HitchGrove — Privacy Policy
Last updated: October 7, 2026
HitchGrove is operated by Galvanized Analytics LLC. HitchGrove helps RV travelers find rest areas, truck stops, overnight options, fuel and services. Browsing stops works without an account; signing in with Google or email enables shared overnight reports and private rig-profile backup.
What stays on your phone
- Your location. Used to show nearby stops, measure distances and estimate fuel range. A single last-counted GPS position is saved on your phone to detect movement while the app is not tracking; a GPS history is not stored. The saved comparison point is cleared when you update current fuel and is not included in account-profile backup or problem reports. Online area searches and route requests send a location or route points to the services below.
- Your vehicle & RV profile, current fuel and saved trips. Stored on your phone. Your rig profile syncs when signed in; current fuel and saved trips remain local.
- Your overnight reports ("I stayed here", "Not allowed", …). Stored on your phone; shared with other travelers only after you sign in (see below).
- VIN photos. Read on your phone by Google ML Kit to find the VIN, then deleted immediately. The photo is never uploaded.
What is sent to other services, and why
| When | What is sent | To |
|---|---|---|
| Showing the map | The map area you are viewing (standard map tile requests) | OpenStreetMap tile servers |
| Searching for a street address or landmark not in the app's offline list | The search text | OpenStreetMap Nominatim |
| Tapping ↻ to refresh, or browsing outside the offline data | The map area (a point and a radius) | Our server (Supabase) |
| About once a day | "Is there newer stop data?" — no personal data | Our server (Supabase) |
| Viewing stops | The ids of the stops on screen, to show other travelers' report totals | Our server (Supabase) |
| Opening a stop's details | The stop's id, to show travelers' notes (plus your sign-in token when signed in, to mark your own notes) | Our server (Supabase) |
| Tapping "Look up" or scanning a VIN | The VIN only | US government NHTSA vPIC database |
| Choosing your vehicle's year and brand in the profile | The year and brand only, to list that brand's models | US government NHTSA vPIC database |
| Choosing a towed RV's tow vehicle (year, brand, model) | The year, brand and model, and the engine version you pick, to look up its MPG | US EPA fuel economy site (fueleconomy.gov) |
| Planning a route | Start, destination and intermediate coordinates; rig height, length and weight when entered | Valhalla routing service |
| Using voice questions | Speech/audio as handled by Android's selected speech service | The device's speech provider (may use an online service) |
| Tapping "Open in Google Maps" / "Navigate with Waze" or navigating a route | Place details or route coordinates and intermediate stops (Waze: one destination at a time) | Google Maps or Waze, as chosen in ☰ → Settings (opens their app/site) |
| When | What is sent | To |
|---|---|---|
| Checking for new stop data and travelers' check-in totals (when set up) | Nothing personal: the app downloads the same public files for everyone | Cloudflare R2 (file hosting for our data) |
| Address search through our server (when set up) | The search text; results are cached for 30 days without any link to you | Our server (Supabase), then OpenStreetMap Nominatim |
| Planning a route through our server (when set up) | Route points, rig size, a random installation id, and your Google Play purchase token to confirm HitchGrove Plus and count your monthly route allowance | Our server (Supabase), then the routing service |
These services receive your device's IP address as part of any internet request. We do not control how they handle it; see their own privacy policies.
Signing in and shared reports
- Sign-in is optional, with Google or with an email address and password (both through our server provider, Supabase). With Google, Google's own page handles your password; the app never sees it, and we receive your email address and a Google account id. With email, your password is sent securely to Supabase, which stores only a scrambled (hashed) form; Supabase emails you a code to confirm the address or reset the password. The email address is used only to identify your account, send those codes, and prevent spam.
- When you're signed in, each overnight report you make is uploaded with: the place, the report type, an optional comment you write, your account id, and the time (set by our server). Not your location.
- Other travelers only ever see totals per place (e.g. "3 stayed · 1 not allowed") and the latest report's type and date — never who reported.
- Limits: 30 reports a day per account, one per place every 6 hours.
