droneBeat keeps your flight records to yourself.
droneBeat is a logbook for drone pilots: flights, aircraft, batteries, maintenance, Part 107 currency, and renewal reminders. This page explains, in plain language, what the app does and doesn't do with your information.
§1
Overview
droneBeat was built around one rule: your flight records are your business. There's no account to create, no server holding your logbook, and no advertising or analytics tracking what you do in the app. Everything you enter stays on your device, and only leaves it if you choose to sync it privately through your own iCloud account or export it yourself.
This policy covers what limited information the app touches, why, and how you can remove it at any time.
§2
What we don't collect
droneBeat has no backend server, so there is nothing for us to collect in the first place. Specifically, droneBeat does not:
- Require a name, email, or account to use
- Run analytics, crash reporting, or usage tracking
- Show ads or use advertising identifiers
- Sell, rent, or share your data with third parties
- Send your flights or locations to any server we operate
- Track your location in the background
- Access your camera, microphone, contacts, or photos
- Connect to your drone or its manufacturer's cloud
We — the developer — cannot see your logbook. We don't have a dashboard, a database, or any other way to view the flights, aircraft, locations, or certificate numbers you've entered.
§3
What's stored, and where
Everything you enter in droneBeat is stored locally on your device using Apple's on-device data framework:
| Record | What it holds | Leaves your device? |
|---|---|---|
| Flights | Takeoff time, flight time, aircraft, purpose, operating rule, location name and optional GPS pin, max altitude, night flag, weather, notes, batteries used, pre-flight checklist completed | Only with iCloud Sync |
| Aircraft | Nickname, make and model, serial number, FAA registration number and expiration, Remote ID serial, weight, purchase date | Only with iCloud Sync |
| Batteries & maintenance | Pack labels, cycle counts, health notes; maintenance entries with firmware versions, costs, and notes | Only with iCloud Sync |
| Pilot credentials | Part 107 certificate number, training dates, waivers, insurance policy numbers and expiration dates | Only with iCloud Sync |
| Checklists | Your custom pre-flight checklists | Only with iCloud Sync |
| Preferences | Appearance, reminder and sync settings, and the pilot name you enter for reports | No |
| Exports | CSV files and PDF pilot reports you create | Only if you share them |
droneBeat keeps these records for your own use. They aren't an official FAA record, and droneBeat doesn't send anything to the FAA.
§4
Location & maps
droneBeat asks for location access only when you tap Pin Current Location while logging a flight. It reads your position once, saves the coordinates with that flight, and stops. It never tracks your location in the background, and you can log flights without granting location access at all.
When a flight has a pin, droneBeat shows it on an Apple Maps view. To draw the map, your device requests map imagery for that area from Apple, under Apple's own privacy practices. The flight record itself is not sent to Apple or to us.
§5
iCloud sync
If you subscribe to droneBeat Pro and turn on iCloud Sync in Settings, your logbook also syncs to your own private iCloud database through Apple's CloudKit — the same private-database mechanism apps like Notes and Reminders use. It exists solely to keep your own devices in sync with each other. It is not a shared, public, or droneBeat-operated database, we cannot access it, and it's covered by Apple's own iCloud privacy and security practices, not ours.
Turning iCloud Sync off in Settings stops this at any time; the change takes effect the next time you open the app, and your logbook then lives on-device only.
§6
Reminders
Renewal reminders for FAA registrations, Part 107 recurrent training, waivers, and insurance are scheduled as local notifications on your device. They're created from the dates in your logbook and never pass through a server. You can turn them off in droneBeat's Settings or in iOS Settings.
§7
Subscriptions
droneBeat Pro is an optional auto-renewable subscription. Purchases are processed entirely by Apple through StoreKit and your App Store account. droneBeat never receives, sees, or stores your payment details — that relationship is between you and Apple, governed by Apple's own privacy practices. We only learn whether your subscription is currently active, which is what unlocks Pro features in the app.
§9
Deleting your data
Because everything lives on your device (and, optionally, your own private iCloud), you're always in control of it:
- Delete an individual flight, aircraft, battery, maintenance entry, credential, or checklist any time from within the app.
- Use Settings → Danger Zone → Erase All Data to permanently clear your entire logbook in one step. If iCloud Sync is on, the deletion syncs to your other devices too.
- Deleting the app removes its on-device data; if iCloud Sync was on, removing the app's data from your iCloud account follows Apple's standard iCloud data handling.
§10
Children's privacy
droneBeat is a recordkeeping tool for drone pilots and is not directed at children. We do not knowingly collect information from children, and since the app collects no information in the first place, there is no data of any kind at stake either way.
§11
Changes to this policy
If this policy changes — for example, if a future version of droneBeat adds flight log import or another feature that changes how data is handled — we'll update the "Last updated" date above and the change will apply from that date forward.
§12
Contact
Questions about this policy or how droneBeat handles data can be sent to [email protected].