Privacy Policy

LeafLovers is a plant care app built by a small team that genuinely cares about your privacy. We collect what we need to make the app work, run it reliably, and understand how to make it better - things like care-flow progress, feature usage, plant species, when you last signed in, and your broad device type. We never sell your data, and you can export or delete everything at any time. We use Google Analytics 4 only with your consent, and we do not send Google your name, email, account ID, plant names, notes, or photos.

LeafLovers ("we", "us", "our") operates the web application at leaflovers.app. For privacy questions, contact us at hello@leaflovers.app.

Account information

• Name and email — to create your account and identify you
• Password — stored securely hashed (bcrypt), never in plain text
• Hemisphere — to adjust seasonal care advice
• Household info — whether you have cats, dogs, or small children (for pet/child safety warnings)

Plant data

• Plant names, species, nicknames, birthdays, rooms, and care schedules
• Care events (watering, fertilizing, repotting, pruning, notes)
• Photos you upload (plant images, growth journal)
• All plant data belongs to you and is tied to your account

Push notifications

• If you opt in, we store your device's push subscription endpoint and encryption keys
• Used solely to send care reminders you've requested

Usage data

• We use Google Analytics 4 (GA4) to understand how visitors use the app - page views, CTA clicks, signup flow, add-plant flow, feature usage, and general navigation patterns. GA4 only loads if you give consent when the banner appears on your first visit
• When useful for improving care guidance, analytics events may include non-personal plant details such as species, broad plant type, care mode, whether a photo was attached, and whether a species lookup was used
• We send no user ID, email address, account identifier, plant ID, plant name, nickname, private notes, or photos to GA4
• GA4 sets first-party cookies (_ga, _ga_*) in your browser to distinguish visits over time. These cookies are only set after you accept analytics
• When analytics consent is enabled, we send privacy-filtered in-app events such as signup method and plant-add flow steps to GA4 - still with no account identifiers
• You can change your analytics preference at any time by clearing your browser cookies or site data for leaflovers.app, which will re-show the consent banner on your next visit
• You can also opt out globally at Google's opt-out page
• If you use Premium AI features, we track the number of requests for rate limiting purposes

Beyond your account information and plant data, we store a small set of operational fields that help us keep the app stable and improve the experience for everyone. None of this is sent to Google, OpenAI, or any other third party.

• When you last signed in — so we can deploy updates safely without interrupting active users
• When you were last active in the app — same reason, at a finer cadence, so background jobs don't fire while you're in the middle of something
• Your country (a 2-letter code, such as "PT" or "NL") — a 2-letter code from your infrastructure path - we never receive or store your raw IP address. Used to serve the right language and legal terms, and to plan content for the regions our community lives in
• Your device type (a broad category such as "iOS device" or "desktop") — so we can verify the app works correctly on your device. We never store your full browser fingerprint or User-Agent string - only the categorised value
• Whether you installed LeafLovers as a home-screen app — so we can improve the install flow for people who haven't installed it yet

We hold this data under legitimate interest (GDPR Article 6(1)(f)) - it is necessary to operate the service reliably and fairly. You can ask us to delete it at any time by contacting hello@leaflovers.app.

• We do not use precise GPS location for marketing analytics
• We do not use advertising or ad-targeting cookies
• We do not sell, rent, or share your personal data with third parties for marketing
• We do not read or store the content of your notifications
• We do not store raw IP addresses or full browser User-Agent strings - only derived values (country code, device category)

• Core app functionality — storing your plants, calculating care schedules, sending reminders
• Reliable operation — the operational fields described in Section 3 (last login, activity, country, device type, install status) help us deploy safely, serve the right experience, and keep the app stable
• AI features — when you use AI Import, your text is sent to OpenAI's API for parsing. The text is processed for that feature; it is not used to train AI models
• Photo-based AI features — when you choose photo diagnosis or plant identification, your photo is processed only for that feature. We do not send plant photos to GA4 or use them for marketing analytics
• Weather-aware care — if we add weather-based reminders, we may ask for an approximate location such as city/region or let you enter it manually. We will use it to adjust care advice, not for ad targeting
• Improving the app — if you've opted in to analytics, privacy-filtered usage data helps us understand which features matter most and where people get stuck
• Communication — push notifications you opt into, and essential account-related emails

We use the following services that may process your data:

• Stripe — processes payments for Premium subscriptions. Stripe receives your payment details directly; we never see or store your card number. Stripe may transfer data outside the EEA under their approved data transfer framework. See Stripe's Privacy Policy
• OpenAI — processes text and images for AI features (AI Import, Plant Doctor, Plant ID). Data is sent to OpenAI's servers and processed for the feature; it is not used to train AI models. See OpenAI's Privacy Policy
• Google Analytics 4 — privacy-filtered usage analytics, loaded only with your consent. We send no user ID, email, account identifier, plant name, private notes, or photos to Google. GA4 sets cookies (_ga, _ga_*) to distinguish visits. Google may process data outside the EEA under their approved data transfer framework. See Google's Privacy Policy
• Web Push (browser-native) — push notifications use your browser's built-in push service

• Your data is stored on secure servers in Europe
• Passwords are hashed with bcrypt (12 salt rounds) and never stored in plain text
• All connections use HTTPS encryption
• Authentication uses signed JWT tokens
• Uploaded images are stored with randomized filenames to prevent guessing
• We apply security headers (XSS protection, frame denial, content-type enforcement)

You have the right to:

• Access your data — view everything in your account at any time
• Export your data — download all your plant data as JSON or CSV from Settings
• Correct your data — edit your profile, plants, and care history
• Delete your data — delete individual plants or contact us to delete your entire account
• Withdraw consent — unsubscribe from push notifications at any time in Settings. To withdraw analytics consent, clear cookies or site data for leaflovers.app in your browser - the consent banner will re-appear on your next visit
• Object to processing — contact us at hello@leaflovers.app

If you're in the EU/EEA, these rights are protected under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). We will respond to any request within 30 days. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the CNPD (Comissão Nacional de Proteção de Dados — Portugal's data protection authority) at www.cnpd.pt.

• Your data is kept for as long as your account is active
• If you delete a plant, all associated care events, photos, and journal entries are permanently removed
• If you delete your account, all data is permanently removed from our servers
• AI usage logs are retained for billing and rate-limiting purposes only

LeafLovers is not directed at children under 16. We do not knowingly collect data from children. If you believe a child has created an account, please contact us and we will delete it promptly.

We may update this policy from time to time. If we make significant changes, we'll notify you through the app. The "Last updated" date at the top reflects the most recent revision.

Questions or concerns? Reach us at hello@leaflovers.app.