Privacy Policy

This English translation is provided for convenience only. The German version is the legally binding one: Datenschutzerklärung.

Last updated: 1 October 2026

In brief:

CacheHunter is a geocaching app with no user account of its own and no servers of its own. Your logbook, statistics, caches you have hidden, treasure hunts, recorded routes, notes, photos and voice recordings are stored locally on your device. The provider has no access to this content.

For the map, cache search, place search and routing to work, however, the app retrieves data from external services. For technical reasons this necessarily transmits your IP address and the map area shown or a search area. When the app looks for caches near you, your location lies at the centre of that search area. Your exact coordinates are sent to the routing service when you ask for a route. Search terms entered in the place search are sent to the Nominatim search service. When you scan QR codes, the Google ML Kit component built into the app sends technical usage data to Google.

If you choose to sign in with your Opencaching.de account, your find logs, comments, photos, notes and favourites are sent to Opencaching.de. Logs and photos are publicly visible there.

The sections below give the details.

1. Scope of this privacy policy

This privacy policy explains the nature, scope and purpose of the processing of personal data when you use the “CacheHunter” app (Android) and the website https://cachehunter.eu.

The app is designed around the principle of data minimisation (Art. 5(1)(c) GDPR): only data that is technically necessary for the function you are using is sent to third parties.

2. Controller

Jörg Schambeck

Gailenreuther Str. 3d

81243 Munich

Germany

Email: info@cachehunter.eu

Website: https://cachehunter.eu

VAT ID: DE285502830

3. Data stored locally

The following data is stored on your device and is not sent to the provider:

This data stays on the device until you delete it in the app or uninstall the app. For backups, see section 7.

4. Location data

Principle: Your device’s location is used primarily locally on the device: for your position on the map, distance and direction to caches (compass), unlocking treasure-hunt stages within their radius, alerts for caches nearby, route recordings and the coordinates of finds in the logbook.

Searching for caches near you: At start-up, and whenever the app loads caches around you, it asks Opencaching.de for caches in a search area around your location (section 5.2). As your location lies at the centre of this area, it can be derived from it. If you move the map, the area shown is sent instead; the same applies when map tiles are loaded (section 5.1).

Route calculation: When you ask for a route to a cache, your current location and the destination are sent to the routing service (section 5.4).

Background: Without a route recording in progress, the app only uses your location while it is open. During a route recording that you have started, your location continues to be recorded even when the app is in the background or the screen is locked. This is shown by a persistent notification and ends as soon as you stop the recording. When the app is closed completely, no location is recorded. Recorded routes also stay on the device.

System location service: To determine your location, the app uses the location service of Google Play services. Whether data is sent to Google in the process (for example with Google Location Accuracy switched on) depends on your device settings and is outside the app’s control.

5. External services

5.1 Maps: OpenFreeMap and Mapterhorn

Map tiles are loaded from OpenFreeMap (vector maps based on OpenStreetMap) and terrain shading from Mapterhorn. The following is sent to the servers of these services:

OpenFreeMap is operated by Hyperknot Software Kft., Hungary. According to OpenFreeMap, it does not store IP addresses by default; only in the event of security incidents can IP logging be switched on temporarily for no more than 30 days. OpenFreeMap may use Cloudflare as a content delivery network. Privacy notice: https://openfreemap.org/privacy/

Mapterhorn is a non-commercial open-data project currently maintained by Oliver Wipfli; the project does not publish a postal address. The tiles are delivered via the infrastructure of Cloudflare, Inc. (USA). According to Mapterhorn, it stores for each request, among other things, the IP address, referrer, path requested, browser, operating system, device type and user agent for up to 30 days, and publishes at most aggregated usage statistics. Privacy notice: https://mapterhorn.com/privacy-policy/

5.2 Cache data: Opencaching.de (without signing in)

Cache information is retrieved through the OKAPI interface of Opencaching.de, operated by Opencaching Deutschland e.V., c/o Mirco Baumann, Alnwicker Ring 2, 46562 Voerde, Germany (register of associations, Local Court of Bad Homburg v. d. H., VR 2054). The following is sent:

5.3 Opencaching.de account (optional sign-in)

You can optionally sign in with your existing Opencaching.de account (OAuth). You only enter your password on the Opencaching.de website; the app never receives it. The app only stores the access tokens locally. They are deleted when you sign out. You can also revoke access at any time in your Opencaching.de profile.

When you are signed in, the app sends the following at your request:

Find logs and photos are published on Opencaching.de publicly under the CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 licence. You expressly agree to this before your first photo upload. This consent is stored and applies to further uploads. Opencaching Deutschland e.V. is independently responsible for the processing on Opencaching.de; its privacy policy applies: https://www.opencaching.de/page/datenschutzerklaerung

The app can be used in full without signing in; finds are then only stored locally.

5.4 Routing

When you ask for a walking route to a cache, the start and destination coordinates (that is, your current location and the cache position) and your IP address are sent to the OSRM demo server operated by FOSSGIS e.V. (Germany). The request is stored there in the server log files. Without a route calculation, no such transfer takes place.

