- Surfshark has launched HeyPolo, a privacy-first location sharing app
- The app abandons “always-on” continuous tracking in favor of timed, user-controlled visibility.
- A single subscription allows users to invite unlimited friends and family.
Location tracking apps are a double-edged sword for modern families, incredibly useful for physical security, but often a complete nightmare for digital privacy.
Now, the cybersecurity team behind Surfshark, one of the best VPN services on the market, is looking to fix that balance with the launch of a new app called HeyPolo.
Announced today, HeyPolo is billed as a privacy-first alternative to conventional location tracking software.
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Instead of relying on continuous, invasive monitoring that powers many existing tracking apps, HeyPolo relies entirely on user consent. Users can decide exactly who sees their location, how accurate that location is, and exactly when it stops sharing.
The launch marks another major expansion for the cybersecurity company, which already has a certified antivirus, a private search engine and the Incogni data removal tool.
Announcing the launch, Edvinas Sersniovas, CEO of HeyPolo, explained the personal motivation behind the project: “As a parent, I wanted to create an app that could help me ensure the safety of my family while respecting and protecting their data.”
How HeyPolo Addresses “Ghost” Tracking
HeyPolo’s main differentiator is its refusal to rely on default, always-on tracking.
In many conventional applications, users often forget that they are transmitting their coordinates, resulting in accidental 24-hour surveillance.
To combat this “ghost” tracking, HeyPolo allows users to set specific start and end times to broadcast their whereabouts. Once the timer expires, tracking stops immediately and completely.
The app also offers tiered visibility options. Users are not required to share their exact point on a map; They can choose to show a general area or switch to a private mode entirely. Transparency is built right into the interface, ensuring you always know exactly who is viewing your location in real time.
“People want security, but they don’t want to sacrifice their autonomy or feel controlled by those they trust,” Sersniovas said. “We’re changing the perception that location sharing should equal surveillance.”
A strict stance on data sales
Free location-sharing apps often monetize by selling incredibly sensitive motion data to advertisers and third-party data brokers. HeyPolo, leveraging the privacy pedigree of the Surfshark and Incogni teams, promises a totally different business model that prioritizes user security.
The company explicitly guarantees in its launch announcement that it will “never sell, monetize, or exploit user location data” and notes that all location data is encrypted while in transit.
This means that as your location data travels from your phone to the app’s servers, it is encrypted and unreadable to potential hackers or snoops.
Instead of secretly selling your data to keep the lights on, the service operates on a premium subscription model. Fortunately, a single subscription goes a long way: it allows the user to create unlimited groups and invite older friends, partners, and family members at no additional cost.
For those who want to give it a try, HeyPolo is currently available for download on both the Google Play Store and the iOS App Store.
