Data Protection and Privacy

The mission of the Hivemapper Network is to build a useful map for people everywhere to use while protecting those people’s privacy. Your personal information and location data are not the product. For this reason, the network has been designed to be private and anonymous, and to uphold the highest standards of data protection and privacy for both contributors and bystanders.

You can find more information on the Hivemapper privacy center, a comprehensive portal that includes all the relevant information about privacy at Hivemapper, including:

• Key aspects of data collection and data products generated from map imagery

• A list of cities and countries where mapping collection is occurring each quarter

• Hivemapper's current Privacy Policy

Here are some of the ways that the Hivemapper Network implements "privacy by design."

Anonymous Usernames

Hivemapper generates random three-word usernames to protect the identity of its contributors. Hivemapper asks its contributors not to share their usernames anywhere in order to shield their identities. This way, nobody knows who provided map coverage for a given location other than it was uploaded by a contributor with an anonymous username like “Pumping Grey Shoveler” or “Awesome Tomato Actor,” which is accessible in the Hivemapper app under the Settings tab.

We Don’t Want Your Personal Information

The Hivemapper Network will never ask its contributors to share personal information such as passwords, secret recovery phrases, phone numbers, credit card numbers, or home addresses. All that’s necessary is the imagery you collect while you drive with your device. Hivemapper will never ask for your personal information or sell it.

Anonymized Location Data

The collected location data in the Hivemapper Network Coverage Map is not associated with a username. Hivemapper doesn’t share your username or places you mapped, so no one will know your location unless you tell them. We use various means to verify your mapping data's location while allowing your contributions to remain anonymous.

Trip Trimming

The first 500 meters and the last 500 meters of a given trip are automatically discarded. A contributor can adjust this up to 1,000 meters. This feature cannot be disabled.

Personal Privacy Zones

This feature enables a contributor to define specific geographic areas — be it around their home, workplace, or any other location — as zones where their device will stop recording. Whenever the contributor’s device enters a personal privacy zones, it automatically pauses data collection. This eliminates a contributor’s need to manually stop or disable the device as they navigate spaces that they don’t want to map.

Personal Privacy Zones are never shared with Hivemapper servers, and remain confidential only to the contributor.

Network Privacy Zones

Network Privacy Zones extends privacy to sensitive areas where everyone’s data collection will be paused. If a location such as a military base, nuclear power plant, or private industrial facility is designated as a Network Privacy Zone, the Hivemapper Network automatically blocks collection within that area.

Opt-In Mapping

In order to contribute to the map, you must opt-in. This means that contributors collecting imagery and location data for the network understand that they in order to grow and refresh a global map.

Contributors are presented with an easy to understand consent form in the Hivemapper App (see below) prior to mapping.

Contributors Know When They Are Mapping

All Hivemapper device models make it clearly visibile to the contributor when they are actively mapping via LED lights and via the Hivemapper App.

100% Transparency

Hivemapper is transparent about the data that contributors are collecting and how it is leveraged to build the Hivemapper Network. Furthermore, the Hivemapper Dashcam is an open-source device, and anyone can inspect the code that determines what is collected.

Blurred Faces, Bodies, Vehicles, and License Plates

Hivemapper uses computer-vision algorithms to blur out faces, bodies, vehicles, license plates and faces to protect the privacy of anyone who happens to be captured in mapping images. For example, the image below shows a submission from a Hivemapper contributor that went through privacy blurring. Blurring occurs automatically on the edge on all device models.

Submitting a Redaction Request

Hivemapper can assist with blurring or deletion of personal information that is inadvertently collected by the network. If you have a request, please fill out the request form in our privacy center or contact us at [email protected]. To help Hivemapper identify the relevant materials, please include the following pieces of information in your message:

• The three-word username of the contributor and the time window when the collection occurred.

• The street address where the collection occurred and a description of the precise area, including landmarks such as position relative to adjacent streets.

• The type of private information that was collected.

Placards for Mappers

In certain countries, we work to ensure that bystanders are aware that a device is collecting for a map, device contributors mount a placard provided by Hivemapper.

Blockchain and Wallets

Blockchain technology facilitates a new level of encryption, privacy, and anonymity. The Hivemapper Network is built on the Solana blockchain.

Receiving HONEY requires a crypto wallet to be connected to the Hivemapper app. Generally, wallets don’t track personally identifiable information and are not necessarily linked to your identity.

Government Privacy Regulators

Hivemapper proactively works with government regulators to ensure that our privacy standards meet local regulations and are the best in the industry.