Privacy policy

For the COO iPhone app and this website, pigeonclub.app. Last updated: 17 October 2026. This is a translation; the German version is legally binding.

Controller

Lukas Zischke e. K.
Kiesekampweg 12
48157 Münster
Germany
coo@pigeonclub.app

The website

Hosting

This site runs on a server operated by Hetzner Online GmbH, Industriestr. 25, 91710 Gunzenhausen, Germany, in its Nuremberg data centre. To deliver the page to your browser, the server necessarily processes your IP address. No access logs are written. Hetzner acts on my behalf under a data processing agreement.

Legal basis: Art. 6 (1) (f) GDPR — my legitimate interest in delivering the site reliably and securely.

No cookies, anonymous visit counting

The site sets no cookies and stores nothing in your browser. There is no advertising. Fonts and images are served from the same server; nothing is loaded from Google or other providers.

To see how many people visit the site, I count page views with the open-source software Umami. It runs on the same server as this site; no data is passed to third parties. It records the page viewed, the referring page, browser, operating system, device type, language and country. Your IP address is processed only briefly to determine the country and avoid double counting, and is not stored. You are not recognised across other websites; the statistics contain aggregated figures only. Counting happens on the start pages only. Personal invitation pages are not counted.

The legal basis is Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR: my legitimate interest in assessing the site by means of anonymous usage figures.

Android waiting list

When you sign up for Android on the home page, I store your email address, the language of the page (German or English) and the time, in a separate list.

Purpose: If COO comes out for Android, I send you one email about it. Whether and when that happens is not yet decided. No newsletter, no further emails, no sharing.

Legal basis: your consent, Art. 6 (1) (a) GDPR. You can withdraw it at any time — a short email to coo@pigeonclub.app is enough. Abuse protection works as described below for the beta sign-up.

Retention: until that email is sent. If I decide against an Android version, I delete the list without further email, at the latest on 31 December 2027.

Launch reminder

When you sign up on the home page, I store your email address, the language of the page (German or English) and the time.

Purpose: On 3 November 2026, when COO comes out on the App Store in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, I send you an email. If you signed up on the English page, you get a second one when the English version comes out. After that I delete the list. No newsletter, no further emails, no sharing.

Legal basis: your consent, Art. 6 (1) (a) GDPR. You can withdraw it at any time — a short email to coo@pigeonclub.app is enough. Abuse protection works as described below for the beta sign-up.

Retention: until the email on 3 November 2026; for sign-ups on the English page, until the email about the English version. Then the list is deleted.

Beta sign-up (until 6 October 2026)

Since 6 October 2026 I no longer accept new beta sign-ups. For existing ones:

When you sign up, I store:

• your email address,
• the language of the page you signed up on (German or English),
• the time of sign-up.

Purpose: I invite you to the beta via Apple TestFlight, in order of sign-up. The language helps me write to you in the right one. I won’t send you a newsletter or use your address for anything else.

Legal basis: your consent, Art. 6 (1) (a) GDPR. You can withdraw it at any time — a short email to coo@pigeonclub.app is enough, and I’ll delete your address.

Sharing with Apple: To invite you, I enter your address in App Store Connect and Apple sends the invitation. The recipient is Apple Distribution International Ltd., Hollyhill Industrial Estate, Hollyhill, Cork, Ireland. Apple may also process data in the USA; Apple Inc. is certified under the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework. I don’t share your address with anyone else.

Abuse protection: To stop mass sign-ups, the server keeps your IP address in memory for up to ten minutes to count attempts. It is not stored permanently and not linked to your email address. Legal basis: Art. 6 (1) (f) GDPR.

Retention: Until the end of the beta test, after which I delete the list. If you withdraw earlier, I delete your address right away.

Tester questionnaire

At pigeonclub.app/fragen, testers can voluntarily answer a few questions about the app. I store the answers, the time and, if you provide it, your name. I receive a copy of the answers by email. To prevent abuse, the same applies as for the sign-up: your IP address is kept briefly in memory and not stored.

Purpose: to make COO better. Legal basis: your consent, Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR.

Your sentence about COO: If you tick the box at the last question, I may show that one sentence with your first name on this website or on Instagram. Without the tick, I publish nothing from it. You can withdraw this at any time by emailing coo@pigeonclub.app, and I will take the sentence down.

Retention: I delete the answers at the latest one year after the beta test. Approved sentences remain as long as they are published.

