Overview
TeraScreen ("the app") connects to your Tesla over Bluetooth and shows vehicle status on your phone. Vehicle data is read directly over Bluetooth and is never sent to the developer's servers. This page explains what is kept on your device, what is never stored at all, and which third-party services are involved.
Data stored on your device
- Vehicle identification number (VIN): the VIN of the car you paired, used only to reconnect.
- Pairing state: whether a car has been paired.
- Encryption keys: the key pair used to talk to your car, held in the iOS Keychain or Android Keystore. It never leaves the device.
- Preferences: speed unit and other in-app settings.
- Ad dismissal date: the day you last dismissed ads.
- Subscription state: cached locally and verified by the App Store or Google Play. The developer never sees payment details.
- Trip records: start and end time, distance, top speed, and the battery level and range at the start and end of each trip, kept in a local database on the device and never uploaded.
- Charging records: the start and end time, battery level at each end, energy added and peak power of each charging session, kept in a local database on your device and never uploaded.
- Parking location: the coordinates where you last parked, kept on your device so you can find your way back; cleared when you drive off again or unpair, and never sent to the developer. Only when you tap “Walking directions” on the map page are the parking coordinates handed to your phone's maps app to plan the route (see “Third-party services” below).
Shown on screen but never stored
The following is displayed only while the app is running, and is neither written to storage nor uploaded: speed, gear position, battery level, estimated range, and the media track currently playing. (When a trip ends, some of these values are summarised into the trip record described above.)
Permissions
- Bluetooth: to connect to your car and exchange data. This is the app's core function.
- Location: the operating system requires location access to scan for nearby Bluetooth devices. While you use the app, location is also used to show GPS speed when the Bluetooth signal is unstable or the vehicle connection is interrupted, to show your position on the map, to pick the nearest tunnel and work out your direction of travel for tunnel traffic, and to note your coordinates when you park and walk away. GPS speed does not use your coordinates, and tunnel and direction coordinates are computed on the fly on your device; none of these are stored. The map is drawn by Google Maps (Android) or Apple Maps (iOS); when the map loads, the map service receives the area shown on screen, and on iOS your current location is sent to Apple Maps when a route is calculated during navigation (see “Third-party services” below). Parking coordinates are saved on your device (see “Data stored on your device” above). The app does not send your location to the developer or pass it to advertising, analytics or crash-reporting services (these services may still estimate a rough region from your IP address), and coordinates are not written to the diagnostic log.
- Internet: used to load ads, verify your subscription, fetch public tunnel traffic data, receive announcements and send crash reports.
- Notifications: to show announcements, and notifications such as vehicle alerts that the app generates on your device from what it reads over Bluetooth (these never pass through a server). You can turn them off at any time in system settings.
Third-party services
- Google AdMob: serves ads and may collect an advertising identifier (IDFA / AAID) and usage statistics. No ads appear while you are subscribed, or for the rest of the day after a rewarded ad.
- Firebase Crashlytics and Analytics: receive crash reports and basic usage statistics (device model, OS version, app version), plus an anonymous connection summary: counts and durations that describe how well the app stays connected to your car (for example, how often and for how long the connection drops). The connection summary contains no VIN, vehicle name, location, keys or vehicle data. All of this is used only to fix problems.
- Firebase Cloud Messaging: delivers app updates and important announcements. To reach your device, Firebase creates a push registration token for this installation of the app and keeps it with Google's messaging service, where it is used only to deliver notifications. The developer does not upload it to its own servers or link it to your VIN or vehicle data. Announcements are not addressed to individuals and contain no personal data. On Android 13 and later, the token is first created only after you allow notifications; on Android 8–12, where notifications are on by default, it is created as soon as you open the app (unless you have already turned its notifications off in system settings). If you later turn notifications off in system settings, announcements are no longer shown and the app deletes the token the next time you open it with a network connection; if Firebase refreshes the token when the app starts, the app deletes the refreshed token right away too. The token also stops working once the app is deleted.
- Google Maps and Apple Maps: the map page is drawn by Google Maps on Android and by Apple Maps on iOS. When the map loads, the map service receives the area shown on screen (in other words, roughly where you are). On iOS, while your car is navigating and the map page is open, the app sends your current location and the car's navigation destination to Apple Maps to calculate the route. Google or Apple handles this under its own privacy policy. When you tap “Walking directions”, the parking coordinates are handed to your phone's maps app to plan a walking route, and that app handles them under its own privacy policy.
- Public traffic data: tunnel traffic is fetched from a public traffic data source. Those requests contain no personal data and no coordinates.
- Firebase Remote Config: downloads settings that turn app features on or off (for example, connection improvements being rolled out gradually). To do this, Firebase uses an identifier for this installation of the app. No vehicle data or location is involved.
Google's privacy policy: policies.google.com/privacy
Apple's privacy policy: apple.com/legal/privacy
Subscriptions and payments
The app offers optional monthly, six-month and yearly subscriptions that remove ads and unlock Picture-in-Picture. All payments are handled by the Apple App Store or Google Play; the developer never accesses or stores your payment details. You can cancel at any time in your Apple ID or Google account settings.
Ad consent (EEA, UK and Switzerland)
If you use the app in the European Economic Area (including Norway), the United Kingdom or Switzerland, a consent form from Google's User Messaging Platform appears before personalised ads are shown. You can consent, not consent, or manage your options for each purpose and partner. If you do not consent, the app still works; ads may still appear but are not personalised. Your choice is saved on your device, and you can change or withdraw it at any time under Settings › Privacy options in the app.
Legal bases (GDPR and UK GDPR)
- Consent: personalised advertising and the related use of advertising identifiers; notifications (through your phone's notification permission); location (through your phone's location permission). You can withdraw consent at any time without affecting what happened before.
- Legitimate interests: crash reports, basic usage statistics, the anonymous connection summary and remote feature settings, which we need to keep the app reliable and fix problems. You can object at any time by contacting us.
- Performance of a contract: providing a subscription you purchased.
International transfers and retention
Google, which provides AdMob and Firebase, may process data on servers outside your country, including in the United States, under safeguards such as the EU–US Data Privacy Framework and standard contractual clauses. Data held by these services is kept only for the periods set in Google's retention settings and then deleted. Data stored on your device stays there until you unpair or delete the app.
Your rights
Depending on where you live, you have the right to access, correct or delete your personal data, to restrict or object to its processing, to data portability, and to withdraw consent. Because vehicle data never leaves your device, most of it is already under your control. To exercise a right regarding data processed through the services above, email us and we will respond within one month. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with your data protection authority, for example the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) in the UK or Datatilsynet in Norway.
Children's privacy
The app is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children.
Deleting your data
Choosing "unpair" in the app clears the VIN, the pairing state, the encryption keys and the parking location. Deleting the app removes everything stored locally, including trip and charging records. Because the data never leaves your device, there is nothing on our side to delete.
Please note: On Android, none of the app's data is included in cloud backup or copied during device-to-device transfer — pairing state, VIN, trip and charging records are all excluded. On iOS, if iCloud Backup is on, your trip and charging records and settings may be part of that backup and held by Apple under their own terms; you can exclude this app under Settings → iCloud → Manage Storage. Encryption keys never leave the device by design.
Data controller and contact
The data controller is Tera Software, the developer of TeraScreen. For privacy questions or to exercise your rights, email support@tera-software.com. If this policy changes, we will update this page and the date shown at the top.