Privacy Policy

1. Overview

Railway Highlighter for Google Maps ("the Extension") draws railway lines on Google Maps using public OpenStreetMap data. It is made by Home Shop Apps ("we", "us"), who also run apphomeshop.com. No account is needed, and the Extension does not collect your name, email address, browsing history or the places you look at.

This policy explains what the Extension stores, what it sends and to whom.

2. Data stored in your browser

The Extension uses Chrome's local storage (chrome.storage.local) to keep, on your device:

• your selected rail types, the position of the card on the map and whether it is shown or folded;
• the railway lines last loaded, so they can be redrawn after a page reload. They are used for 7 days and removed the next time you open Google Maps after that;
• which railway data server answered last, used for one hour and removed the same way;
• a random identifier created by the Extension and your usage statistics choice (see section 4).

This data is removed when you uninstall the Extension.

3. Railway data requests

When you click "Fetch Rails", the Extension asks a public OpenStreetMap server running the Overpass API for the railways in the area shown on your screen. The request contains only the coordinates of that rectangle and the rail types you selected. If a server is busy, the same request is sent to another one. The servers used are:

• overpass-api.de (FOSSGIS, Germany)
• maps.mail.ru (VK)
• overpass.private.coffee (Private.coffee)

Like any web server, these servers receive your IP address when your browser connects to them. They are run by third parties under their own policies. We do not receive these requests or the coordinates in them.

4. Anonymous usage statistics (can be turned off)

Since version 1.1.0, to find out which features are used and how often loading fails, the Extension sends usage events, together with its random identifier, to our server (apphomeshop.com). Our server checks each event against a fixed list of allowed events and values, replaces your IP address with your country, and forwards the event to Google Analytics 4. Your IP address is not passed on to Google.

New users see the welcome page, which explains these statistics and lets you turn them off, when they install the Extension. Users updating from an earlier version see it after the update, and no statistics are sent until it has been shown.

These events are:

• Install and update (with the previous version number).
• Each time railways are loaded: whether it worked or why it failed (for example "servers busy" or "area too dense"), how many seconds it took, how many servers were tried and which one answered, the HTTP status code of the last failure, the zoom level rounded to a whole number, whether the map or satellite view was used, and how many lines were found.
• Showing or hiding the card with the toolbar icon, opening the welcome page or Google Maps from it, and turning usage statistics on or off.
• Once a day: whether the card is shown and how many rail types are selected.
• With each event: the Extension version, your browser's language and the browser type (for example Chrome or Edge).

Usage events never include coordinates, place names, the address of the map page, your searches or anything you type.

Google processes Google Analytics data under its own privacy policy: policies.google.com/privacy.

5. Permissions

• storage: to keep the settings and data listed in section 2 on your device.
• Content script on google.com/maps: to show the card and draw the railway lines on Google Maps. It reads the map position from the page address to know which area to load, and does not read anything else on the page.
• Access to overpass-api.de: to load railway data (section 3).

6. What we do not do

• We do not collect your browsing history or record the places you look at.
• We do not sell or rent user data, or transfer it for purposes unrelated to the Extension's single purpose of showing railway lines on Google Maps.
• We do not use or transfer user data to determine creditworthiness or for lending purposes.
• We do not use user data for personalized advertising.

The use of information received by the Extension complies with the Chrome Web Store User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements.

7. Data retention

Data stored in your browser is kept until it expires (see section 2) or you uninstall the Extension. Our server keeps technical logs (IP address, requested address, browser, and the usage events described above with the random identifier) for security and troubleshooting; these logs are rotated and deleted regularly. Google Analytics data is kept according to the retention period set in our Google Analytics property (14 months at most).

8. Your choices

• Turn off usage statistics at any time: right-click the Extension's icon, choose Options (or click the ? on the card on Google Maps) and turn off Send anonymous usage statistics.
• Uninstall the Extension to delete all its local data and its random identifier.
• Because usage statistics are tied only to a random identifier, we cannot link them to you. For any question or request about your data, contact us at [email protected].

9. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy, for example when the Extension changes. Changes are published on this page with a new effective date. The previous version (11 April 2026) applied to versions before 1.1.0, which sent no usage statistics.

10. Contact

Home Shop Apps, [email protected].