Stays on your device
- Kids’ first names or nicknames
- Explorers, grades and home states
- Progress, stamps and stickers
- Settings and reminder times
Safety and privacy
Safety and privacy, in plain words
Map Otter is made for kids, so it collects nothing personal. Here is exactly what the app keeps, what it sends and what it never does.
In short
At a glance
Leaves your device
- Requests for country downloads, with nothing about your family
- Anonymous counts with no ID (you can switch them off)
- Purchases, through Apple or Google only
Never
- Ads of any kind
- Third-party analytics or tracking
- Accounts or emails for kids
- Chat or contact with strangers
- Selling or sharing data
How the grown-up check works
Before purchases, settings, links out of the app, sharing and rating prompts, the app shows three numbers written as words, like “four, seven, two”, and asks for them as digits. They are new each time. After three wrong tries it waits a minute. You can set your own 4-digit PIN instead in Grown-ups › Privacy & about.
Kids never see a price. When something is locked, Otto asks them to fetch a grown-up.
Rules we follow
Built for kids’ privacy rules
COPPA
The US children’s privacy law. We collect no personal information from kids.
Apple Kids Category
No third-party ads or analytics, and a grown-up check before purchases and links.
Google Play Families
Only Families-approved tools, and content suitable for kids.
The waitlist
For grown-ups only, with your clear yes and a confirmation email. Unsubscribe any time.
Maps for your country
Place names and borders follow your app store’s country. In the US store they match what Apple Maps and Google Maps show US users.
Privacy policy
Working text, last updated November 15, 2026 · Being reviewed by our attorney; the final wording may change
1. Who we are
Map Otter is made by [Company name]. You can reach us at hello@mapotter.com.
2. What we collect from kids
Nothing personal. The app has no accounts, asks for no email and never sends a kid’s name, explorer, grade or progress anywhere.
3. What stays on your device
Kids’ first names or nicknames, their explorers, grades and home states, their progress, stamps and stickers, and your settings.
4. Anonymous counts
Simple totals, like “a trial started,” with no ID and nothing about who is playing. Grown-ups can switch them off in Grown-ups › Privacy & about.
5. Country downloads
The app downloads country packs from our content server. Like any internet request, it carries the device’s IP address; nothing about your family is sent with it. Confirm at build: IP addresses are not stored or linked to anyone
6. Purchases
Subscriptions go through Apple or Google. We never see your name or card details.
7. Age signals from app stores
Where the law asks for it, the app reads the age range your app store shares, to keep the experience right for kids. It stays on the device.
8. Emails from grown-ups
If you email us for help, we use your address only to reply, and delete it when you ask.
9. The launch waitlist
The waitlist on mapotter.com is for grown-ups: parents, guardians and teachers. What we collect: your email address, the date you joined and whether you confirmed it. Nothing else, and nothing about your kids. Why: to email you when Map Otter launches, and possibly a few times before that about the launch. We never sell or share it, and never use it for ads. How: we send one email asking you to confirm; if you don’t, we delete the address after 7 days. The list is stored in our own Cloudflare database, which only we can read; Cloudflare also delivers the emails. How to be removed: every email has an unsubscribe link that deletes your address at once, or write to hello@mapotter.com. Once Map Otter has launched and the announcements are done, we delete the list. Please don’t sign up a child’s email address.
10. This website
mapotter.com has no cookies and no ad, analytics or tracking scripts, and its fonts and images come from mapotter.com itself. To stop spam on the waitlist, the site counts sign-up attempts per IP address for a minute; the IP address is not stored with your email. We have turned off request logging for the site. Our host, Cloudflare, may keep short security logs of its own.
11. Children’s privacy
The app follows COPPA and the rules of Apple’s Kids Category and Google Play’s Families program.
12. Changes and contact
If this policy changes, we’ll update this page and the date at the top. Questions are welcome by email.
Terms of use
Working text, last updated November 15, 2026 · Being reviewed by our attorney; the final wording may change
1. Using Map Otter
Map Otter is for personal and family use. A grown-up manages the subscription and the settings.
2. Subscriptions
The monthly and yearly plans renew through Apple or Google until you cancel in your store settings. Lifetime is a one-time purchase. The free trial is 3 days, on the yearly plan.
3. Our content
Maps come from Natural Earth and the US Census Bureau. Art, voice and text are ours; please don’t copy them, except for the free printables and the press kit.