This policy explains what Block Crawler, LLC ("we") collects through Block Crawler (the "App"), why, and what choices you have. The short version: your location stays on your phone, we count blocks rather than track you, and we don't sell or license personal data to anyone.
1. If you just browse.
No account is created. Our servers receive the standard request data needed to serve the App (IP address, requests made, timestamps) and keep it in operational logs for 30 days. We use no third-party analytics or advertising SDKs.
2. Crash reports.
If the App or our server crashes, a report goes to Sentry, our crash-reporting provider. It contains what went wrong in the code, the App version, the device model and iOS version, and the kind of screen or request involved. It contains no account, name, email, location or IP address; place and area ids and search text are removed before it is sent, and IP storage is off in our Sentry projects.
3. Anonymous usage counts.
Unless you turn them off (Account → Usage data), the App counts which features get used: app opened, a screen opened, a search, a deed viewed, a review or Lore posted, a session started or ended, and whether a session recorded anything while you were moving. The counts carry a random id made on your phone that is not linked to your account; we never connect the two, and they never include your location. "Reset usage id" starts a new, unconnected id.
4. Your account.
If you sign in (Sign in with Apple or Google), we store an opaque provider identifier (never your password); the email address the provider gives us, if verified (with Apple's "Hide My Email" this is a relay address); a display name if you choose one; which versions of these documents you agreed to, when, and from which App version; whether you passed the age check (yes/no only — the birth year you enter is checked on your phone and never sent to us); and your account status and creation date.
5. Public profile.
Profiles are public by default; you can make yours private at any time in Account. A public profile shows your display name, level, points, titles and achievements, the deeds you hold, your rank on honour boards, the month you joined, and, only if you turn on "show city", the city of your area (never a neighbourhood). A private account appears to others only as "A crawler" with its rank. People you've blocked can't see your profile.
6. Crawling.
If you tap "Start crawling", the App records your route while you move — in the background too, with iOS's location indicator on — until you tap Stop. If you turn on Auto crawl (off unless you do), the App asks for "Always" location and Motion & Fitness and uses them only to notice when you start moving, record, and stop after five minutes still; you can pause or turn it off at any time.
The route, its times, the streets it matched and the map cells you passed through stay on your phone, encrypted with a key that stays on it. You choose how long routes are kept (forever, a year or 90 days) and can delete any one.
The App works out on your phone how you were moving. We receive only counts: how many blocks, paths and trails you've covered and how far, by how you moved, in each county, city and neighbourhood; distance off the mapped ways; new map cells per area; and a long trip's start and end at county level or coarser. We keep those with your account to show your progress, plus each day's counts for the daily limits, for two days. Steps, motion activity and speeds are never sent.
Places you've been (for deeds): the App works out on your phone which blocks, commercial buildings and places you've been within about 50 metres of and sends us only their ids, with no time, order or coordinates, and never a home. We keep that list with your account so "Visit to unlock" works.
Your own iCloud (on unless you turn it off): routes, Activities and heat are copied to this App's private iCloud storage that only your Apple ID can reach, sealed with a key in your iCloud Keychain. It never passes through our servers.
Apple Health (off unless you turn it on): "Backfill from Apple Health" reads your workouts and their routes — never steps or heart rate — on your phone, and we receive only the same per-area counts, marked as coming from a workout. Your Health data is never sent to us, used for advertising, sold or shared.
Google Maps Timeline (optional): a Timeline file you export from Google Maps is read on your phone and deleted there; we receive only per-area counts, marked as imported, once per account.
Diagnostics and share cards leave your phone only through the share sheet and only when you start it. A diagnostics export has no locations unless you turn on "Include trace".
"Delete my exploration" removes all of it — on your phone, in your iCloud and on our server. So does deleting your account.
7. The game.
With an account we keep a log of the points you earn and spend and why; points you buy (through Apple), kept apart from earned points, with Apple's transaction id so they can be reversed on refund; the deeds you hold (a block, a place or a commercial building — never a home), what you paid, any listing or auction, your bids, and a log of each sale and transfer; quests completed each day; power-ups, looks and vouchers you hold and when one was used; achievements and titles; each area's lap count (a number, never a route); your rank on honour boards; and offers, gifts and duels between you and other crawlers. Anyone looking at a deed sees "Owned", or "Owned by" your display name if your profile is public. When someone checks in at or reviews a place whose deed you hold, you get a point; you aren't told who. All of it is deleted with your account, and your deeds return to the game.
8. Purchases.
Crawler Plus, points packs, vouchers, look packs and the Founder's Pack are bought through Apple. We never see your card, billing address or Apple ID. RevenueCat, the service that connects the App to the App Store, knows your account by its random id (not your name or email), receives Apple's receipt, and tells our server when a purchase, subscription, renewal, end or refund happens. We keep a record of each such event — the product, the kind of event, when, and Apple's transaction id — to grant what you bought, take it back on refund, hold packs to $50 a month and answer billing questions.
