Mapbox and Google Play Public Pages: disclose location and telemetry

Identify the Mapbox products in your app

List the SDKs and APIs you use, such as map display, search, geocoding, or navigation, and note which screens call them. A map display, a user-entered search, and a device location used to center a map are different events; do not describe all of them as “location tracking.”

For each outbound request, check whether the app asks Android for location, sends coordinates or search text to Mapbox, gives your backend a copy, or enables SDK telemetry. Mapbox says it may receive location data when a user authorizes the app to use device location, and its privacy notice describes location and related request information among the data it may process (Mapbox Privacy Policy).

Keep three paths distinct in your inventory:

• Device location: say whether a feature such as showing the user's position or finding nearby places uses location permission, and what the app does without it.
• Requests to Mapbox: include coordinates, search terms, route inputs, or identifiers only if your code sends them. Embedding a map alone does not prove the app retrieves precise location.
• Mapbox telemetry: Mapbox describes mobile SDK telemetry as de-identified, anonymized, aggregated location and related data used to improve maps and related services (Mapbox Location Telemetry). Keep this separate from your own analytics or advertising SDKs.

Write the privacy policy around each flow

Google Play requires the privacy policy, together with in-app disclosures, to explain how the app accesses, collects, uses, and shares user data. The policy must identify the developer or app, provide a privacy contact or inquiry mechanism, describe data and recipients, explain security practices and retention/deletion, and remain available at an active, publicly accessible, non-geofenced URL that is not a PDF (Google Play User Data policy). Link the same governing policy in the Play Console field and inside the app, and test it in a standard browser without a login.

For the Mapbox section, answer these questions:

• What does your app access? Distinguish precise from approximate location based on your permission and implementation; add search terms, route information, or request metadata only where relevant.
• Who receives it? Name Mapbox when your SDK or API sends data there, and disclose other providers such as your own backend or a separate analytics service if they also receive it.
• Why is it used? Tie device location to the app feature it enables; describe Mapbox telemetry's service-improvement purpose separately from your own product analytics, account operations, or ads.
• How can users change the behavior? Explain how to revoke device location permission and where to turn off Mapbox telemetry. These controls are separate: one governs the app's location access and the other governs telemetry reporting.
• What do you retain? Describe the location history or search records your own service stores, how long they remain, and how users can request deletion. Do not promise that deleting an app account removes data held by Mapbox unless your actual contracts and deletion process support that statement.

Mapbox describes its telemetry as “not tracking” for advertising and says its location telemetry does not record advertising identifiers such as IDFA or AAID (Mapbox Location Telemetry). That statement is about Mapbox telemetry; it does not mean your whole app performs no advertising tracking, nor does it erase the need to describe location processing or select accurate Google Play Data safety answers for your own integration.

Treat telemetry opt-out as a real product control

Mapbox states that developers using its Maps SDKs for Android and iOS are required to provide users with the ability to opt out of location telemetry reporting (Mapbox Location Telemetry). Include that control in the shipped app, make its label understandable, and explain its location in your privacy page or in-app privacy screen. Test that the choice persists as expected after restart, logout, and app upgrade, and verify behavior against the Mapbox SDK version you release.

Do not treat a policy paragraph as the opt-out. If you customized the SDK UI, verify that your release still exposes the required choice; otherwise implement and test an alternative. Keep the operating-system location permission separate because disabling it can affect app features independently of telemetry settings (Mapbox Privacy Policy).

Keep Play Console disclosures consistent

The policy page and Google Play Data safety form serve different purposes. Google Play requires an accurate Data safety section that accounts for the app and SDK practices, and it expects that information to match the policy where relevant (Google Play User Data policy). Treat the public page as the readable explanation and the store form as a separate declaration, then compare both with actual requests, enabled Mapbox features, and your release configuration.

Do not assume the word “anonymous” settles every store-answer question. Your app might associate location with an account, store location history, send a user-linked search query, or pass information to another provider. Confirm those paths before choosing data types or describing sharing and advertising.

Review the pages after every location change

Before publishing, test the Play Console URL and in-app link without an account. Check that the policy identifies the app or developer, provides a privacy contact, describes Mapbox data paths and retention, and is not a PDF or geographically restricted page (Google Play User Data policy). Repeat the review after adding navigation, nearby search, background location, a new SDK version, or new telemetry settings, and update the policy and Play Console answers together.

Where Declora fits

Declora's App Passport lets you confirm Mapbox-related App Facts such as whether your app uses precise location, coarse location, search, or SDK telemetry, then keep Google Play Answers and Public Pages aligned. Review the generated wording against your production app and current SDK configuration at declora.app. Declora is not a law firm, does not provide legal advice, and cannot guarantee Google Play approval.

FAQ

Is Mapbox telemetry the same as advertising tracking?

No. Mapbox says its location telemetry is used to improve maps and related services and that it does not record advertising identifiers for targeted advertising. Your app may still include other SDKs or features that need separate review (Mapbox Location Telemetry).

Is a privacy-policy sentence enough to satisfy the Mapbox opt-out requirement?

No. Mapbox says Maps SDK developers must provide an ability for users to opt out of location telemetry. Explain the control in your policy, but also make sure it is implemented and reachable in the app (Mapbox Location Telemetry).

Does turning off Android location permission turn off Mapbox telemetry?

Do not treat them as the same control. Android location access governs whether the app can use device location; Mapbox separately requires an in-app telemetry opt-out. Test and explain both.