Sproutkeeper keeps your plant collection on your own device. There is no account
and no sign-in. The only time anything leaves your phone is when you
ask for an AI diagnosis — at which point the plant photo is sent to be analysed, with your consent,
as described below.
What stays on your device
Everything you build up in the app is stored locally on your phone (using the
device's own storage). This includes:
Your plant collection and any photos you save to it
Care-log entries and notes you add
Your settings and watering reminders
Whether you've made the one-time purchase
We can't see any of this — it never reaches us. You can edit or delete any of it in the app, and
deleting the app removes all of it.
What data we collect, and how
The only data Sproutkeeper collects is the plant photo you choose to
scan (plus a technical note of the image's file type). We collect it only at the
moment you tap to scan or attach a photo — never in the background, never automatically. We
do not collect your name, email, contacts, location, device identifiers, or any
usage analytics. There is no account and no sign-in.
What happens when you scan a plant
To diagnose a plant, the app needs an AI to look at the photo. Here is exactly what data is sent,
who it goes to, and every use of it:
What is sent: only the plant photo you scan (and which image
type it is). Nothing else — the app has no other personal data to send.
Who it is sent to: the photo is sent over a secure (HTTPS) connection to our
diagnosis service hosted on Vercel Inc., which forwards it to
Anthropic PBC — the maker of the Claude AI that generates the diagnosis.
Every use of it: the photo is used for the single purpose of
producing your plant diagnosis. It is processed transiently to generate that one result. It is
not stored by our service, not used to train AI models, and
not used for advertising, profiling, or tracking.
Equal protection by our processors. Both Vercel and Anthropic act as our data
processors under binding contractual terms (their API/service agreements and data-processing terms).
Under those terms they are required to protect your photo to the same or an equally
protective standard described in this policy — handling it only to deliver the diagnosis,
not retaining it, and not using it to train models.
Your consent, your control. Before your very first scan, Sproutkeeper shows a
consent screen that names Anthropic and explains what's sent. The AI diagnosis only works after you
agree, and you can turn it off again at any time in Settings. If you don't consent,
the rest of the app (your collection, care log, and reminders) still works.
You can read how Anthropic handles API data in their
privacy policy,
and Vercel's in theirs.
What Sproutkeeper does NOT do
It does not require an account or any sign-in.
It has no analytics, telemetry, tracking pixels, or advertising.
It does not sell or share your data with anyone for marketing.
It does not send anything off your device except a plant photo you
choose to scan, as described above.
Purchases
The one-time upgrade is handled by Apple. To remember that you've purchased and to
restore it on a new device, we use RevenueCat, which processes an anonymous purchase
identifier from Apple. This is tied to your App Store purchase, not to your identity —
we never receive your name or payment details.
Permissions, explained
Camera / Photos: used only when you choose to scan or attach a plant photo. The
app doesn't browse or upload anything else.
Notifications (optional): used for the gentle watering reminders you set up.
Children
Sproutkeeper is a houseplant-care tool and is not directed at children.
Data retention and deletion
Because your collection and care log are stored locally, you control them entirely —
delete an item to remove it, or delete the app to remove everything. Scanned photos are processed to
generate a result and are not stored by our service.
Changes to this policy
If this policy changes, the updated version will be published at this URL and the effective date
above will be revised.
Contact
Questions about privacy? Contact: fermentory@proton.me