Who is responsible
The data controller is Tutatechno, a sole trader registered in Hungary. Correspondence, including any request under data-protection law: tutatechno@gmail.com. Full registered details are held by Google Play and are supplied on request to any user or supervisory authority entitled to them.
Scope
This policy covers the TellWay Android application. It forms part of the Terms of Use.
Location
The app uses your precise location to identify places near you. Your coordinates are sent to the search APIs of open databases — Wikipedia, Wikivoyage, Wikidata and OpenStreetMap — which return what is nearby. The coordinates are not retained after the response arrives, on the device or elsewhere; no route log or location history is created.
Precise location is required because the app runs continuously while you travel: it refreshes your position several times a minute so that a story begins at the right moment, and it supports a minimum search radius so that the same places are not repeated on a route driven daily. Coarse location, with an error of one to three kilometres, cannot support either.
While a journey is running the app uses a foreground service, shown as a notification. It runs only during a journey you started and stops when you pause it or remove the app from recents. The app does not request background location permission.
If you start navigation, the coordinates of the destination are passed to the map application on your device. Your own position is not.
What the app stores on your device
- Settings — language, voice, persona, speech rate, topics, audience, appearance, search radius, story length.
- Saved places — the name and coordinates of places you starred. These are the coordinates of places, not of you.
- Optional API keys you supply for the optional data sources.
Not stored: your location, movement history, route, device identifier, advertising identifier, name or account data. Settings → Reset everything removes all of it, as does uninstalling.
Third parties
The app queries the following public services. Each has its own privacy policy, and as with any internet request your IP address reaches them along with the request. All requests use HTTPS, and no device identifier, advertising ID, cookie or unique user identifier is sent.
| Service | What is sent | When |
|---|---|---|
| Wikimedia Foundation (Wikipedia, Wikivoyage, Wikidata) | Coordinates, search terms, language | Always |
| OpenStreetMap and Overpass API operators | Coordinates, radius, map tile coordinates | Always |
| Europeana, GeoNames, OpenTripMap | Coordinates, radius | Only if enabled by you |
| Your device's map application | The destination's coordinates | Only if you start navigation |
Speech
Stories are spoken by your device's own text-to-speech engine. If your system is set to a network voice, that service may transmit the text to its own servers in order to synthesise it. That is a device setting rather than an app setting, and it can be changed in Android system settings.
Sources and licences
Content is drawn from open databases and credited in the app: Wikipedia and Wikivoyage under CC BY-SA, Wikidata under CC0, OpenStreetMap under ODbL.
Your rights
Under the GDPR you have rights of access, rectification, erasure, restriction, portability and objection over personal data a controller holds about you. Everything the app stores is held on your device and under your direct control; you can delete it inside the app, through Android's Settings → Apps → Storage → Clear storage, or by uninstalling.
If you contact us by e-mail, we process your e-mail address and the content of your message in order to answer you, on the basis of legitimate interest (GDPR Art. 6(1)(f)), and retain it for at most 12 months after replying.
You may lodge a complaint with your national supervisory authority. In Hungary this is the National Authority for Data Protection and Freedom of Information (NAIH, 1055 Budapest, Falk Miksa utca 9-11.).
Children
The app is intended for a general audience and is not directed at children under 13.
Changes
The date at the top of this page identifies the current version. If the app changes in a way that affects data handling, this page is updated and material changes are noted in the app's release notes.