buni Privacy Policy

Effective October 11, 2026

buni is a free iPhone app that shows San Francisco's buses and trains live on a map. It has no accounts, no ads, no analytics, and no tracking. This page explains exactly what leaves your phone and why.

Your location

buni only asks for your location when you tap the locate button. If you allow it, your location is used on your phone to show where you are and to center the map. It is never sent to our server or to anyone else, and buni never uses your location in the background.

Searches and dropped pins

When you type a destination, or long-press the map to drop a pin, buni sends the text you typed, or the map coordinates of the pin, to our server. Our server asks Photon (a free address-search service run by komoot, using OpenStreetMap data) for matching places or the nearest address. Our server makes that request itself, so Photon does not receive your IP address or any information about your device.

To find routes near a destination, buni sends that place's coordinates to our server. Our server keeps recent search answers in memory for up to one day, so repeat searches are fast. Those saved answers are linked only to the search text, never to you or your device. Our server does not keep a log of individual requests.

Your IP address

As with any app that uses the internet, the servers buni connects to can see your IP address while handling a request:

• Our server (muni.paintingclub.art) is reached through Cloudflare. We use your IP address for about a minute, in memory only, to limit how many searches one device can make. We do not store it.
• Map images come straight from OpenFreeMap, which sees your IP address and the part of the map you are viewing.

What we don't collect

buni does not collect your name, email, contacts, photos, or any account information. It does not use analytics, advertising, or crash-reporting services, and it does not track you across apps or websites.

Transit data

Vehicle positions and schedules come from 511.org. Our server downloads them; no information about you is sent to 511.

Children

buni is not directed at children under 13 and does not knowingly collect personal information from anyone.

Changes and contact

If this policy changes, the updated version will be posted on this page with a new effective date. Questions: charliepeople427@gmail.com.

buni is not affiliated with SFMTA (Muni), BART, MTC, or 511.