Privacy policy

The app asks before it uses your location. We answer with departures and do not keep where you were. No account, no ads, no tracking.

Asking first

The first time it opens, the app explains what it sends and asks. Until you allow it, the GPS stays off and the app sends nothing at all. You can turn location off again in the app’s Settings on the watch.

What the app sends us

Departures come from our server, because the data is too big for a watch. So the watch sends its position, to about a metre, and the stop, mode or saved stops you chose. Opening a service sends which one, to list its stops. Each request also carries the identifier Garmin gives this app on your watch, with a code that proves it comes from the app. We use the identifier to stop any one watch from sending too many requests, and to count how many watches use the app each day.

Transport for NSW is asked about stops only, never about you.

What we keep

No record of where you were or what you looked at. Our server keeps no log of these requests. One exception: if looking up a stop fails, the error is logged with the watch’s identifier and the stop number, without a position, in the server’s system log. Once a day the server also logs how many watches used the app, as a number; to count them it holds a scrambled form of each identifier in memory for two days, and never writes it down. The identifier is not linked to your name, email or Garmin account, so we cannot tell who you are.

On the way

Requests travel through the Garmin Connect app on your phone, then through Cloudflare’s network, which handles each one before it reaches our server.

Garmin

Next Depart NSW is made by The Owlery Works, not Garmin. What the app sends goes to us, not to Garmin, and Garmin is not responsible for how we handle it. Buying and installing the app happen in Garmin’s Connect IQ Store, under Garmin’s privacy policy.

What stays on your watch

Your settings, up to ten saved stops, and your answer about location. Saved stops and settings also show in the Garmin Connect app on your phone, where you can change them. Delete the app and they are gone.

Permissions and tracking

Location, for the nearest stop and the get-off alert, and network access, for the requests above. No analytics, crash reporting, advertising or third-party code.

Your rights, and changes

We hold nothing that identifies you, so there is nothing of yours to hand over or delete. The app is not aimed at children. If we ever keep positions or ask you to sign in, this page and the app will tell you first. Support cases are covered on our privacy page.

Contact

The Owlery Works, Sydney, Australia, through the support form, anonymously if you like.