App privacy policy
thesarvo iOS and Android app, and thesarvo.com sign-in. Last updated 1 November 2026.
Introduction
This policy explains what the thesarvo.com app ("the App", on the Apple App Store and Google Play) and the thesarvo.com website do with information. In short: there is no advertising and no tracking. You can read every public guide without an account. If you choose to sign in, to edit guides, use the forum or see pages that are restricted to members, we hold the few account details described below. By using the App you accept this policy.
Information we collect
- No tracking. The App and the website contain no analytics, advertising or tracking code, and we collect no usage data or crash reports of our own. (Apple and Google may give us anonymous, aggregated download statistics from their stores.)
- Signing in is optional. If you sign in, we hold your email address, and your name if you give one. You sign in with a password, or with your Google account: if you use Google, we receive only the email address and name Google shares with us, never your Google password. Passwords are handled by our sign-in service, Amazon Cognito, and we cannot see them.
- What signing in is used for. To show who made an edit or a forum post (your name appears in a page's history and on your posts), to let approved editors save changes, and to show you the pages and photos you have been given access to. It is not used for anything else.
- On your device. If you sign in, the App keeps your sign-in tokens in the iPhone Keychain (or the Android keystore) so that you stay signed in, and downloads the restricted pages and photos you can read so they work without a signal. Edits you make while offline are kept on the device until they can be sent. All of this is removed when you sign out, delete your account or delete the App.
- Location. If you allow it, the App uses your device's location only for its map: to show where you are and to suggest nearby crags. Your location is used on your device and is not sent to us. The map is drawn by Apple Maps on iPhone and iPad and by Google Maps on Android, which receive the requests needed to show the map (see below).
- Guide downloads. The App downloads guide content and images from thesarvo.com. Like any web server, our hosting provider (Amazon Web Services) records standard technical details of each request, such as the IP address and time, in server logs. We do not use these logs to identify or track individuals, and they are kept only for as long as needed to run and secure the service.
- Forum and edits. What you post in the forum, and the guides you edit, are stored with your name. The forum can be read only by signed-in members.
How we use information
Account details are used only to run your account, to show your contributions and to decide what you may read or edit. Server logs are used only to keep the service running and secure. We do not use information for marketing or profiling.
Sharing
We do not sell, rent or share personal information. The only third parties involved are the services we rely on: Amazon Web Services (hosting, and Amazon Cognito for sign-in); Google, if you choose to sign in with Google, covered by Google's privacy policy; and the map provider (Apple Maps, covered by Apple's privacy policy, or Google Maps on Android).
Security
Connections to thesarvo.com are encrypted. Sign-in tokens are kept in the device's secure storage. Restricted pages and photos are served only to people who have access to them.
Your rights, and deleting your account
You can delete your account at any time in the App (Settings, then Account, then Delete account) or on the website (Account settings, then Delete account). This removes your sign-in and the data stored on your device. Pages you edited and forum posts you made stay under the name they were made with, as the guides are community-written, but are no longer connected to a sign-in. If you want your name taken off them, email us. You can also ask us to delete your account, or to correct or send you what we hold, by emailing us (below). You can stop all location use at any time in your device's settings, and remove everything the App stores by deleting it.
Children
The App is general-purpose. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13, and an account is not needed to use it.
Changes to this policy
We may update this policy from time to time. Changes will be posted on this page, with a new "last updated" date, so please check it now and then.
Contact
Questions about this policy: jon@thesarvo.com.