Privacy policy
The short version. No account, no sign-in, no ads, no tracking. Photos you scan are sent to identify the piece, then discarded by us. Your haul log stays on your devices and in your own iCloud. We don't sell or share your data, and your photos aren't used to train AI. Apple handles payments; we never see your name, email or card.
1. Who we are
ThriftHound is published by Vision Forge Studios ("we", "us"), who is responsible for the data described here. Contact: hello@thrifthound.app.
2. What happens when you scan
ThriftHound resizes your photo, and the optional close-up of its mark, label or base, and sends them over an encrypted (HTTPS) connection to our server on Cloudflare Workers. Our server forwards them to Google's paid Gemini API, which returns the identification and value estimate. If one Gemini model is unavailable we retry with another; your photos never go to any other AI company. Before your first photo is sent the app asks your permission; if you cancel, nothing is sent.
3. Data that leaves your device
| What | Why | Who receives it | How long it's kept |
|---|---|---|---|
| The photos you scan (the piece, and the close-up if you add one) | To identify the piece and estimate its value. | Our server (Cloudflare), then Google. | Not stored by us. Google may keep them for a limited time for abuse monitoring (section 5). |
| Your onboarding answers and language (for example "I resell what I find", "en_US") | So answers match your use and level. | Same as the photos, in the same request. | Same as the photos. |
| A random install ID | Basic abuse protection. It's created by the app, not your Apple ID or any device or advertising ID. | Our server only. | Not stored by us for subscribers. Deleting the app resets it. |
| Apple's signed proof of your subscription | So only subscribers can scan, and for the fair daily limit (40 scans a day). It holds a transaction number and your plan, never your name, email or payment details. | Our server only. | A daily scan count under the transaction number, deleted automatically 48 hours after your last scan. |
| The identification result (text only, never the photo) | So the exact same photo gets the same answer instantly. | Our server's cache (Cloudflare). | Up to 30 days, under a one-way fingerprint (hash) of the photo. |
| The identified item's name, maker category and value range (no photo, no ID) | "Value memory": so a new photo of the same kind of piece gets a consistent value range. | Our server's database (Cloudflare). | Up to 120 days, then replaced. It contains no information about you. |
| Your IP address and connection data | Needed to deliver the response and protect the server. | Cloudflare. | Not stored by us; request logging is off. Cloudflare may process them briefly under its security practices. |
| Anonymous app counts (installed, plans screen opened, trial or subscription started, restored, features such as "close-up" or "sold listings" used) with the app name, plan and a test-version label; and, if you answer it, where you heard about the app | To see how many people subscribe and which features earn their place. | Our server (Cloudflare). Never your install ID, IP address, photos or answers. | Up to 13 months. |
| Subscription updates from Apple (started, renewed, cancelled, refunded) with Apple's anonymous transaction number, plan, price and dates | So a refunded subscription stops working, and to count renewals. | Apple, then our server. | Up to 3 years (accounting). |
That is everything the app sends. We don't collect your name, email, phone number, contacts, location, browsing history or advertising identifier.
4. Data that stays with you
Your haul log (photos, close-ups, results, notes, favourites, the prices you enter and each find's status, and, if you turn it on, where each find came from) is stored on your iPhone and, if you use iCloud, synced through your own private iCloud database (Apple CloudKit). We can't see or access it. You can turn iCloud backup off in Settings. Location is used only if you turn on location logging: the app saves it with that find in your own log and never sends it to us. If you start a free trial and allow notifications, the app schedules a local reminder before the trial ends; we don't use push servers for it.
5. Service providers
Google LLC (paid Gemini API) processes scan photos to produce results. Under the paid Gemini API terms, Google doesn't use prompts or responses to improve its products and logs them for a limited period to detect abuse. Cloudflare, Inc. hosts our server and this website. Apple handles purchases; we receive no payment details. Providers may process data in the United States and other countries, under their standard safeguards such as the EU Standard Contractual Clauses.
6. Links to other websites
The sold-results buttons open eBay's, LiveAuctioneers' or Poshmark's public website in your browser with the item's search words in the address. The marketplace buttons in "Sell it" (eBay, Facebook Marketplace, Etsy, Depop, Poshmark, Mercari, Vinted) copy the listing text to your clipboard on your phone and open that marketplace's own listing page; you sign in and post there yourself. ThriftHound isn't affiliated with any of them and sends them nothing; each one's own privacy policy applies on its site.
7. What we don't do
No accounts or profiles. No ads, analytics or advertising SDKs. No tracking across other companies' apps or websites, and no use of the advertising identifier. No selling or sharing of personal information. No storing of your scan photos on our server, and no training AI on them.
8. Children
ThriftHound is a general-audience app for adults. It is not directed at children under 13, and we don't knowingly collect personal information from children.
9. Your choices and rights
You can withdraw permission to send photos at any time in Settings; delete any find, or all of them, in the app; and delete the iCloud copy in iOS Settings › [your name] › iCloud › Manage Storage. Because we hold no account or personal profile, there is nothing about you for us to look up; if you think we hold something, write to us and we'll reply within 30 days. Depending on where you live (for example the EU, UK or California) you have rights to access, correct, delete or object to processing of your personal data, and to complain to your data protection authority.
10. Changes
We'll update the effective date above and, for significant changes, tell you in the app.