Privacy Policy for Sabivia
Last updated: 2026-11-11
1. What Sabivia is
Sabivia is an offline-first Android app that shows a curated map of natural destinations in the Dominican Republic: beaches, mountains, waterfalls, national parks, islands, lakes and lagoons. The app works without an account and without internet. An account is optional and is used only to back up your progress.
The app is designed so that personal data stays on your device. This policy explains exactly what is stored, what leaves the device, and when.
2. Summary
| Data | Where it lives | Leaves the device? |
|---|---|---|
| Visited places, visit dates, notes | your device (local database) | only if you create an account and press Backup |
| Visit plans (place + date) | your device | only with the backup above |
| Photos you attach to a visit | your device (app-private storage) | no, never |
| Photos and Wikipedia extracts downloaded for offline use | your device | no |
| Your location | your device, used in memory | no |
| Language, theme and other settings | your device | no |
| Email and password (optional account) | your device + the backend | yes, to sign in |
| Progress backup (optional) | the backend | yes, when you press Backup |
3. Data we do not collect
- No analytics, no telemetry, no crash reporting to a third party.
- No advertising and no advertising identifiers.
- No tracking across apps or websites.
- No device identifiers, contact list, calendar, SMS or call data.
- We do not sell or rent data to anyone.
4. Optional account and cloud sync
You can use the app forever without an account. If you choose to create one:
- What is sent: your email address, first and last name, and password (to sign in), and the data
the app keeps for you: place identifiers, visited flag, visit date, notes, the diary line "with whom", visit plans, your personal ratings and your itineraries. GPS tracks are excluded unless you turn on "Sync GPS tracks".
- Where: the backend configured in the app, currently Supabase (PostgreSQL
with Row Level Security). Each row is restricted to your user id, so other users cannot read or modify it.
- When: automatically, a few seconds after a change and at sign-in, so a new phone finds
everything. You can turn "Sync automatically" off: then data leaves the device only when you press Back up to the cloud.
- Email verification: the app asks for a 6-digit code sent to your address, or you can follow the
confirmation link in the email. The code is verified by the backend; it is not stored by the app.
- Session: access and refresh tokens are stored in the app's private storage on your device,
encrypted with a key held by the Android Keystore.
- Retention: backed-up data stays on the backend until you delete it or delete your account.
You can delete your account from the app (Settings → Account → Delete account) and everything linked to it is removed. You can also request deletion without the app, using the page at https://sabivia.com/account-deletion or the contact address in §15.
Photos are not uploaded today. If a future version adds cloud photos or public itineraries, this policy will be updated before that feature is released.
5. Location (optional)
If you grant location permission, your position is used only:
- to show where you are on the map;
- to sort places by distance in the Explore list;
- to show the distance to a place and the bearing arrow;
- to check whether you are at a place ("check-in") and, if you allow it, to compare the GPS tag of a
photo you picked with the place coordinates.
Your location is processed on the device and is never sent to us or to third parties, with one exception you control: if you sign in and turn on Sync GPS tracks, the tracks you recorded are uploaded to your own account so they survive a change of phone. That option is off by default. Requests for online information contain only the place's coordinates, never yours.
If you deny the permission, the app keeps working: distance and arrow simply do not appear.
6. Photos (optional)
- Adding a photo to a visit uses the Android system photo picker. The app receives access to the single
photo you choose, not to your gallery.
- If you grant
ACCESS_MEDIA_LOCATION, the app reads the GPS tag of that photo locally to suggest that
you visited the place. The photo and its metadata stay on your device.
- Photos you attach are stored in the app's private storage and are not included in the JSON export.
7. Notifications (optional)
Visit reminders are local notifications scheduled on your device (Android WorkManager). No push token and no message content is sent to a server. You can turn reminders off in Settings at any time.
8. Optional online services
When "Use internet for live info" is enabled, the app may contact these services directly from your device:
| Service | What is sent | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Open-Meteo (forecast and marine) | the place's latitude/longitude | weather, waves, sea temperature |
| OpenStreetMap Overpass API | the place's coordinates and a search radius | nearby restaurants and cafés |
| Wikipedia REST API | the place name/coordinates | encyclopedic extract |
Sabivia's map tile service (tiles.sabivia.com, a Protomaps extract of OpenStreetMap) | tile coordinates and a standard User-Agent | map tiles; no third-party map provider |
| Supabase (only with an account) | see §4 | sign-in and backup |
These requests contain no account identifier, no device identifier and no user location. Each provider has its own privacy policy and terms. If you are offline or disable online info, the app shows cached data or hides the section; it never blocks.
9. Map tiles and offline downloads
The map loads tiles from Sabivia's own tile service (an OpenStreetMap-derived basemap served from Cloudflare) when online. You can download the island's tiles for offline use; the download goes only over networks you allow in Settings ("Use internet" / "Wi-Fi only") and is stored on your device.
10. Storage and security
- All local data is stored in the app's private storage. Other apps cannot read it.
- The backend uses Row Level Security: every row is tied to the authenticated user.
- The app never ships a
service_role(admin) key. Only the publicanonkey is used, which cannot
bypass Row Level Security.
- No system is perfectly secure: protect your device with a screen lock and your account with a strong,
unique password.
11. Export and import
You can export your progress and visit plans to a JSON file and import it back, using the Android system file dialogs. This action is started by you; the file goes wherever you choose to save or share it. The app does not upload it.
12. Children
The app is not directed at children under 13 and does not knowingly collect personal data from them.
13. Your choices
- Use the app without an account: no data leaves the device.
- Revoke location, photo-metadata or notification permissions in Android Settings at any time.
- Disable online info and offline downloads in the app's Settings.
- Sign out to remove the session from the device.
- Delete your account and its backup from the app, or from https://sabivia.com/account-deletion.
- Uninstalling the app deletes local data (progress, plans, photos, offline content) from the device.
14. Changes
This policy may be updated. The "Last updated" date at the top reflects the latest change. Material changes (for example a new cloud feature) will be announced in the app or in the store listing.
15. Contact
Questions about this policy, or requests to delete an account and its backup: