Privacy Policy
Dash Cam Viewer · last updated
1. Summary
Dash Cam Viewer (“the app”) is a companion app that connects to a compatible Wi-Fi dashcam (Novatek-based car DVR) to show its live view, browse recordings, and download clips to your phone. It is published by Cool App Helpdesk.
- There are no user accounts and no analytics SDKs.
- From version 1.0.27 the app shows ads supplied by Google AdMob to some users. Where ads are shown, Google receives your device’s advertising ID — see section 2a.
- Your camera activity stays local: live view, recordings, and downloads happen directly between your phone and your camera over its Wi-Fi network and are never sent to the developer or any third party.
- Apart from advertising, the only information that leaves your device is what you voluntarily submit — the feedback form, the exit survey, or an unsupported-camera report — and only if you choose to send it. See section 2.
2. Data we collect
Dash Cam Viewer collects no personal data automatically, runs no usage analytics, and has no user accounts. Two things do leave the device: the advertising ID, where ads are shown (section 2a), and whatever you deliberately send us through the app.
If — and only if — you submit the Send Feedback form, answer the short survey the app may show as you leave it, or send an unsupported-camera report, the app sends the following to the developer’s service so we can read and respond:
| Data | Provided | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Your message and its subject / type, or your survey answers, or the camera details and network trace shown to you in the report preview | Required to submit | To understand and respond, and to add support for cameras that do not work |
| A contact detail (email or phone) | Optional — only if you type one | So we can reply to you |
| Basic technical context: app version, device model, Android version | Included with a submission | To reproduce and fix the issue you report |
This information is used solely to handle what you sent us. It is never sold, never shared with advertisers, and never used to build a profile, and it is transmitted over an encrypted (HTTPS) connection. If you never send anything, none of it leaves your device.
2a. Advertising
From version 1.0.27 the app shows ads supplied by Google AdMob: one full-screen ad while the app starts, and a banner at the foot of the local album. There are no ads on the live view, while connecting to a camera, or on any error or report screen.
Not every user sees them. Ads are shown to people who have never connected a camera and never streamed a live view. If you have connected a camera or watched a live view, the app shows you no ads at all until September 2027.
Where ads are shown, the Google Mobile Ads SDK collects your device’s advertising ID and shares it with Google to select and measure ads and to detect fraud. The developer never receives it. You can reset or delete that ID at any time in Android’s Settings → Privacy → Ads, and Google’s handling of it is covered by the Google Privacy Policy and the Google Ads partner terms.
In the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom and Switzerland the app asks for your consent before personalised ads are shown, using Google’s certified consent form. You can decline, and you may change your answer later from that same form. No recording, camera detail or anything else described in section 2 is ever sent to an advertiser.
3. Data stored on your device
| Item | Where | Sent off device? |
|---|---|---|
| Camera connection settings (device IP, stream URL, saved cameras) | App-private DataStore | Never |
| Videos & photos you download from the camera | App-specific external storage (Android/data/<app>/files/) | Never |
| Video thumbnails / cached preview frames | App-private cache | Never |
| UI & theme preferences | App-private DataStore | Never |
Files you explicitly export are copied to the folder you choose via the Android system file picker. That location is under your control.
4. Permissions used
| Permission | Reason | When asked |
|---|---|---|
INTERNET | Communicate with the dashcam over Wi-Fi (control commands, live stream, file download), and send your message if you use the feedback form. | Auto-granted (normal permission) |
ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE | Detect the active Wi-Fi connection so the app can reach the camera. | Auto-granted (normal permission) |
The app requests no location, camera, microphone, contacts, or phone permissions. You connect to the dashcam’s Wi-Fi through the normal Android Wi-Fi settings.
5. Network activity and third parties
Dash Cam Viewer only makes network connections to your dashcam on the local Wi-Fi network (default address 192.168.1.254):
- Camera control — HTTP requests to the camera’s local API (
/?custom=1&cmd=…) to read status and start/stop recording. - Live view — an MJPEG or RTSP video stream served by the camera on the local network.
- Recordings — the recording list, thumbnails, and file downloads are fetched directly from the camera.
These camera connections use the camera’s own HTTP protocol on your local network and never leave it. The app makes exactly two kinds of internet connection: to the developer’s service, over encrypted HTTPS, when you send feedback, a survey answer or a camera report (section 2); and to Google AdMob, for the users and screens described in section 2a. The app contains no analytics, crash-reporting, social or attribution SDKs. Bundled libraries (Media3 ExoPlayer, OkHttp, Coil, Room, DataStore, NanoHTTPD, ZXing) operate strictly within the scope described here.
6. Children’s privacy
Dash Cam Viewer is a general-purpose utility for dashcam owners. It is not directed at children under 13, but we recognize that minors may use it. The developer collects no personal information from any user, regardless of age.
The app has no in-app purchases and does no behavioural profiling of its own. It does show ads to some users (section 2a); because the app is not directed at children, those ads are served under Google’s ordinary AdMob terms rather than its child-directed treatment.
7. Data retention and deletion
Feedback you submit is retained only as long as needed to handle your request; email us at the address in section 10 to have a message you sent removed. Apart from feedback, the developer stores nothing about you on our end.
To remove locally stored data (saved cameras, preferences, cached thumbnails), clear the app’s storage in Android Settings → Apps → Dash Cam Viewer → Storage → Clear storage, or uninstall the app. Clips you downloaded can be deleted from within the app’s album or through your file manager.
8. Security
The app stores settings and cached data in its private, sandboxed storage. Connection settings are kept in an encrypted DataStore. Communication with the dashcam uses the camera’s local HTTP protocol over the private Wi-Fi link between your phone and the camera; it does not traverse the internet. Feedback you submit is sent to the developer over an encrypted HTTPS/TLS connection. The app is distributed through the Google Play Store, which verifies the developer signing key on every update.
9. Changes to this policy
If any material aspect of how the app handles data ever changes, this page will be updated and the “last updated” date above will be bumped. Continued use after a change constitutes acceptance.
10. Contact
Questions or feedback? Email coolapphelpdesk@gmail.com.