9. Home Base (being tested).
If you claim the home you live in, you prove it with a photo of a utility bill, lease, statement or government ID showing your name and that address, and type your legal name as it appears. We ask you to cover account and ID numbers first. The photo goes to a private, encrypted storage bucket and your typed name to a private table; a person at Block Crawler compares them with the address. Both are deleted as soon as that person decides, and the bucket deletes anything left after 30 days regardless. The photo is never sent to another company, never read by any automated system or AI, never backed up and never shown to another user. After approval we keep only the dates, the kind of document and who approved it. A public profile shows at most your Home Base's neighbourhood, and you can hide that.
10. Lots and Squats (being tested).
A home no resident has claimed can be held in the game as a "Squat", shown only by a code. No address, owner, value, photo or parcel number is ever shown with it. Nothing is ever sent to anyone who lives in a home, and a squatter and a resident can never contact each other through the App. A removal request for a home takes it out of the game at once, before review.
11. Places, reviews, Lore and check-ins.
The map shows businesses and public places from Overture Maps open data; we leave out homes, places listed under a person's own name, and kinds of place where being seen would say something private. If you review a place or write Lore, we store the text, an optional photo (location metadata removed on your phone before upload; shown only after a moderator approves it), when you wrote it, and the results of automated checks; it's shown with your display name or "A crawler". To check in, the App uses your location on your phone only to confirm you're within 200 metres; we store only that your account checked in at that place on that day. Check-ins never appear on a profile or board, and you can delete your check-in history in Account. Opening a place's card may ask Google for that place's rating; nothing about you is sent.
12. Notifications and inbox.
If you turn on notifications, we store your device's push token (from Apple, via Expo) against your account and remove it when you sign out, turn notifications off or delete your account. The App keeps a copy of each alert we send you — a deed sold, an auction ending, a duel, a decision on your Lore, points settled — for 90 days and until you delete your account. Only you can see it.
13. Feedback.
If you send feedback or "Report a problem", we store what you write, an optional screenshot you choose, the App version and build, your phone's model and iOS version, and the screen you sent it from — never your location. If you're signed in we can reply to your account's email.
14. On your device.
Your session token is kept in the device's secure keychain, along with a flag that you've finished setup and your age-check result.
15. How we use it.
To run the game; to show your reviews and Lore once they pass moderation; to enforce our Terms, including reviewing held content and reports and suspending abusive accounts; to act on removal and opt-out requests; and to keep the service secure. We don't sell personal information, use it for targeted advertising, or share it with data brokers.
16. Who we share it with.
Other crawlers, as described in sections 5, 7 and 11. Service providers that host the App: Fly.io (servers and database, in the United States), Tigris (file storage), Expo (push delivery, only if you turn notifications on), Sentry (crash reports, as described) and RevenueCat (purchases, as described). Apple and Google, only as needed for sign-in and purchases. Authorities, when required by law or to protect someone's safety. We disclose data to authorities only in response to valid legal process, such as a subpoena, court order or warrant, or when we believe in good faith that someone faces an immediate risk of serious harm.
17. Retention.
Inbox copies and feedback emails: 90 days. Anonymous usage counts: 90 days individually, then daily totals. Crash reports: 90 days. Game records and purchase events: for as long as the account exists, then deleted with it; a deed's sale log keeps the sale but not who was party to it. Home Base documents: until the decision, 30 days at most. Server logs: 30 days. Apple transaction ids may be kept longer where tax or accounting law requires it.
18. Your choices.
Browse without an account. Keep your profile private. Use "Hide My Email". Turn off usage counts. Delete your exploration. Delete your account (Account → Delete my account): reviews and Lore others can see stay, shown as "Former crawler"; held or rejected ones are deleted; your points, deeds, check-ins, titles, inbox, claims and record of agreeing to these documents are deleted. A resident, business owner or anyone whose name appears in a listing can ask us to correct or remove it from the Support page, without an account; a person reviews every request and we aim to decide within 10 business days. Depending on where you live you may have rights to access, correct, delete or port your data. To make a request, email us from the address on your account; we may ask you to confirm it in the App before acting.
19. Children.
Accounts aren't available to anyone under 13, and we don't knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child has given us information, contact us and we'll delete it.
20. Security.
Connections use HTTPS. Session tokens live in the device keychain. Routes are encrypted on the device. Production credentials are kept as server secrets. No system is perfectly secure.
21. Changes.
We'll post changes here and, for material changes, notify you in the App before they take effect.
22. Contact.
blockcrawler@outlook.com · 903 N 167th St, Shoreline, WA 98133