Hykr
Privacy Policy
Hykr is a hiking app: offline maps and routing, a record of the hikes you walk, and group hikes led by local guides. This page says what we hold, why, and what we will not do. The section on location is the one that matters most, so it comes first.
1. Location, in plain terms
- Your own hikes are yours. When you record a hike, the track is stored on your device. It is uploaded to your account only if you are signed in, and it stays private unless you publish it.
- If you join an organised hike, you are located once. At the meeting point you check in, and we record that single position to mark you present. After that you are not tracked. There is no part of our system that can record a traveller's position continuously — the database has nowhere to put it.
- Coordinators are tracked only while leading. If you lead an organised hike, your position is recorded during that hike (from 30 minutes before the start to two hours after the end) so that someone can tell where the group is if something goes wrong. It stops automatically, you consent each time, and you can end it early.
- Positions upload only when there is signal, so what anyone sees is your last known position and how old it is. Nothing here is live tracking.
2. What we collect
| Data | Why |
|---|---|
| Name, email, profile photo (from Google if you sign in that way) | Your account and public profile |
| Experience level, pace, home region | Better time estimates and relevant suggestions |
| Saved routes and recorded hikes | Your hiking record, synced across your devices |
| Photos you take in the app, with the position, altitude and time of the shot | Documenting a hike; the position is what pins a photo to a point on the route |
| Emergency contacts (name, number, relationship) | Shown to you when you raise an SOS; reachable by our team during an active incident |
| SOS events: position, time, and who was notified | So there is a record of what happened |
| Attendance at an organised hike | Knowing who is actually on the hike |
| Coordinator positions during a departure | Group safety monitoring and incident review |
| Verification documents, if you apply to be a contributor | Checking the registration, qualifications and insurance your state requires |
3. How long we keep it
- Your account data and hikes: until you delete them or close your account.
- Coordinator tracks: in detail for a short period after the hike, for incident review, then reduced to a summary.
- SOS records: kept longer, because they are a safety record.
- Verification documents: only while needed to verify you, then deleted on a schedule.
- Financial records (once paid treks launch): as tax law requires.
4. Who can see what
- You can see everything of your own.
- A coordinator can see their own hike's roster and who checked in — not your other hikes, and not your location afterwards.
- Hykr staff can see scheduled and running hikes, coordinator positions, check-ins and — during an incident — emergency contacts. Staff cannot change your data.
- The public sees only what you publish: a published hike, its photos, and your public profile.
These limits are enforced by the database itself, not only by the app.
5. Who else is involved
We use Supabase (accounts, database, photo storage), Vercel (serving the app), Railway (our routing service), Cloudflare (domain and file delivery) and Google (if you choose to sign in with Google). Map data comes from OpenStreetMap and elevation data from the Copernicus programme; neither receives anything about you. We do not sell your data, and we do not use advertising trackers.
6. Your choices
- Use the app without an account. Routing, recording and SOS all work on-device; nothing syncs.
- Refuse location. The map still works; routing from your position, recording, check-in and SOS positions do not.
- Delete your data. Delete individual hikes, photos and contacts in the app, or ask us to close your account and remove your personal data. Reviews are anonymised rather than removed, and records we must keep for tax are kept.
- Export. Any hike can be exported as GPX from the app.
7. Children
Hykr is for adults. If a minor joins a hike, a parent or guardian books and is responsible for them.
8. Security, honestly stated
Access is enforced per row in our database, identity documents are kept in a private store that the app cannot read, and photos are private until you publish them. No system is perfect: if we discover a breach affecting you, we will tell you what happened and what to do.
9. Contact
Questions, corrections or deletion requests: privacy@hykr.me. We will name a grievance officer here before paid bookings launch.
This is an early draft written to describe the product as it actually works. It is pending review by an Indian lawyer, and will be updated before any paid booking is taken.