Privacy notice
Last updated 25 October 2026
Star Hunter Crew is made for families, so keeping data safe matters to us. This notice explains, in plain language, what happens to the email address a grown-up gives us on this website. If anything here isn't clear, please get in touch.
Who we are
Star Hunter Crew ("we", "us") runs the website at starhuntercrew.com and is building the Star Hunter Crew app. We are the people responsible for the information collected here.
What we collect, and why
- A grown-up's email address — only when an adult types it into the "Join the Crew" form and submits it. We use it for one thing: to email you news about the app's launch.
- A little technical information — to stop spam and abuse, our server briefly keeps a scrambled (hashed) note of the network address a sign-up came from. It cannot be read back into your real address and it is deleted automatically after a short time.
That's it. We do not use advertising trackers, analytics, cookies, or social-media pixels anywhere on this site.
Children's privacy
The "Join the Crew" form asks for a parent or guardian's email only. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children through this website. If you believe a child has given us their information, email us and we will delete it promptly.
Double opt-in
After you sign up we send one email with a confirmation link. You only join the list if a grown-up taps that link. If nobody confirms within 14 days, we delete the pending sign-up automatically.
How your email is stored and handled
Your email is stored securely on Amazon Web Services in the London (eu-west-2) region. We use Amazon Simple Email Service to send the confirmation and launch emails on our behalf. We do not sell, rent, or share your email with anyone for marketing.
The app: progress backup (optional)
The Star Hunter Crew app works entirely on your device and has no accounts and no sign-in — a child never enters any personal details. Progress is saved on the device.
If a grown-up chooses to back up progress so it can be restored on a new device, they enter their email and we email them a memorable backup code and QR. We use that email only to send and later recover that code, and we do not store your email address — we keep only a scrambled, one-way value (a keyed hash) so we can match the same email again for recovery, plus the game progress itself (which stars were spotted, missions, badges, streak and the chosen narrator voice). No names (the explorer name stays on the device), no plaintext email. The backup is kept until you remove it. You can remove it at any time from the app (Crew → Backup → Remove backup), which deletes it from our servers straight away; the copy in our encrypted backups is deleted automatically within 14 days.
The app: tonight's weather (optional)
The app has a Tonight screen that checks whether it's a good night for stargazing (a simple red / amber / green based on cloud cover). To fetch the local weather it uses your device's approximate location, or a town name you type. We round the location to about 11 km, send it only to the weather provider (Open-Meteo) to get the forecast, and never send or store your location on our servers. The app keeps the verdict and the rounded location on your device only, for up to 30 minutes, so it doesn't have to ask again straight away.
The app: Sky AR (optional)
The app has an optional Sky AR mode (in the Sky tab) that draws the star patterns over the phone's camera picture. It only starts when you tap it and allow access. It uses the camera, the phone's motion and compass sensors and its location (to work out which stars are up). All of this stays on the device: the camera picture is shown on screen and is never recorded, saved or sent anywhere, and the sensor readings and location are not stored or sent to us or anyone else. The camera and sensors switch off as soon as you close Sky AR or leave the app. If you turn on its red Night light, that choice is remembered on the device only.
The app: what connects to the internet
Apart from the weather check, the app only talks to our own servers: to download the app itself and the narration audio (story recordings are saved on the device the first time they play, or all at once if a grown-up chooses Crew → Stories offline), and for the optional progress backup. None of this involves accounts, cookies or tracking. Once loaded, the app works offline.
Keeping and deleting your information
We keep your email until you unsubscribe or ask us to delete it, or until a reasonable time after launch. Every email we send includes a one-tap unsubscribe link, which removes you from the list straight away. You can also email us to be removed at any time.
To protect against accidental loss we keep short-lived, encrypted backups of the list and of app progress backups. When you unsubscribe or remove a backup, any copy in those backups is deleted automatically within 14 days; until then it is only used if we need to recover from a fault.
Your choices
- Unsubscribe using the link in any email we send you.
- Ask us for a copy of, or the deletion of, the information we hold about you.
Contact
Questions about privacy? Email us at hello@starhuntercrew.com.