Privacy Policy

Last updated July 25, 2026

ParkingRat helps you find legal curb space in New York City. It works without an account, shows no ads, and includes no third-party analytics or advertising SDKs. This policy describes exactly what the app and website do with data — nothing more and nothing less.

The short version

• There are no accounts, logins, or profiles. We never ask for your name, email, or phone number.
• Your device’s GPS coordinates are never sent to our servers.
• We do not sell, rent, or share your data with data brokers or advertisers.
• We do not use advertising identifiers (IDFA) and never show the App Tracking Transparency prompt.
• We do not track you across other apps or websites.

Location

The mobile app requests location access only while you are using it. It never requests background or “always” location access, so it cannot see where you are when it is closed.

Your location is used on your device to:

• center the map on where you are;
• sort nearby curb segments by distance; and
• drive turn-by-turn cruise guidance while the app is open on screen.

Your raw coordinates stay on your device. When the map loads curb data, it sends the bounding box of the visible map area — four numbers describing the corners of the region on screen — not your position. If the map happens to be centered on you, that rectangle indicates the general area you are viewing, which is why we treat it as coarse location data.

You can revoke location access at any time in iOS Settings. The app still works; it just cannot center itself on you.

What stays on your device

The following never leaves your phone and is deleted when you delete the app:

• Recent destinations — the places you have searched for, kept so you can return to them quickly.
• Offline curb data packs — downloaded map and rule data stored in a local database so the app works without a signal.
• Display preferences — your light/dark palette choice and whether you have completed onboarding.

On the website, the only thing stored in your browser is your light/dark theme preference. We set no cookies and run no analytics scripts.

What is sent to our servers

The app and website send two kinds of requests to the ParkingRat API:

• Curb data requests. The bounding box of the visible map area plus the date and time window you are asking about, so we can return the rules that apply.
• Destination searches. The text you type into the search box, so we can return matching places and streets. Each search carries a random, short-lived token used to group the keystrokes of a single search together. It is regenerated for every new search and is not tied to you, your device, or any previous search.

These requests are not associated with any account or persistent identifier, because neither exists.

Server logs

Our API runs on Google Cloud, which records standard web server logs for the requests it receives. These logs include the request URL — which contains the map bounding box and any search text — along with your IP address, timestamp, and general device type. This is ordinary infrastructure logging used to keep the service running, diagnose faults, and prevent abuse. We do not build user profiles from it and we do not attempt to identify individuals. Logs are retained on a rolling basis and then automatically deleted.

Service providers

We keep third parties to the minimum needed to make the app work:

• Google Cloud — hosts our API and stores the curb data files the app downloads.
• Google Places — powers destination search. Search text you type is passed to Google to return matching places, subject to Google’s privacy policy.
• Protomaps — serves the map label fonts used to draw the basemap.
• Apple — distributes the app and provides TestFlight. Any crash reports or ratings you choose to send Apple are governed by Apple’s privacy policy, not ours.

Requesting a file from any of these providers necessarily reveals your IP address to them, the same as visiting any website.

Diagnostics and crash reporting

The app currently collects no crash reports or diagnostic telemetry of its own. If we enable crash reporting in a future release, we will update this policy and describe what is collected before that version ships.

Children

ParkingRat is a driving tool intended for licensed drivers. It is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect information from them.

Your choices

• Revoke location access at any time in iOS Settings without losing other functionality.
• Clear your recent destinations from within the app.
• Delete the app to remove everything stored on your device.
• Ask what we hold about you, or ask us to delete it, by writing to support@parkingrat.com. Because we store no accounts and no identifiers, we usually have no way to link server logs back to you — we will tell you plainly if that is the case.

Accuracy

ParkingRat interprets published New York City parking regulations and sign data. That data can be incomplete, out of date, or contradicted by signage on the street. ParkingRat is a guide, not legal advice, and it is not a guarantee that parking is permitted at any given place or time. Posted signs and curb markings always take precedence. You are responsible for confirming that parking is legal before you leave your vehicle.

Changes

If this policy changes, we will update the date at the top of this page. Material changes to what we collect will be described in the app’s release notes.

Contact

Questions about privacy: support@parkingrat.com.