Privacy policy

1. Data that stays on your iPhone

Geostay does its work on your device. We have no server that receives the following, and we cannot see it:

• Location. With your permission, the app records where your iPhone is, including in the background, and works out which country you are in using map data built into the app. Locations are not sent to us or to any mapping service.
• Photo library. If you choose to import past trips from your photos, the app reads the date, time and place stored with each photo. It does not upload, copy or send your photos.
• Camera. If you scan a permit or visa, the text is read on your iPhone to fill in its dates. The image is not sent anywhere.
• Files you import. Location history, flight logs and spreadsheets you import are read on your iPhone.
• What you tell the app. Your citizenship, visas and residence statuses, permit dates, home country, goals, trips, edits, answers to questions and any proof documents you attach.
• Notifications and widgets. Warnings and reminders are scheduled on your iPhone. The widget reads your counts from the app on the same device.

Because this data is stored in the app, it is included in your iPhone's iCloud or computer backup if you have backups turned on. Those backups are handled by Apple under Apple's own terms.

2. Data that leaves your iPhone

Purchases and subscriptions

Payments are processed by Apple. We never see your name, Apple Account, card or billing details.

We use RevenueCat, Inc. to manage subscriptions. When the app starts and when you buy or restore Geostay Premium, the app shares the following with RevenueCat:

• a random identifier created for your installation of the app, not linked to your name or Apple Account;
• your App Store transactions and subscription status;
• basic device and app information, such as device model, iOS version, app version, your App Store country, language and IP address.

We use this only to unlock Premium, restore purchases, handle trials, renewals and refunds, and understand how many people subscribe. RevenueCat processes this data on our behalf. Its privacy policy is at revenuecat.com/privacy.

Apple Search Ads attribution

If you downloaded Geostay after tapping an Apple Search Ads ad, the app passes Apple's attribution token to RevenueCat. Apple uses it to tell us which ad campaign and search term led to the download. It does not tell us who you are. This does not use your device's advertising identifier and does not track you across other companies' apps or websites. It is separate from the tracking permission described under Advertising measurement. Apple describes this in its Apple Ads privacy notice.

Advertising measurement

We use AppsFlyer Ltd. to measure ads we run for Geostay, including on Meta (Facebook and Instagram). We do this to see which ads lead to an install, a trial or a subscription, and so those campaigns can be measured and optimised. AppsFlyer's privacy policy for this service is at appsflyer.com/legal/services-privacy-policy.

The app sends AppsFlyer:

• an identifier AppsFlyer creates for this installation of the app (the AppsFlyer ID);
• your iPhone's vendor identifier (IDFV);
• your iPhone's advertising identifier (IDFA), only if you tap Allow when asked for permission to track;
• your IP address, device model and iOS version;
• the fact that the app was installed or opened;
• three events, with no amounts: that a trial started, that a purchase happened, and that onboarding finished.

RevenueCat also sends AppsFlyer your subscription events (when a trial starts, and when you purchase, renew or cancel), including the price. Those events are tied to the AppsFlyer ID and to the random app identifier described under Purchases.

AppsFlyer shares install and conversion data with Meta, so Meta can measure our ads and optimise our campaigns. Nothing about the countries you visit, the places you go, your dates, trips or photos is sent to AppsFlyer, RevenueCat or Meta.

You can allow or refuse tracking when the app asks. You can change this later in Settings › Privacy & Security › Tracking. If you don't allow tracking, the advertising identifier is not used. Your travel history stays on your iPhone either way.

Law updates

The app downloads our list of visa and tax law changes from a server hosted by Supabase. Every user downloads the same list. The request contains nothing about you, your trips, your visas or your rules: the app decides on your iPhone which updates are relevant to you. As with any internet request, the server receives your IP address and basic technical details, which the host may keep in short-lived logs for security and reliability. We don't use them to identify you.

App usage and crash reports

We use PostHog, Inc. to understand how the app is used and to fix crashes. Data goes to PostHog's servers in the European Union. The app sends:

• a random identifier created for your installation of the app, not linked to your name or Apple Account;
• app events, such as opening the app, which setup screens you reached and how long you spent on them, which permissions you gave, when you saw the paywall and what opened it, whether you started, cancelled or restored a subscription, how many days since you installed the app, whether you imported photos or files and how many days, stays or skipped lines that produced, how many questions you were asked and answered, and whether you added, removed or reordered counters, shared a report or saved a backup;
• once a day, counts that describe your record without revealing it, such as how many counters, trips and open questions you have, how many days your record covers, and whether location recording and notifications are on;
• whether you have Geostay Premium, which also comes from RevenueCat under the same random identifier;
• crash details, such as where in the app's code a crash happened;
• basic device and app information, such as device model, iOS version, app version, language, screen size, whether you are on Wi-Fi or mobile data, and your App Store country (the country of your Apple Account, which does not change when you travel).

