Survey Compass: Angle & GPS — Privacy Policy

Last updated: 2026-11-07

This privacy policy applies to the mobile app "Survey Compass: Angle & GPS" on Android and iOS:

- Google Play: package com.moon.theodolite, developer "janey-moon"

- Apple App Store: app ID 6790019156 (bundle ID com.moon.theodolite), seller "heekyung moon"

The app is developed and operated by Heekyung Moon (Google Play developer name: janey-moon), referred to as "we" or "us".

Contact: ansgml2100@gmail.com

OVERVIEW

Survey Compass shows a live camera view with a bearing (azimuth) ribbon, a pitch gauge and a crosshair, together with your GPS position in several coordinate formats. You can save readings, take stamped photos, measure between two sightings (A-B), and convert coordinates. The app does not require an account, and we do not sell personal information. Measurements are calculated on your device. The app also uses Google services for analytics, crash reporting, remote configuration, and advertising.

CAMERA, PHOTOS, LOCATION, AND MOTION SENSORS

Camera: the live camera view is the background of the HUD. It is shown on screen and is not recorded. The app takes a picture only when you tap the Photo button.

Photo button: the app takes one picture and, on your device, draws a stamp on it with the bearing, north reference (magnetic or true), pitch angle, GPS position and accuracy (when available), date and time, and your note. The stamped photo is saved as an app-private copy linked to a saved reading, and then to your device's photo gallery. If gallery access is denied or the gallery save fails, the reading and its app-private copy are still kept. On the photo, long notes are shortened to 60 characters. To save to the gallery the app uses add-only access: on iOS, the system may ask for permission to add photos; on Android, the app may ask for storage permission on older Android versions. The app does not read, browse, or upload your existing photos. Because the stamp is drawn into the image, anyone who receives a stamped photo can see the position, time, and note on it. Temporary image files made while composing the photo are deleted after saving on a best-effort basis.

Location: precise location (GPS) is used while the app is open to show your latitude, longitude, altitude and coordinate readouts (DMS, UTM, MGRS), to include your position in the readings and photos you save, and to calculate true north from your local magnetic declination. The app does not use location in the background.

Motion and compass sensors: device motion and the magnetometer are used to measure the direction and angle the phone is aimed at. These sensor values are used live and are not stored, except as part of a reading you save.

INFORMATION STORED ON YOUR DEVICE

Saved readings contain the date and time, bearing, pitch, latitude, longitude, altitude, the DMS, UTM and MGRS text, whether a GPS fix was available, your optional note (up to 80 characters), and, for photo readings, the location of the app-private photo copy. The saved list keeps up to 200 readings; saving another removes the oldest entry, and the app attempts to delete its app-private photo copy on a best-effort basis. If the saved list cannot be read, the app keeps the unreadable data under a separate key in app storage before starting a new list; that copy is not shown in the Log and is removed when you delete the app.

The app also stores your north reference choice and basic operating information such as an app-use count, review-prompt status, temporary feature unlocks, cached advertising settings, and a cached More Apps list.

The app does not have a developer server that receives your readings or photos. It reads developer-controlled advertising settings and a More Apps list from Google Cloud Firestore, but it does not write to Firestore or upload your readings, notes, coordinates, or photos. The More Apps list loads app icons from internet addresses in that list.

SHARING

You can share a stamped photo from the save message or the Log tab, and share an A-B result as text, through the system share sheet. A shared result can include the horizontal and vertical angles, height and distance, and the time of the second sighting. Shared photos and text are controlled by the app or person that receives them.

ANALYTICS, CRASH REPORTING, AND ADS

Google Firebase Analytics may process limited app-usage and technical information, such as app launches, tab changes, permission and location status, whether a reading or photo was saved and whether it had a GPS fix, how long a photo save took, A-B result mode, share events with the text length, review prompts, ad events and ad revenue, app version, device type, and app-instance identifiers. These events do not include your coordinates, notes, or photos.

Google Firebase Crashlytics may process crash reports and related technical information needed to diagnose app problems.

The app shows ads through Google AdMob: an app-open ad when the app starts or when you return to it, interstitial ads (for example when you switch tabs or after some completed measurements or shares), a banner ad, and an optional rewarded ad you can watch to unlock sharing of A-B results for 24 hours. Google may process advertising identifiers and device, app, consent, network, and ad-performance information to provide and measure ads, and may use an IP address to estimate an approximate location.

PERMISSIONS AND ADVERTISING CHOICES

The app asks for camera and location permission. To save a stamped photo to your gallery it may ask for add-only photo library access (iOS) or, on older Android versions, storage permission. It also uses internet access, network state, vibration, and the advertising ID permission. You can deny or revoke camera, location, and photo library or storage access where your operating system provides those controls; the app keeps working with fewer features (for example, without a camera view, GPS readouts, or gallery saving).

At launch, the app refreshes Google's consent information (UMP) and, where required (for example in the EEA and UK), shows a consent message. For returning users, an app-open ad may be requested using the consent stored in an earlier session while that refresh is in progress. Personalized ads are requested only when Google reports that consent is not required in your region, or when your choice allows personalized advertising; otherwise ads are non-personalized. If your choice does not allow ads to be requested, the app does not request ads. If Google's consent step fails, the app requests non-personalized ads.

On iOS, after Google's consent step, the app may ask for permission to track through Apple's App Tracking Transparency (ATT) prompt. If tracking is not allowed, the IDFA is not available to the app or its ad partners.

Where Google requires it, the app menu shows "Privacy choices", which reopens the consent message so you can change your advertising choice. You can also reset or delete your advertising ID in your device's settings.

STORAGE AND YOUR CONTROL

On the Log tab you can delete a reading. This removes it from the saved list, and the app then attempts to delete its app-private photo copy; this file cleanup is best-effort, so a leftover file can remain in app storage. Photos saved to your device's photo gallery are yours: they stay in the gallery until you delete them there, and deleting a reading does not remove them. Deleting the app removes the data stored inside the app. Local data may be included in a device or cloud backup (such as Google or iCloud backup) depending on your backup settings; copies in a backup are controlled separately from the app.

Because we do not receive your readings or photos, we cannot delete them for you; the controls above work within the app. For questions about data processed by Google, or to ask us for help with a privacy request, contact us at the address below.

We use these services under their applicable terms, and we ensure that third-party service providers with whom we share user data provide the same or equal protection of that data as stated in this policy. Data processed by Google is retained according to its service settings and policies:

- Google Privacy Policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy

- Firebase privacy information: https://firebase.google.com/support/privacy

- Google advertising technologies: https://policies.google.com/technologies/ads

SECURITY

Your readings and the app's photo copies are kept in the app's private storage, which the operating system protects from other apps; they are not separately encrypted by the app, so protect your device with a screen lock. Photos in your gallery and files you share are accessible according to your device and the recipient. Communication between the app and Google services uses encrypted connections (HTTPS/TLS). No method of storage or transmission is completely secure.

IMPORTANT NOTICE

Survey Compass uses your phone's sensors and GPS. Readings depend on sensor calibration, magnetic interference and GPS accuracy, and are approximate. Do not use the app as the only source for navigation, legal boundary surveys, construction, or safety-critical decisions.

CHILDREN

The app is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children.

CHANGES

We may update this policy if the app or its services change. The date above shows the latest revision.

CONTACT

Heekyung Moon (Google Play developer: janey-moon)

Email: ansgml2100@gmail.com