Privacy Policy

Last updated November 11, 2026 (v2)

The short version: Bent has no accounts, no ads, and no tracking. We use your location to plan your route and check the weather along it. If you report a road hazard, that report (its type and location) is shared with other drivers and kept. We never sell your personal information.

What we collect

Data	Why	Where it goes
Your location (only after you allow it)	To show where you are, plan routes, give turn-by-turn directions, and warn you about weather ahead	Used on your device. Your start point, destination and route points are sent to the routing, address-search and weather services listed below so they can answer. Bent's own server does not store your location or your trips.
Hazard reports you submit	To warn other drivers about flooding, hail, ice and other road hazards	Stored on Bent's server with the hazard type, its location and the time. To prevent fake reports, Bent's server checks each report's location against official weather data (National Weather Service alerts, NOAA river gauges, radar, and Open-Meteo measurements) and stores the result. Reports that official data contradicts stay hidden until other drivers confirm them. Reports are kept after they expire to understand where hazards happen.
"Still there / Gone" votes	To keep reports accurate	Stored on Bent's server with the report they belong to.
A daily anonymous code	To prevent spam (limit reports per hour and allow one vote per report)	Created on our server by scrambling your internet address together with the date and a secret value. It changes every day and can't be turned back into your internet address. We don't store your internet address with reports.
"Share my drive" (only if you turn it on)	To show people you send the link to where you are, your arrival time, and your route weather	Your latest position, destination name, arrival time, route status and the first name you enter (optional) are stored on Bent's server and shown to anyone with the link. Turning sharing off erases the position; shares are deleted 24 hours after the last update.
Invite links (bentmaps.com/?ref=…)	To count how many people each creator or partner sent to Bent	Stored on Bent's server as the invite code plus the same kind of daily anonymous code used for spam limits. Nothing else about you is recorded.
Voice commands ("Hey Bent")	To understand what you ask	Bent uses your device or browser's built-in speech recognition. Depending on your device, your voice may be processed by Apple or Google under their privacy policies. Bent doesn't record or store audio.
Settings, saved trips, parked-car spot, badges and stats	To remember your preferences, check your regular drives, watch your parked car, and show your badges and "Bent Wrapped"	Stored only on your device. Bent's server never receives them.

We do not collect your name, email, contacts, photos, or advertising identifiers. We do not use analytics or advertising trackers.

Services Bent uses

To work, Bent sends the minimum needed information (place names you search for, map coordinates of your route) to these services:

Routing: Open Source Routing Machine (OSRM), operated by FOSSGIS
Address search: OpenStreetMap Nominatim and Photon (by komoot)
Weather forecasts: Open-Meteo
Weather warnings: U.S. National Weather Service (api.weather.gov)
Radar storm tracking: Iowa Environmental Mesonet (NEXRAD storm data)
River flood gauges: NOAA National Water Prediction Service
Places along your route (food, gas, chargers, shelter): OpenStreetMap Nominatim
Map and radar images: Esri and the Iowa Environmental Mesonet (NEXRAD radar)
Hosting: DreamHost (Bent's website and report server)

These services have their own privacy policies. Like any website, they receive your internet address when your device contacts them.

Notifications

If you turn on alerts, Bent uses your device's notification system to warn you about hazards on your route. You can turn them off any time in your device settings.

How long we keep data

Hazard reports and votes are kept indefinitely because the history of where flooding, hail and ice occur helps make Bent's warnings better. They are not linked to your identity. The daily anonymous code can't identify you after the day it was created.

Your choices

You can use Bent without sharing your location by typing a starting point.
You can turn off location or notifications at any time in your device or browser settings.
If you believe a report you submitted should be removed, contact us with its approximate time and place.

Children

Bent is not directed to children under 13, and we don't knowingly collect information from them.

Sale or transfer of Bent

If Bent is acquired by or merged with another company, hazard report data may be transferred as part of that transaction. This policy will continue to apply to data collected under it unless you're notified otherwise.

Changes

If we change this policy, we'll update the date above and, for significant changes, show a notice in the app.

Contact

Questions or requests: support@bentmaps.com