Privacy Policy

Last updated: 2026-08-31

NavView ("the App") is a marine chartplotter application developed by Motorwise.io. This policy explains what data the App accesses, how it is used, and your rights. By installing or using the App you agree to the terms below.

1. Summary

NavView does not collect, transmit, or store any personal data on external servers. The App is designed to operate fully offline. There are no analytics services, crash-reporting SDKs, advertising libraries, sign-in flows, or cloud accounts. All navigation data — including your position, routes, waypoints, and track logs — stays on your device.

The only internet services the App contacts are the NavView chart store (to fetch the chart catalogue, verify purchases, and download chart packs) and, at your explicit request, a public chart-data download and third-party weather sources opened in your own browser. None of these transmit any personal data, as detailed in sections 3, 5, and 6.

2. Data Stored on Your Device

The App stores the following information locally in its private application storage:

• GPS position, course, and speed — used for real-time navigation display and, if you choose, track recording.
• Waypoints and routes — user-created navigation data, including any free-text descriptions you add and any GPX files you import or export through the App.
• Track logs — recorded voyage history (position, speed, course over ground) saved only when you start a recording.
• Anchor watch and Man-Overboard positions — safety alarm coordinates set by you.
• AIS target data — when an AIS receiver is connected, the positions, headings, speeds, names, and MMSI identifiers of other vessels are received from NMEA sentences and held in memory. If you enable AIS track recording, a rolling history of recent target positions is also held in memory, for a configurable number of minutes. NavView only receives AIS data from your connected hardware; it does not transmit AIS information about your own vessel or anyone else's.
• Connection settings and preferences — display options, NMEA source configuration, your own vessel details (e.g. MMSI, dimensions), and UI state.
• NMEA sentence logs — only when you explicitly enable the file-logging output sink. These files remain in app-specific storage and are pruned automatically (the newest 10 files, up to 50 MB) — they can also be removed by clearing the App's storage in Android settings.

None of this data is transmitted to Motorwise.io or any third party by the App. If you have Android's "Back up to Google Drive" feature enabled on your device, the operating system may include the App's local data — routes, waypoints, track history, anchor/MOB positions, chart packs, and user settings — in its system-wide backup. This backup is controlled by Android and Google, not by NavView, and can be disabled at any time in your device's Backup settings.

3. Network Communication

Most of NavView's communication is with your boat's own instruments, and only with devices and endpoints you choose to connect:

• NMEA 0183 / NMEA 2000 instruments via Bluetooth (classic SPP and BLE) and USB OTG serial.
• Network NMEA: when you enable a TCP server, TCP client, or UDP broadcast in the Connections screen, navigation sentences are exchanged with the address you configure. In typical use this is a peer on your local Wi-Fi or wired network, but the destination is whatever you enter — NavView does not restrict it.

The App makes outbound internet requests to the following services only:

• NavView chart store (charts.navcast.app, HTTPS/TLS) — operated by Motorwise.io. Three kinds of request:
  • Catalogue fetch — an anonymous download of the public chart catalogue. It contains chart-pack metadata (names, regions, file sizes, checksums) and nothing about you.
  • Purchase verification — when you download a purchased chart pack, the App sends the product ID and your Google Play purchase token to our verification endpoint. The token is checked with Google in real time and immediately discarded: it is never logged, never stored, and never written to any database. The verification server holds no user accounts, no purchase records, and no mapping from a token to a person.
  • Chart pack downloads — anonymous file downloads. The signed download URL encodes only the chart-pack path and an expiry time; it contains no identity and cannot be linked to you.
• OpenStreetMap coastline extract (charts.navcast.app, HTTPS/TLS) — a single public file download (the ODbL coastline data offered in the App's About screen). No authentication and no user data of any kind is sent.
• Weather GRIB sources — when you tap "Get GRIB", the App builds a download URL from the source you picked and the chart bounds on screen, and opens it in your own web browser. The download is performed by your browser under your control; the App itself sends nothing to any weather service. The coordinates you chose are visible in that URL to the weather provider you picked — that is a direct exchange between your browser and that provider, not data collected by NavView.

Beyond the above, the App makes no outbound internet requests. All traffic to Motorwise.io servers is encrypted in transit (HTTPS/TLS). As with any web service, our hosting provider's servers keep standard access logs (client IP address, requested URL, timestamp). These logs rotate automatically, are used only for operational and security purposes, and are never used to identify or track users.

