Where you walk is your business.
This policy explains what the Canis app does with your data. Canis has no account and no server of mine, so almost everything stays on your iPhone. What still goes to other companies, and why, is spelled out below.
Last updated · Applies to Canis 0.1 and later · Canis is not released yet, and this policy will be checked again before the first public release
- Your walks, the fog you have lifted, the streets and places you have found, your XP, your name and your settings are kept in one file on your iPhone, with a copy in your own iCloud (you can switch it off) so your game comes back after reinstalling. There is no Canis account and no Canis server, so I receive none of it, and I can't see your iCloud.
- No ads, no tracking, no analytics, and your data is never sold.
- Location is “While Using” only. Your phone works out the fog and your distance itself. To name streets and find places near you, and to show the weather, your position goes to Apple.
- The map pictures come from OpenFreeMap, a free public map server, which sees which part of the map your screen is showing.
- Canis reads Apple Health (steps, distance and workouts shared by your watch apps) and never writes to it. What it reads stays on your phone.
Who is responsible
Canis is made by Daria Zabiiaka, trading as Make It Crazy, in the Czech Republic (“I”, “me”, “Make It Crazy”). You can reach me at support.canis@makeitcrazy.com. Because the app sends me nothing, most of what follows is about what happens on your own device and between your phone and Apple and OpenFreeMap.
What Canis handles, and why
| Data | Why | Where it lives |
|---|---|---|
| Your name, and the name you give Volf | To greet you and to name your buddy | On your iPhone, in Canis's file |
| Your walks: route points, times, distance, steps and the XP they earned | To run the game, the Journal and the walk summary | On your iPhone, in Canis's file |
| The fog you have lifted (a grid of 25 m squares), the streets and places you have found, your Collection and level | To be the game | On your iPhone, in Canis's file |
| A copy of your game in your iCloud: the fog, streets, places, the walks you made in Canis, XP, your names and settings | So your game comes back after you delete and reinstall Canis, or on another iPhone with your Apple ID | In the private iCloud space of your own Apple ID (Apple's CloudKit), which only you can read. On by default; Profile › Your game in iCloud switches it off. Walks imported from Apple Health are never copied. |
| Your settings: daily goals, units, Volf's world and harness colour, map style, app icon, reminder times | To remember how you set things up | On your iPhone |
| Your location | To lift the fog, count your walk, find places near you, name the streets you walk, and show the weather | Used on your iPhone. Your position is also sent to Apple for names, places and weather, see who receives data. |
| Steps from your iPhone's motion sensor | To count the steps of each walk | iOS gives the count to Canis on your phone |
| Apple Health data Canis reads: steps, walking distance, walking and hiking workouts with their routes, the list of apps that supply them, and Apple's Move, Exercise and Stand figures | To count and import walks and to show your day | Read on your iPhone and kept there. See Apple Health. |
| Reminders | To nudge you to walk, tell you a goal was reached and send a weekly recap | Scheduled on your iPhone as local notifications. They are not sent through a server, and they may use your name. |
| The last weather reading | To show the weather chip without asking again straight away | Saved on your iPhone and shown for up to 3 hours |
| Bug-report text (test builds only) | To let testers report a problem | Made on the phone, with positions rounded to about 1 km, and sent only if a tester chooses to send it |
| Your emails when you contact me (Profile › Help & support, or support.canis@makeitcrazy.com) | To answer you and fix the problem | Whatever you write, in your own email app and in my inbox. Emails started from Canis end with the app version, iOS version, iPhone model and language, which you can see and delete before sending. |
Canis has no advertising, no analytics and no tracking code, and it does not track you across other apps or websites. It draws its map with MapLibre, an open-source map library that runs on your phone.
Your location and your walks
Canis asks for location permission “While Using” only, never “Always”. While you are on a walk it keeps going with the screen off, and iOS shows its blue location pill. When you are not on a walk, the fog does not change.
Each location fix is used on your iPhone to lift the fog (squares within about 40 m), to add up your distance (fixes that are too vague count for the fog but not for distance), and to look for places and street names. None of it is sent to me. Your walks stay in Canis's file on your phone.
- Street and place names come from Apple, which receives your position to answer. During a walk Canis asks at most every 8 seconds and after 35 m, and looks for places within 1.5 km.
- The weather comes from Apple Weather, which receives your position when the weather chip refreshes: at most every 30 minutes, or after 5 km, and not again for 10 minutes after a failure.
- You can switch location off in iPhone Settings › Privacy & Security › Location Services › Canis. The map then no longer follows you and the fog stops lifting.
Apple Health and your watch
Watch and fitness apps (Apple Watch, Garmin Connect, Google Health for Fitbit, Samsung Health, Strava and others) share what they record with Apple Health on your iPhone. If you allow it, Canis reads from there: steps, walking distance, walking and hiking workouts with their routes from the last 7 days, and the list of apps that supply them. Imported routes lift the fog like a walk made inside Canis, and each one is imported once.
