Effective date: June 1, 2026
The short version: Empire Summits does not collect, transmit, sell,
or share any personal data. Everything you log — peaks visited, photos,
notes, hikers — stays on your device. There are no accounts, no analytics, no
advertising trackers, no third-party SDKs.
1. What information the app handles
Empire Summits is a Progressive Web App (PWA) that runs entirely in your
browser or on your home screen. All the data it processes is created by you
and stored only on your device, using these browser storage APIs:
- localStorage — settings, hikers, visit log entries, theme preference, ADK 46er number, plans.
- IndexedDB — photos you attach to a visit (compressed to JPEG, stored locally).
- Browser Cache / Service Worker — pre-cached map tiles and peak/tower images so the app works offline in the Adirondack High Peaks region where cell signal is unavailable.
None of this data is sent to any server controlled by the developer.
The developer has no way to read or recover anything you have logged.
2. What third-party services the app calls
Empire Summits relies on a small number of external services to function.
None of these receive any personal information from the app, but each one
may log your IP address per the standard behavior of any web request:
-
OpenTopoMap (opentopomap.org) —
topographic map tiles. Anonymous tile requests, no personal data.
-
Open-Meteo (open-meteo.com) —
weather forecasts for peaks and towers. Anonymous, no API key, no personal data.
-
Wikimedia Commons (commons.wikimedia.org) —
peak and tower photos. Anonymous image requests.
-
Adirondack.net CDN (cdn.securem2.com) — additional peak photos. Anonymous.
-
Google Maps — only when you tap a "Directions" link. The app
opens a standard
https://www.google.com/maps/dir/ URL in your browser or Maps app.
This is the same behavior as clicking any directions link anywhere on the web.
-
unpkg.com — CDN that serves the Leaflet map library at app startup
(one-time download, then cached locally).
3. Permissions the app may request
- Geolocation — only when you tap the "Locate me" button or use the SOS coordinate display. The location is used in-app only; it is never transmitted.
- Camera / Photos — only when you tap "Add photo" to attach an image to a visit. The image is compressed and stored locally in IndexedDB.
- Notifications — not requested. The app has no push notifications.
4. Data you can export, import, or delete at any time
- Export — Settings → Export progress (JSON file).
- Import — Settings → Import progress (load a previous JSON file).
- Delete — Settings → Reset all data clears everything from localStorage and IndexedDB.
Uninstalling the app from your home screen, or clearing site data in your
browser, also removes everything Empire Summits has stored.
5. Children
Empire Summits is appropriate for general audiences (13+).
The app does not knowingly collect any information from children, because
it does not collect information from anyone.
6. Security
All user-supplied text is HTML-escaped before being rendered to prevent
cross-site scripting (XSS). The app uses a strict Content Security Policy
that whitelists only the third-party hosts listed above. Imported JSON
files are validated against an allow-list of known fields.
7. Changes to this policy
If this policy changes meaningfully, the effective date at the top of this
page will be updated and the change will be noted in the app's release notes.
8. Contact
Questions about this privacy policy can be sent through the in-app
Settings → Suggestion or Bug Report buttons,
or by email to empire-summits@proton.me.
