Privacy Policy

1. Information We Don't Collect

Let's start with what we don't do:

• Your photos - Never uploaded, never transmitted, never stored on any server
• Photo metadata - Location data, timestamps, camera info stays on your device
• Your identity - No account, no login, no personal information required
• Your contacts - We don't access your address book
• Your browsing - We don't track you outside the app

2. Information We May Collect

To improve SpectraSort, we may collect anonymous, aggregated usage data through Firebase Analytics and Firebase Crashlytics. The data is limited to:

• App usage events - which screens you view, which features you tap (no names, no photos, no content)
• Device model and iOS version - for compatibility
• Crash diagnostics - stack traces and device state when the app crashes
• Performance metrics - processing times, memory usage
• App-instance identifier - a randomly generated ID Firebase assigns to the install, used only to deduplicate sessions and link crashes to events. Resets if you reinstall the app.

The app-instance identifier is not linked to your Apple ID, name, email, IP address, or any data outside SpectraSort. It cannot be used to identify you.

Tracking domains used: app-measurement.com (Firebase Analytics) and firebase-settings.crashlytics.com (Crashlytics). These are the only outbound network destinations the analytics SDK uses.

You can disable analytics anytime in Settings → Privacy → "Send anonymous usage data." When the toggle is off, no events or crash reports are transmitted. Users in the EU, UK, and EEA default to off; everyone else can toggle on or off.

3. On-Device Processing

All AI processing in SpectraSort happens locally on your iPhone using Apple's Core ML framework. This includes:

• Photo quality analysis (sharpness, exposure, composition)
• Aesthetic scoring
• Content understanding and search — the "Find a Subject" and "Like This Photo" tools
• Duplicate and look-alike detection (Dedupe)
• Scene gathering — grouping trips, themes, and series from your photos' dates and metadata
• Taste profile learning from the photos you keep and discard

The first sort builds a one-time index of quality scores and search descriptors on your device; later sorts reuse it. The index is stored locally and never leaves your phone.

The AI models are bundled with the app. No internet connection is required for photo analysis.

4. Taste Profile

The Taste profile is built from the photos you choose to keep and the ones you discard during Review. It consists of preference parameters — subject weights and quality-dimension weights — plus compact numerical descriptors (embeddings) of the photos you picked. These descriptors are one-way mathematical summaries: they are not images and cannot be used to reconstruct your photos. The profile is stored on your device only. There is no profile-sharing feature in this version, and the profile is never transmitted to us or any third party. You can reset it any time from Settings → Reset Taste Profile.

The Taste profile does not contain:

• Any actual photos or viewable image data
• Photo metadata (locations, dates, etc.)
• Personally identifiable information

5. Photo Library Access

SpectraSort requires access to your photo library to function. We use Apple's PhotoKit framework, which means:

• You control which photos SpectraSort can see (all photos or selected albums)
• Access can be revoked anytime in iOS Settings
• We only read photos - we never modify or delete without explicit confirmation

6. Location

Two separate things, both on-device:

• GPS data in your photos — The "Photos of a location" tool and Scenes read the location coordinates already embedded in your own photos. This happens entirely on your device; the coordinates are never transmitted.
• Your device's location (optional) — The location picker includes a map that can center on your current position. The app asks for while-in-use location permission only for this. If you decline, the feature still works — search for a place or drop a pin manually. Your device location is used only to position the map; it is never stored, logged, or transmitted.

7. Third-Party Services

SpectraSort uses the following third-party services:

• Apple App Store - For app distribution and in-app purchase processing
• Firebase Analytics (Google) - Anonymous usage events. Off by default in EU/UK/EEA; toggleable elsewhere. Endpoint: app-measurement.com.
• Firebase Crashlytics (Google) - Crash diagnostics so we can fix bugs. Off by the same Settings toggle. Endpoint: firebase-settings.crashlytics.com.

We do not use advertising networks, social media SDKs, retargeting pixels, attribution SDKs, or any other tracking infrastructure.

8. Data Storage

All app data is stored locally on your device:

• Taste profile - Stored locally in app storage
• Learning history - Stored locally, never synced
• Photo index - Quality scores and search descriptors computed during the first sort; stored locally so later sorts run near-instantly
• Settings - Stored in iOS UserDefaults

Deleting the app removes all SpectraSort data from your device.

9. Children's Privacy

SpectraSort does not knowingly collect information from children under 13. The app does not require any personal information to use.

10. Changes to This Policy

We may update this privacy policy from time to time. We will notify you of significant changes through the app or on this page. Continued use of SpectraSort after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

11. Contact Us

Questions about this privacy policy? Contact us at:

spectrasortapp@gmail.com