Privacy policy
RunRoutes needs your location to build a running route that starts and ends at your door. This page explains exactly what that means: what leaves your phone, what does not, why we use it, who else handles it, how long anything is kept, and how to delete all of it. It covers the RunRoutes app on iPhone, Apple Watch and Android, and this website.
Last updated: 21 October 2026
The short version
- Your location is used to generate routes, and during a run to record the path you actually covered. It is not tracked outside an active workout, and never sold or shared with advertisers.
- Your saved routes, workouts and history stay on your phone unless you turn on Cloud Sync.
- The shape of each route RunRoutes generates is stored for 30 days to improve the route generator, whether or not Cloud Sync is on, then deleted automatically.
- The path you actually ran is stored for 30 days as well, but only if Cloud Sync is on, and then deleted.
- The app sends usage statistics so we can see which features get used. You can switch them off in Settings at any time.
- There are no ads, no tracking across other apps or websites, no data sales, and no decisions made about you by a machine.
- You can delete your account in the app, whichever way you signed in, and that removes your data from our servers.
Who is responsible for your data
RunRoutes is made by Softomic, the sole proprietorship of T. van den Bogaart, registered with the Dutch Chamber of Commerce (KvK) under number 92991068, in the Netherlands. Softomic is the controller of your personal data under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). When this page says "we" or "us", it means Softomic. You can reach us about anything on this page at tom@softomic.nl, and a person will answer.
Cloud Sync is the switch that matters
When you first sign in, RunRoutes asks whether to enable Cloud Sync. That choice controls whether your routes and runs are stored on our servers at all, and you can change it at any time in Settings.
With Cloud Sync off, your saved routes, workout history, presets and programme progress stay on your device.
With Cloud Sync on, that data is stored on our servers so it appears on your other devices, and so it survives if you lose your phone. Turning it on also means the path you cover during a run is stored, and kept for 30 days. That is the one thing here that records where you physically were rather than what you planned, so it gets its own entry in the next section.
Cloud Sync does not cover one thing, and we would rather say so plainly than bury it: the shape of each route the generator builds for you is recorded either way, kept for 30 days, and then deleted. This is covered in the next section too.
Location and route data
RunRoutes asks for your location only while you are using the app, to pick a starting point and to guide you during a run. It does not follow you around in the background outside of an active workout.
To turn a starting point into a real route along real streets, RunRoutes downloads the map of the area around it (the streets and paths of OpenStreetMap) and builds the route on your phone. The download asks our map service for the map squares around your starting point, so it reveals roughly which area you are in, a few kilometres across, never your exact position, and it carries no account identifier. Each area is kept on your phone for 30 days, so later routes there need no download at all. The map service is delivered by Cloudflare, which handles these requests on our behalf as our processor and, like any server, sees the internet address of your device.
The map you see on screen is shown by Apple on iPhone and Apple Watch, under Apple's privacy policy, and by Google Maps on Android, under Google's privacy policy. Drawing the map hands your position to that map provider so it can show the streets around you. We do not send your location to any other third party.
Three kinds of route data are stored on our servers, under different rules.
- Routes you save. Cloud Sync only. The full shape of the route, its start point, the turn by turn directions, the distance and the name you gave it. Stored only when Cloud Sync is on, and kept until you delete the route or your account, because the whole point is that you can run them again.
- Routes the generator builds. Always. Every time RunRoutes generates a route, its shape is recorded, whether or not Cloud Sync is on and whether or not you keep the route. It is deleted automatically after 30 days, leaving only the fact that a route of a given distance was generated. We use it to find the places where the generator produces bad routes, which is something we cannot diagnose from a distance figure alone. When a route cannot be made at all, we keep the rough area it was attempted in, about a kilometre across, together with the reason it could not be made, so we can find the places where the map itself falls short. That rough area is cleared after 12 months.
-
Routes you run. Cloud Sync only. The path you actually covered during a
workout, recorded while the workout is running and stopped when it ends. Stored only when
Cloud Sync is on, and deleted automatically after 30 days, leaving the
workout itself with its distance and duration intact.
