Pinch privacy policy

We use account, garden records and requested analysis information to provide the service you request, on the basis of performing our contract with you. Proportionate security, abuse prevention, fault diagnosis and support processing rely on legitimate interests; applicable statutory records are kept to meet legal obligations.

The current private native build includes the measurement services described below and has no separate in-app analytics control. Contact us if you want to object to or ask about this processing.

Firebase Authentication handles sign-in and the account details supplied by your chosen method, such as an email address, display name and profile photo. The service stores garden and profile preferences, plants, events, tasks, notes and saved analyses under your account in Firestore.

Photographs you upload are stored in Cloud Storage. Some photo paths also have smaller derived copies for the grid and viewer. An uploaded photo remains stored after an AI response; receiving an analysis does not itself erase the original upload.

When you choose identification, triage or an analysis-derived timeline entry, the selected photo's storage reference, language and relevant plant or written context are sent to the authenticated analysis service. Google's Vertex AI then receives the photo and prompt needed to produce the answer. Saving a result can add it to your plant's record.

The analysis service uses Vertex AI, which can process the request outside the UK or EU. Google's applicable service and privacy terms govern its own processing and retention.

Analysis is optional. You can keep garden records without requesting it. Avoid including people, private documents or unnecessary personal information in a plant photo or written analysis context.

If you use community groups, the group details, posts, photographs and comments you choose to share are stored for the group and made available according to its visibility and membership rules. Private group content is different from your own account-only garden records. Information other members have already copied is outside the app's deletion controls.

Notification settings and a Firebase Cloud Messaging registration token can be stored under your account to deliver garden-task digests. You can change the digest and task notification settings and use your device's notification controls. A configured reminder is not a guarantee that a device or network will deliver every notification.

Native versions use Firebase Analytics and Firebase Crashlytics. These services can process app and device information, usage information and technical fault reports. Crashlytics receives reports of fatal errors in the native app; the web version handles errors differently.

Firebase App Check uses platform attestation or web reCAPTCHA to help protect requests. Sign-in state and ordinary preferences, such as theme and language, also use device or browser storage. Technical and support records can contain information needed to diagnose the problem you report.

Garden records and photos are retained for your account until removed through the available record controls or through an account request. The current Settings screen's Delete Account action directs you to contact support. Account deletion and a portable copy are handled by request; the app does not yet provide automatic account export or erasure.

Use the contact details on this page to request access, a portable copy, correction or deletion, or to ask about a particular retained record. We may need to verify account ownership. We will respond within the applicable statutory period, normally one month; this is not a promise that every provider copy or backup is erased within that period.

Provider diagnostics, security records and backups follow their applicable retention arrangements. The retention criteria are the continuing account or support purpose and any legal or security requirement. Contact us for information about the period that applies to a particular record.

Google Firebase provides authentication, database, photo storage, notifications and the native measurement or diagnostic services described above. Google Cloud runs the analysis service and Vertex AI. Information can be processed outside the UK, and you can ask us for information about the safeguards that apply to a particular flow.

This personal-use build is not a public subscription offer. Do not treat development prices or purchase screens as evidence that a store purchase is available. You can decline camera or notification permission, avoid optional AI or group sharing, and contact us to exercise your data-protection rights. You can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office.

Google Firebase privacy and security

Contact the UK Information Commissioner's Office