# Privacy Policy and Terms of Use
**Traffic Warn** — Policy version 3, 11 September 2026
Please read this before using the app. By accepting it you confirm that you have read and
understood it, and that you agree to use Traffic Warn on the terms set out below.
---
## In short
Traffic Warn does not collect anything about you. There is no account, no analytics, no
advertising, no crash reporting, and no server belonging to the developer. Your location never
reaches the developer, because there is nowhere for it to go.
What the app does send is traffic requests to Google and, if you choose, TomTom, using **your own**
API keys, under **your own** agreements with them.
And the part that matters most: **Traffic Warn is a convenience, not a safety device. It will
sometimes warn you late, warn you wrongly, or not warn you at all. You are driving. You remain
fully responsible for your vehicle at all times.**
---
## 1. Who provides this app
Traffic Warn is provided by:
**ConvenientCode**
info.convenientcode@gmail.com
This is the contact point for any question about this policy, about the app, or about data
protection. Enquiries are answered by email.
References to "the developer", "we" or "us" mean the above. References to "you" mean the person
using the app.
---
# Part A — Privacy
## 2. What the app processes on your device
While monitoring is switched on, the app works with:
- **Your location**, from the device's GPS and network positioning.
- **Your speed and direction of travel**, either reported by the device or calculated by the app
from consecutive positions.
- **A destination address**, only if you type one in.
- **Your Google API key**, and your TomTom key if you use incident warnings — both supplied
by you.
- **Your settings**, such as speed zones, alert preferences and the spending cap.
- **A log of API calls made**, kept in memory only and lost when the app closes.
All of this is processed on your device. None of it is transmitted to the developer, and the
developer has no technical means of receiving it.
## 3. What leaves your device, and to whom
### 3.1 Google (Routes API) — unless you use TomTom only
To find out whether traffic is congested ahead of you, the app sends to Google:
- your current coordinates,
- your direction of travel and speed,
- a point ahead of you on your route, or your destination if you set one.
These requests are made with the API key **you** created and are billed to **your** Google Cloud
account. In doing so you are using Google's services directly, under your own agreement with
Google and subject to Google's own privacy policy. The developer is not a party to that
relationship, cannot see those requests, and receives no copy of them.
### 3.2 Google (Geocoding API) — only if you use it
If you type a destination **address**, that address is sent to Google to be converted into
coordinates. If you never type an address, this never happens.
### 3.3 OpenStreetMap — only while the street map is shown
If you choose the "Street map" view, map tiles are downloaded from the OpenStreetMap Foundation's
servers. As with any web request, this reveals your IP address and, by implication, the
approximate area you are looking at, to that organisation. Choosing the "Offline sketch" view
downloads nothing at all.
### 3.4 TomTom — only if you add a TomTom key
TomTom is used only if you supply your own TomTom key, for two optional features. For hazard
warnings - accidents, closures, debris and other incidents - the app sends TomTom a rectangle of
coordinates covering the road ahead of you, so it can return the incidents inside it. For TomTom
traffic data, the app sends TomTom the same information it sends Google for a traffic check: your
current coordinates, your direction of travel, and a point ahead of you on your route or your
destination. Both describe where you are and where you are heading.
As with Google, the requests are made with a key **you** created, under **your own** agreement
with TomTom and subject to their privacy policy. The developer is not part of that relationship
and receives no copy of it.
Without a TomTom key, or with both features switched off, nothing is ever sent to TomTom.
### 3.5 Custom locations you enter
Custom locations you save are stored on this device and sent nowhere at all. Warning you
about them involves no request to anyone.
### 3.6 Nobody else
There are no analytics services, no advertising networks, no crash or telemetry reporting, no
social media components, and no developer-operated servers of any kind. No data is sold, rented,
shared or disclosed to any third party, because none is collected in the first place.
## 4. Storage, retention and deletion
Your settings and your API keys are stored only on your device. Both keys are kept in a separate
file that is deliberately **excluded from Android's automatic backup**, so they are never copied
to Google Drive and never transferred to another device. Your other settings are included in that
backup so they can be restored onto a new phone.
