Data protection

Controller

Questions about privacy: hello@maps.express

In short

The maps.express website sets no cookies and stores nothing on your device. In the map studio on my.maps.express, your draft stays in your browser without signing in, until you move it to your account or buy without an account. We only set a cookie when you sign in or buy without an account. We count how often our pages are visited without profiles and with a shortened IP address. We process personal data when delivering the pages, for news by e-mail, for your .express account, for purchases with and without an account, and for the AI features you use. The details are in the sections below.

Hosting and delivery

Pages are delivered via Cloudflare’s global network so they load quickly everywhere. On each visit, Cloudflare processes technical connection data (IP address, time, requested file, browser type) in server logs; we use them for security and troubleshooting. Railway (USA) runs our database in a data centre in the Netherlands; files and archives are stored in Cloudflare storage with a fixed EU jurisdiction.

Railway operates its services largely from the USA, even when the data is in the Netherlands. Railway Corporation is certified under the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework and the Swiss-U.S. Data Privacy Framework; as a fallback, the contract provides for the EU standard contractual clauses. Railway’s subprocessors are listed at trust.railway.com.

Visitor statistics

To see which pages are read, we count page views with Rybbit: on maps.express, in the map studio at my.maps.express, on the trips.express home page (not in the travel app) and on the pages of our products backoffice, crews, dispo, gateway, projects, shipments, sites, stories and thinks .express. Rybbit works for us as a processor; for each website, requests go through its own address on the same domain (such as stats.maps.express or stats.dispo.express), which passes on only what is needed: the page visited without parameters (in the map studio just “map studio”, without map or trip identifiers and without titles), the domain of the page you came from, browser, device type, screen size and language, and your IP address in shortened form, from which Rybbit derives country and region.

No cookies are set and nothing is stored on your device. We do not record clicks, input, errors or screen recordings. The legal basis is our legitimate interest in shaping the website to actual demand (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR). In addition, Cloudflare Web Analytics counts page views, also without cookies.

The map studio

You can use the map studio at my.maps.express without signing in. Some additional features use external services – such as map routing, place search, weather and push notifications via your browser’s service. These services receive location information, not personal data.

Automatic photos for stops

When stops are illustrated automatically, our server sends the rounded coordinates of the stop to Wikimedia Commons (Wikimedia Foundation, USA). Account and payment data are not included.

Navigation with Google Maps or Apple Maps

In the travel app you can let yourself be guided to a stop or your hotel. Only when you tap “Navigation dorthin” (navigate there) does Google Maps or Apple Maps open – as you choose or, without a choice, to suit your device – as an app or website. It then receives from your device the coordinates of the destination and, if you choose “Bus und Bahn” (bus and train), that mode of travel. We do not pass on names, booking or trip data or details about you, and the referring page is not sent. Nothing is loaded beforehand, and we do not count these hand-offs. Whatever happens afterwards in Google Maps (Google Ireland Limited) or Apple Maps (Apple Distribution International Ltd.) is governed by their privacy policies.

Drafts in your browser

Without signing in, the map studio keeps your draft only in your browser (IndexedDB); it reaches our server only once you sign in and take it over, or when you buy without an account. The draft is valid for 30 days from its last change; after that the studio no longer opens it. You can discard it in the studio at any time. On a shared computer, anyone using this browser can see it.

Export files

We delete finished export files and the matching copy of your map from personal .express accounts 30 days after they were created. Deletion runs at night and can take several nights if there is a backlog; in backups the data remains until they expire. For purchases without an account, the 90-day period in the section “Buying without an account” applies. The map itself stays in your account; you can create the file again free of charge at any time.

We create paid files on our servers, usually in a container run by Railway (USA) in a data centre in the Netherlands. Your map or its finished sheet goes there, with the texts you entered. They stay there only while the file is being made and are deleted afterwards; we do not write their content to logs. We keep the finished file and a small preview image (long side 480 pixels) in Cloudflare storage with a fixed EU jurisdiction and delete them together.

If we keep a separate source list for a file, it stays publicly available with the export ID even after deletion, without the map’s content and without details about you, so that the source reference on distributed maps stays valid.

Your .express account

To save and for purchases with an account, you sign in with your .express account. For this we process your e-mail address and send you a sign-in code by e-mail; Brevo (Brevo SAS, France) sends it on our behalf, with Emailit as a fallback if Brevo fails. Before the code is sent, Cloudflare Turnstile checks that a person is asking. During sign-in we set a cookie for the flow (at most 10 minutes), then a session cookie (at most 8 hours). Both are technically necessary and readable only by our server. The legal basis for the account and sign-in is our contract with you (Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR); abuse checks, rate limits and logs are based on our legitimate interest in secure operation (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR).

Your account is deleted on request by e-mail to hello@maps.express; after a 14-day withdrawal period we delete it for good. This covers your .express account and therefore all .express products. Personal spaces in which no map was saved and nothing was bought 90 days after they were created are deleted automatically.

