Plant Buddy Privacy Policy
Effective date: October 15, 2026
1. Operator and scope
The operator is based in Japan. The app is primarily intended for adults and is not actively offered to children as its intended audience.
shingo harada (the “operator”) explains below how information is handled in the Plant Buddy iPhone app (the “app”). This policy describes the app. External websites and services you choose to visit or share with have their own policies.
2. Plant records and photos
The app stores plant and companion names, plant species, growing start dates, observation records, photos, companion growth and appearance information, usage dates, and settings on your device. These support features such as displaying records, growth animations, and photo compositing.
No account or login is required. The app has no feature that automatically uploads these records or photos to the operator’s servers. It does not pass records or photos to advertising SDKs, purchase SDKs, or external AI services. Advertising and purchases do involve communications, as described below.
3. Camera and photo access
- The camera is used to photograph plants and create photos with your companion overlaid.
- Images you choose from your photo library are used for records or photo compositing.
- “Save to Photos” requests permission to add a saved image to your iPhone’s Photos library.
- The app does not record audio or obtain GPS location. Weather retrieval is also disabled in the current version.
You can change permissions in iPhone Settings. Without the relevant permission, features such as taking or saving photos may be unavailable.
4. Sharing photos and backups
When you choose to share, the app passes the image to the app or service you select through the iOS share sheet. The destination’s settings and privacy policy govern how it handles that image.
The app’s backup feature exports plant records and photos to a file on your device. If you move or share that file elsewhere, the destination’s settings apply. The app does not provide its own cloud sync, but operating-system or external services, such as iCloud Photos or device backups, may store or sync information according to your settings.
5. Advertising and privacy choices
The app uses Google AdMob to display ads and Google’s User Messaging Platform (UMP) to present advertising-related choices where required.
Advertising services may process approximate location inferred from IP addresses, device and app identifiers, ad views and interactions, and diagnostic and performance information for ad delivery, measurement, fraud prevention, and service improvement. Actual handling depends on consent status, device settings, and the policies of Google and its advertising partners. The app does not add plant names, companion names, records, or photos to ad requests.
The app currently does not display the iOS App Tracking Transparency (ATT) permission prompt. This does not mean that there is no communication with advertising services or no processing of advertising-related information.
Eligible users can make choices in the consent form presented to them. When “Ad privacy settings” appears in the app’s settings, you can use it to change your choices. For processing based on consent, you can withdraw consent using the applicable options. Withdrawal does not undo processing that took place before withdrawal.
Once the app verifies an ad-removal purchase, it stops displaying and loading new ads. This does not stop communications required for purchases or restoration, or delete information already processed.
6. In-app purchases
Ad removal and purchase restoration use Apple’s App Store and StoreKit. The app processes product information, purchase and restoration results, and verified purchase entitlements, and stores the ad-removal status on your device. This status is not included in the plant-data backups exported by the app.
The operator does not obtain your payment card number or Apple Account password through the app. Apple’s policies govern payments and purchase history.
7. Retention and deletion
Records and photos on your device are retained to provide the app’s features. Deleting the app from your iPhone normally deletes its internal data. Offloading the app retains data and is different from deleting it.
Images added to Photos, images sent to other services, backups copied elsewhere, and operating-system or cloud backups are not automatically deleted when you delete the app. Manage or delete those copies at their respective destinations. Deleting the app does not automatically delete Apple purchase history or information held by Google or other services.
The operator has no mechanism to access your on-device records and cannot delete them remotely on your behalf. See the relevant service’s policies for retention periods and deletion procedures for information held by external services.
8. Inquiries and your rights
If you contact the operator by email, the operator receives your sender email address, any name you provide, your message, and attachments. Please do not send passwords, verification codes, or payment information.
This information is used only to respond to inquiries and investigate issues, and is scheduled for deletion approximately one year after the inquiry is resolved. It may be retained longer when needed for ongoing support or legal requirements.
Contact the operator below about access, correction, deletion, or stopping the use of personal information held by the operator, as provided by applicable law. For information independently held by advertising or purchase services, you may be directed to their contact points.
Where applicable laws, such as those in the EEA or UK, apply, you have rights including access, rectification, erasure, restriction of processing, objection, and data portability. These rights are subject to conditions and exceptions. You may withdraw consent to processing based on consent and lodge a complaint with the competent data protection authority.
Operator: shingo harada
Contact: syuantian54@gmail.com
9. Policy website
This website is hosted on Google’s Firebase Hosting. When you visit it, Google processes your IP address. Google states that Hosting uses IP addresses to detect abuse and analyse usage, and retains IP data for a few months. Firebase Hosting runs on Google’s global infrastructure, and information may be processed outside your country.
This page will not include our own analytics, ads, or input forms. It will not provide a feature to send plant records or photos to the website. Website traffic is separate from storing records within the app.
10. Changes to this policy
The operator will update this policy when features or information handling change. A revision date will be provided when it is published, and important changes will be announced in the app or on the policy page where appropriate.