Privacy Policy

Last updated: 25 October 2026

This policy explains how the MapOfMyWorld mobile app (the "App") collects, uses and protects your personal data. Data controller: MapOfMyWorld (developer: Yenal Durmuş). Contact: destek@mapofmyworld.com. The Turkish version of this policy prevails in case of any discrepancy.

In short: we don't sell your data, we don't show ads and we don't track you across apps. The data we collect is used only to run, secure and improve the App.

1. Data we collect

Account information: name, email address, password (passwords are stored encrypted by Google Firebase Authentication and are never visible to us), username, profile photo, short bio. If you sign in with Apple, the name and email address Apple shares with us (this may be a private relay address hidden by Apple).

Optional profile information: nationality, birthplace, place of residence, date of birth, gender, preferred currency, appearance (light/dark) and app language preference. Email, date of birth and gender are visible only to you.

Passport and visa preferences: the country of the passports you add under "My passports", the type for Turkish passports (burgundy/green/grey) and which one is selected on the map. Visible only to you. We don't ask for or collect passport numbers, photos or identity details.

Content you share: trips (title, description, dates, countries and cities visited with their map coordinates, lengths of stay), photos and videos, plans and dreams, plan notes (visible only to you), comments, likes, city tips, people you tag, stories.

Social interactions: people you follow and who follow you, follow requests, people you block, your messages, notifications and reports you make, and support messages you send with "Write to us".

Route Pilot flying together and radio: while the Route Pilot screen is open, people who follow you can see that you are online in the game (your name and a timestamp; removed when you leave the screen). When flying together, the invite, route and live flight state (plane position, who has the controls, radio light) are kept temporarily. Voice on the radio is only transmitted live to the other pilot; it is not recorded or stored. The microphone is used only while you turn the radio on.

Usage and technical data: in-app events (for example which screens are opened), taps on flight/hotel links, crash reports, device model and OS version, push notification token.

What we don't collect: we don't collect your device's location (GPS); locations on the map come only from the cities you choose. We don't collect the advertising identifier (IDFA). We don't access your contacts.

2. Why we use data

To create your account, let you sign in and show your map and trips,
To show your posts to your followers and other users according to the privacy settings you choose,
To send like, comment, tag, follow and message notifications in your chosen language,
To show the visa status of countries for the passport you select, and to send reminder notifications 30, 7 and 1 days before your planned trips that have a set date,
To prepare your "Year in travel" summary and video: the video is generated automatically on our servers from your trips and photos and refreshed once a month when your trips change. Trips you mark private are never included,
To reply to messages you send with "Write to us",
To prevent abuse, review reports and enforce our community guidelines,
To fix bugs and improve the App (anonymous usage statistics and crash reports).

Legal bases: performance of a contract (providing the App), legitimate interest (security and improvement) and, where required, your consent (for example push notification permission). We act under the Turkish Personal Data Protection Law No. 6698 (KVKK) and, where applicable, the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

3. Who can see what

Public accounts and trips: your name, username, profile photo, bio, the countries you've visited and your public trips are visible to other users.
Private account / private trip: only you can see trips marked private; private accounts appear in user search with a lock (🔒), but only approved followers see their content, and they don't appear in Discover.
Plans, dreams, plan notes, your passports, email, date of birth and gender are visible only to you.
Year in review video: other users can watch it if your account is public; if it's private, only you can. If you choose to share it (story, message), the people you share it with can see it too.
When you copy another user's public route into your plans, the route's owner can't see your plan; they only see the number of times their route was copied.

4. Our service providers

Your data is processed through the following providers, who may use it only to provide services to us:

Agora (Agora Lab, Inc.): live voice transmission for the Route Pilot fly-together radio. Voice is not recorded; Agora only receives your in-app user ID and temporary channel information.
Google Firebase (Google LLC / Google Ireland): authentication, database, file storage, cloud functions, push notifications, Analytics (without the advertising identifier), Crashlytics and Performance Monitoring (app speed measurement). Data may be stored on Google's servers in Europe and the US.
Apple: Sign in with Apple, map imagery (Apple Maps) and delivery of push notifications.
Open-Meteo: only city coordinates are sent for the weather on trip pages; your identity is not sent.
Frankfurter: only currency codes are sent for exchange rates.
OpenStreetMap (Nominatim): for city maps on country pages, only the country code, city name and city coordinates are sent through our server; your identity is not sent. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
Google Flights and Booking.com: when you tap flight/hotel links, these sites open in your browser and are subject to their own privacy policies.

We don't sell, rent or share your data for advertising. It may be shared with competent authorities where legally required.

5. Retention and deletion

Your data is kept while your account is open. You can delete your account at any time in the App under Profile > Settings > Delete My Account; this permanently deletes your profile, trips, photos and videos, stories and Highlights, comments, likes, city tips, follow relationships, notifications and your tags on other people's trips. Messages remain in the other person's chat history because they are part of their history too; your name is removed from those chats and shown as "Deleted user". Reports you made are kept as moderation records with your name removed. Details: Delete Account. Copies in backups are deleted within 30 days at the latest.

6. Your rights

Under KVKK Article 11 and the GDPR, you have the right to access, rectify, erase, restrict processing of and object to the processing of your data, and to receive a copy of it. Send your requests to destek@mapofmyworld.com; we reply within 30 days at the latest. You also have the right to complain to the relevant data protection authority.

7. Security

Data is encrypted in transit (HTTPS/TLS), and access is limited by database rules so each user can reach only the data they're allowed to. No system is 100% secure, but we take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect your data.

8. Children

The App is not intended for children under 13, and we don't knowingly collect data from children of that age. If you notice such a case, please write to us and we'll delete the account.

9. Changes

When we update this policy we change the date on this page; for significant changes we notify you in the App.