We want to be plain about why this one exists and why it is treated more carefully than the other two. A generated route says where the app suggested somebody go. This says where a person physically was, usually starting and finishing at their front door. We record it because it is the only way to tell a route that crosses a building from a route that is merely drawn badly: we compare what the generator proposed against what was walkable in practice. It is stored at a reduced precision, roughly one point every few metres.
You can stop the third kind by turning Cloud Sync off, which stops it being uploaded at all. You can stop the second kind entirely by deleting your account, which also removes everything already recorded. There is no separate opt out for the second kind.
Because all three usually start at your front door, we treat them as sensitive. They are never shared, never sold, and access is limited to Softomic.
Everything else we store
- Your account. You can use RunRoutes on an anonymous account that carries no name or email. If you sign in, RunRoutes uses Sign in with Apple on iPhone and Apple Watch and Google sign-in on Android. Either way we receive an account identifier and, unless you hide it, your name and email address. Your display name is stored with your account. We never see your Apple or Google password.
- Workout history. Completed sessions, durations, distances and interval counts, when Cloud Sync is on.
- Presets and programme progress. Your saved interval settings and how far you are through the 9 week plan.
- Purchases. Payments are handled entirely by Apple on iPhone and Apple Watch, and by Google Play on Android. We never see your card details. To unlock the right features we receive and keep a record of each purchase: the store's transaction number, the product, the dates, the price and the account it belongs to. RevenueCat processes your purchase status for us, on iPhone and on Android, linked to your account id.
- Usage statistics. Events such as opening the app, switching screens, generating a route or seeing the upgrade screen, so we can tell which features get used and where people get stuck. Each event carries your account id, your device model, its operating system version, the app version and the app language. You can turn this off with Share usage statistics in Settings. When it is off the app sends no events, and any it was still holding are discarded. There is no third party advertising or tracking code in RunRoutes.
- Feedback you send. When you use one of the feedback forms in the app we receive your message and the choices you made, together with your account id, the app version and whether you were on iPhone or Android. If you type an email address so we can reply, we keep that too. It is optional.
- Free route allowance. To stop the free route being claimed again and again by deleting and recreating an account, we keep a one way hash of your Apple or Google account identifier with a count of the free routes used. The hash cannot be turned back into your identity.
Why we use your data, and on what legal basis
The GDPR only allows us to use personal data when there is a legal basis for it. This is the basis for each use. "Contract" means we need the data to give you the app you chose to use. "Legitimate interest" means we have a real need that we have weighed against your privacy, and you can object to it (see your rights below).
| What for | Which data | Legal basis |
|---|---|---|
| Making loops, showing the map, guiding your run | Your location while the app is in use, route shapes, the distance you asked for | Contract |
| Your account and Cloud Sync | Account id, the email and name from Apple or Google, display name, synced routes, presets and runs including the path you ran | Contract |
| Purchases and Pro status | Store transaction numbers, product, dates, price, account id | Contract. Keeping the records after you leave, for refunds and fraud prevention: legitimate interest |
| Usage statistics | Screens and actions, device model, operating system version, app version, language, account id | Legitimate interest in knowing what to improve, with a switch in Settings to stop it |
| Route quality and map gaps | Generated route shapes, the rough area where a route could not be made | Legitimate interest in a route generator that works |
| Feedback | Your message and choices, app version, platform, account id | Legitimate interest in hearing what goes wrong |
| Replying to your feedback | The email address you typed into the form | Your consent, given by typing it in |
| Preventing abuse of the free route | One way hash of your Apple or Google account identifier, free routes used | Legitimate interest in a fair free allowance |
| Answering your emails | Your email address and what you write | Legitimate interest in answering you, or contract when it is about your account or a purchase |
| Running this website | Your internet address and visit statistics without cookies (see below) | Legitimate interest in a website that works and in knowing how it is found |
| Club sign ups on this website | Name of the club or group, its kind and size, your name and email address, and your phone number and message if you give them | Legitimate interest in answering a club that asks about RunRoutes, and steps you ask for before a possible agreement with your club |
Apple Health and Health Connect
If you allow it, on iPhone and Apple Watch RunRoutes saves your sessions to Apple Health as real workouts and reads pace data during a run. Health data stays on your device and inside Apple's Health system.
