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Privacy

Privacy policy

Capture The Map is operated by MapMap AI Ltd, a UK company, and built on MapMap. This page explains what we collect when you play, why, and what you can do about it. Last updated 7 August 2026.

What we collect

  • Account details. Your email address, display handle and a password hash, handled by our authentication system. We never store your actual password.
  • Activity data. The GPS trace from any walk, run or ride you choose to record in the app or upload as a file. The raw trace is processed and map-matched to the street network; what we keep is the matched street geometry, not an endless dump of raw GPS points.
  • Game state. Your territory and claim history, your loot inventory, and an audit record of every drop, so a claim or a prize drop can be checked.
  • Field finds. The approximate location of a “field find” reveal point, when one is triggered on your run.
  • A session cookie. Just the one, so you stay signed in. Nothing else.

Location, specifically

On the web map, we never track your location in the background. You upload a file or record a session you start yourself.

In the iOS and Android app, GPS is recorded only while you are actively recording an activity, and only after you press Start. If you grant background location, recording continues with the app closed or your phone locked, so a run still counts with the screen off. If you decline it, recording works in the foreground only. It stops the moment you stop recording, either way, and we never collect your location when you are not recording.

Activities are private by default. Anything visible to other players, such as territory held, a public profile or a shared route, is the result of you choosing to play and claim ground, not passive tracking.

Survey photos

Side Quests (surveys) ask you to check a real-world fact, such as the height limit on a low bridge. You may optionally attach a photo as evidence. It is genuinely optional: a survey filed without one is complete, and pays exactly the same.

If you do attach one, we strip the photo's embedded metadata, including any GPS coordinates the camera recorded, before storing it. Survey photos are private evidence: they are used to check the answer and to correct the map, and they are never shown to other players, never attached to your public profile, and never published. Deleting your account deletes them.

Camera access is requested only at the moment you choose to add a photo, never on opening the app, and declining it costs you nothing in the game.

Why we process this data

Two lawful bases cover everything above. Contract: we need your account and activity data to run the game itself, claiming territory, running leaderboards and awarding loot. Legitimate interests: we run plausibility checks on activity data to catch GPS spoofing and keep the game fair, and we keep basic technical logs to keep the service secure and working.

Survey answers, and any photo you choose to attach, are shared with MapMap, the mapping platform this game runs on, so that real map errors can be corrected. That sharing is the whole point of a survey and is explained before you file one. Nothing else you do in the game is shared with anyone.

Where it's stored

All game data is held on servers we operate ourselves, in Germany, within the EU. We do not hand this data to a third-party cloud database provider.

What we don't do

No advertising SDKs. No third-party analytics inside the app. We do not sell your data to anyone, ever.

How long we keep it

We keep your account and game data for as long as your account exists. Deleting your account removes your profile, activity history, territory and loot inventory.

Children

Capture The Map is not directed at, and is not intended for, anyone under 13.

Your rights

Under UK GDPR you can ask us to access the data we hold about you, correct anything inaccurate, delete your account and data, restrict or object to certain processing, or provide your data in a portable format. Email privacy@capturethemap.com for any of these. If you are not satisfied with our response, you can complain to the UK Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk.

Changes to this policy

If anything material changes, we'll update this page and the date at the top.

Questions about any of this? Email privacy@capturethemap.com, or see our terms of use.