Privacy Policy
Last updated: June 3, 2026
This document is a good-faith draft and not legal advice. Have it reviewed by a qualified lawyer before public launch, in particular the sections on location data and potential future research use.
dobudex ("we", "us") is a mobile app that lets you scan real animals you encounter and collect them as pixel-art creatures. This policy explains what we collect, why, and the choices you have. Questions: support@dobudex.com.
Information we collect
- Account information. You can use dobudex as a guest (anonymous) or sign in with Apple or Google. If you sign in, we receive and store your email address and an account identifier; if you use Apple's "Hide My Email", we only receive Apple's relay address. We also store a username you choose.
- Scan photos. When you scan an animal, the photo is uploaded so we can identify the species and generate your creature. We also retain a higher-resolution copy of each animal scan (see "Retention" and "Future research use" below). Selfie/avatar photos are not retained at high resolution.
- Approximate location (optional). If you grant location permission, a scan may be tagged with a coarse, approximate location (captured at reduced accuracy, roughly 1-5 km, and further truncated before storage). It is optional, you can deny it and keep using every feature. We strip GPS metadata (EXIF) from photos before upload.
- Subscription and purchase information. If you buy a subscription, our payments partner (RevenueCat) and the App Store process the purchase and report your subscription status to us. We do not receive or store your full payment-card details.
- Limited diagnostic data. We log technical details about AI processing requests (timing, status codes, request shape) to operate and debug the service. These records are minimized and do not include your photos or username.
We do not use third-party advertising or analytics trackers, and we do not track you across other apps or websites.
How we use your information
- To identify the species in your scan and generate your creature.
- To build and sync your personal Dex and Journal across your sessions.
- To manage your account, subscription, and scan allowance.
- To operate, secure, debug, and improve the service.
AI processing of photos
To identify a species and create artwork, your scan photo is sent to our AI providers, currently Google (Gemini) and OpenAI, which process it to return an identification and a generated image. We do not use your photos for advertising. These providers handle the photo under their own API terms and privacy policies.
Who we share data with
We do not sell your personal data. We share data only with service providers ("processors") who help us run dobudex, under agreements that limit their use of it:
- Supabase — hosting, database, storage, authentication.
- Apple and Google — sign-in.
- Google (Gemini) and OpenAI — AI species identification and image generation.
- RevenueCat and the App Store — subscription management and payments.
Future research use of scan data
Aggregated wildlife observations have scientific and conservation value. We retain higher-resolution copies of animal scans so that, in the future, anonymized and/or aggregated scan data could support biodiversity research or be shared with research partners. We do not do this today. If we ever do, we will update this policy first and obtain the consent required by applicable law before any such sharing.
Retention and deletion
- You can delete your account and guest data from within the app. This removes your profile, scans, photos (including the higher-resolution copies), and any stored locations from our live systems.
- Deleted data may persist for a short period (around 7 days) in encrypted backups before being permanently purged.
- Minimized, de-identified operational logs (with no photos or usernames) may be retained for diagnostics, debugging, and security.
Your rights
Depending on where you live (for example, under the EU/UK GDPR or California's CCPA/CPRA), you may have the right to access, correct, delete, or port your data, and to object to or restrict certain processing. You can exercise account deletion in the app, or contact us at support@dobudex.com.
Children
dobudex is not directed to children under 13 (or the minimum age required in your country), and we do not knowingly collect their personal data.
Changes to this policy
We may update this policy as the app evolves. Material changes will be reflected here with a new "last updated" date.