Privacy Policy
Effective date: July 24, 2026
Overview
PlaneTracker is a hobby app that shows aircraft flying near your current location using publicly available ADS-B data. This policy explains what data the app uses and how.
Data collected
Location
PlaneTracker accesses your device's GPS location while the app is running. Your location is used only to center the aircraft search radius. It is never stored on any server, shared with third parties, or retained after the app is closed.
Aircraft data
The app queries adsb.lol, a free public ADS-B aggregator, with your approximate coordinates and search radius to retrieve nearby aircraft positions. The adsb.lol service may log these requests in accordance with their own privacy policy.
Advertising
PlaneTracker displays banner ads served by Google AdMob on the Live, Map, and History tabs. AdMob may collect your advertising ID and other identifiers to serve and measure ads, and may use this data in accordance with Google's own privacy policy. You can review or reset your advertising ID, or opt out of personalized ads, in your device's Google Settings.
Data not collected
PlaneTracker itself does not collect, transmit, or store any of the following:
- Personal information or account details
- Usage analytics or crash reports
- Any data outside your device
No account or registration is required. No analytics or crash reporting SDKs are included. See "Advertising" above for the one third-party SDK (Google AdMob) the app does include.
Permissions
| Permission | Purpose |
|---|---|
| ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION | Determine your position to search for nearby aircraft |
| ACCESS_COARSE_LOCATION | Fallback if fine location is unavailable |
| FOREGROUND_SERVICE | Keep scanning while the app is in the background |
| POST_NOTIFICATIONS | Alert you when aircraft enter your radius |
| com.google.android.gms.permission.AD_ID | Required by Google AdMob to serve and measure ads |
Third-party services
PlaneTracker uses adsb.lol to retrieve aircraft data. Requests include your latitude, longitude, and search radius. Please review adsb.lol's own privacy policy for details on how they handle API requests.
PlaneTracker uses Google AdMob to display ads. Review Google's privacy policy for details on how they handle data collected through AdMob.
Children's privacy
This app does not knowingly collect any information from anyone, including children under 13.
Changes
If this policy changes, the updated version will be posted here with a new effective date.
Contact
Questions or concerns? Open an issue on GitHub.