Location, privacy & sources

Your location stays with you. This map uses the GPS of your device for guidance — positioning runs entirely on your phone. We do not store movement histories and we do not build profiles. For statistics we only count that a tour was ridden and which stops were reached — without a location trail and without names. Only if you explicitly report a hazard or submit a place is the location of that one report stored. QR codes on stickers, flyers and posters. After you scan an Explorer Map code, the map asks whether it may start at your location. Only if you agree do we count once that a scan happened at this spot — rounded to about 100 metres, without device, address or time. Without your consent we only count that the code was scanned. Your exact location stays on your device either way. Advertising from here only. Promotional notes on this map come exclusively from businesses that have their own entry on the map — for instance as a recommendation along the way. There are no ad networks, no advertising trackers and no sharing of your data with third parties. Highlights can be turned off in the map. Technology. Map tiles and route calculation come from our own servers. The site uses one necessary session cookie (for example for language and unlocked tours) and keeps settings such as the travel mode in the storage of your device. We do not use third-party analytics. Photos. Whoever uploads a photo confirms the rights to it; as proof we store the IP address. A picture is only published after we have reviewed it. Responsible. Severin Bandak, operator of the Entdecker-Karte — details and contact in the legal notice: https://www.ids-stade.de/karte/impressum/

Contact form. If you write to us via the contact form, we store your message and what you tell us about yourself (name and e-mail address are voluntary) in order to deal with your request, plus the IP address to prevent abuse. Nothing is published or passed on. Legal basis: our legitimate interest in answering enquiries (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR).

Voice and video. We do not store voice recordings or video files. Announcements by tour guides are kept as text only; when a guide dictates, the browser's speech recognition turns speech into text (Chrome uses Google, Safari uses Apple for this). Videos are shown only as links to YouTube, Vimeo or a cloud service and open there.

Explore the surroundings. Around a place on the map (for example your hotel) we look up its surroundings with the place's own coordinates. Around your location or a spot on the map, only a spot rounded to about one kilometre is sent to our server so that it can send the places of the area; your device calculates the exact distances. The map does not store this spot; it only counts in which municipality the surroundings were explored (see “What people look for”).

What people look for. To see where something is missing – a toilet or a bike workshop, say – we count what is searched for and filtered on the map and where the surroundings are explored, and whether the map had anything to show. For this the map sends the search term or the chosen filter, the number of results and – if you have zoomed in far enough – the centre of the map view, rounded to about 100 metres. Our server only turns this into the municipality and increases one number per day, municipality and topic; we do not store the spot itself, your IP address or a device identifier. We only evaluate totals, such as “often searched for a toilet here, nothing found”, and may pass such figures on to municipalities and partners – freely typed search terms only once several people have searched for them. Legal basis: our legitimate interest in improving the map where something is missing (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR).

Discovery loop. When you ask the map to put together a loop ("Discovery loop from here"), the exact starting point – your location, if you start from there – is sent to our server: our own route planner needs it to lay the paths. We do not keep the loop: the calculated route stays in a temporary store for half an hour at most – not linked to you – so that preview and navigation do not have to calculate it several times. Beyond that we only count how many loops of which kind and length were put together and started per day. The starting point is part of the loop's web address – anyone you share the link with can see where the loop starts. Starting a loop in ride mode (or downloading its GPX file) requires an explorer account: for each start we record the account, the time, the loop's kind and length and its waypoints – the first loops are free per account, after that a loop pass applies; we need the record to count them. No location and no GPS track are stored.

Map chat. Before your first question we ask for your name and e-mail address and send you a confirmation link; after your first question you can keep chatting once you have confirmed it. Your question is sent without your name, e-mail address and location to an AI service (Anthropic, USA), which writes the answer. If you ask the companion in "Explore the surroundings", the AI service also receives the list of places, tours and events around the chosen starting point with distances rounded to 50 metres - never your coordinates; with the question we store the starting point (for example "Around Hotel XY · 1 km", for your location only "your location"). We store questions and answers together with your name and address for 12 months so that we can reply to you and check and improve the answers (including your optional rating); unconfirmed addresses are deleted after 30 days. After confirmation a cookie (ek_chat, 180 days) recognises your browser so you do not have to confirm again - "Not you?" in the chat deletes it. If the assistant cannot answer, our team receives the question with your name and address to reply; in our public questions & answers it appears without any personal data. Legal basis: your request (Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR) and our interest in correct answers (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR).

Explorer account. If you create an account, we store your name, your e-mail address and an encrypted password. You confirm the address via a link; only then is the account active. Your account shows the tours bought with this address, your annual pass and the routes you recorded (we check recorded routes before they are published). It is the same account as at Cycling-Stop (one address, one account). You can delete it yourself under "My account": name and e-mail address are removed, routes you submitted stay on the map without your name; purchases and invoices are kept as long as the law requires. If the account is also used for Cycling-Stop, a business entry or guided tours, just write to us. Legal basis: your request (Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR).

Experience points. With an Explorer account you collect experience points for contributions we have checked (photos, new places, tours, reports, good deeds) and for paid tours bought with the confirmed address of your account; you can redeem them for an annual pass. For this we note which contribution came from your account and keep a points ledger (date, reason, points) – no location. You see every entry in your account. Deleting the account deletes the ledger and the link to your contributions; the contributions stay without your name. Legal basis: your use of the account (Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR).

Device ID and reports. When you ride, recommend or report something, your browser creates a random device ID and keeps it on your device. We store it with rides (counted as "ridden", with distance and stops reached, no track), with arrivals at places, with reports (hazards, corrections) and recommendations – so that the same device is not counted twice. For reports, recommendations and good news we also store the IP address to stop misuse; it is not shown publicly. Legal basis: our legitimate interest in reliable figures and in protection against misuse (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR).

Map data and part of the entries come from the OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL). Opening hours and offers may be out of date — when in doubt, please ask the business.

Forest rescue points: © KWF-Rettungspunkte, Datenurheber, www.rettungspunkte-forst.de · CC BY-ND 4.0. The data is shown unchanged.

Weather and official weather warnings in ride mode: source Deutscher Wetterdienst · CC BY 4.0. Warnings are shown unchanged; the forecast is summarised (data basis: Deutscher Wetterdienst).

High and low tide: official water level forecast of the federal government according to § 1 SeeAufG, Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH) · CC BY 4.0, without liability. Shown only when the tour or your location is near tidal water (OpenStreetMap) – your device checks this, your location is not transmitted for it.

Public transport stops and the lines serving them (no timetables): Hamburger Verkehrsverbund GmbH, dl-de/by-2-0 (Hamburg Transparency Portal); timetables at the operator.

Orientation signs (STD): © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL) — recorded by volunteers, not official data.