The Red Headed StepChildWideOpen Privacy Policy
Effective August 1, 2026
WideOpen is developed by The Red Headed StepChild (Brent Niemerg). This policy explains what WideOpen does and doesn't do with your information. The short version: WideOpen has no user accounts, no ads, and no analytics tracking. Almost everything the app knows about you and your rides stays on your device.
On this page
What stays on your device
WideOpen has no backend server and no user accounts. All of the following is stored only in the app's local database on your phone, and is never transmitted anywhere by WideOpen unless you deliberately export, back up, or share it yourself:
- Location and speed. WideOpen uses your device's GPS to read your current travel speed, which is what it uses to adjust media volume. If you record a journey (Pro), your GPS track, route, and any location tied to a log entry is saved locally.
- Journeys, sessions, and log entries. Trip names, descriptions, timestamps, notes, odometer readings, and cost entries you create.
- Photos and signatures. Photos attached to log entries (taken with the Camera permission or picked from your gallery) and endurance-certification witness signatures drawn on-screen. These are saved either in the app's private storage or in a folder you choose, and are never uploaded.
- Profiles, alerts, saved destinations, and routes. Anything you set up for your own use in the app.
- App settings. Your speed/volume thresholds, speed unit, language, and preferred map app.
Exports (PDF, CSV, JSON, GPX, or a full backup .zip) are written to your device and only leave it if you choose to share, email, or upload the file yourself — WideOpen doesn't do this on its own.
Separately, Android's own device backup system (Google's Auto Backup, built into Android) may include this same data — your journeys, photos, signatures, and settings — in your device's regular Google account backup, the same way it would for most apps you install. This happens automatically at the OS level; WideOpen doesn't initiate, transmit, or control it. You can review or turn it off in your device's own backup settings, separate from anything in WideOpen.
What ever leaves your device
WideOpen makes network requests in exactly two situations:
- Map tiles. The Destinations and Routes screens, and the ride-track map, display map imagery pulled live from OpenStreetMap's tile servers (via the open-source osmdroid library). Loading these tiles works like loading any image on the web: OpenStreetMap's servers see the IP address and general area of the map tiles being requested. WideOpen does not send them your saved journey data, destinations, or account information — only the tile requests needed to draw the map you're currently looking at.
- Feedback you submit. If you use Send Feedback in the app, your message, the category you selected, and a reply email address (if you provide one) are sent to Formspree, a third-party form-delivery service, so the message can reach the developer. If you select "Request Pro Trial," your device ID is also included in that submission — this is how a trial code can be generated and matched to your device. Nothing is sent unless you tap Submit.
WideOpen does not contain advertising SDKs, analytics SDKs, or crash-reporting SDKs, and does not sell or share your data with advertisers.
Permissions WideOpen asks for
| Permission | What it's used for |
|---|---|
| Location (fine/coarse) | Reads GPS speed to adjust volume; records your route while a journey is active (Pro). |
| Camera | Attaches photos to log entries and scans Pro redemption QR codes (Pro). |
| Notifications | Shows the persistent status notification while WideOpen is running, as required for a foreground service. |
| Run in the foreground / start on boot | Lets WideOpen keep adjusting volume and tracking GPS reliably with the screen off, for rides that can run many hours. |
| Internet / network state | Loads map tiles and sends feedback you choose to submit (see above). |
You can revoke any of these at any time in your device's app settings; WideOpen will simply be unable to perform the related feature (for example, volume adjustment requires location access to function).
How long data is kept
Journey data, photos, signatures, and settings stay on your device until you delete them in-app, or until you uninstall WideOpen — which removes the app's local data, though if Android's Auto Backup had a copy (see above), reinstalling could restore it from that backup. WideOpen itself has no server, so there's no copy under WideOpen's control to retain or delete on your behalf; any copy in Android's own device backup lives in your Google account and is controlled by you through your device's backup settings, not by WideOpen. Pro redemption codes and device IDs used to verify them are also processed and checked entirely on-device.
Third-party services
WideOpen relies on two outside services, described above:
- OpenStreetMap — supplies the map tiles shown in the app.
- Formspree — delivers feedback messages submitted through the app to the developer.
Each service's own privacy policy governs how it handles the limited data described above. WideOpen does not otherwise share data with any third party.
Your rights over your data
Because WideOpen has no server, no accounts, and no backend copy of your data, most data-protection rights (access, correction, deletion, portability) are things you already have full, direct control over on your device — there's no company database to submit a request to.
- Access & portability. Everything is visible in the app already; use Export (PDF/CSV/JSON/GPX) or the full backup feature in Settings to get a copy in a portable format.
- Deletion. Delete individual journeys, entries, or profiles in-app, or uninstall WideOpen to remove all local app data. If Android's Auto Backup had a copy (see above), you can also delete that from your Google Account's backup settings.
- Objection / opt-out. There's no data sale, ad targeting, or profiling to opt out of — WideOpen doesn't do any of it.
- Questions. If you believe WideOpen is handling something incorrectly, contact feedback@wideopen.trhsc.org.
Children's privacy
WideOpen is not directed at children and is not intended for use by anyone under 13. The app does not knowingly collect information from children.
Changes to this policy
If WideOpen's data practices change — for example, when in-app purchases are added — this page will be updated and the effective date above will change accordingly.
Contact
Questions about this policy or how WideOpen handles your data can be sent to feedback@wideopen.trhsc.org, or through Send Feedback in the app.