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 → Account → Security → Privacy & consent. Off by default.
• Anonymous usage analytics — only if you have explicitly opted in via Settings → Account → Security → Privacy & consent. Off by default.

Where it lives

Your data is stored on your device first, in a local database, and synchronised to our cloud servers only when you are signed in. On Android that local database is encrypted at rest with a 256-bit key held in your device's secure keystore; in the web app, local data is protected by your browser's storage isolation instead (no separate database cipher). Cloud data is encrypted in transit and at rest by Google. 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. On Android, the app can optionally read nearby SwitchBot or Govee Bluetooth meters (this is why it may ask for Bluetooth permission); those readings stay on your device and are never shared with anyone else.

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 → Account → Data → Export Data produces a ZIP archive with a structured JSON file, your photos, and CSV copies of your journal and environment readings — covering the great majority of what we hold for you. A small number of device-specific or internal records (for example, per-device sensor calibration and legacy light-fixture history) aren't included yet. If any photo cannot be retrieved, the archive's manifest lists which ones and why.
• Erasure: Settings → Account → Delete account erases your data from our servers and wipes the local database on the device you run it from. It cannot be undone and there is no in-app recovery. Some copies outlive it: encrypted backups hold the data for up to 30 days before they age out; deleted photo originals stay restorable by us for 7 more days before our storage provider erases them for good; on Android the photo files the app saved on that device, including full-resolution originals and any photos written there by a restore, are not removed; any other device you were signed in on keeps its own copy until you uninstall PhenoTrack or clear its site data there; and a rate-limit counter carrying your account's internal ID is kept indefinitely, holding nothing but call counts.
• Withdraw consent: Settings → Account → Security → 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 → App → AI Assistant → API Keys, your AI requests go to that provider instead — Anthropic (Claude) or OpenAI — under your own account and their terms. Your own key is supported only in the Android app, where it is stored in your device's secure keystore and is never sent to us — the web app does not accept an API key and stores none. 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.

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 deactivation, no grace period, and we cannot restore an account once it is gone. A few copies outlive it without ever being reachable from the app: encrypted database backups for up to 30 days, deleted photo files for 7 days in our cloud storage, opt-in crash reports for about 90 days, and opt-in analytics events for up to 14 months. If you asked us to delete the account by e-mail we also keep a record of that request, and our servers keep a rate-limit counter named after your account's internal identifier; neither of those has an expiry timer. The Delete account page at phenotrack.com/delete-account lists all of this in full.

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.