You surely know these GPS tracking applications that promise you mounts and wonders to obviously better resell your location data to the most offering! Bouuuuh!
So if I presented an alternative to you 100% open-source that allows you to keep the total control On your position data, what would you say?
Imagine that I discovered thanks to Lorenper, a real little treasure :: Owntracks. This application available on iOS and Android will allow you to follow your trips and those of your loved ones, without compromise on confidentiality.
The great force of Owntracks is its decentralized architecture because unlike conventional solutions that send your data on obscure servers, You host yourself infrastructure. The position data thus remains under your absolute control.
Concretely, the application works with an MQTT server (a light protocol perfect for IoT) that you install wherever you want: on your Raspberry Pi, a VPS, or even your own server. The communication is encrypted from start to finish and you decide who can access the data.
Owntracks offers several follow -up modes:
- Silent mode : only manual updates
- Manual mode : manual updates + zone detection
- Standard mode : automatic tracking optimized for battery
- Precise mode : frequent updates for detailed monitoring
You can define circular zones (geofences) and be notified when you or your loved ones enter/go out. Perfect for when children arrive at school, automate your connected home or tracker your travel times
And if you want to share your position with your family, it is possible since Owntracks allows you to choose precisely who sees what, to define sharing periods and of course to revoke access to any time
The deployment is done in a few steps:
- Install an MQTT server (recommended mosquitto):
apt updateapt install -y mosquitto mosquitto-clients - Configure TLS for encryption:
mosquitto_passwd -c /etc/mosquitto/passwd youruser - Install the app on your smartphone and point it to your server
To facilitate deployment, the team even offers a “Quicksetup” script which automates all of this!
The open-source side of Owntracks opens the way with lots of possibilities:
- Homeland integration : trigger actions when you go home
- Travel diary : keep a trace of all your trips
- Personalized analyzes : Create your own mobility stats
- Complete API : Develop your extensions
Owntracks proves that you can do intelligent GPS tracking while respecting privacy. The application combines power and simplicity, all in an open-source package that gives you control over your data.
Now direction The official OWNTRACKS website To start the adventure!
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