GaiaDex privacy policy
Summary
- GaiaDex does its work on your phone: the species ID, the collection, and the map.
- Your photos, your locations, and your finds stay on your phone. The app does not upload them.
- The app has no account, no ads, and no analytics.
- The app has no connection to a server of ours. The App Store delivers the app. Apple delivers the model files and the region packs.
1. Data that the app uses on your phone
| Data | What the app does with it | Where it stays |
|---|---|---|
| Photos that you take or choose | The app copies the photo into its private storage and identifies the species on the phone. | On your phone, in the private storage of the app. |
| The location tag of a photo (GPS data in the photo file) | The app reads it to find the county of a find. | On your phone. The app keeps the position of the photo with that photo. Your list of finds keeps only the county. |
| The approximate location of your phone (only if you allow it) | When a photo from "Take photo" has no location tag, the app uses the approximate location of the phone at the time of the photo to find the county. The Offline assets screen uses it to suggest the region that you are in. | On your phone. The app keeps it only as the position of that photo. |
| Your finds (your collection) | The app shows them on the map, in the county lists, and in "Gaias". | On your phone: the species, the date, and the county of each find. |
| Settings | The app uses them to work as you want. | On your phone. |
2. Data that leaves your phone
- The app. The app does not send your data to us or to other parties.
- Apple. The App Store delivers the app, and Apple delivers its download packs: the species ID model and the region packs. For these downloads, Apple uses technical data, for example the app version, to deliver the correct packs. Apple's privacy policy applies to these downloads: www.apple.com/legal/privacy. The downloads do not include your photos, your locations, or your finds.
- Crash and performance reports. If you share analytics with app developers in the Settings app (Privacy & Security > Analytics & Improvements > Share With App Developers), Apple can give us crash and performance data of the app in App Store Connect and Xcode. This data is technical, for example the device model, the iOS version, and the place in the code of a crash. It does not include your photos, your locations, or your finds. Apple's privacy policy applies to this data.
3. Permissions
- Camera: optional. The home screen uses the camera to show a live preview and take a photo when you tap the shutter. You can choose a photo or browse your collection without camera permission. The camera runs while the camera screen, its menu, or the GaiaDex, Gaias, and Map pages show. It stops on the other screens and when you put the app in the background. Photos stay on your phone.
- Approximate location: optional. The app asks one time, before your first "Take photo" or when you tap "Select your own region". The app asks only for your approximate location. It has no precise location and no background location. You can remove the permission in the Settings app at any time.
- Photos: the app has no access to your photo library. When you choose a photo, the photo picker of iOS gives only that photo to the app. The app reads the location tag of that photo, if the photo has one.
- Notifications: optional. When a species ID ends while the app is not on the screen, the app shows a notification. A tap on the notification opens the result.
- Background work: when you leave the app during a species ID, iOS gives the app a short time to finish it.
4. How the app keeps your data safe
- iOS keeps the storage of the app separate from other apps.
- The app excludes its data folder (your photos and your finds) from iCloud Backup and from computer backups. A backup can include the settings of the app.
- We have no server with your data, because the app sends no data to us.
5. How long the data stays, and how to delete it
- Your data stays on your phone until you delete it.
- To delete a region pack: open the menu and tap Settings ("Offline assets"). Then tap the three-dot button of the pack and tap "Delete". Your finds stay.
- To delete all data of the app: delete the app (touch and hold the app icon, tap Remove App, then tap Delete App). iOS deletes the photos, the finds, the settings, and the downloaded packs of the app.
- We have no copy of your data. Thus we cannot give you a copy, and we have nothing to delete on a server.
6. Children
GaiaDex is not for children under 13. The app collects no personal data from any user.
7. Changes to this policy
When we change this policy, we put the new version at this address and change the effective date. If a change is important, we also tell you in the release notes of the app.
8. Contact
Send questions about this policy to bhhuynh95@gmail.com.