Mapbox provides a location data platform that powers maps and location services. Mapbox provides SDKs (software development kits) and APIs (application programming interfaces), which businesses and developers use to incorporate Mapbox mapping and navigation technologies into the licensed applications and websites they make. The SDKs contain libraries of software code which are incorporated into a customer’s licensed application or website. These libraries of software code facilitate API requests to Mapbox’s location data platform (which is a backend data server, hosted in the cloud (AWS-US)) which then responds with map and location content to the customer’s application or website.

In addition, Mapbox offers an on-premise version of its location data services, called Atlas.

No. Mapbox does not sell personal data.

No. For customers on a monthly active user (“MAU”) billing model, Mapbox maintains counts of MAUs for billing purposes only. Mapbox does not (and cannot) track an end user’s activity across billing cycles and does not build targeted profiles with the data processed through its products/services.

Mapbox applies the principle of data minimization to product development and operations in an effort to collect only limited  data  from  the  outset. Mapbox  operates  a  number  of  technical  and  organization measures regarding the limited personal dataset that we process, such as strict access controls and prompt deletion of raw log files that contain IP addresses and billing IDs. Mapbox deploys regular ID rotation and 1-way hashing for billing IDs, which must be retained for accounting and billing purposes, to minimize the ability  to  track  user  requests over time. Billing  IDs  are  not  transmitted with  unrelated  events,  further reducing  the  feasibility  of  correlating  a  user’s  activities  over  time.  In  addition, Mapbox operates  strict anonymization procedures, such as clipping traces, for telemetry events that send location data.

Communication through the Internet requires the presence of IP addresses, which specify each transmission’s origin and destination. When end users engage with applications that access Mapbox products/services through the Internet, the end user necessarily discloses their current IP address to one or more Mapbox servers. IP addresses are retained in cloudfront logs for 30 days for billing and customer usage reporting, unless involved in an ongoing security, anti-fraud, or misuse investigation.

Mapbox receives location data when a Mapbox customer’s end users uses a licensed application that incorporates Mapbox mobile SDKs and the end user has authorized the licensed application’s use of the end user’s device location via their mobile phone or device operating system.

Location data includes fields such as latitude and longitude, altitude, horizontal and vertical accuracy, a session ID rotating every 24 hours, and origin IP address (as would any Internet communication). The IP address that accompanies location data is retained at the load balancer (where it is used for security and PUBLISHED: Aug 22, 2023https://www.mapbox.com/legal/legal-faq Mapbox Customer FAQ, Page 3billing purposes and discarded after 30 days). This IP address is not forwarded to the location telemetry processing pipeline. Location data is encrypted in transit and at rest, and is subject to the principle of least access, with the minimal number of personnel and processes having access to it in its pre-aggregated form.

In the location data anonymization pipeline, the location data is then anonymized by clipping off the origin and destination of the trip and further dividing the trip into segments, which cannot be reassembled. The anonymized location data is then used to improve Mapbox mapping products, including the Traffic and Movement data products.

In AWS in the United States. However, for performance purposes, Mapbox regularly caches content on its AWS content delivery network (“CDN”) located in various regions. Mapbox employees who work for Mapbox wholly-owned subsidiaries may access personal data from the countries where they work in order to support, develop and provide Mapbox products/services.

No. Mapbox’s products/services store and serve source data from an AWS primary region in the US. As noted above, data is cached and served out of various regions outside the US for performance reasons, however Mapbox cannot serve its data from one limited geographic region. To comply with GDPR and safeguard transfers to the US and other countries, please see Mapbox's DPA, Schedule C, which includes the Standard Contractual Clauses released in 2021 by the European Commission.

Yes. Mapbox carefully scrutinizes the personal data it processes within its engineering lifecycle, which includes conducting a privacy review for new (or changed) processing activities. Mapbox follows privacy-by-design principles and works diligently to limit the personal data it processes from the outset. A DPIA is conducted in any situation in which processing of personal data may be considered high risk and not able to be accomplished in a lower risk manner.

Mapbox runs a global data protection program designed to operate in compliance with applicable global privacy laws, including: VCDPA (Virginia, USA), UCPA (Utah, USA), UK-GDPR (UK), TIPA (Tennessee, USA), TDPSA (Texas, USA),PIPEDA (Canada), MTCDPA (Montana, USA), LGPD (Brazil),IDPL (Iowa, USA), ICDPA(Indianna, USA), GDPR (Europe), CTDPA (Connecticut, USA), CCPA and its implementing regulations including CPRA (California, USA), CPA (Colorado, USA), and APPI (Japan), among many other important jurisdictions.
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Mapbox’s privacy program is based on privacy by design, which includes monitoring for upcoming privacy laws and regulations to assess whether its practices may need to be adjusted to maintain compliance; product/service privacy reviews; data breach response processes; and operationalized technical and organizational measures designed to ensure the security of the personal data it receives including: security audits and SOC2 certification; anonymization & pseudonymization of personal data (where applicable); strict access control with logging; limited data retention periods.

Yes. Mapbox is SOC2 Type 2 certified with a summary SOC3 report available for customer review. In addition, Mapbox earned and maintains Trusted Information Security Assessment Exchange (“TISAX”) and ISO 9001 certifications. Upon request and execution of an NDA, Mapbox may share a copy of its latest SOC2 report.

Mapbox welcomes any further questions you may have regarding its ongoing commitment to privacy and data security. Please contact Mapbox’s privacy office at [email protected].