Privacy Policy
Last updated: August 12, 2026
Who We Are
FieldMonocle is an AI-powered educational tool for identifying plants, mushrooms, insects, animal tracks, and rocks from photographs. We are an independent development project. For privacy inquiries, contact us at: privacy@fieldmonocle.com
What We Collect
Account Information
When you create an account, our authentication provider processes your email address and sign-in credentials. If you use Google Sign-In, we receive the account information Google and you authorize for authentication. We also record the date you confirm that you are at least 18.
Photos You Upload
Photos you submit for identification are processed by our AI system. Before any photo is uploaded, we automatically strip all EXIF metadata — including GPS location data . If you type a location or other field notes, that text is transmitted with the image for identification and protected-status screening and may be reflected in the resulting report.
To protect a find when service is unavailable or unreliable, FieldMonocle may temporarily store compressed photos and field notes in the browser storage on your device. Queued data remains on that device until it syncs successfully or you clear the browser's site data. Avoid using the offline queue on a shared device if others can access that browser profile.
Identification Results (Your Journal / Finds)
If you choose to save an identification, or when an offline-queued identification successfully syncs, the AI report (species name, safety tier, field notes, etc.) is stored in your account. You can delete any saved find at any time from your Journal. Its processed photo is stored in private cloud storage so it can appear in your Journal. It remains there until you delete the find or your account, subject to limited provider backup and security-log retention.
Usage Data
We process account-linked scan counts, rate-limit records, feedback you submit, and technical request or error data needed to operate, secure, and improve the Service. Hosting and infrastructure providers may process IP addresses, device or browser information, timestamps, and request diagnostics.
Payment Information
If you purchase paid access, payments are processed by Stripe. We never see or store your card number, CVV, or full payment details. Stripe's privacy policy governs payment data.
How We Use Your Data
- ✓To process your photo and return an AI identification report
- ✓To store your saved finds (Journal) and link them to your account
- ✓To send transactional emails (account verification, password reset)
- ✓To process payments and manage subscriptions
- ✓To improve the accuracy and safety of our AI system
- ✓To comply with our legal obligations
Third-Party AI Processing (Google Gemini)
Your processed photos, optional field notes, and request instructions are sent to Google's Gemini API. Under Google's terms for paid services, Google states that it does not use prompts, associated files, or responses to improve its products. Google separately states that it retains prompts, contextual information, and generated output for up to 55 days for abuse monitoring, policy enforcement, and required legal or regulatory disclosures. FieldMonocle does not use Gemini's File API, search grounding, or model-training features for identification requests. Google's current details are available in its Gemini API terms and abuse-monitoring policy.
Data Storage & Security
Supabase provides authentication, database, and private image storage. Vercel hosts and delivers the Service and processes technical request and security information. Stripe processes payments. We use HTTPS in transit, private storage access controls, and account-level authorization for saved finds. No online service can promise absolute security.
Your Rights (GDPR & CCPA)
Depending on where you live, you may have the following rights regarding your personal data:
- →Right to access: Request a copy of all data we hold about you
- →Right to deletion: Request that we delete your account and all associated data
- →Right to correction: Request that we correct inaccurate data
- →Right to portability: Request your data in a machine-readable format
- →Right to object: Object to the processing of your data for marketing purposes
To exercise any of these rights, email us at privacy@fieldmonocle.com. We will respond within 30 days.
You can also use our public account-deletion instructions.
Children's Privacy
FieldMonocle's AI identification is for adults age 18 or older and is not directed to minors. We do not knowingly permit minors to use AI identification or knowingly collect their personal data. If you believe a person under 18 has provided personal data, please contact us immediately at privacy@fieldmonocle.com and we will delete it.
Data Retention
We retain account information and saved finds while your account is active. Deleting a find removes its active database record and stored photos. Account deletion removes the active account, Journal records, and stored Journal photos through our deletion process. We retain a one-way cryptographic hash of the account email solely to prevent repeated free-trial abuse. Infrastructure backups, security logs, payment records, and data a service provider must retain for legal or fraud-prevention purposes may remain for that provider's applicable retention period. Aggregated or de-identified statistics may be retained when they can no longer reasonably identify you.
Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. If we make material changes, we will notify you by email or by a prominent notice within the app. Continued use of FieldMonocle after changes are posted constitutes your acceptance of the new policy.
Questions about this policy? Contact us at privacy@fieldmonocle.com