- Notes on a stop ("Big lot behind the store") are public: anyone using the app can read them, signed in or not. Each note is stored with the place, the text, your account id and the time (set by our server). Others see only the text and date — never who wrote it; the app labels your own notes "You" so you can delete them. Notes are limited to 280 characters, no web links, 20 a day per account and 3 per place a day. Please don't include names, phone numbers or other personal details. Travelers can flag a note; a note flagged by 3 accounts is hidden. Flags are stored with the flagging account id. Notes older than 12 months are no longer shown.
- When you're signed in, your vehicle & RV profile (make/model, tank size, MPG, RV weights and size — not your current fuel level) is backed up to your account so you can get it back on a new phone. Only you can read it. Fill-up logging has been removed. Records from older app versions are preserved but are no longer read, uploaded or downloaded by this build.
- Suggesting an overnight spot sends the name, type, location (the pin or searched place, not your GPS position), the address if known and your optional note, with your account id and the time, to our server for review. Approved spots appear on everyone's map with your note but never your name; you can ask us to delete your suggestions. Limit: 10 a day.
- Before your first note you accept the community rules (no harassment, hate, personal details, links or spam). The acceptance is stored with your account id and the time. Notes include an anonymous author code (a scrambled value that can't be turned back into your account) so other travelers can block your notes on their phone; blocked authors are remembered only on that phone. When you flag a note you can pick a reason (wrong, offensive, spam, personal info, other). We review flagged notes, remove ones that break the rules, and can stop an account from posting.
- Reporting a problem with a stop (closed, moved, wrong information, RVs not allowed, listed twice) sends the stop, the reason and your optional details, with your account id and the time, to our server. We use it only to correct the map; other travelers never see the report or who sent it.
- You can sign out at any time (☰ → Account), delete your own notes in the app, and delete your account in ☰ → Account → Delete my account (see below).
HitchGrove Plus purchases
Purchases (subscription with a free trial, lifetime purchase, or a tip) are handled by Google Play; we never see your card or payment details. To confirm HitchGrove Plus, the app (or our server) asks Google Play about your purchase. We store a scrambled form (hash) of the purchase token, the product, whether it's active or in a trial, whether it renews, its end date, and your account id if you were signed in — only to unlock Plus features and limit route requests. Google Play emails you before a free trial ends and lets you cancel at any time; the app reminds you two days before a trial ends. Deleting your HitchGrove account does not cancel a Google Play subscription: cancel it in Google Play (☰ → Account → Manage subscription). Purchase records stay (without the account link) while a purchase is active, as Google Play and tax rules require.
Messages you send us (☰ → Help & feedback)
A message you write (problem, idea or question) is sent to our server with its type, the app version, phone model and Android version, and the random installation id. Your email address is sent only if you type it in the optional reply box. When you're signed in, the message is also linked to your account (and deleted with it). No location is attached. We use messages only to answer you and to fix and improve the app; reviewed messages are deleted after a year.
Deleting your account
In the app: ☰ → Account → Delete my account (while signed in). This immediately and permanently deletes your account and everything stored with it on our server: rig-profile backup, overnight reports, notes, note flags, community-rules acceptance, suggestions, stop problem reports and messages linked to your account. Kept: stops that were approved from your suggestions (public map data with no link to you) and anonymous problem reports (no account id; deleted after 90 days). Data on your phone (saved stops, trips, profile) is removed when you uninstall the app. Can't open the app? See account-deletion page.
Problem reports
You can turn problem reports off in ☰ → Settings; turning them off also deletes any reports waiting to be sent.
When something goes wrong (a crash, or a feature failing while you're online), the app sends a problem report to our server so we can fix it: the app version, phone model, Android version, which part of the app, the error type, safe HTTP status and method-only technical stack frames, and a random id for this installation. Raw exception messages, request URLs/payloads and file paths are excluded; legacy queued messages are stripped before upload. Location, email, account details, photos and keys are not attached. Reports are deleted after 90 days.
Children
The app is not directed at children under 13.
Contact
Use ☰ → Help & feedback in the app, or email galvanizedanalytics@gmail.com.