Privacy policy

This page says what data the knoelli app and the website knoelli.de process, why, on what legal basis and for how long. In short: you need an account but no name, there are no ads, and our database is hosted in the EU.

1. Controller

Yanay Baum
Halenseestraße 9
10711 Berlin
Email: kontakt@knoelli.de

2. The app

Viewing the map

The map loads before you sign in, and you can use it with an account. The app uses your location for the map around you and when you report, vote or save your car. Optional automatic parking also uses background location after you grant access, to detect parking and departure. This feature is disabled until device validation is complete. Manual parking does not need background location. The map itself comes from Apple Maps on iPhone and from Google Maps on Android. Your device loads the map images directly from Apple or Google, which receive your IP address and the map area.

Your account

You need an account to use knoelli. When you sign up, we store which version of the terms applies and when you agreed, so that we can prove it. You sign in with Apple, Google or a code by email. For Apple and Google, Supabase processes the account ID and, where provided, the email address in its private authentication records and sessions. We do not copy that address into your app profile or reports, show it publicly, or use it for marketing. If you sign in by email, we store your address to send you codes; others never see it. In your account you can choose a pseudonym. We don’t ask for your real name, and there are no photos. Others only see your pseudonym or “Member”. The legal basis is the contract for using the app, that is our terms (Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR).

Reports, votes and thanks

When you report, we store the type, location, accuracy, time, direction and you as the reporter. Others see the sighting on the map until it expires after 45 minutes without a new report or confirmation, or is marked “Gone”. For votes (“Still there” and “Gone”) we also store the time and location, because you can only vote nearby. After 30 days, we unlink reports, votes and thanks from you. After that they stay stored without a link to your account and feed the planned heatmap. The legal basis is Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR while they are linked to you, and after that our legitimate interest in showing when and how often checks happen where (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR).

When you select “Moved my car” or “Bought a ticket” to say that an alert helped, we store your choice, the time and the link between your user ID and the report. The reporter receives a grouped notification without your name. We delete this data after 30 days or with your account. We keep the time of the last sharing invitation until account deletion so that it appears at most once every seven days.

Muting and bans

If 3 of your last 5 sightings within 30 days were marked “Gone” within 10 minutes with no confirmation, knoelli mutes you automatically: first for 24 hours, then for 7 days, and longer for repeated abuse. Your reports and votes then don’t count, and the map still works for you. This decision has no legal or similarly significant effect (Art. 22 GDPR). Only the operator bans, by hand. So that a mute or ban can’t be dodged with a new account, we store a one-way hash of your account ID or email address, and for a ban also your device ID. The legal basis is Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR.

Parked car, places and alerts

For alerts, we store your saved car position and a push token for your device. Alerts apply within 200 m of that saved car until you end or replace parking, or eight hours pass. Manual parking requires location and notification access.

If you enable automatic parking in a version released for it, the app explains the benefit and requests background location and motion access. Motion and intermediate positions are processed on your phone. We receive the saved parking position and parking-session changes, not a route or a stream of locations. Coordinates do not enter usage statistics or crash reports. You can revoke optional access in OS settings and continue to park manually. Background execution is limited by the operating system. The legal basis is Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR for the alert feature you choose to use.

Existing saved places, including name, position and radius, remain stored. The app currently offers no setup or suggestions for them. Account deletion still removes them.

Crash reports and performance data (Sentry)

If the app crashes or hits an error, it sends a report to Sentry, EU region. It contains the error, the app version, the operating system and the device model. From some sessions, the app also sends performance data (load times, frame rate) to Sentry. Reports and performance data contain no user or install ID, no locations and no pseudonyms, and IP addresses are not stored. The legal basis is our legitimate interest in an app that works (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR). Section 6 explains why this runs without consent.

Usage statistics (PostHog)

Only if you agree does the app send usage data to PostHog, on servers in the EU. We then see which features people use and can improve the app. Session replay is off, and IP addresses are not stored. The data carries a random ID that is not linked to your account. If you turn statistics off, the app deletes that ID. The legal basis is your consent (Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR, § 25 (1) TDDDG). You can withdraw it at any time in Settings.

Server logs

Our server processes your IP address with every request and uses it to limit how often a device or network can report. The logs of our database provider Supabase also hold the requests themselves, including the exact place of a report. All of these logs are deleted after 1 day. The legal basis is Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR.

3. The website

The website runs on Cloudflare. When you open it, Cloudflare processes your IP address, the page, the time and your browser in server logs, to deliver the page and protect it from attacks. The website sets no cookies, uses no tracking and loads nothing from other servers except the security check on the contact page; the fonts are hosted by us. The legal basis is our legitimate interest in a secure website (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR). The Ko-fi link on the “Support” page is a plain link; only once you open it does Ko-fi’s privacy policy apply.

