Privacy

Satellite Hunters is run by Morten Hansen in Stavanger, Norway, who is responsible for the personal data described here. Questions go to privacy@satellitehunters.com.

Without an account

You can use the site without telling us anything. Your codename, sightings and settings stay in your own browser and are never sent to us.

To show passes for where you are, your browser asks our server for the cloud forecast at your position, rounded to about one kilometre. Our server fetches that forecast from MET Norway itself, so MET Norway never sees your address. If you choose "Use my exact location", the position is used in your browser and the same rounded position is sent for the forecast. We don't log or keep positions.

When you join

We store:

• your email address, to send you sign-in links and to identify your account,
• your codename, and your founding number if you were among the first 100 members,
• your logbook: which satellites you've logged, when the pass began, and whether we could confirm it, but never where you were,
• when you joined and last signed in.

We use these only to run your membership. The legal basis is our agreement with you when you join (GDPR article 6(1)(b)). We don't send newsletters, sell data, show ads or use analytics trackers.

The roll

The roll ranks members by the different satellites they've caught. Signed-in members can see each other's codenames, ranks, catch counts and founding numbers there. Visitors who aren't signed in see the same list with every codename blacked out. Email addresses are never shown to anyone.

To keep the roll fair, when you log a sighting your browser sends your position, rounded to about one kilometre, so we can check that the satellite really was in your sky at that time. The position is used for that check only and is not stored.

If you'd rather not appear, turn off "Show my codename on the roll" under Your membership on the front page. You still count in the total number of members.

Sign-in and security

• Sign-in links expire after 15 minutes and work once. We keep a record of each link for 24 hours to stop abuse, with a scrambled form of your internet address that can't be turned back into the address. After 24 hours both are deleted.
• When you sign in, your browser gets one cookie, which keeps you signed in for up to 90 days or until you sign out. It's needed for the site to work, so we don't ask for consent to it. There are no other cookies.
• The join form may use Cloudflare Turnstile to check that a person, not a bot, is asking for a sign-in link. It doesn't set tracking cookies.

Who handles the data

The site, database and sign-in emails run on Cloudflare, which processes the data on our behalf. The database is kept in Western Europe. Cloudflare may process data outside the EEA under the EU's standard contractual clauses.

Your rights

• See and take your data: choose "Download my data" under Your membership on the front page.
• Delete it: choose "Delete my account". Everything is erased straight away.
• Correct it: remove a wrong sighting from your logbook, or write to us.

If you think we handle your data wrongly, you can complain to Datatilsynet, the Norwegian Data Protection Authority, at datatilsynet.no.

Last updated 25 October 2026.