Privacy Policy

We collect information in the following ways, across both our website and mobile app:

Information you provide directly:

• Email address and password when you create an account
• Your name or display name and, optionally, a profile photo
• Photos of mushrooms you capture or upload for identification
• Content you post to the in-app community — photos, captions, comments, likes, and follows
• Field journal entries and saved species you choose to store
• Messages you send us via the contact form or support email
• Payment information — processed securely by Google Play Billing and our payment partners (we never see or store your card numbers)

Information collected automatically:

• Device type, operating system, app version, and (on the web) browser type
• IP address and approximate geographic location, used partly to rate-limit free scans
• A mobile advertising identifier (Advertising ID), used by our advertising partner to show ads (see Section 6)
• Pages or screens viewed and general usage activity
• Your identification (scan) history, credits balance, and transaction records

Optional device permissions (mobile app):

• Camera — only to photograph a mushroom for identification. Used when you tap "Take a photo".
• Photos / storage — only to let you pick an existing image from your gallery.
• Location — only if you choose to tag a community post or journal entry with where you found a mushroom. It is optional and never collected in the background.
• Notifications — only if you enable optional reminders.

Information from third parties:

• Authentication data (your email and basic profile) if you sign in with Google or another OAuth provider

We use your information for the following purposes:

• To provide and operate the AI mushroom identification service on the website and app
• To process your identification requests and return results
• To manage your account, credits balance, subscriptions, and purchase history
• To power community features (posts, comments, likes, follows) that you choose to use
• To send transactional emails (e.g., purchase confirmation, password reset)
• To show advertisements in the free version of the app (see Section 6)
• To improve our AI accuracy and overall service quality
• To detect and prevent fraudulent, abusive, or automated activity
• To comply with legal obligations and respond to your support requests

We do not sell your personal data to third parties, and we do not use your data for unsolicited marketing without your explicit consent.

When you submit a photo for identification, that image is transmitted securely to our AI processing infrastructure (powered by Anthropic Claude) to perform the requested identification. If you are signed in, the result and its photo(s) may be saved to your scan history so you can revisit them; you can delete any scan at any time. Guest (not signed-in) scans are not tied to an account.

Photos you post to the community are visible to other users. We strongly advise you not to submit images containing recognisable faces, private property, or any personally identifiable information.

On the website we use cookies and similar technologies to:

• Keep you signed in to your account (authentication session cookies)
• Remember your theme preference (dark/light mode)
• Track anonymous usage analytics to improve the service

You can disable cookies in your browser settings, though disabling authentication cookies will prevent you from staying logged in. The mobile app does not use browser cookies; it stores your session and preferences locally on your device.

Your account data, scan history, and community content are stored in Supabase, a secure cloud database and storage platform with industry-standard encryption at rest and in transit (TLS 1.2+). In-app purchases and subscriptions are handled by Google Play Billing and RevenueCat; we do not store raw payment card data on our servers.

We implement access controls, encrypted connections, and regular security reviews. However, no internet service can guarantee absolute security. If you suspect unauthorised access to your account, please contact us immediately at support@mushroomidentifiers.com.

The free version of our mobile app may display advertisements through Google AdMob. To serve and measure ads, AdMob may access your device's Advertising ID and limited technical information, in accordance with Google's Privacy Policy.

• You can reset or limit your Advertising ID at any time in your device settings (Settings → Google → Ads).
• Purchasing a subscription or credit pack removes ads and stops ad-related data collection in the app.
• We do not show ads on the website, and we do not use advertising cookies there.

We retain your account data for as long as your account is active. If you delete your account, we will delete your personal data within 30 days, except where we are legally required to retain certain records (e.g., financial transaction records for tax compliance, typically up to 7 years). See our Account & Data Deletion page for how to request deletion.

Anonymous, non-identifiable usage data may be retained indefinitely for analytical purposes.

We use the following third-party services that may process your data:

• Supabase — database, authentication, and storage (supabase.com)
• Anthropic — AI inference for mushroom identification (anthropic.com)
• Google AdMob — advertising in the free app (admob.google.com)
• Google Play Billing & RevenueCat — in-app purchases and subscriptions (revenuecat.com)
• Google Sign-In — optional authentication (google.com)
• Vercel — website hosting and edge delivery (vercel.com)

Each of these services has its own privacy policy. We only share the minimum data necessary for these services to function.

Depending on your location, you may have the following rights regarding your personal data:

• Right of access — request a copy of your personal data
• Right to rectification — request correction of inaccurate data
• Right to erasure — request deletion of your personal data ("right to be forgotten")
• Right to data portability — receive your data in a machine-readable format
• Right to restrict processing — ask us to stop processing your data in certain circumstances
• Right to object — object to processing based on legitimate interests

To exercise any of these rights, email us at support@mushroomidentifiers.com. We will respond within 30 days.

Mushroom Identifier is not directed at children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children under 13. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us and we will delete it promptly.

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we will update the "Last updated" date at the top of this page. Continued use of the Service after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy. For material changes, we will notify registered users by email.

If you have questions, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or your personal data, please contact us: