Disclaimers, copyright and privacy
Disclaimers
- TrekForge is a personal project, provided as it is, with no guarantee that it will work or stay available.
- It was built with the help of AI. Check each model in your slicer before you print it.
- The models are keepsakes. They simplify the terrain and must not be used for navigation or planning a route.
- Elevation data has errors and gaps, so heights on a model can differ from the real ground.
- Printing is at your own risk: a file that looks right here can still fail on a particular printer or material.
- The site may be changed, limited or withdrawn at any time without notice.
- Only upload files that you have the right to use.
Copyright and credits
The TrekForge site and the author example routes are © George Newman. The STL files you generate from your own GPX files are yours.
Terrain data
- OpenTopography provides access to the datasets below. This work is based on services provided by the OpenTopography Facility with support from the U.S. National Science Foundation.
- Copernicus GLO-30 and GLO-90. Produced using Copernicus WorldDEM-30 © DLR e.V. 2010–2014 and © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH 2014–2018, provided under COPERNICUS by the European Union and ESA; all rights reserved.
- SRTM GL1, SRTM GL3 and NASADEM. NASA Shuttle Radar Topography Mission; courtesy of NASA and the U.S. Geological Survey.
- ALOS World 3D 30 m. © Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).
- AWS Terrain Tiles (Mapzen / Tilezen) combine several sources, each credited as its provider asks:
- ArcticDEM: DEM(s) were created from DigitalGlobe, Inc., imagery and funded under National Science Foundation awards.
- Australia: © Commonwealth of Australia (Geoscience Australia) 2017.
- Austria: © offene Daten Österreichs – Digitales Geländemodell (DGM) Österreich.
- Canada: contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Canada.
- Europe: produced using Copernicus data and information funded by the European Union – EU-DEM layers.
- Global ocean: ETOPO1, U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
- New Zealand: Copyright 2011 Crown copyright (c) Land Information New Zealand and the New Zealand Government.
- Norway: © Kartverket.
- United Kingdom: © Environment Agency copyright and/or database right 2015. All rights reserved.
- United States and worldwide: 3DEP, SRTM and GMTED2010, courtesy of the U.S. Geological Survey.
Maps
- Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors, available under the Open Database Licence.
- Topographic map style © OpenTopoMap (CC-BY-SA).
Software
Privacy
TrekForge is run by George Newman, an individual in the United Kingdom, who is the data controller under UK data protection law. For any question or request about your data, email [email protected].
The site has no accounts and is built to keep as little as possible. Nothing that identifies you is kept once you have finished.
What is handled, and for how long
- Your GPX files are held in the server's memory while you work, and discarded 6 hours after you last used them. They are not kept, shared, or used for anything else. Only positions, heights and times are read: anything else in a file, such as heart rate, is ignored and discarded with it.
- Your models are held in memory for up to 2 hours so that you can download them, then discarded.
- Your internet address is used in two ways and never stored. To stop abuse, requests are counted per address for up to 10 minutes, in memory only. For the statistics below, it is turned into a scrambled code (see next point). The server keeps no log of visitors' addresses.
- Usage statistics. To see whether the site is worth running, the server keeps its own counts: visits and which site linked here, country, examples opened, how many files were uploaded and how large, models built, files downloaded, and clicks on the tip and social links. They never include your internet address, file names or routes. Visits on the same day are grouped by a scrambled code made from your address and browser type with a random key. The key is deleted at the end of the day, after which the counts cannot be linked to you or to your visits on any other day. The counts are kept for as long as the site runs.
- Terrain. To fetch elevation data, the server sends the bounding box around your route (not the route itself) to OpenTopography or, for the no-key option, to AWS Terrain Tiles. Downloaded terrain for an area is kept on the server so it need not be fetched again.
- API keys. A key you enter is used once for that download. It is not stored or logged.
Opting out of statistics
Switch on Do Not Track or Global Privacy Control in your browser and TrekForge records no statistics about your visit at all. Everything else works the same.
Cookies and storage on your device
- No advertising or tracking cookies, and no third-party analytics. TrekForge sets no cookies of its own.
- One security cookie. Cloudflare, which protects the site from automated attacks, sets a cookie named
cf_clearanceonce it has checked that your browser is genuine, and keeps a temporary entry in your browser's session storage that is removed when you close the tab. These are needed to keep the site secure, so the law does not require your consent, and they are not used to track you. - Tip prompt. If you dismiss the tip prompt, your browser remembers the date on your own device so it is not shown again that day. The date stays on your device; the server only counts that a prompt was shown or dismissed, as part of the usage statistics above.
Other services involved
- Cloudflare delivers the site. It carries everything sent between your browser and the server, including your internet address and the files you upload, and may process it outside the UK under its own privacy policy.
- OpenStreetMap supplies the background map, so its servers see your internet address and the area you look at. They do not receive your route.
- Ko-fi, Instagram and YouTube are only contacted if you click a link to them, and then under their own privacy policies. TrekForge never sees your payment details.
Why this is allowed, and your rights
- Legal basis. Your data is handled on the basis of legitimate interests: providing the service you asked for, keeping it secure, and understanding in general terms how it is used.
- Your rights. You can ask for a copy of your data, for it to be corrected or deleted, and you can object to or ask to restrict its use. Because nothing identifying is kept after your session, there will usually be nothing to find, but you are welcome to ask at the address above.
- Complaints. If you are unhappy with a reply, you can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office.
Last updated 10 October 2026.