At WilderGuide ("we", "our", or "us"), created by Laura McMillan, your privacy and trust are our highest priority. WilderGuide is designed as an educational, offline-first field journal and wildlife discovery companion.
🔒 Our Core Privacy Promise
We do NOT sell, rent, or trade your personal data to third parties or advertising networks. Your wildlife sightings, badges, and photos belong strictly to you.
1. Information We Collect
We only collect information necessary to provide the field journaling experience:
- Camera & Photos: When you photograph a plant or animal on the trail or choose an existing photo from your camera roll, the photo is stored locally on your device and attached to your journal sighting.
- Location Data (GPS): With your permission, WilderGuide accesses your precise GPS coordinates only while using the app to record the geographical location of your wildlife sighting and determine your proximity to California biomes. We do not track your location in the background.
- Account Information: If you create a WilderGuide Account to back up your journal across devices, we collect your email address and chosen username/handle via secure Firebase Authentication.
- Offline Storage: All field journal observations, checklists, badges, and progress are stored locally on your phone's storage (AsyncStorage) so the app works seamlessly with zero cell service.
2. How We Use Your Information
- To generate your personal wildlife discovery journal and expedition badges.
- To sync your journal entries across your authorized devices when you log in.
- To display your username on team expedition boards if you join a team with friends.
- To deliver audio guides and species identification tips.
3. Third-Party Services & Infrastructure
WilderGuide uses industry-standard, secure infrastructure to provide account sync:
- Google Firebase (Firestore & Authentication): Used strictly for secure cloud backup and multi-device authentication under Google Cloud security standards.
- Apple App Store / Google Play: In-app purchases and subscription billing are processed securely through Apple StoreKit and Google Play Billing. WilderGuide never receives or stores your credit card numbers.
- Wikipedia / iNaturalist API: Species information and reference images are fetched from public educational repositories without sending any personal identifying data.
4. Children's Privacy (COPPA Compliance)
WilderGuide is designed as a family-friendly educational nature app suitable for all ages. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under the age of 13 without parental consent. Parents and guardians can contact us at any time to review, modify, or delete any data associated with their family's accounts.
5. Data Retention and Account Deletion
You have complete control over your data. You can delete individual sightings directly in the app at any time. If you wish to permanently delete your account and all associated cloud data, you can do so in the Profile tab inside the app or by contacting our support team.
6. Contact Us
If you have any questions or requests regarding this Privacy Policy, please contact:
WilderGuide Support
Lead Naturalist & Developer: Laura McMillan
Email: support@wilderguide.app (or lauramcmillan580@gmail.com)
Web: wilderguide.app/support