CatchFi – Privacy Policy
1. Who operates the app
Operator: J7Software (www.j7software.eu)
Contact: j7software@post.cz
2. What the app does
CatchFi scans nearby Wi-Fi networks in the background and alerts you with a sound, vibration and a notification when an unsecured (open) network is in range. You start and stop scanning yourself, and a persistent notification is visible while it runs. In Settings (☰ MENU → About) you'll also find a link to our website and to this privacy policy – they open in your browser, and the app does not send anything anywhere by doing so.
3. What data the app processes
| Data | Purpose | Where it is | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nearby Wi-Fi networks: name (SSID), access point address (BSSID), security type and signal strength | Recognizing open networks and alerting you | In the phone's memory only, for the duration of a scan | On every scan (every 30 s while scanning is on) |
| Phone location | Android does not return Wi-Fi scan results without location permission. Optionally, also saving where a network was found. | The app does not track or store location itself, apart from the single exception below | See section 4 |
| Findings history: time, SSID, BSSID, verified-internet flag | Your personal record of open networks found | In the app's private storage on your phone only | Only if you turn on “Save found networks to log” (off by default) |
| Last known location of a finding | Remembering where a network was found | In the app's private storage on your phone only | Only if you also turn on “Save GPS location” (off by default) |
| App settings | Remembering your choices | On your phone only | When you change a setting |
| Live on-screen log | Showing you what the app is doing | In memory only, max. 300 lines | Disappears when the app is closed |
| File with the log or findings history (optional export) | Your own copy for your use | In the location you choose in Android's system file picker | Only when you tap Save / Export history and choose a location (see section 14) |
Names and addresses of nearby networks are information about other people's equipment. The app does not send them anywhere and does not link them to your identity. The app has no user accounts and does not know your name, e-mail address or phone number.
4. Location in detail
- The app asks for precise location because Android requires it to read Wi-Fi scan results. This is a system restriction, not a choice made by the app. Before the system dialog, the app shows its own screen explaining why location is needed.
- The app does not track your movements, does not build a route and does not transmit location.
- Location is stored only if you turn on both saving of findings and saving of location: the last known location the phone already has is then saved with the finding (the app does not request a new fix).
- The app does not use background location permission (
ACCESS_BACKGROUND_LOCATION). Scanning runs as a foreground service with a visible notification, started by you.
5. Advertising (Google AdMob)
The app shows ads through Google AdMob – banners on-screen and, occasionally, a full-screen ad after your own action (stopping a scan or closing Settings; never right after a real open-network finding), at most once every 4 minutes. To deliver ads and manage their frequency, AdMob processes the following data about your device:
- the device's advertising identifier (Advertising ID) and other app/device identifiers;
- technical device and network information (phone model, Android version, carrier, approximate IP address);
- ad interactions (impressions, clicks) and diagnostic/performance data from the ad SDK.
This data is processed by Google as an independent data controller, under Google's own privacy policy, not by CatchFi. It is not the same data as the findings history or location described in sections 3–4 above — AdMob does not receive those, because they are never passed to the ad SDK anywhere in the code.
| What Google provides | Link |
|---|---|
| How Google uses data from advertising products | policies.google.com/technologies/ads |
| Google Privacy Policy | policies.google.com/privacy |
| Turn off ad personalization (across your Google account) | adssettings.google.com |
You can remove ads permanently with a one-time in-app purchase (see section 13). If you have removed ads, the app does not show them.
Ads in the app are not targeted at children and the app is not directed at children (see section 12). If your device has no internet connection, the ad simply fails to load and the app otherwise works the same.
6. Consent for advertising (GDPR)
If you are in the European Economic Area, the UK, or another regulated region, the app shows a consent form (Google User Messaging Platform) on first launch, where you can choose to allow personalized ads, non-personalized ads only, or decline. Without an internet connection the form may not appear; in that case the last known choice applies, or ads may not load at all.
You can change your choice at any time in the app via Menu → Privacy & ads options (the button only appears where relevant based on your detected region).
7. Optional internet-access check
This feature is off by default. If you turn on “Verify internet access” (the app first explains what happens and asks you to confirm), the app asks Android to connect to a found open network to find out whether it provides working internet. Android usually asks you to confirm through a system dialog, and if several open networks are found they are checked one at a time. If the phone connects:
- Android itself performs a connectivity check and may contact servers intended for that purpose (on most phones, servers operated by Google). This is done by the operating system, not by CatchFi.
