Privacy Policy

Overview

Critterhood helps you track and share local wildlife sightings to keep your community informed. The app has no user accounts and does not ask for your name or email. Critterhood identifies your device with random IDs it generates itself; these are not linked to your identity. We collect only what is needed to make the app's features work.

Location

Critterhood asks for your device's location (precise or approximate, only while the app is in use) to:

• show your position on the map
• place the pin when you report a sighting
• sort and filter Recent Sightings Nearby by distance — the sightings list is downloaded and filtered on your device, so your location is not sent to our servers for this

If you choose "Use Current Location" while creating an alert zone, only the zone's saved coordinates and radius are stored on our servers — not your ongoing location.

We do not track your location in the background and do not build a location history.

Wildlife Sightings

When you report a sighting, the following is stored on our servers and is publicly visible to all Critterhood users:

• species
• encounter type (Recent Activity, Sighted, or Approached)
• map coordinates
• the time you saw it and the time you reported it
• optional notes

Each sighting is also sent with an anonymous reporter ID and your device ID. These are used to enforce the Terms of Use, to let you edit or delete your own sightings, and so other users can block a reporter. Other users see only a pseudonym derived from the reporter ID — never the ID itself, and never your raw device ID.

Device ID

Critterhood generates random IDs on your device the first time you use it. There is no account, and the IDs aren't linked to your name, email, phone number, or advertising ID. They are used to:

• match new sightings to your alert zones and notification preferences
• record that you accepted the Terms of Use
• record community flags you make on other people's sightings
• let you edit and delete your own sightings

Alert Zones and Notification Preferences

When you create an alert zone, its coordinates, radius, and on/off state are stored on our servers, linked to your device ID, so we can tell when a sighting is near it. The name you give a zone stays on your device only.

Your notification preferences — time windows, minimum severity, and cooldown settings — are also stored on our servers, linked to your device ID, so alerts are sent only when you asked for them.

Deleting a zone removes it from your device and our servers.

App Preferences

Your appearance settings, nearby radius, the list of sightings you've reported, and the lists of reporters you've blocked and sightings you've hidden are stored only on your device — never sent to our servers. Depending on your device's backup settings, this data may be included in your phone's system backups (iCloud on iOS, Google's backup service on Android).

Push Notifications

If you enable notifications, Critterhood stores an anonymous device token — issued by Apple's Push Notification Service (APNs) on iOS, or Firebase Cloud Messaging (a Google service) on Android — linked to your device ID, so we can deliver wildlife alerts for your configured zones. This token is not linked to any personal information. Google's privacy policy: policies.google.com/privacy

Advertising

Critterhood is free and shows banner ads provided by Google AdMob. To choose and measure ads, AdMob may collect information from your device, such as your device's advertising ID, your IP address (and the approximate location it indicates), and how you interact with ads. Critterhood does not share your sightings, alert zones, or the app's own device IDs with AdMob.

• iOS: ads are personalized only if you allow tracking when asked. You can change this any time in Settings > Privacy & Security > Tracking.
• Android: you can reset or delete your advertising ID in your phone's Settings > Privacy > Ads (on some phones, Settings > Google > Ads).
• European Economic Area, UK and Switzerland (Android): before personalized ads are shown, you're asked for consent using Google's consent tool. You can change your choice any time in Critterhood's Settings > Ad Privacy Choices. If you don't consent, you may still see non-personalized ads.

Google's privacy policy: policies.google.com/privacy · How Google uses information from apps that use its services: policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites

Third-Party Services

Critterhood uses the following third-party services:

1. Supabase — stores sightings, alert zones, notification preferences, and the records described above. Privacy policy: supabase.com/privacy
2. Apple Push Notification Service (APNs) — delivers wildlife alerts on iOS. Privacy policy: apple.com/legal/privacy
3. Firebase Cloud Messaging — delivers wildlife alerts on Android. Privacy policy: policies.google.com/privacy
4. OpenStreetMap (Android only) — the map is drawn from OpenStreetMap tiles. When you view the map, your device requests map images from OpenStreetMap's servers, which receive your IP address and the area you're viewing. Privacy policy: osmfoundation.org/wiki/Privacy_Policy
5. Your device's address search (Android only) — when you search for an address while creating an alert zone, the text you type is sent to your device's location/geocoding service (on most Android phones, provided by Google Play services). We do not receive it. Privacy policy: policies.google.com/privacy
6. Google AdMob — shows ads in the app; see Advertising above. Privacy policy: policies.google.com/privacy

We do not sell, trade, or rent your information to third parties for marketing purposes.

Sharing and Emails

"Share" uses your device's own share sheet; what you share is decided by you and the app you pick. "Send Feedback" and "Report Abuse" open your email app with a draft — nothing is sent until you send it, and your email address is visible to us if you do.

In-App Purchases

Critterhood offers an optional purchase to remove ads (currently on iOS; coming to Android). Payments are processed securely by the App Store (and, once available, Google Play). We do not collect or store your payment information.

Data Control

You have control over the data you submit:

• Delete individual sightings: open My Sightings and delete the row. This removes it from your device and our servers.
• Delete alert zones: go to Settings > Alert Zones and delete the zone. This removes it from your device and our servers.
• Permissions: you can turn location and notifications off any time in your device's settings.
• Ads: see Advertising above for how to limit ad tracking on your device, and (on Android, in the EEA, UK and Switzerland) how to change your ad consent.
• Uninstall the app: this deletes the data stored on your device. Sightings you already submitted stay in the shared database — they are anonymous and carry no connection to your identity — unless you delete them first. Delete your sightings individually before uninstalling if you want them removed, or contact us afterward and we'll help with the rest.

Children's Privacy

Critterhood is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. Submissions carry no name or account, so we can't tell who submitted them; anything a child submitted can be deleted from My Sightings in the app.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy from time to time. The "Last Updated" date above will change when we do.

Contact

If you have questions about this policy or our data practices, please contact us:

shaunklassen.apps@gmail.com