Fish Finder privacy notice

The short version

• Apple Vision performs the first check entirely on your iPhone.
• A photo leaves the phone only when the local result is uncertain or when you explicitly ask for a more detailed AI species check.
• Photos used for AI verification are processed in memory and are never stored.
• Your saved fish history and compressed thumbnails stay on your iPhone.
• No account, advertising, cross-app tracking or precise location is used.

Private checks on your iPhone

Apple Vision analyses a selected photo on the device to look for a broad fish category or a strong non-fish result. This first pass does not contact Pocket Grove, Apple or an AI provider with the photo. On-device checks are unlimited.

A local category is deliberately shown as a broad result rather than an exact scientific species. You can keep that result, try a different image or choose the more detailed AI check.

Optional online AI verification

If the on-device check is uncertain, or if you choose the detailed AI check, the app sends the resized photo over an encrypted connection to Pocket Grove's server. The request also includes a random installation identifier, image media type and app language. It does not include your name, email address, contacts, precise location or advertising identifier.

Our server checks the request and sends the photo to Anthropic solely to generate the fish identification you requested. The photo is held in working memory only for that request. Neither Pocket Grove nor the app writes the photo to server storage, logs or backups. Anthropic's handling is described in its privacy policy.

Identification cache and species sources

To control abuse and avoid paying to analyse the same image repeatedly, the server keeps a cryptographic SHA-256 image fingerprint, the random installation identifier, normalized result, model name and timestamp for up to 90 days. A fingerprint is a one-way value, not a copy of the photo. It is used only for app functionality, rate limits, security and cost control, and is not used for advertising or model training.

Positive suggestions are checked against the GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. When available, the app also retrieves structured species facts and source references from the World Register of Marine Species. Taxonomic names and registry identifiers may be cached for 180 days; those public species records contain no user or photo data.

History stored on your iPhone

Fish Finder stores up to 20 recent results with small compressed photo thumbnails in the app's private local storage. Pocket Grove cannot see this history. You can clear it in the History screen, and removing the app deletes its local history from the phone.

Purchases

Premium subscriptions are sold through the Apple App Store. Apple handles payment; we do not receive your card details. RevenueCat receives a random app-user identifier and purchase or subscription status so the app can show plans, validate access and restore or manage purchases. RevenueCat does not receive fish photos or identification results from this app. See the RevenueCat privacy policy.

Retention, deletion and security

• Submitted photos are not retained.
• Pseudonymous image fingerprints and identification results expire after 90 days.
• Public structured species profiles may be refreshed after 180 days.
• Local history remains until you clear it or remove the app.

We use encrypted transport, signed app requests, per-installation limits and service-wide safeguards to protect the online verification feature. No method of storage or transmission is completely secure.

Your choices and rights

You can use unlimited local checks without sending a photo to us, decline the detailed AI check, clear local history at any time, and manage or cancel a subscription through Apple. Depending on where you live, you may also have rights to access, delete or restrict personal data.

Privacy questions and requests: [email protected]
General support: [email protected]