“Presence, not surveillance”: what it means in an app

Every location app says it respects your privacy. So do we. Instead of repeating it, we'll explain the specific decisions behind the phrase “presence, not surveillance,” so you can check them in the app yourself.

1. Symmetry: nobody sees more than anyone else

Mi Estela has no “administrator” and no “supervisor.” What you see of the other person, they see of you. If your kid shares their location with you, you share yours with them. This changes the conversation at home: it stops being “I'm watching you” and becomes “we're close.” It's also why we're not built to supervise a young child: by definition, that isn't symmetrical.

2. Consent: nobody joins a circle without agreeing

You invite people with a link or a six-letter code. They open it, see who's inviting them, and accept. Nobody can “add” you to a circle, and each circle is independent: what you share with your family isn't seen by your friends from the Camino.

3. You choose how you appear: precise, approximate, or Ghost mode

With one tap you can switch between your exact location, area only, or invisible (Ghost mode, for adults). And you can be in Ghost mode and still tap “I'm okay.” Minors have a minimum for safety: at the very least, they share their general area. Why a teenager needs Ghost mode.

4. The Pact: the family sets the terms

The Pact is the conversation where the circle decides together how it wants to stay present: Connected (they know where I am), Calm (they know I'm okay), or Silent (I share when I want to). It's mutual and gets renegotiated on birthdays. We don't decide it for you: you two do.

5. Each person turns on history

Some apps store where you've been and show it to whoever pays. In Mi Estela, each person turns on their route history, if they want it, and turns it off whenever they like, without notifying anyone. Nobody can switch it on for you, not even whoever pays for Premium. And we keep very little: 3 days free, 30 with Premium. Data is automatically deleted after 30 days, as set out in our own data protection impact assessment.

6. No scores

No driving speed reports, no “phone in hand” alerts, no rankings, no badges. Not in the car, not on the Camino, not when exercising. Our line was never the data: it was judgment. We show the route to whoever you turn it on for, and there's no score that matters.

7. No microphones, no “listening to the surroundings”

The microphone is used when you talk to Estela, when you record a voice note, or when you make a call. Never in the background, and never to listen to what's happening around someone. Some kids' apps do that; we don't, and we won't.

8. No ads and no selling data

Mi Estela has no ads, and it doesn't sell or license location data to anyone: not to insurers, not to brokers, not “aggregated and anonymized.” The app is funded by the Premium subscription, which is paid per circle and is optional. Our servers are in the European Union.

9. Safety is free, always

SOS, “I'm okay,” “I've arrived,” arrival alerts for three spots, the map, chat, and calls are not and will not be paywalled. Premium covers memory (the diary, letters, long history) and extra uses of AI. If you stop paying, your memories aren't deleted or locked: you can still view them and export them.

How to check it yourself

Open the app: under Who can see you, switch between precise, approximate, and Ghost mode; in the Pact, you'll see the same three options for everyone; in history, you'll see that only you can turn it on. And in the App Store or Google Play listing, check the privacy section. If you ever see something that contradicts this page, write to hola@miestela.app. We'll fix it or explain it.