Effective date: October 1, 2026
This policy explains what personal information Map builder (mapbuilder.app, including the Map Builder and Map Posters apps in ChatGPT) collects, why, who it is shared with, how long it is kept, and the choices you have. Questions go to mapbuilder.support@gmail.com.
Your account. If you create an account: your email address and, for Google sign-in, your Google account's basic profile (name and picture). We store your plan, your credit balance and a log of credit transactions (purchases and spends) so we can answer billing questions. We send a one-time welcome email when you sign up; replying is optional and we send no other marketing email.
What you make. The maps and poster designs you save, the photos you add to them (resized when uploaded; we don't keep the original), the maps you publish as hosted pages, and the people you invite to edit a map with you.
Downloads. When you download a map image or a poster, we keep its settings (the map's style and shapes, or the poster's layout) and a small low-resolution preview, not the full-resolution file, so we can see what people make and fix problems. If you're signed in this is linked to your account; if not, it's anonymous. The rendered file itself is deleted after 7 days.
Printed poster orders. When you order a printed poster, your name, shipping address and email are collected by Stripe at checkout. We keep the order (what was ordered, its status and tracking) with your account, and read your shipping details from Stripe only to hand them to our print partner.
Using the map. Showing the map sends tile requests to OpenFreeMap (our map data provider) and, for the satellite and terrain maps, to MapTiler. Searching for a street address or business sends the search text to Geoapify. Searching for a city name is answered from a built-in list on your device and goes nowhere. Like any web service, these providers see your IP address.
Messages to us. If you email support, we keep the conversation so we can help you.
When you use the Map Builder or Map Posters app in ChatGPT, ChatGPT sends us what the app needs to make your map or poster: the place, the pins, notes, links and photo links you asked for, the colors and style, and any title. We don't receive your ChatGPT account details, name or email, and the apps don't ask you to sign in.
We look places up with Geoapify (or our built-in city list), make the map or poster, and keep it as a draft so the link we give you works. Drafts are deleted automatically after 30 days. Our servers also keep basic technical logs of these requests (for example which colors or style were asked for, and errors), without the addresses, for troubleshooting. If you open a draft on mapbuilder.app and save it to your account, it's kept like any other map or design.
What ChatGPT does with your conversation is covered by OpenAI's privacy policy.
We don't sell your personal information. We share it only with the services that run Map builder for us, each for its own part:
| Service | What it gets | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Google (Firebase, Google Cloud) | Your account, saved work, uploaded photos, order records, technical logs | Hosting, sign-in and storage, in the United States |
| Stripe | Payment details, name, email, shipping address | Payments and checkout; card details go only to Stripe, we store your Stripe customer reference |
| Printful | Name, shipping address, email, the poster to print | Printing and shipping your poster |
| Gmail (Google) | Your email address and the message | Sending order and support emails |
| OpenFreeMap, MapTiler | Map tile requests and your IP address | Showing the map |
| Geoapify | Address and business searches, your IP address | Finding places |
| Google Analytics, Meta Pixel, Google AdSense | Usage events, cookies, IP address | Analytics, measuring our own ads, and ads for free users when ads are shown |
Anything you publish as a hosted page is public, and people you invite to edit a map can see and change it. We may also disclose information when the law requires it.
We use Firebase Authentication's session storage to keep you signed in. We use Google Analytics to understand how the tool is used (which features get clicked, how many free users go on to subscribe), the Meta Pixel to measure how our own Facebook and Instagram ads perform, and, when ads are shown to free users, Google AdSense. These set cookies and may use your IP address for approximate location. Paid plans never show ads. Blocking these in your browser doesn't stop you from using the map.
If you publish a map as a hosted page (a mapbuilder.app/m/… link), we count its traffic in aggregate for the map's owner: total views per day, which shapes get clicked, and the website domain the map was viewed on. These counts set no cookies and store nothing about individual visitors (no IP addresses, no identifiers).
| Data | Kept for |
|---|---|
| Your account, saved maps and designs, uploaded photos | Until you delete them or your account |
| Drafts made in ChatGPT | 30 days, then deleted automatically |
| Rendered download files | 7 days |
| Print files for poster orders | 90 days |
| Download and activity records | Until you delete your account |
| Orders, payments and credit transactions | As long as tax and accounting law requires. When an account is deleted, 7 years, with only the amount, date and country: the name, email and designs are removed |
| Support emails | As long as needed to help you, and on request we delete them |
You can delete your account yourself in the Map builder iPhone app: open the menu and tap Delete account. That removes your saved maps and designs, your published pages, the photos you added and your sign-in, and cancels a plan you pay for by card (a plan bought through Apple is ended in your iPhone's Settings). Photos uploaded before account deletion was added were stored without a record of whose they are, so they are not removed with the account, and nothing links them to you. You can also ask us to give you a copy of your data, correct it, or delete your account and the data linked to it, by emailing mapbuilder.support@gmail.com from the address you sign in with. We reply within 30 days. Order and transaction records may be kept where tax or accounting law requires: for a deleted account, 7 years, with only the amount, date and country. Depending on where you live (for example the EU, the UK or California), you may have further rights, such as objecting to some uses of your data or complaining to your data protection authority; email us and we'll help.
You can also delete saved maps and designs yourself at any time, unpublish hosted pages, and block analytics and ad cookies in your browser.
Map builder isn't directed at children under 13, and we don't knowingly collect their personal information. If you believe a child has given us personal information, email us and we'll delete it.
All connections use HTTPS. Your account data is protected by access rules so only you (and people you invite to a map) can reach it, and card details are handled only by Stripe. No service can promise perfect security, but we work to protect your data and will tell you if a breach affects it.
Your data is stored in the United States (Google Firebase and Google Cloud). If you use Map builder from elsewhere, your information is transferred to and processed in the United States.
When we change this policy we update it here and change the effective date above. Significant changes are also noted on the site.
The default map is © OpenFreeMap © OpenMapTiles, data from OpenStreetMap contributors. The satellite and terrain maps (and the automatic backup map used if OpenFreeMap is briefly unreachable) are © MapTiler © OpenStreetMap contributors. Place search is powered by Geoapify © OpenStreetMap contributors. City names are answered from a built-in list of the world's major cities (© SimpleMaps.com, licensed CC BY 4.0).