The short version
- Ferrywise has no account and no login. We do not know who you are.
- Your planned trips, settings and alarms are stored on your phone. Eikon Technologies, LLC runs no server that receives them.
- To plan a trip, the app asks the ferry operators' public schedule services for timetables and terminal space. Those requests carry terminal identifiers and dates — nothing about you beyond what any internet connection reveals, such as your network address.
- On Android, two optional features send your position off the phone, both to Google: the drive-time estimate sends your starting point once, and live tracking, if you switch it on for a trip, reads your location every minute while the trip is active — including with the screen off, under a notification you can see — and sends your current position to Google's routing service roughly every two minutes while you move, to keep the leave-by time current. The text you type into the address fields goes to Google's address-autocomplete service as you type. The iPhone app has none of these features.
- We collect no usage statistics, no crash reports and no advertising identifiers. The app contains no analytics or advertising software.
What leaves your phone, and to whom
| Recipient | When | What is sent | Anything about you? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Washington State Department of Transportation (wsdot.wa.gov) — Washington State Ferries schedules and terminal space | Every time a trip is planned or re-checked | Terminal identifiers, dates, and a request for the remaining sailings | Nothing beyond what any internet connection reveals, such as your network address |
| Kitsap Transit (pride.kitsaptransit.com) — the published Kitsap Fast Ferry timetable | Android only, when a Kitsap crossing is planned | A plain download of a public timetable file | Nothing beyond what any internet connection reveals, such as your network address |
| Google Routes (routes.googleapis.com) | Android only: (a) when you ask for a drive-time estimate; (b) during live tracking, while a tracked trip is active | (a) Your starting point once: coordinates if you used "Use my location" or picked a suggested address, otherwise the address text you typed. (b) Your current position as coordinates, with the terminal as destination — at most once every two minutes and only after you have moved about 300 metres (once a minute when the time is tight), and at least once every ten minutes while tracking runs; the app caps this at about 35 position-driven requests per trip plus one every ten minutes after that | Yes — your location (repeatedly, during tracking) or a typed address |
| Google Places (places.googleapis.com) | Android only, while you type into an address field | The partial text you have typed so far, a random per-entry token, and a fixed Puget Sound search area that is the same for everyone | Yes — address text as you type it. Your device location is not sent to this service |
All connections use HTTPS. Google processes the routing and autocomplete requests under Google's privacy policy; Eikon Technologies, LLC receives none of that data and stores none of it.
What stays on your phone
Your planned trips, the crossing and boat you chose, your typed drive time, your alarm lead time, and any alarm or reminder the app sets are stored only on the device. During live tracking the app keeps the most recent position only, saved with that trip so it can judge how far you have moved; earlier positions are not kept. Removing a trip deletes it and that position; uninstalling the app deletes everything.
The app opts out of Android's cloud backup and of device-to-device transfer for its stored data, so your trips and positions are not copied to your Google account's backup or to a new phone. There is no copy anywhere else.
The app writes no positions to any log in the version you install. The developer's test builds can print positions to the phone's own system log for debugging; that log is Android's, is not stored by the app, and is never sent anywhere by Ferrywise.
Permissions the app asks for
- Notifications, to remind you when it is time to leave. You can decline; the app then shows the time on screen only.
- Alarms (Android: exact alarms; iPhone: alarm scheduling, where the system offers it), so the reminder can sound at the leave-by time.
- Location (Android only, optional), in two places: once, to fill in your starting point for the drive-time estimate; and during live tracking, if you turn it on for a trip — then the app reads your GPS position about once a minute for as long as the trip is being tracked, and keeps doing so with the screen off or another app in front. Android shows a persistent notification the whole time; stopping the trip or dismissing tracking ends it. Only the most recent position is kept, with the trip, and positions are sent only to Google Routes as described above. The app does not request "background location" permission; tracking runs as a visible foreground service.
Children
Ferrywise is a general-audience travel tool. It does not knowingly collect information from anyone, including children.
Retention and deletion
Eikon Technologies, LLC retains nothing, because nothing is sent to it. Data on your phone is yours to delete at any time by removing trips or uninstalling the app. Requests sent to the ferry operators and to Google are governed by their own retention practices.
Changes
If what the app sends ever changes, this page changes first, and the effective date above moves.
Contact
Eikon Technologies, LLC
Washington, USA
Email: support@eikontechsoftware.com
Web: eikontechsoftware.com