Privacy Policy

PhenoTrack is a grow journal designed for a single grower. We minimise the data we collect and never sell it. This page describes what we store, why, and what control you have.

What we collect

• Account email (and Google profile name + photo if you sign in with Google).
• Grow data you enter: growspaces, plants, logs, tasks, environment readings.
• Photos you capture in-app — EXIF metadata (GPS coordinates, device serials, software versions) is stripped before any photo is stored.
• Anonymous crash reports — only if you have explicitly opted in via Settings → Privacy & consent. Off by default.
• Anonymous usage analytics — only if you have explicitly opted in via Settings → Privacy & consent. Off by default.

Where it lives

Your data is stored on your device first, in an encrypted local database, and synchronised to our cloud servers only when you are signed in. The primary database that holds your account, structured grow data, and photo metadata is hosted in the European Union (Google Cloud, Belgium). Some of the underlying Google services that authenticate you and store photo files process data on infrastructure in the United States.

Who we share it with

We do not sell or rent your data. We share it only with the service providers (processors) that run the app on our behalf, each under a data-processing agreement:

• Google Firebase / Google Cloud — authentication, the encrypted cloud database (EU), photo storage, and crash reporting. Google Play handles subscription billing.
• Google (Vertex AI / Firebase AI Logic) — the AI features, when you use them (see “AI features”).
• Cloudflare — content delivery, DNS, and protection against attacks (processes request metadata such as IP addresses to filter abuse).
• Where these providers process data in the United States, transfers rely on the EU–US Data Privacy Framework and the European Commission’s Standard Contractual Clauses.

Your rights

• Access: Settings → Export data produces a JSON snapshot of everything we hold for you.
• Erasure: Settings → Delete account permanently removes your data from our servers and your local device. The deletion is hard, not soft — there is no recovery window.
• Withdraw consent: Settings → Privacy & consent toggles crash reports and analytics on or off any time.

AI features

When you use the AI diagnosis feature, the photo and a short summary of the plant's stage and recent environment readings are sent to an AI provider for analysis. By default this is Google's Gemini model, accessed through Firebase AI Logic / Vertex AI; Google does not use this data to train its models. The result is stored in your account along with the photo.

If you add your own API key under Settings → API Keys, your AI requests go to that provider instead — Anthropic (Claude) or OpenAI — under your own account and their terms. Your key is stored only in your device’s secure keystore and is never sent to us. You can avoid sending any data to AI by simply not using these features — every other part of the app works without them.

PhenoTrack also generates a home-screen insight by sending a summary of your growspace's plants, environment readings, and recent activity to the same AI provider. The result is shown only on your device — we don't store it on our servers.

IoT sensor integrations

When you enable an IoT sensor integration (currently AC Infinity), your account email and password for that service are stored in your device's secure keystore (Keychain on iOS, Keystore on Android) and used to sign in and read live temperature, humidity, and VPD from your controllers. Telemetry is stored in your PhenoTrack account along with your other environment data. Removing the binding deletes your stored credentials. We do not see or relay your sensor-service credentials.

Sensitive data

PhenoTrack is a general horticulture journal. Depending on what you choose to record and on the laws where you live, your grow data could be considered sensitive. You decide what to enter, and you can export or permanently delete all of it at any time (see “Your rights”). You are responsible for ensuring your use of the app is lawful in your jurisdiction.

Data retention

We keep your data for as long as your account exists. When you delete your account the erasure is immediate and permanent — there is no recovery window. Opt-in crash reports are retained by our processor for a limited period and then automatically discarded.

Contact

We are the data controller for your PhenoTrack account. Privacy questions: privacy@phenotrack.com. Security disclosures: security@phenotrack.com. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with your local data-protection authority.