Privacy Policy
Esprout Day Sort
This policy explains how this application handles information and how to contact us about privacy.
Information we process
Esprout Day Sort stores your plant names, shelf and place dimensions, light and care-access choices, placements and move dates, change-trial factors and baseline conditions, journal notes, leaf counts, soil states, event dates, comparison decisions, photos and puzzle progress on your iPhone. Language and reminder choices are stored locally. The app has no account, login, advertising or analytics SDK. If you enable manual backup and press Back up now, the app sends your journal snapshot, photos and related plant identifiers and dates to its server. The server creates a random installation identifier and secret; the identifier and secret are stored in this installation’s iOS Keychain, and the server stores a hash of the secret. Optional temporary report sharing uploads the PDF, including the photos, dates and conclusions you included. Requests to the server and the public website also expose network information such as IP address, requested path, time and response status to hosting infrastructure.
How we use information
Local information supports greenhouse planning, conflict explanations, photo alignment, change observations, equal-length period comparisons, PDF export and puzzle progress. Local notifications remind you to check plants and finish trials. Optional server processing provides backup and restoration for the installation that possesses its secret, and seven-day report links you choose to create. Installation credentials authorize access and deletion; technical request information supports operating and protecting the service. Core planning, journaling and puzzles work without an internet connection.
Service providers and sharing
The backend and this public policy are hosted by Railway, which processes server storage and network requests as the infrastructure provider. There are no advertising networks, analytics services, email delivery services or social sign-in providers in the application. A shared report link is a bearer link: anyone who receives it can view its PDF until it expires or the installation data is deleted. Exporting or sharing a local PDF through the iOS share sheet sends it only to the app or destination you choose; that destination then handles it under its own practices. Railway infrastructure may retain technical request logs, including requested paths. The application does not log journal payloads or installation secrets.
Data retention
The local journal and photos remain until you delete them or remove the application’s local storage. Keychain credentials can remain after reinstalling on the same device, but their survival is not guaranteed. Server backup data remains until an authorized deletion request; disabling backup stops new uploads but does not delete an existing copy. Temporary report links expire seven days after creation. The server rejects expired links and removes expired report files on access, at startup and during hourly cleanup. Exported PDFs may remain in the app’s temporary storage until removed with the related data or cleaned by iOS; copies you share elsewhere remain under the recipient’s control. No fixed Railway infrastructure-log retention duration or automated volume-backup retention is asserted here. This service does not implement an additional backup archive, and infrastructure backup or recovery copies, if any exist, are governed by the hosting provider’s actual processes.
Deleting your information
In Settings, deleting a plant removes its local photos, checks, trials, events and saved comparisons. If backup is enabled the app attempts to send the updated snapshot and prune the removed photos on the server; if the request fails, retry Back up now when connected. Delete all data and backup first authorizes server deletion with the installation secret and then clears the local journal, photos, puzzle progress and reminders and removes the Keychain credential. An existing server copy requires an internet connection for this action. Server deletion revokes access and removes the installation record and owned shared reports from active service storage. Deletion cannot remove PDFs already downloaded or shared with another recipient, and does not assert immediate erasure of unknown infrastructure recovery copies. If the installation secret is lost, the app cannot promise access, restoration or an authenticated deletion; there is no account-based recovery.
Permissions and your choices
Camera permission is requested only when you choose to take a plant photo. The previous local photo can be shown as a camera alignment overlay. Photo import uses the iOS system picker to access only images you select, without requesting full-library access; the app does not automatically upload your library. Notification permission is optional and schedules reminders locally; no push token is sent to the server. You can withdraw camera or notification permission in iOS Settings and continue using the journal, import controls and other core features. Remove an imported photo or plant to remove its stored local copy. Backup is controlled separately in the application settings.
Your privacy rights
You can review and edit your records, export comparisons as PDF, and delete local and server information using the application’s controls. Depending on your location, you may have rights to access, correct, delete or restrict the processing of personal information and to complain to a relevant authority. For privacy questions contact nerissa.yardley@icloud.com. This address is a public privacy contact; the app does not send emails or require your email address. Do not send your installation secret by email. Requests must be assessed against the information available and the need to prevent disclosure of another installation’s private data.
Security
Deployed network requests use HTTPS. A separate random installation secret is stored in Keychain with device-only accessibility; the server stores its SHA-256 hash and checks both the identifier and secret for private operations. Personal backups are not public endpoints. Files are stored on a persistent Railway volume with restricted filesystem permissions, bounded uploads and atomic writes. Local journal and photo writes use iOS file protection until the first device unlock. Report links use random capability tokens, so keep them private if the report is sensitive. There is no shared credential embedded in the app, and no end-to-end encryption claim is made. No storage or transmission system is guaranteed risk-free.
Children’s privacy
Esprout Day Sort is intended for adult indoor-plant owners and is not designed as a service for children. It does not request age, identity, accounts or contact details from users. Avoid adding personal information about children to photos or notes. If you believe a child’s personal information has been provided to this service, contact nerissa.yardley@icloud.com so the available deletion options can be considered.
Changes to this policy
This policy describes the application and backend practices as of its effective date. It will be updated if data categories, purposes, storage, recipients or optional features change. The current version is available at this public privacy page and through the app’s Settings link. The effective date will identify the latest policy update.