Legal

Privacy Policy

Effective date: July 6, 2026 · Last updated: October 23, 2026 · Canonical URL: https://getlandlines.com/privacy

This Privacy Policy explains how HMB Software (“HMB Software,” “we,” “us”) handles information in connection with the Landlines mobile application for iOS and Android (the “App”) and this website. By using the App you agree to this Policy and to our Terms of Service.

1. Who we are

The App is published by HMB Software. For any privacy question or request, contact us at privacy@hmb-software.com. For residents of the EU/UK and California, HMB Software is the data controller / business responsible for the limited processing described below.

2. Information the App handles

Location (while-in-use only)

With your permission, the App reads your device’s GPS location only while you are using the App. We never request “Always” location authorization. Showing your position, drawing the GPS accuracy ring and estimating whether you are near a property boundary all happen on your device, and we never send your coordinates to HMB Software’s servers as a location report — we do not build a location history or a profile from them. Two features do send a map area derived from your position, and we would rather say so plainly than leave it to be discovered: the in-car screens, and the phone map’s first request after it gets a fix. Both are described below. You can revoke location access at any time in your device settings.

In-car use (Android Auto and CarPlay)

The in-car screens are the exception. When you ask for the parcels around you, the App sends a small map area centred on your current position to our resolver, which passes it to the relevant government GIS source — so in these features your precise position does leave the device. CarPlay turn-by-turn directions additionally pass your current position to Apple’s routing service as the starting point, and while a trip is running location updates continue in the background so guidance keeps working after you switch to another car app. We do not keep these positions as a profile or history.

Map area (viewport) requests

To load parcels, the App sends the geographic area you are currently viewing (bounding box and zoom) to our resolver service, then fetches parcel data directly from the relevant government GIS source. The viewport usually reflects where you have panned the map. One case is different, and we would rather say so: the first time the App gets a location fix in a session it centres the map on you, so that first request is a box centred on your position — your approximate position can be inferred from it. In Android Auto and CarPlay the equivalent request is snapped to a coarse grid cell first, so it carries the cell rather than your fix; the phone map’s first request is not. Our servers are stateless and do not store parcel data or build a history of your requests. Standard web-server logs may briefly record IP address, requested area, and timestamp for security and reliability. Requests to third-party government sources are subject to those agencies’ own practices.

Search & voice dictation

Address/place search uses Apple (iOS) or Google (Android) geocoding. Voice search uses platform speech recognition. Recent searches stay on your device.

Analytics & crashes

We collect crash reports and a small set of coarse product events on HMB Software’s own servers (the same resolver that answers map requests). We do not send this data to a third-party analytics vendor, and the app contains no third-party product-analytics SDK. One related disclosure for completeness: the app uses Google’s Firebase Remote Config to carry its advertising settings, and that component reports its own operational telemetry (such as configuration fetches) to Google. It carries none of your map activity, location or personal information. We drop precise GPS, bounding boxes, APNs, owner names, and other PII before storage. None of this is advertising data and none of it is shared with an advertising network; what the ad SDK itself handles is described under Advertising.

Optional sign-in (complimentary access)

Ordinary customers never need an account. If you are invited to complimentary Pro, you may optionally sign in with Apple or Google so the grant can attach to you. In that case we store the email address, verified-email flag, provider subject identifier, and optional display name supplied by Apple/Google, plus your grant records (type, dates, and an audit history). We use this only to operate complimentary access; authorized HMB operators can view it in an internal admin console for that purpose. We never see or store passwords, and store billing is unaffected. You can delete the account in Settings at any time — this removes the sign-in identifiers and revokes any grants.

What we do NOT collect (ordinary use)

• No account, email, name, or password for default customers.
• No IDFA and no App Tracking Transparency prompt on iOS. The app never asks for permission to track you, and Apple’s privacy manifest for Landlines declares no tracking.
• No social-media SDKs.
• We collect no advertising identifier ourselves. On Android, linking Google’s ad library adds the AD_ID permission and the ad SDK may use the Android advertising ID — see Advertising.
• No contacts, photos, or health data.

