Privacy Policy
Last updated: July 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, we collect your email address and a hashed password. We do not collect your name, phone number, or address unless you voluntarily provide them.
Photos You Upload
Photos you submit for identification are processed by our AI system. Before any photo leaves your device, we automatically strip all EXIF metadata — including GPS location data — so your location is never transmitted or stored.
Identification Results (Your Journal / Finds)
If you choose to save an identification, 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. Photos themselves are not permanently stored on our servers after processing.
Usage Data
We may collect basic, anonymized usage data (pages visited, scan counts) to improve the product. This data is not linked to your identity.
Payment Information
If you subscribe to a paid plan, 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 photos are sent to Google's Gemini AI API for processing. We use Google's paid tier, which strictly guarantees data privacy. Google does not log your photos and does not use your data to train their AI models. Your images are processed transiently and discarded immediately after the identification result is returned.
Data Storage & Security
Your account data and saved finds are stored securely using Supabase (a PostgreSQL-based cloud database hosted in the United States). Supabase is SOC 2 compliant and encrypts data at rest and in transit. We use industry-standard HTTPS for all data in transit.
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.
Children's Privacy
FieldMonocle is not directed at children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children. If you believe a child under 13 has provided us with personal data, please contact us immediately at privacy@fieldmonocle.com and we will delete it.
Data Retention
We retain your account data for as long as your account is active. If you delete your account, your personal data is permanently deleted within 30 days. Anonymized, aggregated usage statistics may be retained indefinitely.
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