Privacy

You can use Wend without an account, and then we keep no identifier for you at all. If you sign in with Google to save roads, we keep your Google account's ID, name and email address, and the roads you saved. We only email you about Wend if you ask us to.

Who runs Wend

Wend is a free map built by one developer. If anything here is unclear, or you want your data removed, write to [email protected].

Using the map

While you browse, your browser sends us small usage events. They tell us whether the map is useful, and they carry no cookie, no account ID and no visitor ID.

• What happened A page opened, a road was selected, a road went to Google Maps, a link was shared, search started a route, terrain or 3D was switched on.
• Roughly where Map view to ~11 km · roads to ~1 km Never your own location. Just the part of the map you were looking at.
• Where you came from The site that linked you here, if your browser shares it.
• Whether you've been before Sent as a bucket, e.g. "seen on 2–3 days" Worked out on your device from three dates kept there. We only receive the bucket.
• A scrambled IP address Deleted after 24 hours A one-way hash, used only to stop abuse. The key changes daily, so one day can't be matched to the next.

We also use Cloudflare Web Analytics, which counts visits without cookies.

Sending feedback

We keep the message you write and the same scrambled IP (deleted after 24 hours). If you tick the box and leave your email, we use it to reply and to send you the occasional note about Wend. That's all it's for. Reply "stop" to any of those notes and we'll remove your address.

Saving roads

Saving needs a Google sign-in. This is what we keep:

• Your Google account ID A number Google gives each account So your saved roads are yours on any phone or laptop.
• Your name and email address From Google · updated each time you sign in To show who's signed in, and to find your account if you write to us about your data. We only send you feature update emails if you say yes when "Your roads" asks, once, after you first sign in. Every one of those emails has a link to stop them, or just write to us.
• The roads you save Shape · name · length · a point on it · state and country · date saved So we can show your list and draw your roads on the map.
• A sign-in session Cookie wend_sid · we store only a hash of it Keeps you signed in. It ends when you sign out, or after 400 days.

Google also shares your profile picture when you sign in. We don't keep it. Your email address is never shown to anyone but you, never written to our logs, and never kept with the anonymous usage events above.

Kept on your device only

• Settings and small notes to self Whether you've seen the intro, terrain on or off, whether to show roads with uncertain pavement, whether to show your saved roads, the three return-visit dates, and a "don't count me" flag if you've set one. We never receive these. Clearing this site's data in your browser removes them.

Other services involved

To draw the map, your browser talks to these directly. Like any website, they see your IP address, and each has its own privacy policy.

• CloudflareAlways Hosts Wend, its database and the road data. Counts visits without cookies.
• OpenFreeMapAlways The background map.
• Google FontsAlways The typefaces on the map.
• Komoot PhotonWhen you search or save a road Finds places, and names the state and country of a saved road. It receives what you typed, or the road's position.
• Google sign-inOnly if you sign in Its script isn't loaded until you start signing in.
• Amazon Web ServicesOnly with terrain on Elevation data for the terrain view.
• Google MapsOnly when you tap it Opens the road you picked. At that point you've left Wend.

We don't share your data with anyone else, and we never sell it.

Why we're allowed to (EU and UK)

• Saved roads and sign-in: you asked for the feature, and it can't work without them.
• Usage counts, abuse protection, feedback: our legitimate interest in keeping a free service running and getting better, done without identifying you.
• Emails about Wend (feature updates, or replies to feedback you left your email with): your consent, given by saying yes (or ticking the box on the feedback form). You can take it back any time.

How long we keep things

• Saved roads stay until you remove them with the ✕ next to each one.
• Your account (its ID, name and email) stays until you ask us to erase it.
• Sign-in sessions end when you sign out, or after 400 days.
• Scrambled IPs are deleted after 24 hours.
• An email left with feedback is kept until you ask us to stop writing.
• Usage events and feedback messages are kept while they help us improve Wend. Usage events identify no one.

Your rights

You can remove any saved road yourself, any time. You can also ask to see, correct or erase what we hold about you, including erasing your whole account, or object to how we use it. Write to us from the email address you sign in with, so we can find your account, and we'll answer within a month.

Removing Wend from your Google Account settings stops future sign-ins, but doesn't erase what we hold. Write to us for that. In the EU or UK you can also complain to your data protection authority.

Children

Wend isn't meant for children under 16, and we don't knowingly hold their data.

Changes

If what we collect changes, this page changes first, and the date at the top moves.