To locate you in a venue, WaySplat combines several sources: GPS outdoors, your phone’s sensors and, in equipped venues, small Bluetooth beacons. This page explains simply how it works and what leaves your phone: nothing that identifies you.
1. In short
- Beacons broadcast an identifier, the way a lighthouse sends out its light. They receive nothing, never connect to your phone and cannot locate you.
- Your phone listens to nearby beacons and computes its position on the device.
- Your position is neither sent to WaySplat nor to the venue operator, nor stored.
- You can decline every permission: the page still guides you.
2. Bluetooth beacons
A beacon is a small battery-powered box fixed to a wall, a pillar or the ceiling. Several times per second, it broadcasts a very short message in the Eddystone-UID format:
| Message content | Example |
|---|---|
| An identifier shared by all WaySplat beacons | 57617953706c61740000 |
| The beacon’s number | 000000000001 |
| The reference transmit power | −24 dBm |
That’s all. A beacon has no camera, no microphone and no memory of who passed by. It doesn’t know whether any phone is listening, how many or which ones. It may also broadcast its battery level and temperature, for maintenance.
The venue records in WaySplat where each beacon is installed (“beacon no. 12, pillar near gate K30”). Your phone compares the strength of the signals it receives with this map to estimate where you are, within a few metres.
3. What your phone does
| Source | What it’s for | Where the calculation happens | Sent to WaySplat? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bluetooth (beacon signals) | Indoor position | On your phone | No |
| Browser GPS / location | Outdoor position, and as a complement | On your phone | No |
| Compass and motion sensors | Turning the view the right way | On your phone | No |
| Camera, microphone | Never used | — | — |
Your phone sends nothing to the beacons and shares no identifier with them.
4. Permissions requested
- Location: requested by the browser (“Allow this site to use your location?”). If you decline, the page offers guidance without GPS: the view starts from the venue’s starting point and plays the route.
- Motion and orientation (iPhone): requested so that the view turns with you.
- Bluetooth: on iPhone, browsers cannot listen to beacons. Beacon positioning will use a WaySplat App Clip, a small Apple module that opens from a QR code or an NFC tag, without installing anything from the App Store. The App Clip will ask for Bluetooth permission and, like the web page, keep the position calculation on your phone. This feature is in development; this page will be updated when it is released.
You can withdraw any permission at any time in your phone or browser settings.
5. What could be transmitted
The anonymous statistics described in the Privacy policy (page opened, destination chosen, arrival) contain no position, no coordinates and no beacon identifier. When features such as location-based offers or messages become available, triggering (“you are entering the aisle 14 zone”) will be decided on your phone; at most, an anonymous count such as “the offer was displayed” may be transmitted, without your position.
6. For venue operators: installing beacons
- Choice and compliance: beacons supplied or recommended by WaySplat are off-the-shelf radio equipment, CE-marked by their manufacturer (Directive 2014/53/EU). They transmit at very low power in the 2.4 GHz band, like a phone or a smartwatch.
- Installation: out of reach of children and the public where possible (height, cover), without obstructing safety signage or fire equipment, with the building owner’s consent. Write down each beacon’s number and exact location.
- Batteries: lithium coin cells. Keep them away from children; if swallowed, call emergency services immediately. Replace them according to the battery level reported by the beacon, and take used batteries and beacons to a WEEE collection point.
- Identifiers: each beacon has a unique number on your site. Never configure a WaySplat beacon to broadcast personal information or an unexpected web address.
- Informing the public: a short note near the QR codes (“This venue is equipped with Bluetooth beacons that help your phone locate itself; they collect no data”) with a link to this page is enough.
7. Questions
Write to [email protected].