These events never contain your locations, the countries you visit, dates, trips, photos, documents or anything you tell the app about your visas or residence. The app does not send your time zone, and PostHog does not look up your location from your IP address or keep your IP address. We don't record your screen, your taps or what you type, except feedback you send as described below. PostHog processes this data on our behalf. Its privacy policy is at posthog.com/privacy.

Feedback you send

If you send feedback from the app's Profile screen, we receive the message you write and the kind you picked (idea, problem or other), together with the random identifier, app version and Premium status described above. It goes to PostHog in the same way. We use it only to improve the app; it doesn't include a way to reply to you, so write to us by email if you want an answer. Please don't include anything you wouldn't want us to see.

Crash reports from Apple

If you have turned on "Share With App Developers" in your iPhone's Analytics & Improvements settings, Apple shares crash reports and usage statistics with us. Apple does not include information that identifies you. You can turn this off in Settings at any time.

What you choose to share

Reports, day logs and backups you create are saved or sent wherever you choose, for example to your accountant, by email or to Files. Once you share them, the recipient's and service's own privacy practices apply. Links to official sources open in your browser.

3. What we don't do

• We don't ask you to create an account.
• We don't show ads in the app. We do measure ads we run elsewhere, as described under Advertising measurement, and that measurement can track you across other companies' apps and websites. The advertising identifier is used only if you allow tracking.
• We don't sell your personal information. We share the advertising-measurement data described above with AppsFlyer and Meta to measure and optimise our ads.
• We don't combine your travel history, locations, photos or documents with data from other companies. Advertising-measurement data can be linked with Meta's data about our ads.

4. Why we process data (legal bases)

If you are in the EU, the UK or another place with similar laws, we rely on these legal bases:

• Contract: to provide Geostay Premium when you subscribe, and to restore your purchases.
• Consent: when you allow tracking, to use your device's advertising identifier to measure our ads. You can withdraw that in Settings › Privacy & Security › Tracking.
• Legitimate interests: to measure which ads lead to downloads, to understand how the app is used so we can improve it, to keep the law-update service secure and working, and to fix crashes. We have balanced these against your rights and keep this data limited to what those purposes need.
• Legal obligation: to keep transaction records required by tax and accounting law.

Processing your location, photos, documents and travel history happens on your device under your control, with the permissions you grant in iOS.

5. How long data is kept

• On your iPhone: until you delete it in the app or delete the app.
• Purchase records at RevenueCat: for as long as needed to provide your subscription and to meet accounting and legal obligations, or until you ask us to delete them where the law allows.
• App usage and crash data at PostHog: for as long as it helps us improve the app, and no longer than our PostHog plan keeps it.
• Advertising-measurement data at AppsFlyer: up to 24 months.
• Server logs for law updates: only for the short period the hosting provider keeps them.

6. Your choices and rights

• You can allow or turn off Location, Photos, Camera and Notifications for Geostay at any time in your iPhone's Settings.
• Deleting the app removes everything it stored on your iPhone. Deleting the app does not cancel a subscription: manage or cancel it in your Apple Account settings.
• Depending on where you live, you may have the right to access, correct, delete, restrict or object to the processing of your personal data, to receive a copy of it, and to withdraw consent. Email us to use these rights. Because we don't know who you are, we may ask for the order ID from your App Store receipt so we can find the right purchase record.
• If you are in the EU or the UK, you can also complain to your local data protection authority.
• California residents: we don't sell personal information. We share the advertising-measurement data described above with AppsFlyer and Meta to measure and optimise our ads. Under California law, that is "sharing" for cross-context behavioural advertising. Refusing tracking in Settings › Privacy & Security › Tracking stops use of the advertising identifier. Email us if you want the rest of this sharing stopped.

7. International transfers

RevenueCat and PostHog are based in the United States; PostHog stores Geostay's data in the European Union. AppsFlyer is based in Israel, and Meta in Ireland and the United States. Our service providers may process data in countries other than yours. Where the law requires it, these transfers are protected by safeguards such as the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses.

8. Security

Data in the app is protected by your iPhone's built-in encryption and passcode. Data sent to RevenueCat, PostHog, AppsFlyer and our law-update server travels over encrypted connections (HTTPS).

9. Children

Geostay is not intended for children under 13, and we don't knowingly collect personal data from them. If you believe a child has given us personal data, contact us and we will delete it.

10. Changes to this policy

If we change this policy, we will update the effective date above.

11. Contact

Mehmet Ali Kısacık
Email: supportdayline@gmail.com