Uninstalling the app deletes everything it stored. There is nothing held elsewhere for the
developer to delete, because nothing was ever sent.
## 5. Permissions, and why each one is needed
- **Location (including background)** — to know where you are and what road is ahead of you. This
is the entire function of the app. Background access is required because warnings must continue
while the screen is off or another app is in front.
- **Internet** — to request traffic data and, optionally, map tiles.
- **Notifications** — to show the ongoing monitoring notification Android requires for a
foreground service.
- **Vibration** — for vibration alerts.
- **Keep awake (wake lock)** — to stop the device suspending mid-drive, which would silently stop
the app checking for traffic.
The app uses the camera flash for visual alerts but deliberately holds **no camera permission**
and cannot take photographs or record video.
## 6. Your rights under the GDPR
You have the rights to access, rectification, erasure, restriction, objection and data
portability regarding personal data concerning you.
Please note honestly what this means here: **the developer holds no personal data about you**, so
there is nothing for the developer to give you access to, correct or erase. Exercising these
rights in respect of data you sent to Google or TomTom, or requests made to the OpenStreetMap
Foundation, must be directed to those organisations, since they and not the developer received
it. Data held
locally on your device is under your own control and is removed by uninstalling the app.
You also have the right to lodge a complaint with a data protection supervisory authority.
## 7. Children
This app is intended for licensed drivers. It is not directed at children and collects no data
from anyone.
## 8. Changes to this policy
If this policy changes materially, you will be asked to review and accept the new version when
you next open the app. The version number and date at the top identify which text you accepted.
---
# Part B — Terms of use, disclaimer and liability
## 9. Traffic Warn is not a safety device
**Read this section carefully. It is the most important part of this document.**
Traffic Warn is a convenience feature that may draw your attention to congestion reported by a
third party. It is **not** a driver assistance system, not a collision avoidance system, not an
emergency braking aid, and not certified, approved or type-tested as safety equipment of any
kind. It has not been assessed against any automotive safety standard.
Do not treat a warning as a guarantee that something is ahead. Do not treat silence as a
guarantee that nothing is ahead.
## 10. You are driving, and you remain responsible
You alone are responsible for controlling your vehicle, for observing the road, for your speed,
for your following distance, and for compliance with all applicable traffic law. You use this app
entirely at your own risk and on your own responsibility.
Nothing this app does, or fails to do, reduces that responsibility in any way. The app does not
drive, does not brake, does not steer, and must never be relied upon as a reason to pay less
attention to the road.
## 11. The app will sometimes be wrong — known and unavoidable limitations
You acknowledge that you have been informed of the following, and that these are inherent to how
the app works rather than defects:
- **The traffic data is not ours.** It comes from Google and TomTom, and may be inaccurate,
incomplete, outdated, or simply missing for the road you are on.
- **Incidents are reported by people and systems that are not looking at your road right now.**
A crash, a closure or debris may be reported late, placed at the wrong point, cleared without
the report being withdrawn, or never reported at all. An incident warning is not a substitute
for seeing the road.
- **A jam can form in seconds.** Traffic data is always older than the road, and a queue that
formed after the last check cannot be reported.
- **No mobile signal means no new data.** In dead zones the app is working from cached
information or from nothing at all.
- **GPS can be wrong.** Position, speed and direction can be inaccurate, delayed, or unavailable
in tunnels, under bridges, between tall buildings and in poor weather.
- **The app guesses which road you are on.** Where roads run parallel, at junctions, on
interchanges and on multi-level structures, it may follow the wrong one, and then warn about
congestion that is not on your path — or miss congestion that is.
- **Your device may stop it working.** Battery saving, doze modes, aggressive task termination by
the manufacturer, "do not disturb", silent mode, low volume, disconnected Bluetooth, a paused
or muted head unit, or the operating system reclaiming memory can all delay, silence, or
entirely prevent a warning without any indication.
- **Alerts can fail individually.** Sound, voice, vibration and the flashlight each depend on
hardware and system behaviour outside the app's control.
