Privacy policy for Rock Identifier
Privacy Policy
GeoLens AI – Rock & Gem Identifier ("GeoLens AI", "we", "our", or "the App") is committed to protecting your privacy. This policy details how our app handles your information.
1. Introduction & Overview
GeoLens AI is designed to help geology enthusiasts, students, and collectors identify and study rocks, minerals, crystals, and gemstones using artificial intelligence. We built the app following a strict privacy-by-design architecture: you do not need to register an account, and we do not collect your name, email address, physical address, or phone number.
2. Information We Collect & Process
To provide rock identification, field notes, and encyclopedia features, we process only the minimum necessary data:
- Camera and Photo Library: When you capture a photograph of a specimen or select an image from your gallery, the image is processed to detect rock and mineral characteristics. Photos remain stored privately in your device's app storage.
- On-Device Collections & Notes: Your saved mineral items, custom notes, identification history, and AI chat dialogs are saved on your local device storage (using Room database and Jetpack DataStore). We do not sync these to an external private cloud.
- Device & Diagnostic Data: We collect anonymous technical information (such as operating system version, device model, and crash traces) via Google Firebase to monitor app stability and fix technical bugs.
- Advertising Identifiers: In the free version of the app, Google AdMob may collect and process device advertising IDs (such as Google AAID) to deliver banner and interstitial advertisements, subject to your consent choices.
3. AI Analysis & Google Gemini API
When you trigger an identification or submit an inquiry to the AI Expert assistant:
- The selected specimen image and/or text prompt is transmitted via an encrypted HTTPS connection to Google's Gemini models (via Google Firebase Vertex AI / AI Logic infrastructure).
- The image is analyzed strictly to classify the specimen (e.g. Mohs hardness, mineral crystal system, luster, color, streak) and return identification probabilities.
- Uploaded specimen photos are not used by us to train facial recognition models or for commercial advertising.
4. In-App Purchases & Subscriptions
GeoLens AI offers an optional Pro Subscription (unlocking unlimited identifications, removing advertisements, and providing full mineral encyclopedia access). All financial transactions are processed exclusively through Google Play In-App Billing.
GeoLens AI never receives, stores, or processes your credit card numbers, billing addresses, or banking details. Google Play shares only a cryptographic purchase token with the app to confirm whether your Pro entitlement is active.
5. Advertising & User Consent (AdMob)
Free users may see advertisements served by Google AdMob. We integrate Google's User Messaging Platform (UMP) to comply with GDPR, ePrivacy, and CCPA/CPRA regulations:
- In applicable regions (such as the European Economic Area, UK, and Switzerland), you are presented with a consent dialogue upon first launch to choose between personalized or non-personalized ads.
- You can change your consent preferences at any time by navigating in the app to: Settings › Ad privacy choices.
- Users subscribed to GeoLens Pro enjoy an ad-free experience, and ad networks are disabled for their sessions.
6. Third-Party Service Providers
Our app utilizes select, industry-standard third-party SDKs to deliver its services:
| Provider / Service | Purpose | Privacy Policy |
|---|---|---|
| Google Gemini & Firebase | AI vision identification, crash logging, analytics | Google Privacy Policy |
| Google Play Billing | Secure subscription processing | Google Payments Privacy |
| Google AdMob | In-app advertising for free tier | AdMob Policies |
| Wikipedia / Wikimedia API | Encyclopedia background articles (CC BY-SA) | Wikimedia Privacy |
7. Data Retention & Deletion (Your Rights)
Because your rock collection, chat records, and scan history reside locally on your mobile device, you maintain full control over your data:
- Delete Individual Records: Delete any saved rock specimen or chat thread directly from its detail screen.
- Bulk Clear in Settings: Under Settings, tap "Clear collection" or "Clear AI conversations" to permanently wipe those datasets.
- Uninstalling the App: Uninstalling the GeoLens AI application completely removes all local databases, cached images, and stored preferences from your device.
8. Children's Privacy
GeoLens AI does not knowingly collect or solicit personally identifiable information from children under the age of 13 (or under 16 in the European Union). If you believe a child has provided personal data to us, please contact us so we can take appropriate steps.
9. Changes to This Privacy Policy
We may update our Privacy Policy periodically to reflect app updates or legal requirements. Modifications will be posted here with an updated "Last Updated" date.
Questions or Privacy Requests?
If you have questions regarding this Privacy Policy, feel free to contact us.