Four Contacts
Last updated 28 September 2026
Four Contacts is a summit activation logbook for SOTA (Summits on the Air) radio operators. This page explains, in full, what the app does and does not collect. There is no account, no server, and no analytics or advertising software of any kind inside the app.
SHORT VERSION: Four Contacts collects nothing. Everything you log stays on your device.
Every summit, activation, contact, chase, kit item, photo and setting you enter is written only to the app's own storage on your iPhone or iPad. None of it is transmitted anywhere, backed up to a server we operate, or shared with any third party. If you delete the app, that data is deleted with it.
When you ask Four Contacts to check the Activation Zone, the app reads your device's current altitude using Location Services, with your permission ("When In Use"). That reading is shown on screen and immediately discarded — it is never written to disk, logged, or sent off the device. If you prefer not to grant location access, you can type your own altimeter reading instead.
The camera lets you photograph your paper backup log or a summit marker so the picture can be attached to that day's activation record. Photos taken this way are stored only in the app's own local storage.
The system photo picker lets you choose an existing picture to display on one of your summits. Only the single photo you pick is copied into the app; Four Contacts is never given access to the rest of your photo library.
Four Contacts can send two kinds of local notification, generated entirely on your device: a morning packing reminder for a summit you have scheduled, and an optional reminder to upload your log after you get home. Neither notification uses a push service, and no data leaves your device to schedule them.
Summit reference pages and association rule pages open inside the app in a contained web view, rather than in an external browser. Those pages are hosted by the relevant SOTA association or database (for example sotadata.org.uk or sota.org.uk) and are subject to that organisation's own privacy practices, not ours. Four Contacts does not track which pages you view.
You can export your activations as an ADIF or CSV file, or share a result card as an image. These files only leave your device when you actively choose to share or save them through the system share sheet — for example to upload your log to the SOTA database or to send it to yourself.
| Data type | Collected? | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Location | Read on-device only, not stored | Activation Zone check |
| Photos / Camera | Stored locally only | Attach a picture to a summit or activation |
| Logbook data you enter | Stored locally only | Your personal activation and chase records |
| Contact information | Not collected | — |
| Usage or diagnostic data | Not collected | — |
| Identifiers or advertising data | Not collected | — |
Four Contacts is a reference tool for licensed radio amateurs and is not directed at children. It does not knowingly collect information from anyone, of any age, because it does not collect information at all.
If this policy changes, the updated version will be posted on this page with a new "last updated" date above.
Questions about this policy can be sent through the contact form on the support page.