On Android, if you allow it, RunRoutes does the same through Health Connect: it writes each finished run as a workout, and reads your running and walking workouts (including their distance) so the runs you recorded with other apps are counted in your totals and your weekly progress. This read and write happens on your device, inside Health Connect.
Health data from Apple Health or Health Connect is never uploaded to our servers, and never used for advertising. Access is controlled by the permission you give in your phone's settings, and you can withdraw it there at any time. The workouts RunRoutes records itself follow the Cloud Sync rules above.
Who else handles your data
We use a small number of companies to run RunRoutes. These are our processors: they handle data only on our instructions, under a data processing agreement, and only for the job below.
| Company | What it does for us | Where, and how transfers are protected |
|---|---|---|
| Supabase | Our database, sign-in and server functions: everything stored on our servers | Data stored in the European Union (Ireland). Supabase's own teams can reach it from outside the EU, covered by standard contractual clauses |
| RevenueCat | Keeps track of your purchase status on iPhone and Android, linked to your account id | United States, under standard contractual clauses |
| Cloudflare | Delivers the map squares; sees your internet address and the map area, never your account; forwards emails sent to runroutes.app addresses to our inbox | Worldwide network, under the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and standard contractual clauses |
| Vercel | Hosts this website and counts visits without cookies | United States, under the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and standard contractual clauses |
| Resend | Sends the club sign up form on this website to our inbox | United States, under standard contractual clauses |
| Our email provider | Stores the emails you send to tom@softomic.nl | Under its data processing agreement, with standard contractual clauses where data leaves the European Economic Area |
Apple and Google are not our processors. When you buy through the App Store or Google Play, sign in with Apple or Google, look at Apple's or Google's map, or use Apple Health or Health Connect, they handle that data themselves, under their own privacy policies, as independent controllers.
Some of these companies are based in the United States or work worldwide, so your data can be handled outside the European Economic Area. Each such transfer is protected by the European Commission's adequacy decision for the EU-US Data Privacy Framework, by the European Commission's standard contractual clauses, or both. You can ask us for a copy of those safeguards.
We do not sell your data, we do not share it with advertisers or data brokers, and we only hand it to anyone else when the law requires it.
This website
This website sets no cookies and stores nothing on your device, so there is no cookie banner. It is hosted by Vercel, which needs your internet address to deliver the pages and to protect the site against abuse. To see how many people visit and how they found us, we use Vercel's visit statistics. They record the page, the page you came from, your country, and the type of browser, operating system and device. They use no cookies and no identifier stored on your device: visitors are counted with a value derived from the request that is discarded after 24 hours, so we only ever see totals, never you. If you email us from a link on this site, the email is handled as described above. The club page has a sign up form. What you fill in is stored in our database in the European Union and sent to us by email through Resend.
How long we keep things
| Data | How long |
|---|---|
| Generated route shapes | 30 days, then deleted automatically |
| The path you ran (Cloud Sync) | 30 days, then deleted automatically. The workout it belongs to is kept, with its distance and duration |
| The rough area where a route could not be made | 12 months, then cleared |
| Usage statistics | 24 months, then deleted |
| Feedback, including any reply email | 24 months, then deleted |
| Emails you send us | As long as needed to help you, and no longer than 24 months after the conversation ends |
| Club sign ups | As long as we are in touch about RunRoutes for your club, and no longer than 24 months after the last contact |
| Anonymous accounts with no activity for 24 months and no purchase | Deleted with all their data |
| Saved routes, workouts, presets, programme progress, your account | Until you delete them or your account |
| Purchase records | Until you delete your account. After that the record is unlinked from you and kept for up to 7 years for refunds, chargebacks and fraud prevention |
| The free route allowance hash | Kept after deletion, as explained below |
| Backups of our database | Overwritten within 30 days |
Deleting your account and data
You can delete your account from within the app, whichever way you use it: signed in with Apple, signed in with Google, or on an anonymous account. On iPhone and on Android, open Settings, then Account at the top, and choose Delete account, or Delete my data if you never signed in. This permanently removes your saved routes, workout history including the paths you ran, presets, programme progress, generation records including any stored route shapes, usage statistics, feedback, and your account itself, from this device and from our servers, all at once. Your customer record at RevenueCat is deleted too. It cannot be undone.
