TravelLog privacy policy
Effective date: 18 October 2026
Developer: Pontus Holmberg
Contact: pontus@wildtechs.se
The short version
TravelLog records where your car has been, which is sensitive, so it is built so that nobody but you can read it, including me.
- Your trips are stored on your car, encrypted.
- If you choose to back them up, they are encrypted on your car before they leave it and stored in your own Google Drive. The key is made from a recovery key or passphrase that only you hold.
- I run no server and receive none of your data. I cannot see your trips, your location or your Google account, and I cannot recover your trips if you lose your key.
- There are no ads, no analytics and no crash reporting in the apps.
- The only time anything leaves your devices in readable form is if you turn on the optional map background, which asks a map provider for map images (see "Map background").
Who this applies to
This policy covers the TravelLog car app (Android Automotive) and the TravelLog phone app.
What the apps handle
| What | Where it lives | Where it goes |
|---|---|---|
| Trips: start and end time, route (GPS positions), distance, speeds, energy or fuel used, charging and fuel stops, trailer flag | In an encrypted database on the car | Only to your own Google Drive, encrypted, if you connect Drive |
| The car's display settings (units such as miles or km) and which car it is (make, model, year) | On the car | To your Drive, encrypted, so the phone can show trips the same way |
| Your recovery key or passphrase, and the key made from it | On your devices only, protected by the Android Keystore | Never sent anywhere in readable form. While pairing a car with a phone, the key passes through your Drive sealed with a one-time secret that only the car's screen shows, and is deleted right after |
| A Google access token, so the apps can reach your Drive folder | On the device, protected by the Android Keystore | Only to Google |
| A copy of your trips on the phone | In an encrypted database on the phone | Nowhere |
The apps read the car's position, speed, battery or fuel level and ignition state to record trips. The car app does this in the background, because trips have to be recorded while you drive without you opening the app. A notification is shown while a trip is being recorded.
Google Drive
You connect Google Drive by approving a code on google.com/device. The apps ask for one permission only, drive.file, which lets them see only the files they created themselves in a folder called "TravelLog". They cannot see anything else in your Drive, and they do not receive your name. They read the email address of the connected account from Drive only to show you which Google account is in use (so you can check that your car and phone use the same one); it is kept on your device and is not sent anywhere else. All files are encrypted before upload, so Google stores unreadable data. Google can still see that files exist, their size and when they changed.
TravelLog's use and transfer of information received from Google APIs adheres to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements.
Map background (optional, off by default)
If you turn on the map background, the app downloads map images from MapTiler (a Swiss map service, maptiler.com) over an encrypted connection. While a map is shown the provider can see your IP address and which map areas you look at, which is roughly where the trip was, plus the name of the app. Nothing else is sent. The images are kept in memory only and are not saved. The app asks you before turning this on, and you can turn it off at any time. With it off, routes are drawn without a map and nothing is sent. MapTiler's own privacy policy applies to what it does with that data (https://www.maptiler.com/privacy-policy/): it says it processes IP addresses for security checks and keeps them for up to two months, and that it does not track end users to sell targeted ads.
Marking and exporting trips
In the phone app you can mark each trip as private, work or unspecified. That mark is stored the same way as everything else: encrypted, on your phone and in your own Google Drive, never with me. You can also export the trips you are looking at as a CSV file (date, times, category, distance, energy or fuel used; never the route). The app makes the file in its private storage and hands it to the app you pick in Android's share sheet; what that app does with it is up to you and that app. I receive nothing.
The subscription
The phone app can be used free for 30 days, and after that needs a subscription (TravelLog Plus), bought through Google Play. The purchase is between you and Google: I do not receive your name, payment details or any other personal information, and the app only asks Google Play whether you have an active subscription. The date your free trial started is kept in a small encrypted file in your own Google Drive (next to your trips), so that reinstalling the app does not start the trial again; I cannot read it. The car app is free.
Scanning QR codes
The phone app scans QR codes (to set up from the car) using Google's code scanner that is part of Google Play services. The camera image is handled by that component on your phone; the app only receives the text the code contains.
What I do not do
- I do not collect, store, sell, share or analyse your trips or location.
- I do not use advertising, analytics or crash-reporting services.
- I do not use your data to build profiles.
- Both apps turn off Android's automatic app backup, so trip data does not end up in a cloud backup of the device. The phone app lets you take screenshots, so you can share a trip if you want to; what you do with a screenshot is up to you.
How long data is kept, and deleting it
- On your devices it is kept until you delete it. You can delete a single trip, on the car or on the phone, which also removes it from your Drive and from the other device. You can delete everything the apps saved in your Drive with "Delete all trips from Drive" (phone) or "Delete cloud data" (car). Deleted files are removed permanently. Signing out of the phone app removes its copy and keys. Uninstalling an app removes its data from that device.
- In your Google Drive the files stay until you delete them as above or yourself in Drive.
- With me there is nothing to delete, because I never receive your data.
Your key
Your trips can only be read with your recovery key or passphrase. If you lose it, nobody can recover your trips, including me. Keep the recovery key somewhere safe.
Reporting a problem
The phone app's Settings has a button for reporting a bug or a translation problem. It opens your own email app with a message to me (pontus@wildtechs.se), pre-filled with the app version, your Android version, the device model and the app's language, to help me find the problem. Nothing is sent unless you send it from your email app, and the message holds no trips, routes, account or key. I use what you write only to answer you and to fix the problem.
Your rights
Because I hold none of your data, there is nothing for me to give you a copy of, correct or erase. You control your data directly: it is on your devices and in your own Google Drive, and you can delete it as described above. If you have a question or a concern, write to pontus@wildtechs.se. If you live in the EU or EEA you also have the right to complain to your national data protection authority.
Children
TravelLog is not aimed at children, and I do not knowingly collect any data from anyone.
Changes
If this policy changes in a way that matters, I will update the effective date and, for a material change, say so in the app's update notes.
Contact
Pontus Holmberg, pontus@wildtechs.se