Hoist — Privacy Policy

Effective: 1 July 2026 · Applies to: Hoist (org.einix.tool.ip) and Hoist Pro (org.einix.tool.ip.pro) on Google Play.

Hoist is a small utility that shows your device’s current public IP address overlaid on the country flag where that IP is geolocated. This page explains what data the app touches, where it goes, and what it never does.

1. What Hoist collects

The app needs the following at runtime so it can show you your IP and the matching flag:

• Public IP address (transient). The app fetches your current public IP from a third-party geo-IP service so it can display it back to you. It is never stored on our servers — we don’t have servers. The most recent value may be cached locally on your device for the home-screen widget; that cache is overwritten on every refresh and cleared when you uninstall the app.
• Approximate location (country / city / latitude / longitude). Returned by the geo-IP service alongside the IP. Used only to display the corresponding flag and optionally a small map on the Connection Details page. Not stored on any server we control.
• Android Advertising ID. Only in the free, ad-supported version. Used by Google Mobile Ads (AdMob) to select ads and prevent the same ad being shown to you too many times. Not used by Hoist itself for any other purpose. The Pro version does not request this permission.

2. What Hoist does not collect

• No account, no sign-in, no email, no name.
• No telemetry, no crash reporting, no usage analytics.
• No access to your contacts, calendar, microphone, camera, photos, files, SMS, or call log.
• No precise device location (GPS / Wi-Fi triangulation). Location is approximate, derived from your public IP only.
• No biometric, health, financial, or any other personal data.

3. Third-party services Hoist uses

• ifconfig.co (primary geo-IP lookup) — operated by Marian Steinbach, GitHub-hosted source. Sees your IP each time the app refreshes, per their own privacy policy. We don’t send anything else.
• ipinfo.io (fallback geo-IP lookup) — used only if ifconfig.co fails. Same scope: sees your IP, nothing else.
• tile.openstreetmap.org (map tile rendering) — fetches one map tile per refresh based on the IP’s coordinates. They see the tile request (which encodes the rough area around your IP) and our User-Agent. Subject to the OSMF tile-usage policy.
• Google Mobile Ads (AdMob) — free version only. Receives the Android Advertising ID and standard ad-request signals. See Google’s privacy policy for what AdMob does with that data.
• Google User Messaging Platform (UMP) — free version only. Used to show the EU consent dialog when required by law. Free version only.
• Google Play Billing — used only when you tap “Buy Hoist Pro” in the free version. Google Play handles the purchase; we never see your payment details.

4. Data stored on your device

• The most recent IP / country / city, so the widget can render before the next network refresh.
• Your Pro entitlement (whether you’ve purchased Hoist Pro) — retrieved from Google Play, cached so it survives offline starts.
• Standard system caches (Android resource cache, Coil image cache for the map tile and flag SVGs). Cleared by uninstall.

Nothing is uploaded to any server operated by us. We don’t have servers.

5. Children

Hoist is targeted at users aged 13 and over. We do not knowingly collect data from children, and the app does not request any personal data at all. If you are under 13, please don’t use the free version, as the AdMob SDK is not designed for that age group.

6. Data deletion

Because we don’t store anything on our side, there is nothing to delete server-side. To remove all local data: uninstall the app. To opt out of personalized ads in the free version: Settings → Google → Ads → toggle “Opt out of Ads Personalisation” (or use the EU consent dialog if you’re in the EEA / UK).

7. Security in transit

All network requests Hoist makes are over HTTPS. No cleartext HTTP is permitted by the app’s network-security configuration.

8. Changes to this policy

If we change anything material, we’ll update the “Effective” date at the top of this page and post a brief summary of what changed below. We won’t reduce your privacy retroactively.

9. Contact

Questions, takedown requests, or privacy concerns: di@einix.fr.