Purchases

Polar (polar.sh) handles purchases as the merchant of record: you buy from Polar, and Polar issues the invoice. From us, Polar receives only a pseudonymous identifier of your account. Polar collects your name, e-mail address, billing address and payment details itself at checkout. Polar is a US company; the transfer is safeguarded by the EU standard contractual clauses (Polar’s data processing agreement). The legal basis is the purchase contract (Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR). We keep your purchases as accounting records because tax law requires it (§ 147 AO). If you delete your account, we remove the link between these records and you.

Buying without an account

What applies to the purchase is set out in the Terms for buying without an account.

You can also buy a single map without an account. When you start the purchase, a copy of your draft goes to our server, without your own photos. This copy can hold anything you entered yourself, including names or addresses. We use it only to create your files and do not pass it to AI services. To calculate routes, coordinates may go to a routing service, without names or texts.

Before the start, Cloudflare Turnstile checks that a person is asking; Cloudflare receives your IP address for this. For the daily limit of five started purchases per internet connection we store a check value instead of the IP address and delete it after two days. At the start we set a cookie that links your browser to this purchase for 24 hours. It is technically necessary and can only be read by our server. We keep only a check value of its content.

You pay Polar as the merchant. Polar itself collects your name, e-mail address, billing address and payment details in the checkout. From us, Polar receives the purchase number and the chosen offer, but no account identifier and nothing from your map.

After payment, Polar tells us your e-mail address. We store it encrypted until our e-mail has been sent, for at most 7 days. For the confirmation page we keep a shortened form (such as a***@example.com) for 24 hours. Until the end of the period we also keep a check value of the address, made with a secret key, from which the address cannot be read. If you sign in with the same address, confirmed by us, we compare this check value and offer you the map to move into your account; before that you only see the purchase date and formats. An address typed in at checkout is never enough on its own. With the link from our e-mail you can also move the map into an account with a different address. When you move it, we copy the map into your account, unlock your tier for that map there and delete the check value; the link and files of the purchase without an account then no longer work. Without a move the check value stays until the end of the period.

Once all files are ready, or a file definitely cannot be created, Emailit (FunFirst s.r.o., Czech Republic) sends the e-mail on our behalf. It holds the link, the end date and general notes, nothing from your map, and opens or clicks are not recorded. We cannot check whether the address is right: if it was mistyped in the checkout, the e-mail reaches someone else, and the link leads to your files. The confirmation page shows the shortened address so that you can spot this.

On the confirmation page you see a small picture of your map. Until your files are ready it comes from your browser: it stays in this tab and is not sent anywhere. After that we show the preview image stored with your files.

We delete an unpaid purchase with its copy after 24 hours. For a paid purchase we delete the map, files, preview image, check values and access 90 days after payment. After a refund or chargeback, the link and files stop at once; they are deleted in the next hourly run. We keep the purchase record because tax law requires it (§ 147 AO), without your name and e-mail address. What Polar stores follows Polar’s rules.

As evidence, we keep which version of the text you agreed to and when, without an IP address.

The legal basis for the copy, e-mail and files is the purchase (Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR). The abuse check and the daily limit rest on our legitimate interest in secure operation (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR). For access or early deletion, write to hello@maps.express and give the invoice number from Polar’s receipt; without an account we cannot otherwise match you to a purchase.

AI features

Some features use a language model: reading a pasted itinerary, reading a trip page whose link you enter, suggestions for stop names, and the map assistant. For this we send the itinerary text or the readable text of the trip page – for the assistant, your message with the map context (title, stops, labels) – to OpenRouter, exclusively through its EU endpoint: the connection ends in the EU, and OpenRouter forwards only to model providers that process in the EU. Beforehand we remove recognisable personal data such as names, e-mail addresses, phone numbers, booking and passport numbers from itinerary texts, trip pages and stop names; this does not apply to the map assistant, which receives your message and the map context as they are. With every request we require that the data is not used for training.

We store neither your text nor the model's answer, only usage details: service, model, duration, outcome and the number of tokens processed. How long OpenRouter and the model provider keep requests depends on their policies (OpenRouter's privacy policy). The legal basis is our contract with you, because you call the feature (Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR); rate limits and logs are based on our legitimate interest (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR).

News about maps.express by e-mail

If you would like to receive news about maps.express by e-mail, we process your e-mail address on the basis of your consent (Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR). We occasionally tell you about what is new at maps.express. Your sign-up reaches us as an e-mail in the hello@maps.express mailbox; for sending we use the e-mail service Emailit (emailit.com) as a processor. After signing up you receive a confirmation e-mail.

You can withdraw your consent at any time – through the unsubscribe link in every e-mail or informally at hello@maps.express; we then delete your address. We do not pass it on for advertising.

Your rights

You have the right of access, rectification, erasure, restriction of processing and data portability, as well as a right to object. You can also complain to the competent supervisory authority – for us that is the Berlin Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information.

Status and changes

Last updated: 6 November 2026. If our processing changes, we update this statement here.