bluetooth locator
Privacy policy
last updated · October 28, 2026
the short version
Bluetooth Locator has no account, no server, no analytics and no ads. The devices it hears, the places it heard them from and the devices you save are stored on your iPhone and are never sent to us or to anyone else. We don't sell, share or even receive your data.
This policy explains what the Bluetooth Locator app for iPhone and iPad (“the app”) does with information, and what the developer of the app (“we”, “us”) receives. You can reach us at apps@lexpenz.com.
01Bluetooth
To find devices, the app listens for Bluetooth Low Energy advertisements: short messages that earbuds, tags, watches, rings and other devices broadcast openly to anyone nearby. From each advertisement it reads the device's name, maker and model information, the services it announces and the signal strength, and estimates the distance from that.
- iOS identifies each device by a random identifier it makes up for your iPhone. The app never sees a device's hardware (MAC) address.
- The scan can pick up devices that belong to other people nearby, as any Bluetooth scanner does. What it hears is kept on your iPhone only and is never sent anywhere. Phones and computers are hidden from the list by default.
- The app connects to a device only when you tap Ring, to ask that device to beep, and disconnects again after about ten seconds.
- The app has no background modes: scanning stops as soon as the app leaves the screen.
02Location
If you allow it, the app uses your iPhone's location while it is open (“While Using the App”), never in the background. It is used to:
- save, with each sighting of a device, where your iPhone was at the time, so the app can draw a heat map of where the device probably is;
- show you, and the way you're facing, on the radar and the map;
- remember where a saved device was last heard.
These places are stored on your iPhone only. Without location access the app still scans and shows distances, and Find on map works from your steps alone, without a street map underneath.
03Motion & fitness
If you allow it (the app asks the first time you use Find on map), the app reads your steps and walking direction from the iPhone's motion sensors. This estimates how far you have walked, so the map stays accurate indoors and wherever GPS is weak, and how fast you're moving, so distance readings settle quickly. Step data is used as it arrives; only the path you walked during a search is saved, with that search, on your iPhone.
04What is stored on your iPhone
Everything the app keeps stays in its own storage on your device:
| what | contents | kept until |
|---|---|---|
| Device list | Devices heard, their advertisement details and up to 200 sightings each (time, signal strength, distance, your iPhone's location) | You clear the list. The 400 most recently heard devices are kept. |
| Saved devices | The names you give them, and where and when each was last heard | You remove the device |
| Walking searches | The map of a search: your path and the distances measured along it | You reset the search. The 20 most recent are kept. |
| Settings | Your filters, accent color and pings choice, whether the welcome screen was shown, and how much of the free radar and map time is used | You delete the app |
Deleting the app deletes all of it. Like all app data, it is included in your iPhone's iCloud or computer backups if you make them, protected by Apple's backup security, and never readable by us.
05What leaves your iPhone
The app has no server of its own and sends nothing to us. It talks to the network only through Apple:
- App Store. The optional purchase is made and checked through Apple's StoreKit. Apple handles the payment; we never see your payment details or your Apple Account.
- Apple Maps. Map screens load map tiles from Apple, which therefore receives the area being shown. “Directions in Maps” hands a saved device's last place to the Apple Maps app on your iPhone.
- Find My. For AirPods, AirTags and other Find My devices, “Open Find My” opens Apple's Find My app. No data is passed to it.
Apple processes this information under the Apple Privacy Policy.
06Analytics, ads and tracking
The app contains no analytics, advertising or tracking code and no third-party SDKs. It doesn't track you across apps or websites, and its App Store privacy label says “Data Not Collected”.
If you have chosen to share analytics with app developers (Settings → Privacy & Security → Analytics & Improvements), Apple may give us crash reports and aggregate usage figures for the app. Apple provides these without your identity, and we use them only to fix problems.
07When you contact us
If you email us, we receive your email address and what you write. We use it only to answer you, don't share it with anyone, and delete the conversation when it is no longer needed to help you.
08This website
This website uses no cookies, analytics or trackers. It is hosted on GitHub Pages, and GitHub may log visitors' IP addresses for security, as described in the GitHub Privacy Statement.
09Children
The app is suitable for all ages and collects no personal information from anyone, children included.
10Your rights and choices
- You decide what the app may use: Bluetooth, Location and Motion can be turned on or off at any time in Settings → Bluetooth Locator.
- You can delete the app's data yourself: the “clear” chip empties the device list, a saved device can be removed, “Reset and start over” forgets a device's sightings and its search, and deleting the app removes everything.
- Because we hold no data from the app, there is nothing for us to access, correct, export or delete about you. Under the GDPR, the UK GDPR, the CCPA and similar laws you can still ask us about any emails you've sent us, ask us to delete them, or complain to your data protection authority.
- We don't sell or share personal information, as those terms are defined by the CCPA.
11Changes to this policy
If the app starts handling information differently, we will update this policy and the date at the top before that version of the app is released.
12Contact
Questions about privacy: apps@lexpenz.com.