- **The app cannot see anything.** It has no sensors looking at the road. It cannot detect
stationary vehicles, accidents, debris, pedestrians, animals, ice, fog, roadworks, or anything
else not present in the third-party traffic data.
**A missing warning is not evidence that the road is clear.**
## 12. Your obligations while using the app
You agree that you will:
- keep your attention on the road and comply with all traffic law at all times;
- mount your device securely and legally, so that it neither obstructs your view nor becomes a
projectile;
- **not operate, configure, read or interact with the app while the vehicle is moving** — set it
up before you drive, or stop safely first;
- not rely on the app in any situation where a missing or incorrect warning could cause harm;
- keep your own judgement as the deciding factor at all times;
- ensure that using the app is lawful where you are driving, including any local rules on
screen use, mounting and audible alerts in vehicles.
Note in particular that a flashing light or an unexpected sound can startle or distract. You are
responsible for choosing alert settings appropriate to your vehicle and situation.
## 13. Costs are yours
The app operates using an API key you create under your own Google Cloud account, and Google
bills you directly for the requests it makes. You are solely responsible for those charges, for
monitoring them, and for any limits, budgets or alerts you set within your Google account.
The in-app spending cap is a convenience that stops the app making further requests once its own
counter reaches your limit. **It is not a billing control and not a guarantee.** It counts what
the app believes it sent, in the device's calendar month, which will not exactly match Google's
own accounting. It cannot prevent charges arising from anything else, cannot account for requests
Google records differently, and may fail like any other part of the software. The authoritative
record of what you are spending is your Google Cloud billing console, and keeping it within your
means is your responsibility alone.
## 14. No warranty
The app is provided **"as is" and "as available"**, without warranty of any kind to the fullest
extent permitted by law. In particular, no warranty is given that it will be available,
uninterrupted, timely, accurate, error-free, compatible with your device, or fit for any
particular purpose, and no warranty is given as to the accuracy, completeness or timeliness of
any traffic information.
Statutory warranty rights that cannot be excluded remain unaffected.
## 15. Limitation of liability
To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, the developer is **not liable** for any
damage, loss, injury, cost or claim arising from or connected with your use of, or inability to
use, this app. This includes without limitation traffic accidents, collisions, personal injury,
property damage, vehicle damage, missed or late warnings, incorrect warnings, warnings that
startle or distract, loss of data, loss of profits, business interruption, penalties or fines,
and charges billed to you by Google or any other third party.
This applies whether the claim arises in contract, in tort, under statute or otherwise, and
whether or not the possibility of such damage was known.
### 15.1 What cannot be and is not excluded
The following limits apply and are stated explicitly, because a disclaimer purporting to exclude
them would be ineffective:
- liability for death, personal injury or damage to health caused by a breach of duty by the
developer;
- liability for intent and gross negligence;
- liability for the breach of an essential contractual obligation — an obligation whose
fulfilment makes proper performance of this agreement possible in the first place and on whose
observance you may regularly rely — where liability in such a case is limited to foreseeable,
typically occurring damage;
- liability under the German Product Liability Act (Produkthaftungsgesetz);
- liability arising from a guarantee expressly given by the developer;
- any other liability that applicable mandatory law does not permit to be excluded or limited.
Nothing in this document affects your mandatory statutory rights as a consumer.
## 16. Indemnity
To the extent permitted by law, you agree to hold the developer harmless from third-party claims
arising out of your use of the app in breach of these terms or in breach of applicable law.
## 17. Third-party services
The Google Routes API, the Google Geocoding API, the TomTom Traffic API and OpenStreetMap tile
services are operated by third parties on their own terms. The developer has no control over them and accepts no
responsibility for their availability, accuracy, pricing, terms or conduct. Your use of them is
governed by their agreements with you.
## 18. Governing law
German law applies, excluding the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods.
Where you are a consumer, this choice of law does not deprive you of the protection of mandatory
provisions of the law of your country of habitual residence.
If any provision of this document is or becomes invalid, the remainder stays in force.