- While connected, the operator of that open network may be able to see your phone's traffic. Unsecured networks are prone to eavesdropping. If you do not want this, leave verification off; open-network alerts also work without connecting.
CatchFi does not send any data of its own during verification.
8. Notifications, sound and vibration
The notification and vibration permissions are used solely to show alerts on your own phone.
9. Retention and deletion (data deletion request)
CatchFi has no user account and no server – all data (findings history, any stored location, settings) lives only on your phone. You can delete it yourself, instantly, right in the app, with no request or waiting period needed:
- Open CatchFi → ☰ MENU → Settings and tap "✕ CLEAR SAVED LOG" – this deletes the entire findings history, including any stored location, immediately and permanently.
- You can turn off saving the history (including location) entirely at any time using the toggle in Settings, without uninstalling the app.
- Uninstalling the app deletes all of its data from your phone (Android does this automatically).
- Files you saved yourself using the export (section 14) are outside the app's private storage. Clearing the saved log or uninstalling the app does not delete them – delete them yourself, for example in your file manager.
- Without manual deletion, the app itself keeps at most the 500 most recent findings; older entries are automatically overwritten.
Since none of this data is ever sent anywhere (see section 4), no separate "request" to us is needed – deletion happens instantly on your own device.
10. Security
App data is kept in the app's private storage, which Android protects from other apps. On a rooted phone or with physical access to an unlocked device this protection may not apply, so please secure your phone with a screen lock.
11. Your rights
Because the data stays exclusively on your phone and the operator has no access to it, the operator cannot look up, correct or delete it remotely; you control all of it directly in the app (see section 9). For questions about data processing, contact us at j7software@post.cz. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority; in the Czech Republic this is the Office for Personal Data Protection (uoou.gov.cz).
12. Children
The app is not directed at children. Ad units are not configured in AdMob as child-directed content, and the app is not actively marketed to children.
13. Purchases and app updates (Google Play)
Removing ads (one-time purchase). The app offers a one-time, non-consumable in-app purchase that removes ads. The purchase is made and paid for entirely through Google Play (Google Play Billing). CatchFi never sees or stores your payment card details or Google account credentials. To unlock the purchase, the app asks Google Play on your device whether you own it, and Google Play answers. CatchFi has no server and no user account, so it does not keep any purchase record of its own. As the developer, the operator may see order information (such as order ID, product, date and country) in Google Play Console reports provided by Google, under Google's terms; this information is not linked to your findings history, Wi-Fi data or location. You can manage or request a refund for the purchase through Google Play.
Update check. The app can tell you when a newer version is available on Google Play, using Google's In-App Updates API. The check is performed by Google Play services on your device, and the download and installation are carried out by Google Play only after you tap the update button in the app. CatchFi itself downloads and installs nothing and sends no data of its own during this process. Google processes this communication under its own privacy policy (policies.google.com/privacy).
14. Saving your log or history to a file (optional)
You can save the on-screen log (the SAVE button next to the log on the main screen) or your findings history (☰ MENU → Settings → EXPORT HISTORY) to a file on your phone. Before saving, the app shows a notice describing what the file contains, and then Android's system file picker opens, where you choose the folder and file name.
- The log file (.txt) contains the lines of the live log, including names (SSID) and addresses (BSSID) of nearby networks. The history file (.csv) contains the whole saved history: time, network name, network address (BSSID), a verified-internet flag and, if you had turned on saving of GPS location, the coordinates.
- Saving happens only when you start it, one file at a time. The app does not save, upload or send the file anywhere by itself, and it does not request any storage permission for this – the file is written only to the location you choose in the system file picker.
- Once saved, the file is an ordinary file on your phone. If you later open it in another app, send it or upload it (for example by e-mail or to a cloud storage), that is your decision and is governed by the terms of that app or service, not by CatchFi. Please keep in mind that a file with coordinates can show where you have been.
15. Changes to this policy
If the way data is processed changes (for example, if the app started transmitting data), we will update this policy before releasing such a version and show the date of the latest change at the top.
16. Contact
J7Software · www.j7software.eu · j7software@post.cz