the guide’s server and road distances.
• Anthropic: generating answers to the questions you ask the guide.
• Our hosting provider: the servers that store monument content and website messages.

We may also disclose information if the law requires it.

5. How long we keep it

• Location: not stored by us.
• Contact messages: kept until your enquiry is resolved, then deleted within 12 months, or sooner if you ask.
• Server logs: kept for a limited period for security, then deleted.

6. Your choices and rights

• Turn location, background location, motion or notifications on or off at any time in the app or in your phone’s settings.
• Ask us what information we hold about you, or ask us to correct or delete it, by emailing Tampivihaan@gmail.com.
• Depending on where you live, including under India’s Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, you may have further rights, such as raising a grievance with us or with the relevant authority.

7. Children

Walking Past is meant for a general audience and is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has sent us information, contact us and we will delete it.

8. Security

Information travels to and from our servers over encrypted connections (HTTPS), and access to stored messages is limited to our team. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, but we work to protect what we hold.

9. Changes to this policy

If we change this policy, we’ll update the date at the top of this page. If the change is significant, for example a new use of your location, we’ll also tell you in the app.

10. Contact

Questions or requests about privacy: Tampivihaan@gmail.com or +91 99995 34100.