Privacy Policy
Map My Distance (https://mapmydistance.com/)
Last updated: 9 November, 2026
Welcome to Map My Distance. We are committed to protecting your privacy and handling your information responsibly.
This Privacy Policy explains what we collect, how we use it, and the choices you have when you use our route-mapping service.
Data we collect and how we use it
Account information
When you create an account, we store the details you provide, which may include your name, email address, country, preferred activities, and preferred units of measurement. We use this information to operate your account, personalize the service, and communicate with you about your account.
Route and map data
We use Mapbox so you can draw routes, calculate distances, and view elevation. If you save a route to your account, we store that route data on our servers. This can include waypoints and geometry, route title and description, activity type, tags, points of interest (POIs), photos you upload, collections/folders, and visibility settings (for example private, shared, or public).
You can edit or delete routes you own from your account. Public or shared routes may be visible to others according to the settings you choose.
Sharing and collaboration
If you invite someone to collaborate on a route, we store the invite and may email the invite address you provide. Recipients of collaboration invite emails can unsubscribe from future invite emails.
Event organizer and other applications
If you apply for a role such as Event Organizer (or similar programs we offer), we collect the information you submit in the application (for example event name, country, event date, and social links) so we can review and manage that application.
Billing and subscriptions
Paid plans (such as Pro or Event Organizer) are processed by our payment provider, Polar. When you subscribe or manage billing, Polar may receive information needed to process payment (such as your email and payment details). We store subscription status and related billing metadata needed to provide paid features. Polar’s handling of payment data is governed by Polar’s own privacy policy.
Advertising
Google AdSense and its advertising partners may use cookies, IP addresses, web beacons and other identifiers to display advertisements, measure their performance and help prevent advertising fraud.
Third-party vendors, including Google, may use cookies to serve advertisements based on your previous visits to Map My Distance or other websites. Depending on your consent choices and applicable privacy requirements, these advertisements may be personalised.
You can manage your advertising preferences through our consent banner where available. You can also opt out of personalised Google advertising through Google Ads Settings.
For more information, please read How Google uses information from sites or apps that use its services.
We do not provide your account name or email address to Google for advertising purposes.
Analytics
We use Google Analytics (via Google Site Kit) to understand how the site is used (for example traffic and feature usage). This helps us improve Map My Distance.
Analytics is optional. We use Google Consent Mode and a consent banner so you can Accept or Decline analytics cookies. Until you accept, Analytics is not allowed to store analytics cookies for visitors in regions where Consent Mode applies (including the EEA, UK, and Switzerland). You can change your choice later by clearing site data for mapmydistance.com (which clears the saved consent preference) and responding to the banner again.
Depending on your consent preferences and the analytics configuration, Google Analytics may process technical information such as IP addresses, device and browser details, pages visited and interactions with the website.
We do not send your name or email to Google Analytics.
Cookies and local storage
We use a limited set of browser technologies:
- Login / session cookies to keep you signed in and protect account actions
- Local browser storage to save in-progress route drafts, map preferences (such as line color or display options), and similar settings — including when you are not logged in — so your work is not lost if you refresh the page
- Session storage for short-lived technical data such as elevation-profile caching while you use the map
- Analytics cookies: Used by Google Analytics, where permitted by your consent preferences, to help us understand website traffic and how visitors use Map My Distance.
- Advertising cookies and similar technologies: Used by Google AdSense and its advertising partners, subject to applicable consent requirements, to display and measure advertisements, limit repeated ads and, where permitted, personalise advertising.
You can clear local and session storage through your browser settings. Clearing it will remove unsaved drafts and preferences stored on that device.
How we use your information
We use the information above to:
- Provide, maintain, and improve the Map My Distance service
- Authenticate you and secure your account
- Save and display your routes, collections, and related content
- Enable sharing, collaboration, and (where applicable) public routes
- Process subscriptions and manage entitlements
- Show relevant ads
- Analyze usage and fix problems
- Respond to your requests and support messages
We do not sell your personal information.
International data processing
Map My Distance operates from South Africa, but some of the third-party services we use may process or store information in other countries.
This means certain information may be transferred to or processed outside your country of residence.
Where required by applicable data-protection laws, we take reasonable steps to ensure that international transfers are handled with appropriate safeguards.
Third-party providers may also apply their own data-protection and security measures as described in their privacy policies.
Data storage and security
We take reasonable technical and organizational measures to protect your information against unauthorized access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction. Account data and saved routes are stored on our servers and are accessible to you through your account. Access by our team is limited to what is needed to operate and support the service.
No method of transmission or storage is completely secure. Please use a strong password and keep your login details private.
Your rights and data deletion
You have the right to:
- Access the personal data we hold about you
- Request a copy of your data
- Correct inaccurate account information
- Request deletion of your data
You can contact us at any time to request that we remove all of your data. On request, we will delete your account and associated Map My Distance data where reasonably possible. That typically includes your profile, saved routes, collections, uploads, invites, applications, notifications, and related records we control. We will also cancel active subscriptions where applicable.
Some information may remain for a limited time in backups, logs, or where we are legally required to keep it. Data already shared with collaborators or made public may not be fully retractable from others’ copies or caches.
To exercise these rights, email us using the contact details below. Please use the email address on your account so we can verify the request.
Third-party services
We use third-party services that may collect or process information as part of providing, maintaining and improving Map My Distance. These include:
- Mapbox: Provides maps, geocoding, routing, route snapping, elevation data and related mapping features.
- Google Analytics: Helps us understand website traffic, visitor interactions and how our platform is used.
- Google AdSense: Displays advertisements that support the free version of Map My Distance. Google and its advertising partners may process cookies, IP addresses, device information and other identifiers to deliver and measure advertisements.
- Polar: Processes subscription payments and manages billing for MMD Pro and other paid services.
These providers process information according to their respective privacy policies and applicable agreements.
We do not provide your account name or email address to Mapbox, Google Analytics or Google AdSense for advertising purposes. Billing-related contact information may be shared with Polar where necessary to process subscriptions.
You can review their privacy policies for more information:
Children’s privacy
Map My Distance is not directed at children under 16 (or the applicable age of digital consent in your country). We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has provided us with personal data, contact us and we will take appropriate steps to remove it.
Changes to this policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will post the updated policy on this page and revise the “Last updated” date. Continued use of the service after changes means you accept the updated policy.
Contact us
Questions about this Privacy Policy, or requests to access or delete all of your data, can be sent to: info[@]mapmydistance[dot]com