TREEMULATOR Back to the appBack

Privacy policy

This page is a translation. Only the German version is legally binding.

Last updated: 13 October 2026

Summary

Treemulator requires neither a user account nor a login and keeps no database. Treemulator stores the areas, tree species and dates you record exclusively in your own browser’s storage. The operator of Treemulator only receives this information if you send it to the operator yourself. The Treemulator server receives your IP address with every request. For the map, place search and site data, your browser also contacts the map services listed below directly. Treemulator is not responsible for their data processing.

You yourself are responsible for the information you record, or the municipality or enterprise on whose behalf you work. The distinction is explained in the section “Scope of the operator’s responsibility”.

The following sections contain the information required by the Swiss Federal Act on Data Protection (FADP).

Controller

Treemulator is operated by a private individual. This person decides on the processing of the data and is therefore the controller within the meaning of the Swiss Federal Act on Data Protection. In the following text, this person is referred to as the operator. Treemulator means the app itself, i.e. the website treemulator.org and the program that runs there in the browser.

Chris Michael

Private individual

Walderstrasse 52
8630 Rüti ZH, Switzerland

Email: info@treemulator.org

Web: treemulator.org

Scope of the operator’s responsibility

The operator provides the website treemulator.org and runs the mailbox info@treemulator.org. Under data protection law, the operator is responsible for two sets of data. The first is the connection data the server receives whenever the website is accessed. The second is the emails you yourself send to this mailbox, i.e. error reports, submissions for the public Treemulator map and enquiries, for example about a version with its own server. The operator has no access to any other data.

The operator is not responsible for the information you record in Treemulator. Treemulator stores areas, tree species, owners and notes only on your device and does not transfer them of its own accord. The operator has no access to them and can neither disclose, change nor delete them. You yourself are responsible for them. If you use Treemulator on behalf of a municipality, a forestry enterprise or another client, that client is responsible. The client also governs access to the device, the retention period and the backup of the information.

A data processing agreement with the operator is not required. Such an agreement governs what a service provider may do with its client’s data. Treemulator does not process any data on behalf of others, because the app does not transfer the recorded information to the operator. Emails and extracts that you choose to send to the operator are processed for the operator’s own purposes and not on your behalf. If an administration requests such an agreement, a reference to this section is sufficient.

Storage on your device

Treemulator stores areas, tree species, material details, history and dates in the browser’s local storage (localStorage) on your device. Your settings for language, text size and appearance (light/dark) and, where applicable, your own map key are also stored there. Your name or company and the recipient and supplier, as you last entered them in a report or when sharing, also remain there. Treemulator does not transfer this information to a server. There are two exceptions, which go only to the services in the section “Third-party services when loading maps”. Your own map key goes to its provider. The coordinate of the centre of an area goes to the services for name suggestions and site data. Treemulator only creates files with your information when you ask it to, for example when you tap “Back up as GeoJSON” on the “Data” tab. These files are saved on your device.

If you delete the browser’s site data or change device, this information is lost. Treemulator therefore reminds you to make a regular backup as a GeoJSON file. You are responsible for this backup yourself, as the operator has no access to your data.

So that Treemulator starts without a network connection, the browser stores the program files in a cache. This cache contains none of your information. If you download the map for an area for offline use, the browser likewise stores these map tiles only on your device (IndexedDB). These map tiles are deleted when you delete the area or the downloaded map on the “Data” tab.

Installing as an app

The ⋯ menu contains “Install as app”. The browser then places an icon on the screen and Treemulator starts without an address bar. The storage location stays the same. The information remains in the storage of the same browser on the same device and is not transferred to a server.

What changes is how long the information is kept. When installing, Treemulator requests persistent storage. After that, the browser no longer deletes the information when storage space runs low, and Safari no longer deletes it after about a week without use. On iPhone and iPad, this is the only reliable protection against such deletion.

If you remove the app from the device, the operating system usually also deletes the stored information. Make a backup as a GeoJSON file beforehand.

Discontinuation of the service

If the website treemulator.org is shut down, your data remains on your device.

A version installed as an app (menu ⋯) continues to run offline, because the program and the maps downloaded for offline use are on the device.

The backup is a GeoJSON file. This open format can be read by QGIS, ArcGIS and other geographic information systems. In addition, Treemulator exports the table as CSV for Excel and the map as KML for Google Earth. None of these formats is tied to a program, not even to Treemulator.

Store the backup where your enterprise or municipality keeps its records, not just on the phone.