5.5 Place search: Nominatim

When you search the map for a place or an address, your search term is sent together with your IP address to the Nominatim service of the OpenStreetMap Foundation (United Kingdom). Without a search, no such transfer takes place. Privacy notice: https://osmfoundation.org/wiki/Privacy_Policy

6. Photos, voice recordings and text-to-speech

Photos: Photos you take or choose in the app – for example for logs, your own caches, treasure-hunt stages, proof photos or routes – are stored locally. When saving them in the app, CacheHunter removes location data and other metadata (EXIF) from the image. Photos taken with the camera are additionally saved unchanged, that is with the camera’s metadata, in your device’s gallery (album “CacheHunter”, Android 10 and later).

Photos on routes: Photos you take during a route recording are tagged with the place where they were taken, as long as the setting “Add location to photos” is switched on (the default). The location is stored in the app separately from the image, shown on the route map and included as a waypoint when you export the route as GPX.

Photos only leave the device if you attach them to an Opencaching log (section 5.3) or share, export or back them up yourself (section 7).

Voice recordings: You can record voice messages for stage, route and reward announcements in treasure hunts. The microphone is only active while you are making a recording. Recording and sound effects (for example pitch, reverb) are processed and stored locally on the device. Nothing is sent to the provider or to third parties.

Text-to-speech: For synthetic announcements the app uses your operating system’s text-to-speech function. Which speech engine and voice are used, and whether they process the text online, depends on your device settings and the voice chosen and is outside the app’s control.

7. Sharing, export and backup

Only you trigger the following actions; the app does not send anything to servers of its own. You decide where the data goes by choosing the target app or storage location:

Please bear in mind that a shared track, route or finish card reveals where you have been, and respect the rights of anyone shown or recorded.

Android device backup: If backup to your Google account is switched on in your device settings, Android backs up the app’s database (finds, notes, caches, treasure hunts, routes, settings) to your Google account – but not photos, voice recordings or the Opencaching sign-in. When setting up a new device by cable or Wi-Fi, the database and media can be transferred directly from device to device. You control both in the system settings; the provider has no access to them.

8. App permissions

You can withdraw any permission at any time in the system settings. The function concerned is then no longer available.

9. Google Play

The app is installed and updated through Google Play. If you have switched this on in your device settings, crash reports may be sent to Google by the system. These processes run at operating-system level and are outside the app’s control. The app contains no purchases.

10. Website

The website is hosted by ALL-INKL.COM - Neue Medien Münnich, Hauptstraße 68, 02742 Friedersdorf, Germany. A data processing agreement under Art. 28 GDPR is in place with the host. For contract management, support and running the data centre, ALL-INKL uses its own sub-processors in Germany (Neue Medien Münnich GmbH and YASDA Online GmbH). The data centre is located in Germany.

When you visit the website, technically necessary server log files are processed:

Independently of this, the host may store full IP addresses for up to seven days for security reasons.

The website sets no cookies and stores nothing in your browser (no LocalStorage). The English versions of the legal texts are separate pages reached through simple links. Fonts are loaded locally from our own server; no content from Google or other third parties is embedded.

11. Contacting us

If you contact us by email, we process your email address, the content of your message and any information you choose to provide solely to deal with your enquiry. The data is deleted once the enquiry has been dealt with, unless statutory retention obligations apply.

12. Transfers to third countries

Hosting the website involves no transfer to third countries; the data centre is located in Germany. Some services used by the app rely on servers or service providers outside the EU/EEA:

13. No tracking, no advertising

CacheHunter contains no advertising, uses no advertising ID and includes no analytics or tracking tools of the provider. No user profiles are created.

QR scanner (Google ML Kit): To scan QR codes, the app uses Google’s ML Kit library. A distinction must be made:

The app asks for your consent before the QR scanner is used for the first time. Without consent the scanner is not available. You can still join a treasure hunt by importing it from a file; however, QR-code treasure-hunt stages cannot be unlocked without consent. You can withdraw your consent at any time in the app settings.

14. Children

The app is not specifically aimed at children. Where minors use it, for example during a treasure hunt, parents or supervisors should accompany its use. For an Opencaching.de account, the age requirements there apply.

15. Retention

Local data stays on your device until you delete it or uninstall the app. Data you have published on Opencaching.de remains stored there under its rules and must be deleted there.

Server log files of the website are deleted by the host ALL-INKL.COM after seven days at the latest. Longer storage only happens in individual cases, for example when an attack on the systems has to be investigated.

16. Your rights

You have the rights under Art. 15 et seq. GDPR, in particular the rights of access, rectification, erasure, restriction of processing and data portability. As the provider does not hold the app data stored locally, you can exercise these rights for that data directly in the app. For data held by Opencaching.de, Google, the map services, FOSSGIS and Nominatim, please contact the respective provider.

You can withdraw any consent you have given at any time with effect for the future.

17. Right to object under Art. 21 GDPR

You have the right to object at any time, on grounds relating to your particular situation, to processing based on Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR. This applies in particular to website hosting (section 10), the map display (section 5.1) and contacting us (section 11). You can send your objection informally to info@cachehunter.eu.

18. Supervisory authority

Bayerisches Landesamt für Datenschutzaufsicht (BayLDA, Bavarian Data Protection Authority)

Promenade 18

91522 Ansbach

Germany

19. Changes

This privacy policy is updated when there are technical or legal changes, for example when new features such as offline maps are added. The current version is available at https://cachehunter.eu/privacy.html (English translation) and https://cachehunter.eu/datenschutz.html (German, binding).