Email

If you write to me, I use your address and message only to reply, and delete them once they’re no longer needed for that. Legal basis: Art. 6 (1) (f) GDPR, and (b) where it concerns the beta or the app.

Links to other services

The links to Instagram and TikTok are plain links. Your browser only connects to the respective service when you click one; from then on, that service’s privacy policy applies (Meta or TikTok).

The COO app

What stays on your iPhone

COO stores your progress on the device: your loft, pigeons, finds, outfits, Cooins and settings. It sits in the app’s protected storage. I have no access to it.

Backup in your iCloud

If you are signed in to iCloud on your iPhone, COO keeps a copy of your progress in your iCloud account, so your loft comes back when you reinstall the app or set up a new iPhone. Only game data is backed up, no contact details.

The copy lives in your account with Apple, not with me; I cannot see it. You decide which apps may use iCloud in your iPhone’s iCloud settings. Apple’s privacy policy applies. Legal basis: Art. 6 (1) (b) GDPR — the feature you use in the app.

Notifications

COO asks whether it may send you notifications, for example when a pigeon is back or a special pigeon is on its way. It only asks the first time you send a pigeon out. Notifications are created on your iPhone itself, without a server. If you say no, the app still works; you can change this any time in your iPhone’s settings.

Friends and visits

If you use friend visits, COO stores the following in the app’s public database at Apple (iCloud, “CloudKit”):

• your club code and your club’s name,
• for each visit: which code it goes to, which club it comes from, the pigeon’s name, colour and outfit, the chosen greeting and the arrival and departure times,
• for each reply when sending a pigeon home: the chosen greeting and the time.

Greetings are fixed phrases from a list; there is no free text. Anyone who knows your code can send you pigeons and sees your club name. The names you give your friends stay on your iPhone. Apple links the entries to a random identifier that only applies to this app; your Apple ID, email address or name are not transmitted.

The database is run by Apple (Apple Distribution International Ltd., Hollyhill Industrial Estate, Hollyhill, Cork, Ireland) for the app. I can view the entries in Apple’s management tool and only do so to find bugs. I delete finished visits and replies regularly, at the latest when the beta ends. Visits don’t work without being signed in to iCloud; the rest of the app does. Legal basis is Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR: the feature you use in the app.

Real weather

If you pick a city in the settings, COO asks Apple Weather (WeatherKit) for that city’s current weather about every 30 minutes. Only the coordinates of the chosen city are sent, not your location; COO does not ask for location access. When you search for the city, your search term goes to Apple Maps. The chosen city stays on your iPhone. Without a chosen city, COO calculates the weather on the device and requests nothing.

Legal basis is Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR. Apple’s privacy policy also applies.

No servers of my own, no analytics, no ad networks

Apart from the iCloud backup, friend visits and the weather, which all run through Apple, COO makes no connections. There are no accounts with me, no ad networks and no analytics or tracking. The one-time purchase of COO+ is handled entirely by Apple; I receive no personal data, only Apple’s confirmation that COO+ is unlocked. COO does not ask for other permissions such as location, camera, microphone, contacts or photos.

Beta testing via TestFlight

If you test COO through Apple’s TestFlight, Apple provides me with: the email address you were invited with and, if available, your name, the dates of invitation and installation, device model and iOS version, crash reports, and any feedback and screenshots you choose to send from TestFlight. I use this solely to find bugs and improve COO.

Legal basis: Art. 6 (1) (b) GDPR — taking part in the beta — and your consent for voluntary feedback. The data is held in App Store Connect by Apple. When the beta ends, I remove the testers. Apple’s TestFlight privacy policy also applies.

App Store

Downloads through the App Store are handled by Apple on its own responsibility. Apple only gives me aggregated statistics that don’t identify any individual.

Your rights

You have the right of access (Art. 15 GDPR), rectification (Art. 16), erasure (Art. 17), restriction of processing (Art. 18), data portability (Art. 20) and to object (Art. 21). You can withdraw consent at any time with effect for the future (Art. 7 (3)). Just write to coo@pigeonclub.app.

You can also complain to a data protection authority, for example the one responsible for me: Landesbeauftragte für Datenschutz und Informationsfreiheit Nordrhein-Westfalen, Kavalleriestraße 2–4, 40213 Düsseldorf, Germany.

Changes

COO is still in beta. If anything changes about what data the app or the site processes, I will update this policy beforehand.