Privacy Policy

Trackside is an independent project for tracking commuter-rail trains. It is built to collect as little about you as possible: no account, no login, no advertising, and no third-party analytics. This page explains exactly what the app and this website collect, why, and how to have it removed.

Last updated 8 September 2026.

What the app collects

The Trackside app works without an account. To deliver train notifications and Live Activities, it registers with our notification service and stores:

• A random device identifier — an anonymous ID the app generates on your device. It is not your name, email, Apple ID, or phone number, and it is not linked to any account.
• An Apple push token — issued by Apple so our service can send notifications and Live Activity updates to your device.
• Your commute and alert choices — the stations, trains, and notification subscriptions you set up, plus any quiet-hours window, so we know which trains to notify you about.
• The app version — to keep the service compatible with your build.
• Your subscription status — whether your device has an active Trackside Plus subscription, so premium features unlock. In-app purchases are handled by Apple; we receive only that active-or-not status, tied to the anonymous device identifier above, and never see your payment details.

The app also uses your approximate location — once each time you launch it, and again any time you tap the locate button to re-check your nearest station — to suggest which station you're closest to. This happens entirely on your device and is never sent to our servers or stored anywhere. Beyond that, the app does not collect your contacts or any advertising identifier, and it contains no third-party analytics or crash-reporting SDKs. Your selected commute also syncs through your own iCloud account (Apple’s private key-value storage) so it follows you across your devices — that copy lives in your Apple account, not on our servers.

What this website collects

The pages on this site set no cookies for tracking, run no analytics, and use no advertising trackers. The only information you give the website is what you choose to type into a form:

• Beta signup — your email address (so we can invite you), and optionally your name, which commute you ride, and a short note.
• Feedback — your message, and optionally your name and an email address if you would like a reply.

Form submissions are sent to the operator by email; they are not added to the reliability database or used to build any profile of you. Like any website, our server keeps standard, short-lived access logs (such as IP address and browser type) for security and to keep the site running — these are not used to track or profile visitors.

Hosting & content delivery

This site is served through Cloudflare, a content-delivery and security provider. As the network layer in front of the site, Cloudflare processes connection information (such as your IP address and request details) and network-error reports in order to deliver the site and protect it from abuse. To tell real visitors apart from automated bots, Cloudflare may set a strictly-necessary security cookie (for example __cf_bm); by Cloudflare’s design these contain no personal information, expire quickly, and do not track you from one site to another. This is infrastructure, not analytics — Trackside itself sets no tracking cookies.

How your information is used

• To send the train notifications and Live Activities you asked for.
• To invite you to the beta and to reply to feedback you send us.
• Never sold, rented, or shared for advertising, and never shared beyond what a task requires — for the beta, that means your email goes to Apple’s TestFlight only to send your invitation.

Keeping & deleting your information

We keep beta-signup and feedback emails while the beta is running, and delete them whenever you ask. Your app data (the device identifier, push token, and your commute and alert choices) is removed when you delete the app and its Live Activities, or on request. To have anything removed, email [email protected].

Third parties

• Apple — TestFlight delivers the beta, the Apple Push Notification service delivers notifications, iCloud syncs your own commute, and Apple handles any in-app purchase and its billing; all are governed by Apple’s privacy policy.
• Cloudflare — serves and protects this website, as described above.
• Transit agencies — the reliability figures here are compiled from public realtime feeds; Trackside is an independent project and is not affiliated with any transit agency.

Children

Trackside is a general-audience commuting tool and is not directed to children, and we do not knowingly collect information from children.

Changes to this policy

If this policy changes, we will update this page and the “last updated” date above. Material changes to how we handle the information described here will be reflected here first.

Contact

Questions about privacy, or requests to delete your information, go to [email protected].