Contact form and email

If you write to us through the contact form or by email, we process your name (optional), your email address and your message. The form runs on Cloudflare and sends your message by email to the operator. To keep it free of spam, only the contact page loads Cloudflare Turnstile from challenges.cloudflare.com; before you send, Turnstile uses your IP address and characteristics of your browser and device to check that a person is writing. The legal basis for this is our legitimate interest in keeping the form free of spam (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR). We keep it until your request is done. The legal basis is our legitimate interest in answering requests (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR), or Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR for questions about your account.

4. Recipients

These service providers process data for us, each under a data processing agreement (Art. 28 GDPR) where one is needed:

• Supabase (Supabase, Inc., USA): database, sign-in and servers, with servers in the EU, in Paris.
• Cloudflare (Cloudflare, Inc., USA): the website and the contact form.
• Resend (USA): sending sign-in codes from Ireland. Resend keeps account data, email metadata, logs, and API records in the USA regardless of the sending region (provider information).
• Sentry (Functional Software, Inc., USA): crash reports and performance data, EU region.
• PostHog (PostHog, Inc., USA): usage statistics, EU servers, only with consent.
• Expo (650 Industries, Inc., USA): push service that passes alerts on to Apple and Google.
• Apple (Apple Push Notification service, Apple Maps, Sign in with Apple) and Google (Firebase Cloud Messaging, Google Maps, Sign in with Google): delivering alerts, the map and sign-in.

Data can reach the USA mainly through Expo, Apple and Google, and through the others because these providers are based in the USA. We rely on the adequacy decision for the EU-US Data Privacy Framework where the provider is certified under it, and otherwise on the European Commission’s standard contractual clauses (Art. 45 and 46(2)(c) GDPR).

What you report is public. Anyone who opens the app or a shared link sees the type, location, time and direction. In the app, your pseudonym or “Member” is shown with it.

5. How long we keep data

Our database backups are overwritten after 7 days. Until then, deleted or unlinked data can still be in a backup. If we restore a backup, we delete or unlink that data again.

6. Access to your device (§ 25 TDDDG)

The app only stores information on your device or reads it when this is needed for a feature you use (§ 25 (2) no. 2 TDDDG). Sign-in runs only when you choose a way to sign in, and the push token after your first successful report or with your first car or place. PostHog starts only with your consent (§ 25 (1) TDDDG).

Crash reports always run, without consent. We consider them strictly necessary within the meaning of § 25 (2) no. 2 TDDDG. You use knoelli to be warned in time. An app that crashes doesn’t warn you, and without a report we don’t see the error and can’t fix it. So a report contains only what is needed for the fix: no user or install ID, no locations, no pseudonyms, and IP addresses are not stored.

The same applies to the performance data (load times, frame rate) from some sessions. An app that stalls warns you too late, and without this data we don’t see where it stalls. It contains the same details as a crash report and also runs without consent.

7. Your rights

You have the right of access (Art. 15 GDPR), rectification (Art. 16), erasure (Art. 17), restriction of processing (Art. 18) and data portability (Art. 20). You can withdraw consent at any time, with effect for the future (Art. 7(3) GDPR). Write to kontakt@knoelli.de. You delete your account in the app under Settings → Delete account, or through the page Delete your account.

Right to object under Art. 21 GDPR

Where we process data on the basis of our legitimate interest (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR), you can object at any time, on grounds relating to your particular situation. This covers abuse protection (device ID, rate limits, muting and bans), the planned heatmap, crash reports and performance data, server logs, the website and requests. We then stop processing this data, unless we can show compelling legitimate grounds that override your interests, rights and freedoms, or the processing is for establishing, exercising or defending legal claims.

Your objection needs no particular form. Write to kontakt@knoelli.de.

You can complain to a data protection supervisory authority (Art. 77 GDPR), for example the one responsible for us: Berliner Beauftragte für Datenschutz und Informationsfreiheit, Alt-Moabit 59–61, 10555 Berlin, Germany.

8. Do you have to give us data?

You can’t use knoelli without an account. All other data is optional. Without your location, you can view the map but not report. Without location and notification access, you cannot save new parking. Without notifications, you get no alerts. Background location and motion access are optional. Without consent, there are no usage statistics. knoelli is for people aged 16 and over.

9. For enforcement staff on the map (Art. 14 GDPR)

If your job is checking parking, a sighting on the map can concern you. Members report the type, location, time and direction of a check. Nobody can report names, photos, descriptions of people or number plates. With duty rosters, though, it would be possible to find out who was where and when. So we treat sightings as your personal data too.

We process them so that members get back to their car in time (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR). We weighed your interests, above all your safety: a sighting disappears from the live map after 45 minutes without a new report or confirmation, it shows no person, and insults and mockery are banned by the terms. The data comes from members’ reports. Retention and recipients are listed above. We can’t inform you individually, because we don’t know who you are (Art. 14(5)(b) GDPR). Your rights, including the right to object, apply to you just the same.

10. Changes

We update this policy when the app, the website or the law changes. The version on this page applies.