LurkGo – Privacy Policy
Effective date: 21 October 2026
LurkGo is a location-based augmented-reality game for Android. You walk around outside and see creatures placed at real places near you through your phone's camera. This policy explains what data the app uses, where it goes and what choices you have.
In short: LurkGo has no user accounts, no advertising, no analytics and no server of its own. The developer does not receive, collect or store any of your personal data. Your camera image, location and sensor readings are processed on your phone. To show the map and to place creatures safely, the app downloads public map data from OpenStreetMap services, which see the approximate area you are in.
1. Who is responsible
LurkGo is developed and published by Mikhail Gubko, an individual developer based in Germany. Contact: yougosupport@gmail.com.
2. Data the app uses
Camera
The camera shows the live view behind the creatures. Camera frames are processed only on your device, for example to keep the creatures steady while you move. They are never stored or sent anywhere, except screenshots you take yourself (see below).
Precise and approximate location
Your location places the creatures around you, shows you on the map and tells walking apart from riding (creatures hide while you are in a vehicle). Your location is processed on your device and is not stored by the app beyond the current session. It is never sent to the developer. It does, however, determine which map data the app requests from third parties (see section 3).
Motion sensors and physical activity
The accelerometer, gyroscope, compass and step detector (Android "physical activity" permission) are used on your device to know where the phone is pointing and to count your steps while you walk. These readings are not stored or sent anywhere. The app contains an optional sensor recording tool for testing; it only runs when you start it and saves its file in the app's own folder on your phone.
Screenshots
When you tap the camera button, the app saves a screenshot to your phone's photo gallery. Whether you share it, and with whom, is entirely up to you and happens through Android, not through LurkGo.
Your own 3D models (optional)
You can add your own 3D models from a file on your phone, from a direct link, or from Sketchfab. For Sketchfab you enter your personal Sketchfab API token. The token is stored only on your phone and is sent only to Sketchfab, to download the model you chose. Downloaded models are stored only on your phone.
Data stored on your phone
The app keeps the following on your device: your chosen world, sensor calibration values, your star score, your own models and your Sketchfab token (if you entered one), and a cache of map data for up to 7 days. Uninstalling the app or clearing its data in Android settings deletes all of it.
Backup of your star score
Your star score may be included in Android's automatic backup to your Google account, so it survives a reinstall or a new phone. This backup is run by Google under your device's backup settings and Google's privacy policy; the developer has no access to it. No other app data is backed up.
3. Third parties the app talks to
Like any internet request, each request below reveals your device's IP address to the server that answers it. LurkGo does not send your name, account, device ID or any other identifier.
| Service | What it receives | Why | Its privacy policy |
|---|---|---|---|
| OpenStreetMap tile servers (tile.openstreetmap.org) | Requests for map images of the area you are viewing | Showing the map | OSMF Privacy Policy |
| Overpass API servers (overpass-api.de, overpass.kumi.systems, overpass.private.coffee) | A query for public map data (paths, roads, parks) in a box of a few hundred metres around you | Placing creatures only on safe, public places such as sidewalks and parks | overpass-api.de, overpass.kumi.systems, overpass.private.coffee |
| Sketchfab (only if you use it) | Your Sketchfab API token and the model you chose | Downloading your own model | Sketchfab Privacy Policy |
| Any website you link a model from (only if you use it) | The download request for that file | Downloading your own model | That website's own policy |
| Google (Android Auto Backup, only if enabled on your phone) | Your star score | Restoring your score on a new install | Google Privacy Policy |
The developer does not sell, rent or share your data with anyone, and does not use it for advertising or profiling.
4. Android permissions
- Camera – the live augmented-reality view.
- Precise and approximate location – placing creatures around you and the map. Only while the app is open; no background location.
- Physical activity – the step detector.
- Internet – map data and optional model downloads.
- Storage (Android 9 and older only) – saving screenshots to the gallery.
You can withdraw any permission at any time in Android settings. Without the camera or location the game cannot work.
5. Legal basis and your rights (GDPR)
Because the developer does not receive your personal data, there is nothing on the developer's side to access, correct or delete. Processing on your device and the requests to the map services happen because you use the game (Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR) and in the legitimate interest of placing creatures safely (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR). You have the right to access, rectification, erasure, restriction, data portability and objection, and you can contact the developer with any question at the address above. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with a data protection authority, for example the Bavarian Data Protection Authority (BayLDA).
6. Safety
Creatures only appear while you walk. Please always watch your surroundings and traffic while playing, and do not enter private property or unsafe places.
7. Children
LurkGo is not directed at children under 13 and does not knowingly process children's personal data.
8. Changes to this policy
If the app starts using data differently, this page will be updated and the effective date above changed before the new version is released.