Privacy Policy | Organic Shepherd

1. Scope

This Privacy Policy applies to Organic Shepherd, including its mobile apps, related cloud services, and connected marketing pages operated by Organic Shepherd.

Organic Shepherd helps users scan products, review ingredient information, save shopping items, discover stores, optionally geotag scans, and submit product or image updates for review.

2. Information We Collect

Information you provide directly

Email address and password when you create or sign in to an account.
Guest account information if you use anonymous sign-in.
Onboarding details such as email, selected language, dietary goals, allergen flags, custom ingredient flags, and persona or preference selections.
Shopping-list items and scan history that you save in the app.
Product or store contributions, including barcode scans, store selections, aisle information, price information, and other product-related submissions.
Product photos you choose to capture and submit for review or image updates.
Messages or requests you send to us by email.

Location information

Precise location when you allow location access and use map, nearby-store, or geotagging features.
Approximate location inferred from your device or store selection in some cases.
Geotag metadata such as latitude, longitude, accuracy, city, region, postal code, country, and related timestamps when you save scans with location enabled.

We do not require location sharing for every scan. In the app, users can skip geotagging and, for signed-in workflows, certain precise geotags may be masked based on privacy settings.

Camera and image information

Camera access to scan barcodes and capture product photos.
Images you choose to submit for product-image review or product identification workflows.
Metadata associated with submitted images, such as product ID, pending review ID, and upload timestamps.

Device, usage, and diagnostics information

Device installation ID generated by the app.
App version, build number, and platform information.
Analytics events about app usage, such as scan starts, scan success or failure, product detail loads, and other feature interactions.
Error and exception information used to monitor performance and reliability.
Push-notification token and notification-permission status if you allow notifications.

Locally stored information

On-device scan history.
On-device shopping-list data.
On-device onboarding draft information.
On-device allergen and ingredient preference settings.
On-device engagement, education, and feature-state preferences.

3. How We Use Information

Provide core app features, including barcode scanning, product lookup, ingredient review, store discovery, maps, and shopping-list management.
Associate scans with stores and optional location context when you choose to use location-enabled features.
Save and sync shopping-list items, allergen preferences, and certain account preferences across sessions or devices when you are signed in.
Review submitted product photos and product updates, including moderation and quality-control workflows.
Send push notifications, reminders, or engagement nudges if notifications are enabled.
Analyze usage, improve the app, troubleshoot failures, and monitor service reliability.
Protect the app and community against abuse, misuse, fraud, and unauthorized access.
Respond to support requests, operational messages, or legal obligations.

AI and translation features.

If you use image-based product identification, ingredient extraction, or translation features, relevant text or image content may be processed by third-party service providers used to deliver those features.

4. How We Share Information

We do not sell your personal information. We may share information in the following limited situations:

Service providers and infrastructure vendors. We use providers such as Google Firebase and related Google Cloud services for authentication, analytics, push messaging, storage, databases, and server functions.
Maps and location providers. We use Google Maps Platform and related location services to support store discovery and maps.
Translation and AI providers. When you use applicable features, text or image inputs may be processed through providers used for translation or AI-assisted analysis, including Google translation services and OpenAI-backed workflows routed through our backend.
Moderation and review workflows. Product submissions and image updates may be reviewed by authorized administrators or contractors acting on our behalf.
Legal and safety reasons. We may disclose information if required by law, regulation, court order, or to protect rights, safety, or security.
Business transfers. Information may be transferred in connection with a merger, financing, acquisition, reorganization, or sale of assets, subject to applicable law.

We may also publish or use aggregated or de-identified information that does not reasonably identify you.

5. Permissions and Device Access

Camera

We request camera access to scan product barcodes and to let you capture product photos for submission or review workflows.

Location

We request location access for nearby-store features, map display, and optional scan geotagging. Location is intended for in-store use and can be skipped in some flows.

Notifications

If you grant notification permission, we may store your push token and use it to deliver reminders, updates, or re-engagement messages.

Advertising

The current released build of Organic Shepherd does not enable third-party ad delivery in normal use. If advertising is enabled in a future release, this Privacy Policy may be updated to describe those practices.

6. Retention

On-device scan history and similar local records may remain on your device until cleared by you, removed by app settings, or deleted when the app is removed.
Account records, shopping-list sync data, preference records, and device-token records may be retained while your account is active and for a reasonable period afterward for backup, security, compliance, and operational needs.
Submitted product images and pending review records may be retained as needed for moderation, fraud prevention, auditability, and product-quality workflows.
Analytics and diagnostic records may be retained according to our providers' retention settings and operational requirements.

7. Your Choices

You may use guest mode in certain app experiences instead of a named account.
You may deny camera, location, or notification permissions through your device settings, although some features may no longer work correctly.
You may skip geotagging in supported scan flows.
You may sign out of your account at any time.
You may clear local app data using your device settings or supported in-app controls.
You may contact us to request access, correction, or deletion, subject to applicable law and operational limitations.

8. Account and Data Deletion

Organic Shepherd includes an in-app account deletion flow that deletes the current account login when available.

Deleting an account may not immediately remove all locally stored content from your device, and some backend records, submissions, logs, fraud-prevention data, or moderation records may need to be retained for legitimate operational, security, legal, or community-integrity reasons.

If you want a broader data-deletion review, contact us at support@organicshepherd.com and include the email address associated with your account, if any.

We also publish a dedicated request page for Google Play and user support at Delete Account.

9. Security

We use reasonable administrative, technical, and organizational safeguards intended to protect information. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure, so we cannot guarantee absolute security.

10. Children

Organic Shepherd is not intended for children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child has provided personal information to us, contact us so we can review and respond.

11. International Processing

Your information may be processed or stored in countries other than your own, including the United States, where our service providers or infrastructure may operate.

12. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we will post the revised version here and update the effective date above. Material changes may also be communicated through the app or other appropriate channels.

13. Contact Us

If you have questions, requests, or concerns about this Privacy Policy or our data practices, contact:

Organic Shepherd
Email: support@organicshepherd.com

If you want to use this page for Google Play, publish it at a public HTTPS URL and place that URL in the Play Console privacy policy field.