Pelorus Nav · last updated July 19, 2026
Pelorus Nav is an open-source marine chartplotter made by Dark Star Systems. It is designed to be local-first: your navigation data stays on your device. There are no user accounts, no ads, and we never sell or share personal data with third parties for their own use.
Your GPS position — whether from your device's built-in GPS or an external Bluetooth/Wi-Fi receiver — is processed entirely on your device and is not transmitted to our servers, with one exception you control: sending a bug report (see below). The same is true of everything derived from it: recorded tracks, routes, waypoints, and instrument readings. All of it is stored only in the app's local storage on your device, and you can delete it at any time from within the app or by uninstalling.
When you are recording a track or navigating, the app continues to use your location in the background so your track has no gaps — that is its purpose as a chartplotter. Background use follows the same rule as everything above: the data never leaves your device. You can revoke the app's location permission at any time in your device's system settings; the app will simply have no position to display.
When you view or download charts, the app fetches chart tiles from our content delivery network (Cloudflare). Like any web server, this involves standard transient request logs (IP address, requested file, user agent) used solely to operate and secure the service. Chart requests are not linked to you or used to build any profile, and once charts are downloaded for offline use, viewing them involves no network traffic at all.
The pelorus-nav.com website uses a self-hosted, privacy-respecting analytics tool (Umami) to count visits. It uses no cookies, collects no personal information, does not track you across sites, and the data never leaves our own infrastructure. The Android and iOS apps send no analytics at all.
If you sign up for project updates, we store the email address, platform interests, and any note you choose to include. This is used only to send you occasional project news and beta invitations. To unsubscribe or have your address deleted, email us at the address below.
If you choose to send a bug report from within the app, it includes your description, an optional contact email, and a technical diagnostics snapshot of the app's state to help us reproduce the problem. The snapshot includes device information, app settings, recent logs, and recent GPS positions — this is the only case in which location data leaves your device, it happens only when you tap Send, and the report tells you what it contains before you send it. Bug reports are stored privately, used only to investigate and fix issues, and deleted when no longer needed.
We use Cloudflare as our hosting and content-delivery provider; the data described above (server request logs, newsletter signups, bug reports) is stored and processed on Cloudflare's infrastructure under our control and Cloudflare's own privacy and security commitments, which provide at least the same level of protection as this policy. No third party receives your personal data for its own purposes — no advertising networks, no data brokers, no third-party analytics services.
All communication between the app or website and our servers is encrypted in transit (HTTPS). The small amount of personal data we hold (newsletter addresses, bug-report contents) is accessible only to the project maintainer, protected by access-controlled credentials.
To request deletion of anything we hold about you (a newsletter address or a bug report you sent), email us at the address below and we will delete it promptly. You can revoke any permission you've granted the app (location, Bluetooth) at any time in your device's system settings.
Pelorus Nav is a navigation tool and is not directed at children under 13.
If this policy changes, the updated version will be posted at this address with a new date. Material changes will be noted in the project changelog.
Questions or data requests: pelorus-nav@oberbrunner.com