# Privacy Policy for AquaLens
**Last updated:** March 2026
David Walker ("we," "us," or "our") built the AquaLens app as a Freemium app. This SERVICE is provided by David Walker at no cost and is intended for use as is.
This page is used to inform visitors regarding our policies with the collection, use, and disclosure of Personal Information if anyone decided to use our Service.
If you choose to use our Service, then you agree to the collection and use of information in relation to this policy. The Personal Information that we collect is used for providing and improving the Service. We will not use or share your information with anyone except as described in this Privacy Policy.
## 1. Information Collection and Use
For a better experience while using our Service, we may require you to provide us with certain personally identifiable information. The information that we request will be retained by us and used as described in this privacy policy.
The app does use third-party services that may collect information used to identify you.
### 1.1 Camera and Photo Library Access
AquaLens requires access to your device's camera and photo library to function correctly. This is required for:
- Utilizing the Optical Character Recognition (OCR) features for water parameter test kits.
- Utilizing the AI computer vision scanning feature for identifying aquatic species and plants.
- Allowing you to capture and save images of your aquatic ecosystems to your personal digital journal.
- Allowing you to optionally upload screenshots of your tank to the public Community Hub.
Images processed by the AI scanner are temporarily sent to our backend servers to interact with Google's Gemini AI models to return identification results, but these initial scanning images are not permanently stored by us unless you explicitly choose to save them to your log or share them publicly.
### 1.2 User Accounts and Cloud Sync
AquaLens offers anonymous authentication by default to keep your local data organized on your device.
If you subscribe to AquaLens Pro, we may collect and synchronize your tank parameters, logs, livestock lists, and wishlist data to our secured cloud servers (hosted by Firebase) to enable multi-device sync and data recovery. You may opt-out of cloud synchronization at any time within the "App Settings" menu, which will halt all data transmission and keep your records strictly local to your device.
### 1.3 Push Notifications
To provide timely reminders for aquarium maintenance (such as water changes, dosing schedules, and quarantine expirations), we collect and store a Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM) token unique to your device. This token is used solely to deliver these scheduled reminders.
### 1.4 In-App Purchases
AquaLens offers premium subscriptions via RevenueCat. When you purchase a subscription, the transaction is processed directly through the Apple App Store or Google Play Store. We do not process, collect, or store your payment details directly (such as credit card numbers). We do, however, receive anonymous receipt tokens validating your purchase to unlock premium features within the app.
## 2. Third-Party Service Providers
We may employ third-party companies and individuals due to the following reasons:
* To facilitate our Service;
* To provide the Service on our behalf;
* To perform Service-related services; or
* To assist us in analyzing how our Service is used.
We want to inform users of this Service that these third parties have access to your Personal Information to perform the tasks assigned to them on our behalf. However, they are obligated not to disclose or use the information for any other purpose.
The app uses the following third-party services:
* **Google Play Services & Firebase:** For authentication, cloud database storage, cloud functions, and push notifications.
* **Google Gemini / Google Cloud:** For powering the computer-vision and AI chat features.
* **RevenueCat:** For managing App Store subscription statuses.
## 3. Security
We value your trust in providing us your Personal Information, thus we are striving to use commercially acceptable means of protecting it. But remember that no method of transmission over the internet, or method of electronic storage is 100% secure and reliable, and we cannot guarantee its absolute security.
## 4. Links to Other Sites
This Service may contain links to other sites. If you click on a third-party link, you will be directed to that site. Note that these external sites are not operated by us. Therefore, we strongly advise you to review the Privacy Policy of these websites. We have no control over and assume no responsibility for the content, privacy policies, or practices of any third-party sites or services.
## 5. Children’s Privacy
These Services do not address anyone under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from children under 13 years of age. In the case we discover that a child under 13 has provided us with personal information, we immediately delete this from our servers. If you are a parent or guardian and you are aware that your child has provided us with personal information, please contact us so that we will be able to do the necessary actions.
## 6. Content Moderation
In the "Community" or "Showcase" features, users may voluntarily publish photos of their aquariums to a public feed. We utilize automated AI moderation tools to scan user-submitted media and text for inappropriate, offensive, or disallowed content prior to publishing. By submitting content to the public feed, you consent to this automated scanning process. We reserve the right to remove any content that violates our community standards or terms of service without prior notice.
## 7. Changes to This Privacy Policy
We may update our Privacy Policy from time to time. Thus, you are advised to review this page periodically for any changes. We will notify you of any changes by posting the new Privacy Policy on this page.
## 8. Contact Us
If you have any questions or suggestions about our Privacy Policy, do not hesitate to contact us at aqualensapp@gmail.com.