If you cannot reach the in-app option, or you would rather we did it for you, choose Request my data in Settings, then Account. It opens an email to tom@softomic.nl that already contains a reference to your account, so we delete the right one. You can also simply write to tom@softomic.nl; if we cannot tell which account is yours, we will ask you for details to find it. We will do it within one month, and tell you when it is done.
Deleting your account does not cancel a subscription: Apple or Google bill it, so cancel it in your App Store or Google Play subscriptions as well. Removing the app from your phone without deleting your account leaves your data on our servers.
Two things survive deletion, for reasons we want to be open about.
- Purchase records. The record of a purchase is unlinked from your account, so it no longer points to you, and kept for up to 7 years. We need it to handle refunds and chargebacks and to prevent fraud.
- The free route allowance hash. A one way hash of your Apple or Google account identifier, together with a count of how many free routes were used. This stops the free allowance being reset by repeatedly deleting and recreating an account. The hash cannot be reversed to identify you and is not linked to any route, workout or location.
Copies of deleted data can remain in our database backups until those are overwritten, within 30 days. They are never restored to use your data again.
Your rights
Under the GDPR you have the right to:
- Access the personal data we hold about you and get a copy of it.
- Rectification of data that is wrong or incomplete.
- Erasure of your data. The delete option in the app does this straight away.
- Restriction of how we use your data while a question about it is sorted out.
- Portability: your data in a common, machine readable format, to keep or to take elsewhere.
- Objection to any use based on legitimate interest. For usage statistics you can do this yourself with the Share usage statistics switch in Settings.
- Withdraw consent at any time, for example for the reply email in a feedback message, without affecting what happened before.
To use any of these rights, choose Request my data in the app (Settings, then Account). It opens an email to tom@softomic.nl with a reference to your account already filled in, so we can find your data and know the request comes from you. You can also write to tom@softomic.nl directly; we may then ask for details to find your account. We answer within one month. If a request is unusually complex we may need up to two more months, and we will tell you so within the first month. It is free.
If you are unhappy with how we handle your data, please tell us first. You also have the right to complain to the Dutch Data Protection Authority, the Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens, or to the data protection authority in the country where you live.
No profiling, no ads, no tracking
RunRoutes makes no decisions about you by automated means that have legal or similarly significant effects. There is no advertising in the app, we do not track you across other companies' apps or websites, and we do not sell your data or use it to build an advertising profile.
How we protect your data
- Everything travels between the app, the website and our servers over encrypted connections.
- Our database only lets each account read and change its own data. The app cannot read anyone else's routes or runs.
- Only Softomic has access to the data on our servers, through personal accounts protected with strong passwords. Our internal tools are reachable only over a private network, never from the open internet.
- We keep as little as we can: the path you ran is stored at reduced precision and deleted after 30 days, and other data has the limits in the table above.
- Payments never pass through us, so we never hold card details.
- If a breach ever puts your data at risk, we report it to the Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens within 72 hours and tell you directly when the risk to you is high.
Children
RunRoutes is not directed at children under 16, and we do not knowingly collect their data. If you believe a child under 16 has given us personal data, email us and we will delete it.
Changes to this policy
If we change what we collect or why, we will update this page and the date at the top. Significant changes will be surfaced in the app rather than quietly published here.
Translations
This policy is also available in Dutch, German, French, Spanish and Italian. This English version is the original, and if a translation says something different, this version applies.
Contact
Softomic, the Netherlands, KvK 92991068. Email tom@softomic.nl.