Privacy

Spotanist is made by Brandon Almeda Consulting Inc. This page says what we collect when you use it, who else handles it, how long we keep it, and how to get rid of it. It is written to be read.

What we collect

• Photos you take of plants. The photo is downscaled on your phone, sent to our servers, stored, and shown on your Field Guide, the species page and the home feed with your name.
• A display name. The name you type on first visit. It appears on your spots, on Top Spotters, and on the plate of any species you were first to find.
• A profile identifier. A random id kept in a cookie on your device so your spots stay yours. There is no password and no email unless you later sign in with an account.
• Location, if you allow it. The coordinates where you took the photo. We store the exact point so your own record is accurate. Other people see a neighbourhood about a kilometre across, or nothing, as you choose; spots in the area where you take most of your photos are always widened further. Details are in Support.
• Order details, if you buy a print. Your name, shipping address, email and phone from checkout, and what you ordered. Card numbers never reach us.
• Reports you send. The reason and any note, kept until we have acted on them.

We do not run advertising, we do not sell data, and we do not use analytics that follow you across other sites.

Who else handles it

These companies process data for us, only to run the service:

• Anthropic (Claude), through Vercel AI Gateway: your plant photo is sent to the model to identify the species. This is the third-party AI use you agree to when you start.
• Google (Gemini), through Vercel AI Gateway: paints one botanical plate per species from its name. Your photo is not sent for this.
• Vercel: hosting, file storage for photos and plates, and the AI gateway.
• Neon: the database.
• Stripe: payment for prints. Stripe collects your card and address on its own pages under its own privacy policy.
• Printful: prints and ships posters, and receives your name and shipping address to do so.
• Resend: sends order emails, once email is switched on.

How long we keep it

• Spots, photos and your name: until you delete them or your profile.
• The species record and plate created from a find: kept, since it is shared by everyone who finds that species later. It carries no photo of yours. If you delete your profile, your name comes off it.
• Orders: seven years, as tax law requires, with your name removed from the profile once you delete it.
• Reports: until resolved, then thirty days.

Deleting your data

Open your Field Guide and choose Delete profile at the bottom. Your spots, photos, name and settings are removed immediately. Any First Find you hold passes to the next spotter of that species. If you cannot get to the page, use the Report link on any spot or profile and say you want your profile deleted and we will do it within seven days.

Children

Spotanist is not directed at children under 13 and we do not knowingly collect their data. If you believe a child has used it, contact us and we will remove the profile.

Changes and contact

If this policy changes in a way that matters, the date above changes and the app says so on the next visit. Questions: the Report link on any spot or profile reaches us.