Canis only reads. It never writes to Apple Health, and what it reads is not sent anywhere: it stays on your phone and goes into the same file as your walks. You choose what to allow, and you can take it back any time in iPhone Settings › Health › Data Access & Devices › Canis.
Who receives data
I do not sell your data, share it with advertisers, or pass it to data brokers, and since Canis has no server of mine, I do not receive any of what is below. Data reaches these companies, only for the reasons shown, and each has its own privacy policy:
| Who | What they do | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| Apple | Maps search and street-name lookup, Apple Weather (WeatherKit), the iOS services for location, motion and Apple Health, notifications on your phone, TestFlight and the App Store, iCloud backups of your device if you use them, and the iCloud copy of your Canis game (CloudKit) if you keep it on | Your position when Canis asks for a street name, nearby places or the weather. What you share with Apple through iOS and the App Store. Apple may share crash reports and feedback from TestFlight testers with me. |
| OpenFreeMap | A free public server that supplies the map pictures, built on OpenStreetMap data | Requests for the map tiles of the area on your screen, with the technical details every web request carries, such as an IP address and the time |
Some of these companies may handle data outside the European Economic Area. Where they do, it is under the safeguards the law requires, such as an adequacy decision or standard contractual clauses.
Map credits: © OpenStreetMap contributors, shown in the app. Weather: Apple Weather.
Why I am allowed to use it
The GDPR asks me to name a legal basis for each use. Because nothing from the app reaches me, this is short:
- Running the game you chose to play (your walks, fog, XP, settings, reminders, and the copy in your iCloud that keeps your game when you reinstall): this happens on your phone and in your own iCloud, and is needed to provide Canis to you. You can switch the iCloud copy off.
- Your location and your Apple Health data: your consent, which you give in the iOS permission prompts and can withdraw at any time in iPhone Settings.
- Answering your emails: my legitimate interest in replying to you and fixing problems, and your request to be contacted.
Notifications are your choice in iOS Settings and in Canis's Profile › Reminders, and can be switched off any time.
How long data is kept
- On your iPhone: until you delete it or delete the app.
- In your iCloud: until you delete it with Delete all data, switch the copy off and choose Delete the copy, or delete Canis's data in iPhone Settings › your name › iCloud › Manage Account Storage. Deleting the app alone leaves it there, so a reinstall can bring your game back.
- At Apple and OpenFreeMap: under their own policies. I do not control it.
- Emails to me: I normally delete a conversation within 12 months after it ends.
Deleting your data
Everything Canis holds is on your phone, so you remove it there:
- Delete all data in Canis. Profile › Your map › Delete all data erases your walks, fog, streets, places, XP, names and settings on that iPhone and the copy in your iCloud, and Canis starts again from the title screen.
- Or delete the app. Touch and hold Canis on your Home Screen, then Remove App › Delete App. That removes your walks, fog, streets, places, XP and settings from the iPhone. Do it on each device you used. The copy in your iCloud stays until you delete it in iPhone Settings › your name › iCloud › Manage Account Storage.
- Withdraw permissions. iPhone Settings › Privacy & Security › Location Services › Canis, Health › Data Access & Devices › Canis, Motion & Fitness, and Notifications.
- Old backups. An earlier backup of your iPhone, in iCloud or on a computer, may still hold a copy of Canis's data until a newer backup replaces it.
Deleting Canis does not delete anything from Apple Health, and it does not remove what other apps or your watch have recorded. The support page explains each step.
Security
- Canis talks to Apple and to OpenFreeMap over encrypted connections (HTTPS) only.
- Your data stays in Canis's own storage on your iPhone, protected by iOS. You can add a passcode or Face ID to your iPhone itself.
- Canis is built to keep what it holds to a minimum: no account, no server and nothing uploaded unless it is a request to Apple or the map.
No system is perfectly secure. If I ever learn that your data has been put at risk, I will tell you and the data protection authority as the law requires.
Your rights
If you are in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom or a similar jurisdiction, you have the right to access, correct, erase, restrict and object to the use of your personal data, to data portability, and to withdraw consent at any time. Because Canis keeps your data on your own phone, you already hold it and can delete it yourself. For anything else, email support.canis@makeitcrazy.com and I will reply. You also have the right to complain to your data protection authority; in the Czech Republic that is the Office for Personal Data Protection (Úřad pro ochranu osobních údajů).
Children
Canis is not aimed at children, and I do not knowingly collect personal data from them. Because the app sends me nothing, I receive no data from anyone's phone in any case. Walking with a child's phone is a decision for their parents or guardians.
Changes to this policy
If Canis changes in a way that affects your privacy, for example by adding an account, syncing between your devices or another service that receives your location, I will update this policy before the change ships and tell you in the app. The date at the top shows when this page last changed. Older versions are available on request.
Contact
Questions about this policy or your data: support.canis@makeitcrazy.com.
See also the Canis page, the website privacy page, the terms of use and support.