RPAS Preflight Buddy is a preflight planning and flight-day logging tool for Canadian drone (RPAS) pilots, made by Smart Earth Build Solutions, a sole proprietorship registered in Ontario, Canada. It is available as a web app and as an Android app. This policy explains what information the app handles, what leaves your device, and where it goes.
We (Smart Earth Build Solutions) collect nothing. The app has no user accounts, no sign-in, no advertising, and no analytics, crash reporting, or tracking of any kind. The Android app never contacts a server operated by us. We do not receive, store, sell, or share any personal information or flight data, and we could not identify you from anything the app does.
Everything you enter — pilot profile, aircraft registrations, battery registry, flight logs, maintenance records, checklists — is stored locally on your device only. It leaves the device only when you choose to share, print, or export it, and then it goes wherever you send it, never to us. If you delete the app or clear its data, that information is gone, so use the Export Backup feature regularly.
To show live aviation data, the app sends requests to the public services below. Each request carries the minimum needed to answer it, is processed in the moment, and is not stored, logged, or linked to you by us. As with any internet request, the service you contact technically sees your IP address.
| Feature | What is sent | To |
|---|---|---|
| Live weather (optional) | Only after you turn live weather on by tapping Enable live weather, Use My Location, or Auto-fill from live weather: in the web version your browser location if you allow it, otherwise an approximate city-level location estimated from your internet connection (the Android app always uses the estimate and never asks for location permission). The latitude and longitude are sent to fetch the forecast. Nothing is sent until you turn the feature on; once on, the forecast refreshes each time the app opens until you turn it off under Resources > About. | ipwho.is or freeipapi.com (approximate location), then Open-Meteo (forecast) |
| Weather at a map point, or a place you search | The coordinates of the point you tapped, or the place name you typed (sent as-is to find its coordinates). | Open-Meteo (forecast and place search) |
| Distance from me (aerodrome directory) and My location (site-survey map) | A request that lets a geolocation service estimate your approximate city-level location from your internet connection (browser location on the web if you allow it). Nothing else is sent; the estimate is used only on your device to compute distances or centre the map. | ipwho.is or freeipapi.com |
| METAR and NOTAMs | The identifier of the aerodrome or reporting station you are viewing. | NAV CANADA (plan.navcanada.ca) |
| GPS interference indicator | A request for the current planetary K-index. Nothing about you. | NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center |
| Site survey map | The map tiles for the area you are looking at, starting with the default view when the app opens. | OpenStreetMap, Esri ArcGIS |
| Fonts and map library | Standard file requests when the app opens, in both the web and Android versions. Nothing about you beyond the request itself. | Google Fonts, unpkg CDN (Leaflet) |
Each of these services has its own privacy policy. The web version fetches NAV CANADA data through a small proxy function on our website (hosted by Netlify, which may keep short-term request logs) and falls back to the AllOrigins public proxy, because browsers block direct requests; the Android app contacts NAV CANADA directly and never contacts a server operated by us.
The Android app can transmit two data types, both optional and only on your action: approximate location (when you turn on live weather, or ask for your location with Distance from me or My location) and in-app search text (the place name you type into the weather search). Both are used for app functionality, processed ephemerally (held in memory for the request and never stored or logged by us; if you apply weather to a flight day, the coordinates and weather values are saved in that flight's record on your device only), encrypted in transit, and not shared with anyone other than the service that answers the request. No other data type is collected or shared. Precise location is never requested: the Android app does not ask for the location permission, and the web app only uses your browser location if you grant it.
The Android app requests internet access only. It does not request access to your contacts, camera, microphone, photos, files, or precise location. Export Backup opens the Android file picker so you choose where the file is saved; Send Backup and sharing a flight log use the Android share sheet, so you choose which app receives the file.
Because nothing is stored by us, there is nothing for us to delete. To remove all app data, clear the app storage in Android settings or uninstall the app. Backups you exported are under your control.
The app is a professional aviation tool and is not directed at children under 13.
Aerodrome, airspace, weather, and NOTAM information shown in the app is an aid to planning only and may be incomplete or out of date. Always verify against the current Canada Flight Supplement, NAV Drone, and official NOTAM sources before flight. RPAS Preflight Buddy is an independent tool and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or approved by Transport Canada or NAV CANADA. Use of the app is subject to the Terms of Use.
If this policy changes, the updated version will be posted at this address with a new effective date, and the app will show it again. Questions: contact@smartearthbuildsolutions.com · Smart Earth Build Solutions, 455 Danforth Avenue, Suite 322, Toronto, Ontario M4K 1P1, Canada.