Privacy Policy

1. Who we are

World Map: Countries Visited ("the app") is developed and published by MD Shahariar Nazim Joy ("we", "us", the "Developer"), who is the data controller for the purposes of this policy. You can reach us at any time at dmjks120@gmail.com.

This policy explains what happens to information when you use the app. It is short because the app does almost nothing with your information: everything you mark on the map stays on your device.

2. Summary

• The app has no user accounts and no sign-up.
• The app has no servers of its own. Your map is never uploaded to us, because there is nowhere for it to go.
• The app contains no analytics SDKs, no advertising, and no third-party trackers.
• The app requests no device permissions at all — not camera, not contacts, not photos, not location, not the microphone, not even notifications.
• The app makes no network requests other than to Apple's own StoreKit framework, in order to sell you a purchase and to check whether you own one.
• All app data is stored locally on your device in a SwiftData store.

3. Information you enter into the app (stored only on your device)

To do its job, the app lets you record information such as:

• which countries you have marked as Visited, Lived or Wishlist;
• which states, provinces and regions inside a country you have marked;
• trips you log, including their dates and any note you write about them;
• the statistics the Passport screen derives from the above — countries, percentage of the world, continents, UN member states, regions;
• your in-app preferences and settings, such as the toggle that hides disputed-territory shading.

This information is written to a local SwiftData store on your device. It is not transmitted to the Developer, and it is not transmitted to any third party. We cannot see it, and we have no ability to retrieve it. There is no "sync", no cloud account, and no backup held by us.

If you have enabled Apple's own iCloud device backup or an encrypted local iPhone backup, a copy of the app's local data may be included in that backup. That backup is created and handled entirely by Apple under Apple's own privacy policy, and it is not accessible to us.

4. The map card you share

The app can generate a shareable image of your map and stats. That image is rendered on your device. It is not uploaded anywhere by the app. If you choose to share it, iOS hands the image to whichever app or destination you pick — a message, a social app, your photo library — and from that point the receiving app's own privacy policy applies. The Developer is not involved in, and cannot see, that hand-off.

5. Device permissions

The app requests no device permissions whatsoever. It does not ask for, and cannot access:

• your camera or microphone;
• your photo library;
• your contacts or calendars;
• your location — the map is filled in by tapping, never by tracking where you are;
• notifications;
• HealthKit, Bluetooth, or any other sensor or system service.

You will never see a permission prompt from this app, because it never asks for anything.

6. Information we do not collect

We do not collect, and the app is not built to collect, any of the following:

Because we collect no personal data, we also do not build user profiles, do not perform behavioural advertising, and do not "track" you across apps or websites as that term is used in Apple's App Tracking Transparency framework. The app does not present the App Tracking Transparency prompt because it has nothing to ask for.

7. Purchases and Apple's role

The app requires a purchase to use. All purchases are processed by Apple through the App Store using StoreKit.

• You pay Apple, not us. We never see and never receive your payment card details, your billing address, or your Apple Account credentials.
• The app asks StoreKit whether a valid entitlement exists on the device, and unlocks accordingly. That check happens between your device and Apple. It is the only network request the app makes.
• Apple may make available to the Developer aggregate, non-identifying App Store analytics and sales reports — for example the total number of subscriptions, trials or refunds in a period. Those reports are aggregated by Apple, do not identify individual users, and cannot be used by us to identify you.

Apple's handling of your purchase is governed by Apple's Privacy Policy and the Apple Media Services Terms and Conditions, not by this policy.

8. Map data and third parties

The country and region boundary data bundled inside the app comes from the Natural Earth public-domain dataset. It ships inside the app as static data. Nothing is fetched from Natural Earth, or from any map server, while you use the app — so no third party ever learns what you are looking at.

We do not share, sell, rent, trade or otherwise disclose personal data to any third party, because we do not hold any. There are no advertising networks, no data brokers, no analytics vendors and no cloud processors involved in the operation of the app. The only third party involved at all is Apple, in its role as operator of the App Store and processor of your purchase, as described in section 7.

9. Children's privacy

The app is rated 4+ and is suitable for all ages. It contains no user-generated content from other people, no chat, no links out to social networks, and no advertising.

The app collects no personal information from anyone, of any age — including children under 13. It therefore does not knowingly collect personal information from children, because it does not knowingly (or unknowingly) collect personal information at all. It complies with the U.S. Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) by the simplest available route: there is nothing to collect, nothing to store off-device, and nothing to disclose.

If you are a parent or guardian with a question, write to dmjks120@gmail.com. Since everything is stored locally, anything a child entered can be removed immediately using the in-app data-deletion option, or by deleting the app.

10. Security

Your app data is protected by the security of your device. iOS sandboxes each app's storage so that other apps cannot read it, and if you use a passcode, Face ID or Touch ID, iOS file protection encrypts data at rest on the device. Because the app transmits no data off the device, there is no transmission for an attacker to intercept, and no developer-held database that could be breached.

Keeping your device updated and passcode-protected is the single most effective thing you can do to protect the information you keep in the app.

11. Data retention and how to delete your data

We hold no data about you, so there is nothing for us to retain, and nothing for us to delete on our side. Your app data stays on your device for exactly as long as you keep it there. You are in complete control of it:

• Delete all data in the app: open the app's Settings screen and use the delete all data option. This permanently erases your marked countries, marked regions, trips, notes and preferences from the local store on your device, instantly.
• Delete the app: removing World Map: Countries Visited from your device deletes its local SwiftData store along with it.

Both actions are irreversible. Because your data has never left the device, once it is erased it is gone — we hold no copy that could be restored for you. Note that deleting the app does not cancel an active subscription; see section 6 of the Terms of Use and cancel in Settings > Apple Account > Subscriptions.

12. Your rights

Privacy laws such as the EU and UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA/CPRA) give you rights over personal data that a company holds about you — including the right to access it, to correct it, to delete it, to port it, to restrict or object to its processing, and not to be discriminated against for exercising those rights.

We respect those rights in full. In practice, because we hold no personal data about you:

• there is nothing for us to disclose in response to an access request;
• there is nothing for us to correct or erase — and you can erase everything yourself, at any moment, from the app's Settings screen;
• your data is already in your own possession, on your own device, which is the strongest form of portability there is;
• we have never sold or shared personal information, and we do not process it for targeted advertising, so there is nothing for you to opt out of.

You are welcome to write to dmjks120@gmail.com with any request or question about your data, and we will respond, normally within 2 business days. If you are in the EEA or the UK, you also have the right to lodge a complaint with your national data protection authority.

13. International users

The app performs no international transfer of personal data, because it performs no transfer of personal data at all. Whether you are in Dhaka, Berlin, São Paulo or Auckland, your information stays in one place: on the device in your hand. No data leaves your country because no data leaves your phone.

14. Changes to this policy

If the app ever changes in a way that affects your privacy, we will update this policy and change the effective date at the top of the page. Material changes will also be signalled in the app or in the App Store release notes before or when they take effect. The current version of this policy always lives at this URL. Continuing to use the app after a change takes effect means you accept the updated policy.

15. Contact

Questions, requests or concerns about privacy:

MD Shahariar Nazim Joy
Developer, World Map: Countries Visited
Email: dmjks120@gmail.com

See also the Terms of Use and the Support page.