3A. Advertising

Where ads appear. The free version of the Landlines phone app can show one banner advertisement, in its own space below the map. There is no full-screen, interstitial, rewarded, app-open or native advertising anywhere in the app, and nothing in the app is locked behind watching an ad.

Where ads never appear. Landlines Pro is ad-free — a paid subscription, an active free trial and a complimentary grant all remove advertising entirely, including the space it occupies. The Mac app contains no advertising software at all. CarPlay and Android Auto show no advertising, for driver-safety reasons.

Who serves them. Google AdMob. Google acts as a third party here and handles the data it collects under Google’s own privacy terms. According to Google’s published disclosures, the Mobile Ads SDK may collect and share your IP address (which it may use to estimate your device’s general location), app interactions such as launches and taps, diagnostic information, and device or advertising identifiers — on Android, the Android advertising ID. It does not receive your GPS position, the parcels you look at, owner names, or anything you search for; Landlines sends it none of those.

Your choices. Before any advertisement is requested we ask for consent using Google’s User Messaging Platform. On iPhone and iPad, advertising is never personalized at all — the app configures Google’s ad software for non-personalized advertising and asks for no tracking permission, so Apple’s advertising identifier (IDFA) is never available to it and there is nothing to opt out of. On Android, your consent answer governs whether the advertising you see is personalized. You can change it at any time from Settings → Ad privacy options inside the app. In regions with an opt-out right — including US states with comprehensive privacy laws — that same row is where you exercise it, including “Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information”. Subscribing to Pro also removes advertising entirely, and a Pro subscriber is never asked for advertising consent at all.

Video. Advertising creatives are supplied by Google and we cannot exclude video ones from banner inventory. Landlines mutes advertising audio at the application level, so a video advertisement is silent, and the banner’s height is fixed so it can never move the map under you.

3. Public-record property & owner information

Landlines displays parcel boundaries and, where a government source publishes it, public-record owner name, mailing address, and last-sale figures. This originates from government agencies, is fetched live, and is labeled “public record · county appraiser.” It may be incomplete or inaccurate — the authoritative record is the government agency.

Not a consumer report. Landlines is not a consumer reporting agency under the FCRA. You may not use the App for credit, insurance, employment, tenant screening, or other FCRA purposes.

Property owners & removal

To suppress display of owner name and mailing in the App, email privacy@hmb-software.com with the parcel address or ID. Suppression in Landlines does not remove the underlying public record.

4. How information is shared

We do not sell personal information. Limited data flows to service providers only to make the App work: government GIS sources, Apple / Google platform services, optional IP geolocation on Android, optional Gemini summaries of public-record facts, and legal disclosure when required.

5. Data retention

On-device data is removed when you uninstall the App. Server access logs, if retained, are kept only as reasonably necessary for security (target: 30 days) and are not used to profile you. Product telemetry events are retained about 90 days; crash reports about 180 days. Optional sign-in data (email, provider identifiers) is kept while your account exists; deleting the account in Settings removes the identifiers and revokes grants, with grant audit records retained for operational history.

6. Your privacy rights

California and EU/UK residents may contact us to exercise rights of access, deletion, correction, and related requests at privacy@hmb-software.com. We do not sell personal information. Advertising is the one case where data may be “shared” in the sense US state privacy laws use for cross-context behavioral advertising, and you can opt out at any time from Settings → Ad privacy options in the app — see Advertising.

7. Children

Landlines is not directed to children under 13 (or under 16 in the EEA/UK). We do not knowingly collect personal information from children.

8. Security

Traffic between the App and our resolver is encrypted in transit (HTTPS). No method of transmission or storage is 100% secure.

9. Changes

We may update this Policy from time to time. Material changes are reflected by the “Last updated” date above.

10. Contact

This document describes current practices and is not legal advice.