Privacy policy
Data controller
GeoTells is a free application, with no advertising and no registration, developed by Damián Delgado, who is the controller of the personal data described in this policy. For any query or request regarding your personal data, please contact hello@geotells.com.
Data stored on your device
Your progress, streak, settings and reminder times are stored on your device, and are erased from it when the application is uninstalled or its data is cleared. Unless you turn it off, a copy of your progress is also kept on our server, as described under “Progress backup”.
Data is transmitted outside your device only in the cases described below.
Reminders
Android frequently delays alarms from applications that are used infrequently. For this reason, GeoTells delivers its reminders as push notifications. Only if you enable a reminder does the application:
- uses the anonymous identifier described under “Usage statistics” to connect to our server (Supabase), registering it if it does not yet exist;
- send it your device’s push address (a Firebase Cloud Messaging token) and the reminders scheduled for the following days, with their time and text.
At the scheduled time, the server sends each reminder through Firebase Cloud Messaging, a service provided by Google. This data is used exclusively to deliver the reminders you have requested. The legal basis for this processing is your consent, given when you enable reminders, which you may withdraw at any time by disabling them in Settings.
Each reminder is deleted once it has been sent, and all pending reminders are deleted when you disable them. The push address is deleted after 90 days without the application being opened, or as soon as it ceases to be valid (for example, when the application is uninstalled).
Supabase stores this data on servers located in London, United Kingdom, a country recognized by the European Union as providing an adequate level of protection. Google may process it in the United States under the EU-US Data Privacy Framework. On devices without Google Play services, reminders are handled entirely on the device and no data is transmitted.
Usage statistics
To know how many people use GeoTells, once a day the application informs our server (Supabase) that it has been opened and which version it is running. To do so, it registers as an anonymous user, identified by a random identifier, without any name, email address or phone number. Nothing else is sent for this count: neither your answers nor your location.
This information is used only to calculate aggregate figures, such as the number of daily, weekly and monthly active users. The legal basis is our legitimate interest in knowing how the application is used in order to maintain and improve it. You may object at any time by disabling “Count my days played” in Settings, which also deletes the days already recorded.
Each day recorded is deleted after 13 months. The data is stored on the Supabase servers in London described above.
Progress backup
So that your progress is not lost with your phone, the application sends a copy of it to our server (Supabase), under the anonymous identifier described under “Usage statistics”, together with the application version. The copy contains your game progress (experience points, level, streak, your results for each country and lesson, and your daily challenge and word of the day results) and nothing that identifies you. It is updated while you play and at least once a day when the application is opened.
In Settings you can obtain a transfer code to restore this copy on another device. Anyone who has the code can copy your progress, so keep it private.
GeoTells was previously called GeoSense. If you used GeoSense, its last version passes your transfer code to GeoTells, which then keeps your copy; from then on GeoSense no longer saves it. If GeoTells is not installed yet, GeoSense opens this website’s import page with the code after the “#” sign of the address, a part your browser never sends to the website.
The legal basis is our legitimate interest in providing the service you use without losing your progress. You may object at any time by disabling “Keep a copy online” in Settings, which deletes the copy immediately. A copy that has not been updated for two years is deleted. The data is stored on the Supabase servers in London described above.
Daily challenge comparison
When you finish the daily challenge, the application sends your result to our server (Supabase), under the anonymous identifier described under “Usage statistics”: the challenge number, which questions you answered correctly and your thinking time. Nothing else is sent, and nothing that identifies you. Only the first result sent for each challenge is kept.
These results are used only to show each player aggregate figures for that challenge: the percentage of players they did better than, their position, how many players obtained each score and the percentage who answered each question correctly. No other player’s individual result is ever shown. The legal basis is our legitimate interest in offering this comparison, which is part of the game.
Each result is deleted after 13 months. The data is stored on the Supabase servers in London described above.
Question reports
When you report a question you consider incorrect, the application sends: the question concerned (its wording, the options, the correct answer and the one you selected), the reason and any comment you provide, the application version, the Android version and device model, the language and certain settings (theme, map and level). This information does not identify you.
The report is stored on our server (Supabase, on the London servers described above), together with the anonymous identifier described in “Usage statistics”, so that once the problem is fixed the application can thank you and add the corresponding XP to your progress. Earlier versions of the application send it through a Google Apps Script service, which passes it on to the same server. Only the developer can read reports. Please do not include personal data in your comments.
Reports are used solely to correct the question concerned, on the basis of your consent, given by choosing to send them. They are retained until the issue is resolved, and for no longer than one year.
Third-party services
Some questions display Street View imagery, loaded in real time from Google through the Google Maps SDK. In addition, on startup the application obtains a push address for the device from Firebase (Google), even if reminders are never enabled; this address is not sent to our server unless you enable them. In both cases your device connects to Google, which, as with any website, receives your IP address and certain technical data about the device, in accordance with the Google Privacy Policy. GeoTells does not receive any of this data.
This website and the application download are hosted on GitHub, which receives data of the same kind when you visit the site or download the application, in accordance with the GitHub Privacy Statement. This website does not use cookies.
Use of data
GeoTells does not display advertising, use third-party analytics tools or build user profiles. Your data is not sold or disclosed to third parties other than the service providers named in this policy, and only for the purposes described herein.
Minors
GeoTells is suitable for all ages and does not request any name, email address or account. Users under the age of 14 should obtain the permission of a parent or legal guardian before enabling reminders or sending a report.
Your rights
You may exercise your rights of access, rectification, erasure, restriction of processing, objection and data portability by writing to hello@geotells.com. As this data is anonymous, the most direct way to erase it is to disable “Count my days played”, “Keep a copy online” and reminders in Settings (which deletes the days recorded, the copy of your progress and the reminders immediately) and then uninstall the application (the push address is deleted within 90 days).
If you consider that your data has not been processed lawfully, you may lodge a complaint with the Spanish Data Protection Agency (aepd.es) or with the supervisory authority of your country.
Changes to this policy
Any changes to this policy will be published on this page, with the updated date shown at the top.