Privacy Policy for Wildscope
Last Updated: February 06, 2025
2. What Data Do We Collect?
Most data is stored locally on your device. Data is only stored in the cloud or external services when you use specific features.
đź“Ť Location & Activity Data
• Most location processing occurs locally on your device • We store visited countries, biomes, realms, and ecoregions in your user profile (no GPS or exact location data) • Location data is only sent to external services when certain features are used:
- Google Maps, Places & Geocoding APIs: Maps, autocomplete & POI search
- Mapbox: Map styles, tiles and navigation (Premium users)
- OpenStreetMap (OSM): POI search and map data
- GBIF: Query animals & plants in your region
- OpenWeather & RainViewer: Weather and radar data
- Open Elevation & OpenTopo: Terrain analysis
- Google Gemini & OpenAI: AI features (e.g., quiz, adventure mode)
đź’ľ Firebase for Storage & Authentication
• We use Firebase (Frankfurt region) for user authentication and data storage
• Data such as user accounts, posts, comments, uploads, and visited regions are stored in Firebase
• Firebase implements its own security and access controls to protect your data
• You can request complete deletion of your account and associated data at any time
đź“Š PostHog Analytics & App Usage
• We use PostHog for anonymized usage statistics
• PostHog helps us understand and improve app usage
• Data collected includes: screens visited, app interactions, session duration
• No personal data is linked to your account
• You can disable tracking at any time in the settings
👤 User Account & Profile Data
• Registration required
• Storage of: username, email address, premium status
• Passwords are stored encrypted
📤 Uploads & Interactions
Data is only stored in the cloud when you:
• Share an image or video: Username, date & location of capture
• Create a post: Text is stored, but not your location
• Like or comment: Only the interaction itself is stored
🎥 Third-Party Services & APIs
• Maps & Location: Google Maps, Places, Geocoding APIs, and Mapbox (Premium users)
• Nature Data: GBIF for species information, PlantNet for plant identification
• Weather: OpenWeather and RainViewer for weather data
• Terrain: Open Elevation and OpenTopo for elevation data
• Content: YouTube videos, Wikipedia/Wikimedia articles and images
• AI Services: Google Gemini and OpenAI for interactive features
• Each service processes data according to their own privacy policies
• Premium features use RevenueCat for payment processing
đź“ş YouTube API Services Usage
Our application uses YouTube API Services to provide you with video content related to outdoor activities, nature, and survival skills. By using our Media Feed feature, you acknowledge and agree to be bound by the YouTube Terms of Service (https://www.youtube.com/t/terms) and Google's Privacy Policy (http://www.google.com/policies/privacy).
Data Collection and Access
When you use our Media Feed feature, we access and collect the following information through YouTube API Services:
From YouTube API:
• Public video metadata including titles, descriptions, thumbnails, channel names, and publication dates • Video URLs and identifiers • Search results based on your location and selected content categories
From Your Device:
• Your location data (when location-based feeds are enabled) to provide geographically relevant video content • App preferences and settings stored locally on your device • Cached video data stored temporarily in your device's local storage
Data Storage and Caching
• Video metadata retrieved from YouTube API is cached locally on your device for up to 24 hours to improve app performance and reduce data usage
• Cached data includes video details, timestamps, selected categories, location scope, and location information
• No user authentication data or personal YouTube account information is stored
• All cached data is stored locally on your device using AsyncStorage and is not transmitted to external servers
Data Usage and Processing
We use the collected information to:
• Display relevant outdoor and nature-related video content in our Media Feed
• Provide location-based video recommendations when you enable location feeds
• Cache content locally to improve app performance and offline capability
• Filter and sort video results based on your preferences and location
Data Sharing and Third Parties
• We do not share any user data or YouTube API data with third parties for commercial purposes
• Video interactions within embedded YouTube players are subject to YouTube's own privacy practices and may be tracked by Google/YouTube
• Our app uses its own YouTube API credentials and does not access your personal YouTube account
• Location data used for video searches is processed locally and combined with public search terms
Cookies and Device Information
• When viewing embedded YouTube videos, YouTube may place cookies or similar technologies on your device in accordance with Google's privacy practices
• Our app accesses local device storage (AsyncStorage) to cache video content and store user preferences
• We may collect device information necessary for app functionality, including location data for location-based features
Data Retention
• Locally cached video metadata is automatically deleted after 24 hours
• User preferences and settings remain stored locally until you uninstall the app or manually clear app data
• No YouTube API data is permanently stored on external servers
User Rights and Control
You can:
• Disable location-based video feeds in app settings • Clear cached data by refreshing the Media Feed or clearing app storage • Access YouTube videos directly through the YouTube app or website where Google's privacy controls apply • Contact us to request information about data collected through our app
Third-Party Privacy Policies
By using YouTube API Services within our app, you are also subject to:
• Google Privacy Policy: http://www.google.com/policies/privacy • YouTube Terms of Service: https://www.youtube.com/t/terms
🤖 AI Consent
Certain features of this app use AI services provided by OpenAI and/or Google Gemini. These services may process user input outside the EU. No AI features are enabled by default. By explicitly activating AI features in the app, you provide your consent under Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR. You can withdraw this consent at any time via the app settings.
3. Why Do We Process Your Data?
Legal bases according to GDPR:
• Art. 6(1)(a) (Consent): Location sharing, AI usage, uploads
• Art. 6(1)(b) (Contract fulfillment): User account & premium membership
• Art. 6(1)(f) (Legitimate interest): App improvement through PostHog analytics
4. Storage & Data Deletion
Where is your data stored?
• Location data: Local, not permanently stored
• Posts, likes, uploads: In Firebase (Frankfurt region), if actively shared
• Analytics data: Anonymized via PostHog
• Most application data is stored locally on your device
• Backend servers: Located in US and Europe (Heroku)
• Plant identification: PlantNet API (external service)
• News feed: Google News API
• Payment processing: RevenueCat (no direct storage of payment data)
Data deletion:
• All data can be deleted in app settings
• Account deletion removes all linked data in Firebase
5. Who Has Access to Your Data?
• No sharing for advertising purposes
• Location data only temporarily sent to external services
• YouTube & Wikimedia collect their own data when used
• PostHog processes anonymous usage statistics
• Google APIs are used for various functions
• No storage of payment data (Google Play / Apple Pay)
6. Your Rights Under GDPR
• Information about stored data
• Correction of incorrect data
• Deletion of your data
• Data portability
• Withdrawal of consent at any time
📧 Contact for privacy questions: duselkay@gmail.com
1. Responsible Party
Dustin KeĂźler Address: Kurt Schumacher StraĂźe 93, 46539 Dinslaken Email: duselkay@gmail.com