Privacy Policy

Last updated: August 15, 2026

Draw on a Map was built with a simple premise: you should be able to quickly sketch a route, annotate a location, and share it without handing over your personal information. We are proud to be a privacy-first map drawing tool.

The TL;DR

• Optional accounts: You can use the drawing tools without an account. Accounts are needed for saved maps, collaboration, and paid plans.
• No analytics cookies: We use a random identifier in local storage to understand repeat use on this site. It expires after 90 days and you can turn analytics off below. A functional session cookie is used only if you sign in.
• Share links stay client-side: Standard share links store drawing data inside the URL. Saved maps are stored on our servers only when you choose to save them.
• Minimal account data: If you sign in, we store your email address, sessions, saved-map records, collaboration settings, notification preferences, and plan status.
• Payments handled by Stripe: We use Stripe, Link, and Stripe Managed Payments for checkout, billing, receipts, refunds, and subscription management. We do not store your full card number.
• Optional AI Map Assistant: If you choose to use it, we send a limited version of your prompt, recent assistant conversation, current map details, and your device location only when you allow it to OpenRouter and selected AI inference providers. They run the DeepSeek model that powers this feature. Do not submit personal, sensitive, or confidential information.

What we DON'T collect

Unlike many online mapping tools, we operate with a strict data-minimization approach.

• Standard shared drawings: When you draw on the map and click "Share", your drawing data is compressed directly into the URL link. It lives on your device and in the link you send. It is not uploaded to or stored on our servers, unless you separately choose to send map details to the optional AI Map Assistant.
• Your Location: If you use the "Locate Me" button, your browser accesses your device's GPS coordinates to center the map. We do not receive or store your location. However, centering the map causes your browser to load tiles from OpenStreetMap's servers, which will see tile requests covering your area: this is inherent to how all web maps work.
• Payment card details: Payments are processed by Stripe and Link. We do not receive or store your full payment card number.

What we DO collect

To keep the site running smoothly and improve the user experience, we collect a minimal amount of product and technical data.

• Pseudonymous product analytics: We record generic interactions (for example, that a visitor clicked the pen or share button) with a random, site-specific visitor identifier stored on your device. This lets us measure return use and feature adoption across visits. The identifier is not derived from your identity, is not shared across sites, is not added to account, billing, or marketing records, and expires after 90 days.
• Technical diagnostics: If the application fails, we may record the error type, relevant application state, page, browser user agent, pseudonymous session or visitor identifiers, and approximate country. We minimize and redact these reports, but technical records can still be personal data.
• Approximate location on first visit: When you first load the map, we use your IP address to estimate your general region so we can center the map near you. This is done via our server and we do not store it in our application. Your IP address may appear in standard infrastructure access logs (e.g., from our CDN) as part of normal network operations.
• Account and saved-map data: If you sign in, we store your email address, login sessions, saved maps and thumbnails, map visibility, collaborators and invitations, notification preferences, and plan status. A collaborator invitation includes the invitee email address.
• Messages you send: Feedback can include your message, optional email, page, browser user agent, and limited diagnostic context. Support email and withdrawal requests contain the information you provide.
• Security records: We use a one-way hash derived from an IP address for short-lived rate limiting. Hosting providers may also process IP addresses and request metadata in infrastructure logs.
• Billing records: Stripe and Link process checkout and subscriptions. We store transaction references, Stripe customer and subscription identifiers, plan status, amounts, currency, and lifecycle events needed to provide access, reconcile payments, and handle refunds.
• AI Map Assistant conversations: When you choose this feature while signed in, we store your prompts and assistant replies as chat history until you delete the conversation or account. We process a size-limited rolling summary, up to 12 recent messages, the map centre, a bounded current-map context, the current Draw on a Map link, and your device location when you allow it. Large validated plans and map geometry can be stored as compressed private R2 objects. Separate, size-limited request logs record provider status, validation results, and credit use for reliability, abuse prevention, and support.

Why we use data

We process account, map, and billing data to provide the Service and paid features you request. When you choose the optional AI Map Assistant, we process the limited request and map context necessary to provide that feature. We process security, abuse-prevention, and reliability data for our legitimate interests in keeping the Service safe and working. We use optional product analytics to understand and improve the Service; where consent is required by law, that consent is the legal basis. You can disable analytics on this device below. We process information when necessary to comply with legal obligations or establish, exercise, or defend legal claims.

Service providers and data destinations

We share only the data needed for a provider to perform its role:

• Cloudflare: hosting, security, serverless processing, D1 database storage, and private R2 storage for thumbnails and large AI Map Assistant artifacts.
• Stripe and Link: checkout, merchant-of-record services where identified at checkout, payment processing, tax, receipts, billing support, disputes, and refunds.
• Resend: sign-in, collaboration, service, and transactional emails.
• Google: identity information when you choose Google sign-in.
• Map and content providers: OpenStreetMap and tile providers receive tile requests; Photon and Nominatim receive search or reverse-geocoding queries; routing providers receive route coordinates; and Wikipedia receives landmark-content requests. Provider attribution and links are listed on our Data Attribution page.
• Analytics providers: a self-hosted Plausible instance and, when enabled, Ahrefs Analytics receive limited website usage data.
• OpenRouter and AI inference providers: if you choose the AI Map Assistant, OpenRouter and an inference provider selected by OpenRouter receive the limited request content described above to run a DeepSeek model. We configure routing to use only providers that do not retain or collect this request content. Read OpenRouter’s Privacy Policy before using the feature.

Some providers process data outside your country. The country used for an AI Map Assistant request depends on the inference provider selected by OpenRouter. Data-protection laws there may differ from those where you live.

How long we keep data

• Raw pseudonymous product events and daily visitor records are deleted after 90 days. Aggregated counts that no longer contain the visitor identifier may be retained longer.
• Account, saved-map, collaboration, and preference data is generally kept while your account or map is active and deleted or anonymized after a valid deletion request, subject to backups and legal obligations.
• Billing, refund, and transaction records are kept as required for accounting, tax, fraud prevention, and legal claims.
• Feedback, support, diagnostics, rate-limit records, and infrastructure logs are kept only as long as reasonably needed for the relevant support, security, or reliability purpose.
• AI Map Assistant request logs, including the limited request content and provider response, are kept only as long as reasonably needed for reliability, security, abuse prevention, support, and legal obligations.
• User-visible AI Map Assistant chat history is kept until you delete the conversation or your account. Large private chat artifacts follow the same rule unless a shorter diagnostic retention rule is introduced and disclosed.

Your Rights

Depending on where you live, you may have rights to access, correct, delete, restrict, or receive a portable copy of your personal data; object to processing based on legitimate interests; and withdraw consent without affecting earlier lawful processing. Email hello@drawonamap.com to make a request. We may need to verify your identity and will respond within the period required by applicable law.

You may also complain to your local data-protection authority. If Swedish data-protection law applies, the supervisory authority is Integritetsskyddsmyndigheten (IMY). We do not sell your personal data.

Local Storage

We use your browser's local storage for drawings and UI preferences, checkout return state, and the random analytics visitor identifier described above. The analytics identifier is sent only with product analytics, has a fixed 90-day expiry, and is deleted when you turn analytics off. Signed-in sessions use a strictly necessary, secure cookie.

Frequently Asked Questions