Retention period of the data

On your device, Treemulator stores the data indefinitely. Treemulator deletes nothing by itself and sets no deletion deadline. An area remains until you delete it. Five to eight years pass between planting and collecting the guards. The information must remain complete throughout this time. You delete a single area with “Delete”, an entire project on the “Data” tab and all information together via your browser’s site data. Nobody can restore deleted information, not even the operator, because Treemulator stores it only on your device. Files that you have previously backed up or shared are not affected.

The operator holds only data that you send by email yourself. Reports via “Report an error” and submissions for the public Treemulator map are deleted once dealt with, at the latest after twelve months. Enquiries, for example about a version with its own server, are kept by the operator without time limit so that they are available for later follow-up questions.

Sharing areas

When sharing, Treemulator creates a file on your device. You send this file with your own email program or messenger to recipients of your choice. Treemulator transfers nothing in the process and the operator is not informed of it. The terms of the service used apply to the sending.

The file contains the details of the selected areas, without owners and notes if you wish. The email addresses you enter in the app and the record of which areas went to whom remain on your device.

“Add to calendar” likewise only creates a file on your device. This file contains the upcoming tasks with the name, size and location of the areas. Treemulator sends no reminders and no emails. If you import the file into the calendar of a provider such as Google, Microsoft or Apple, that provider’s terms apply.

Public map

The public Treemulator map is a map on the internet on which the submitted areas are visible to everyone. If you choose “Also send to the public Treemulator map” when sharing, you additionally send an email to info@treemulator.org. This email contains an extract with the outline, size and planting year of the areas, the tree species, the number and material of the guards, the number of guards and stakes still in the forest, and the planned collection year. Not included are the area name, forest district, owners, notes, history and planning.

The operator checks the extract and adds the areas to the public map. The details of the extract, the date of the extract and the date of the entry are published, but not your name or your email address. Instead of the area’s identifier, the map shows a code derived from it. Your email address and your name are used only for questions about these entries. To have an area removed from the map, an informal message to the same address is sufficient. The operator deletes the emails as soon as the areas have been added and any questions have been answered, but at the latest twelve months after receipt.

Error reports

“Report an error” in the ⋯ menu does not send anything itself. The function opens your own email program with a prepared message to info@treemulator.org, which you can check and change before sending. It contains your text, the selected category and the version number of the app. You only enter a sender address if you would like a reply. The operator uses this address exclusively for questions about your report. Reports are deleted once dealt with, but at the latest twelve months after receipt.

Treemulator server

Whenever the website is accessed, the server receives your IP address, the time and the file requested. Without this information it cannot deliver the page.

The server sets no cookies and creates no usage profiles. Treemulator uses no analytics or advertising services.

Determining your location (“Location” button)

At your request, the app asks your browser or device for your location and centres the map on it. No query takes place without your explicit permission in the browser. The coordinate stays on the device and is not transmitted to anyone. For positioning, the operating system may consult its own service, for example from Google or Apple. The terms of the respective manufacturer apply to this.

Third-party services when loading maps

The map, place search and site data are retrieved directly by your browser from third-party servers. The Treemulator server does not forward anything. The following services receive your IP address in the process:

Only what the respective request requires is transmitted. That is the map section displayed or downloaded for offline use, the place name searched for or the coordinate of the centre of the area. The name suggestion, site data and surroundings need this coordinate. A printable report loads the map tiles around the area in the same way as the map itself. The outlines of your areas, your tree species, guards and tasks go to none of these providers. The processing by these providers is governed by their own privacy policies:

Legal basis

The IP address is processed when the website is accessed because there is a legitimate interest in secure and functioning operation. This is provided for by the Federal Act on Data Protection (FADP). Your browser calls the map services named above at your instigation, namely through your use of Treemulator. Some of these providers operate their infrastructure outside Switzerland. To that extent, data goes abroad. The operator has no influence on this.

Your rights

You have the right to information, rectification, erasure and restriction of the processing of your data, and to receive it in a common format. For the information about your areas, you exercise these rights yourself, as you store, change and delete this data directly in the app. The operator has no insight into it. Address enquiries about the data held by the operator to info@treemulator.org. You can also lodge a complaint with the Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner (FDPIC).

Data security

The connection to this site is encrypted throughout (HTTPS). The site only loads content from its own address and from the services named above.

Changes to this policy

If the services used or the handling of data change, this policy will be adjusted. The version published at the time of use applies.

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