Reference

12Connectivity, data and privacy

What needs a connection and what does not, how much data the app uses, what it stores on the phone, and what leaves the phone.

Mixed, see chapter

What needs a connection#

Feature Needs internet
Signing in Yes, always
Loading competitions, categories and pilots Yes, and then it is cached
Scanning any category except Register No, it queues
Scanning the Register category Yes, always
The pilot list and photos No, from the cache
A pilot's scan history Yes, always
Uploading the queue Yes, and it waits until there is a connection
The live map Yes, always
The Live Ops feed, and assigning a retrieve driver Yes, always
Driver position sharing Buffers offline, uploads when there is a signal
Language and theme No

How much data it uses#

Scanning is tiny. A scan is a few hundred bytes, and a queue sync of a whole morning is still measured in kilobytes. Refreshing the pilot list when nothing changed costs almost nothing, because the app sends the version it already holds and the server answers that it is current.

Three things are not tiny:

Pilot photos
Downloaded once per competition, and again whenever you force Refresh pilot cache. On a large field this is the biggest single download the app makes.
Map tiles
The live map downloads map data as you pan and zoom. Panning around a whole valley on a roaming SIM adds up.
The live feed
A steady trickle for as long as a live tab is open, proportional to the number of pilots flying.

Tip

Do the photo download on wifi, and keep the live tabs closed when you are only scanning. Those two habits are the difference between a comfortable data plan and an expensive one.

What is stored on the phone#

Your session
In the phone's secure storage, the same place password managers use. Never in plain text.
Competitions, categories and your selections
So the app opens where you left it, and works offline.
The pilot cache
Names, comp IDs, countries, registration status and equipment, per competition.
Pilot photos
In the app's private storage, one folder per competition. Not in the camera roll, and not visible to other apps.
The scan queue and local history
What you scanned, when, and whether it uploaded.
A driver device ID
A random identifier created on this phone the first time you share your position, so the organizer's map can tell two cars apart.

All of it is inside the app. Uninstalling removes every item above. Logging out removes only the session.

What leaves the phone#

  • Scans: which pilot, which category, which phase, and when they were scanned.
  • Acknowledgements of status messages, with your name attached, because the point is that the team knows who took it.
  • Retrieve assignments, which driver you put on which pilot, and pickup confirmations.
  • For retrieve drivers only, and only while the switch is on: your position, altitude, speed and heading, tagged with the competition's task for the day.

The app talks to the SkyTrackPro competition servers and to nothing else. There is no analytics service, no advertising, and no third party in the middle.

Important

Your location is only ever sent while Share my live position is on. Nothing else in the app, not scanning and not the live map, reads or transmits where you are.

Handling pilot data responsibly#

The phone in your hand carries the personal data of everybody at the competition: names, photos, registration details, and on an SOS an emergency contact number. Treat it like the registration desk's laptop, not like your own phone.

  • Keep a screen lock on any phone used for scanning.
  • Do not show the Register details screen to anybody who is not staff, and do not screenshot it.
  • Use the emergency contact for the emergency it was given for.
  • On a borrowed or shared phone, log out at the end of the event, and uninstall the app if it is not yours.