4. Device Permissions

The App requests the following Android permissions:

• Location (Fine & Coarse) — to display your vessel position on the chart, record tracks, run anchor watch, and tag MOB events.
• Bluetooth (Connect, Scan, Advertise) — to discover and pair with NMEA 0183 / BLE instruments and, if you enable it, to host a Bluetooth NMEA server other devices can connect to. The neverForLocation flag is set on Bluetooth scans — NavView does not derive location from Bluetooth.
• Internet — for the chart-store, OSM, and weather requests described in section 3, and for the user-configured NMEA TCP/UDP sockets.
• USB Host — to read NMEA from USB-OTG serial adaptors. The USB permission dialog is shown by Android when you attach a device.
• Notifications — required by Android 13+ to display the ongoing notifications for the navigation, anchor watch, MOB, track recording, chart import/download, and NMEA router foreground services.
• Foreground service (location / connected device / data sync / special use) — to keep GPS, instrument streams, anchor watch, MOB alarm, and chart imports/downloads running when the App is in the background. Each is started only by an explicit user action.
• Vibrate — Man-Overboard and anchor-drag haptic alarms.
• Wake lock — to keep the CPU running during anchor watch and active NMEA routing so alarms and outputs are not dropped while the screen is off.
• Receive boot completed — used solely to restore an armed anchor watch and a user-enabled NMEA router after device restart, if you have opted in. No other action is taken at boot.

5. Third-Party Services and Libraries

NavView does not integrate any analytics, advertising, attribution, telemetry, or crash-reporting SDKs. The App uses open-source libraries for chart rendering (OpenCPN-derived chartengine, GDAL, libtess2, pugixml, S52 PLib), HTTP networking (OkHttp), USB serial communication, and standard AndroidX components. None of these libraries transmit user data on the App's behalf.

The chart store uses Google Play Billing to process purchases. Payment details (card, account, billing address) are collected and processed by Google and are never visible to Motorwise.io — our servers never see or store payment information. Ownership of a purchase is confirmed using the Google Play purchase token as described in section 3: verified in real time and discarded immediately. Your purchase history with Google Play is governed by Google's own privacy policy.

6. Chart Data and Basemap

NavView includes a built-in world basemap with coastline, bathymetry, and place-name data. The basemap is derived from public sources including Natural Earth, GSHHG, GEBCO, and — in harbour-zoom areas — OpenStreetMap coastline data (ODbL). OSM-derived extracts are offered under the Open Database Licence and are not a substitute for official nautical charts.

Additional electronic navigational charts (ENC / S-57) are available through the in-app chart store. Chart packs are downloaded to your device over an encrypted connection and remain in app-private storage. Downloads are anonymous: the App presents no account, email address, device identifier, or other personal information when fetching the catalogue or chart files. Chart data is read-only and does not contain or transmit any personal information.

7. Google Play Data Safety Summary

For clarity against Google Play's Data safety form:

• NavView does not collect or share any of the data types listed in the Data safety form. The only user-linked value that ever leaves your device is the Google Play purchase token during purchase verification, and it is processed only ephemerally — held in memory for the real-time check and discarded immediately, never logged or stored.
• All traffic between the App and Motorwise.io servers is encrypted in transit (HTTPS/TLS).
• The App does not offer account creation of any kind — no usernames, passwords, OAuth, or any other sign-in method.
• All data the App keeps is stored locally on your device and can be fully deleted at any time (see section 9).

8. Children's Privacy

NavView is not directed at children. It is a marine navigation tool intended for adult mariners.

9. Data Retention and Deletion

All NavView data is stored locally. You can delete it at any time by:

• Clearing tracks, waypoints, or routes from within the App.
• Clearing the App's storage in Android Settings > Apps > NavView > Storage.
• Uninstalling the App, which removes all associated data.

Because Motorwise.io servers hold no accounts and no user data, there is nothing server-side to delete.

10. Safety Disclaimer

NavView is a navigational aid and is not a substitute for official paper charts, an approved electronic chart system, or proper seamanship. The user is solely responsible for safe navigation. Always cross-reference position and depth information with authoritative sources.

11. Changes to This Policy

If this policy is updated, the revised version will be posted at the same URL with a new "Last updated" date. Material changes will be highlighted in the App's release notes.

12. Contact

Questions about this policy or about NavView's handling of data can be sent to:
gnelson6842@gmail.com