Privacy Policy

Metra Times · Last updated August 13, 2026

Metra Times is built to be private by design. The app has no account, no ads, and no third-party analytics or tracking SDKs. The summary is simple: the app collects no personal information about you, and nothing that identifies you is sent to us. (This website counts page views with a privacy-friendly analytics service, described under This website.)

Information we collect

No personal information. The app does not require an account, does not ask for your name or email, and does not include any analytics, advertising, or tracking SDKs. We keep no user accounts, profiles, or database of users. The app does connect to the internet to fetch public train data and to receive Live Activity updates (both described below), and we keep an anonymous record of which data files are requested (described under Anonymous usage logging). None of this involves collecting personal information about you.

Schedule & live train data

The app fetches public Metra schedule and real-time data files over standard secure (HTTPS) requests to a content delivery network (Amazon CloudFront). As with any internet request, these include your device's IP address, which the content delivery provider processes to deliver the files. We do not store your IP address and we do not use it to identify you.

Anonymous usage logging

To understand which train lines and features the app is actually used for, we keep a minimal record of each data-file request. Each record contains exactly four things:

These records contain no IP address, no device identifier, no advertising identifier, no user agent, no cookie, no location, and no account. Nothing in them links one request to another, to a device, or to a person, and there is no key that would let us or anyone else reconnect them. We use them only to decide which lines and features to invest in. We retain them for 90 days and then they are deleted automatically. They are never used for advertising, never used to build a profile, and never shared with a third party.

Location

The app can use your device’s location, with your permission, for two things: to show where you are on the map, and, if you turn on precise on-board tracking, to tell how far along your trip you are so the get-off alert arrives near your stop rather than early or late.

Precise on-board tracking is optional and off by default. When you turn it on, the app checks your location in the background while you ride, which is why iOS asks for “Always” permission. Your location is used only on your device and is never collected, stored off your device, transmitted to us, or shared with anyone. You can decline or disable location access at any time in iOS Settings, and the rest of the app works normally without it.

Live Activities & notifications

When you track a train, the app shows a Live Activity on your Lock Screen and Dynamic Island. To keep it updating while your phone is locked, the app subscribes to Apple’s Push Notification service for that specific public trip. These updates carry only public train information (such as the current stop and delay). We broadcast them to a per-trip channel without knowing who is subscribed, so we receive no device token, identifier, or location. Apple delivers the updates and processes your subscription under Apple’s Privacy Policy.

Data stored on your device

Your favorites and settings are saved only on your device using standard iOS storage. They are not transmitted anywhere and are removed if you delete the app.

If you add the Home Screen widget, the app also keeps a copy of the timetable for each journey you have saved in a shared storage area on your device, so the widget can show your next departures. That copy holds schedule information only: station names, scheduled times, line names, and which days each train runs. It contains no location and no identifiers, it never leaves your device, and it is removed if you delete the app.

The widget makes no network requests at all. It reads that on-device copy rather than contacting us, which is also why it keeps working with no signal.

This website

These pages (the privacy policy and the support page) count page views using GoatCounter, a privacy-friendly analytics service. It sets no cookies, does not track you across sites, and does not store IP addresses. It records the page visited, the referring page, and a coarse browser and country, which we use only to see whether these pages are being found and read. This applies to the website only. It is not in the app, and it has nothing to do with the app's data.

Data sharing & sale

We do not sell, rent, or share any data. The anonymous usage records described above are the only data we keep, and they are not shared with anyone.

Children

Metra Times is not directed to children and collects no personal information from anyone, including children.

Changes to this policy

If this policy changes, the updated version will be posted on this page with a new “Last updated” date.

Contact

Questions about privacy? Contact admin@goodenoughdev.com.

Metra Times is an independent app and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Metra or the Northeast Illinois Regional Commuter Railroad. Schedule and real-time information come from Metra’s public data feeds.