Privacy

Updated October 18, 2026

Yesteryard is made by Stay Reflective Company (Mark Koester). This page covers the website, yesteryard.com, and the Yesteryard app for iPhone and Android (in beta; on the phone it may still be called Pocket Guide). The short version: your location stays on your phone, there are no accounts, and we don’t sell or share anything about you.

The website

Anonymous usage counts

We count how the page gets used, with PostHog (US servers): a page opened, play pressed, how many minutes were heard, a chapter chosen, which way to walk was picked, a stop reached in the web walk, an email signup (yes or no, never the address), the sources opened. With each one go the campaign tags in the link you came from (for example which printed card you scanned), the page, the referring site, and the browser and device type.

• No cookies, no storage. Nothing is saved in your browser; each visit is a fresh anonymous visit, so there’s no profile of you across visits.
• No location, no recordings of your screen, no fingerprinting, and no city looked up from your IP address. PostHog is set to discard IP addresses.
• No advertising pixels, no Google Analytics.

QR codes

Printed codes go through yesteryard.com/go/… . We count each scan: which code, when, and the kind of device (iPhone, Android, computer). Not your IP address and not your browser’s full details.

Email

If you sign up, we keep your email address and, if you give it, where you’re visiting from. We use them only to send new episodes and to understand who listens. Emails are sent through Resend, and every one has an unsubscribe link. To be removed entirely, write to hello@yesteryard.com.

Hosting and links

The site is hosted by Vercel, which keeps short-lived request logs (including IP addresses) to run and protect the service. Fonts and media are served from yesteryard.com itself. “Directions” and map links open Google Maps, where Google’s privacy policy applies.

The app

Location

Your location is used on your phone and never sent to us. GPS runs while an outing is on; for brief checks you start (finding you on the map, the first setup, matching a photo); or all day, if you choose that in Settings. iOS asks for “Always” so the story can play as you arrive with the phone locked.

Your days, notes and photos

• Outings, visits, notes and voice notes stay on your phone. There are no accounts and no cloud sync.
• Photos in your library are shown in place, not copied. Photos you take or add to a stop are copied into the app, on the phone.
• Your phone’s own backup (iCloud or Google) may include the app’s data, as it does for most apps.
• Exports and diagnostics leave the phone only when you share them yourself. They can contain your location history, so share them only with people you trust.

Anonymous usage counts

The app counts which features get used (for example a walk started, a story finished, a guide downloaded) with PostHog, under a random ID made on your phone. Never where you are: no coordinates, no addresses, no place named by an event that fires because you’re somewhere, nothing you type, record or photograph. No city is looked up from your IP address, and PostHog is set to discard IP addresses. In the beta, usage counts are on unless you turn them off on the first run’s last page or in Settings › Privacy; there you can also reset the ID.

Downloads, maps and weather

• Guides and episodes download from our content server (Cloudflare). Requests carry no ID; like any web request, they show your IP address. If you enter a pack code, the code is sent to check it.
• Online map tiles come from OpenStreetMap, and some pictures load from Wikimedia Commons. Each sees your IP address and the map area or picture requested.
• Weather comes from Open-Meteo, using a point rounded to about 11 km and the dates.

Microphone, camera, notifications

The microphone is used only for voice notes you record, kept on the phone. The camera and photo library are used only for pictures you add. Arrival alerts and reminders are notifications scheduled on the phone; there are no push notifications from us.

Deleting

Delete outings day by day in the app, or uninstall it to remove everything on the phone. For the anonymous usage counts already sent, write to us with the ID shown in Settings › Privacy and we’ll delete them.

Everything else

• We don’t sell or rent personal information, and we don’t use it for advertising.
• Yesteryard isn’t directed at children under 13, and we don’t knowingly collect their information.
• If this page changes, the date at the top changes with it.
• Questions or requests: hello@yesteryard.com.