Effective date: April 14, 2026
PawMesh does not collect, transmit, or share any personal data. Everything stays on your iPhone. There are no accounts, no analytics, no ads, and no cloud servers.
1. What Data Is Collected
PawMesh itself does not collect any data from you. However, the app works with the following information, all of which remains on your device:
- GPS location data — Your iPhone's location is used to display your position on the map and to calculate bearing and distance to your dogs. Dog tracker positions (latitude, longitude, altitude, speed, heading, and timestamp) are received from LoRa mesh radio nodes and stored locally.
- Dog profile information — Names, colors, and other identifiers you assign to your tracked dogs.
- Photos — If you choose to set a photo avatar for a dog, the selected image from your photo library is stored within the app's local database on your device.
- Encryption keys (PSK) — The pre-shared key used to communicate with your LoRa mesh radio is stored securely in the iOS Keychain on your device.
- Map tiles — USGS topographic map tiles that you download for offline use are stored as files on your device.
2. How Data Is Used
All data processed by PawMesh is used solely to provide the app's core functionality:
- Displaying your location and your dogs' locations on a topographic map.
- Calculating distance and compass bearing to each dog.
- Rendering dog avatars and profile information in the app interface.
- Establishing a secure Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) connection with your LoRa mesh companion radio.
- Providing offline map access in areas without cell service.
No data is used for advertising, profiling, analytics, or any purpose beyond what is described above.
3. Data Storage and Security
- On-device only — All app data is stored locally on your iPhone using SwiftData. PawMesh has no server or cloud backend. Your data is never uploaded anywhere.
- Keychain storage — Encryption keys (PSKs) used for LoRa mesh radio communication are stored in the iOS Keychain, which provides hardware-backed encryption and protection.
- Bluetooth — Communication between your iPhone and the LoRa mesh companion radio occurs over a direct BLE connection. No data passes through any external server.
- Location services — If you grant "Always" location access, the app can continue receiving dog positions while in the background. Your location is never transmitted off your device by PawMesh.
- Deletion — Deleting the app removes all locally stored data, including the database, cached map tiles, and Keychain entries associated with the app.
4. Third-Party Services
PawMesh does not use any third-party analytics, advertising, crash-reporting, or tracking services.
The only external network request the app makes is to download topographic map tiles from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) National Map tile servers. These are publicly available U.S. government map images. No personal data is included in these requests beyond your device's IP address, which is standard for any web request. The USGS privacy policy is available at usgs.gov/privacy-policy.
5. Children's Privacy
PawMesh does not collect personal information from any user, including children under the age of 13. Because no data is collected or transmitted, the app complies with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and similar regulations.
6. Changes to This Policy
If this privacy policy is updated, the revised version will be posted at this URL with a new effective date. Continued use of the app after changes are posted constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.
7. Contact Information
If you have questions or concerns about this privacy policy, you can reach the developer:
- Developer: Levi Johnson
- GitHub: Open an issue on the PawMesh repository