Privacy Policy

Effective 15 July 2026

This policy explains how Garden Sage ("we", "us", or "our") handles information when you use the Garden Sage iOS app and related services. Garden Sage does not sell personal information and does not use your data for cross-app tracking or third-party advertising.

Information we collect

• Account information: your account identifier and email address when supplied through Sign in with Apple or another sign-in method. For email sign-in, we store a salted, one-way password hash rather than the password you enter.
• Garden content: uploaded plant photos, plant and garden records, notes, care history, and the identification or care results associated with them.
• Location and weather context: a coarse location when you choose to share it, plus derived local weather and seasonal context used to tailor plant-care guidance.
• Subscription information: App Store product and transaction identifiers, subscription status, eligibility, and renewal or expiry dates. Apple processes your payment details; Garden Sage does not receive your full payment-card information.
• Service and diagnostic information: product interactions, app version and build, request timing, error, security, and performance records needed to operate, protect, analyse, and troubleshoot the service.
• Website contact information: if you join a waitlist or contact us, we process the name, email address, request type, and message you choose to provide.

How we use information

We use this information to:

• authenticate your account and keep your garden available across sessions;
• identify plants, assess visible plant-health concerns, and provide care guidance;
• personalise results using your garden, location, season, weather, and care history;
• save plants and observations you choose to keep;
• verify subscription access, restore purchases, and prevent duplicate or fraudulent entitlement claims; and
• respond to support or privacy requests and maintain security, reliability, and legal compliance.

Photo and AI processing

Photos and the garden context needed for a request are sent to Garden Sage's secured backend. Depending on the request and current service configuration, PlantNet-based identification systems, Hugging Face inference services, or OpenAI may process that content to identify the plant or generate care guidance. Before the first upload, the app asks for your explicit permission to send the photo and optional context for this processing. You can revoke that permission in Account › Privacy; the next analysis will ask again before anything is uploaded. Revocation stops future sharing but does not undo processing already completed.

Results are informational, may be uncertain, and are not professional agricultural, toxicology, veterinary, or medical advice.

When information is shared

We share information only as needed with:

• hosting, storage, model-processing, monitoring, and support providers acting on our behalf;
• Apple for sign-in, App Store subscriptions, purchase restoration, and related platform services;
• authorities or other parties when reasonably necessary to comply with law, protect users, prevent abuse, or defend legal rights; and
• a successor if Garden Sage is involved in a merger, acquisition, financing, or sale, subject to this policy and applicable law.

When personal information is shared under this section, we require it to be used only for the stated purpose and protected to the same or an equivalent standard, except where disclosure is required by law.

Website delivery

Garden Sage's hosting and network providers may process limited technical request information needed to deliver and secure gardensage.co. Garden Sage does not use website information for cross-app tracking or third-party advertising.

Retention and account deletion

We keep account and garden information while your account is active and only as long as needed for the purposes above. You can delete your account by opening Account in the app and tapping Delete Account in the Privacy section. This removes the account and associated garden records from the active service. Stored media is queued for secure deletion and may take a short time to be removed.

Deleted information may remain temporarily in protected rotating backups or limited records retained for security, fraud prevention, accounting, or legal obligations. Those records are not used to continue providing a deleted account.

Your choices

• You can decline or revoke location and photo-library access in iOS Settings.
• You can choose which photos to submit and which results to save.
• You can revoke AI photo-processing permission in Account › Privacy; Garden Sage will ask again before a future upload.
• You can manage or cancel a subscription in your Apple Account settings.
• You can request account deletion directly in the app.

Security and international processing

We use technical and organisational safeguards designed to protect your information. No service can guarantee absolute security. Information may be processed in countries other than your own by providers supporting Garden Sage, subject to appropriate contractual and legal safeguards.

Children

Garden Sage is not directed to children under 13, or the higher minimum age required in their country. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children below that age.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as Garden Sage evolves. We will publish the revised policy at this URL and update the effective date. Material changes will be highlighted in the app or through another appropriate notice.

Contact

For privacy questions or requests, visit Garden Sage Support. Invited testers can also reply to their original invitation message while the public support mailbox is being configured.

Garden Sage gives practical gardening guidance, but plant identification and health suggestions can be wrong. If a plant may be toxic or poses a risk to people or animals, contact an appropriate qualified professional.