Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

GardenPal ("we", "our", "us") is committed to protecting your privacy. This policy explains how we collect, use, and safeguard your personal data when you use our gardening companion web application at gardenpal.co.uk.

2. Data We Collect

We collect the following types of information:

• Account information: name, email address, and profile photo when you sign up or sign in via Google or Apple.
• Garden data: gardens, zones, plantings, tasks, harvests, and achievements you create within the app.
• Photos: images you upload of your garden, plants, or harvests, stored securely in AWS S3.
• Usage data: anonymous analytics to help us improve the service (e.g. pages visited, features used).
• Payment information: processed securely by Stripe. We do not store your card details.

3. How We Use Your Data

• To provide and maintain the GardenPal service
• To generate personalised gardening tasks and recommendations
• To process premium subscription payments
• To send task reminders (if you have opted in)
• To improve our service through aggregated, anonymous analytics

4. Data Storage & Security

Your data is stored on secure servers within the EU (Neon PostgreSQL, AWS S3 eu-west-2). We use encryption in transit (HTTPS/TLS) and follow industry best practices for data security. Authentication is handled via NextAuth.js with secure session management.

5. Third-Party Services

We use the following third-party services:

• Vercel: hosting and deployment
• Neon: PostgreSQL database hosting (EU)
• Supabase: authentication services
• AWS S3: photo storage (EU)
• Stripe: payment processing
• Sentry: error tracking (no personal data shared)
• Upstash Redis: caching (no personal data stored)

6. Your Rights

Under UK GDPR, you have the right to:

• Access your personal data
• Correct inaccurate data
• Request deletion of your data
• Export your data (available in your account settings)
• Withdraw consent for marketing communications

You can delete your account and all associated data from the Settings page within the app.

7. Cookies

We use essential cookies for authentication and session management. We do not use tracking cookies or third-party advertising cookies.

8. Children's Privacy

GardenPal is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children under 13.

9. Changes to This Policy

We may update this privacy policy from time to time. We will notify you of any significant changes via the app or email.

10. Contact

If you have questions about this privacy policy or your data, please contact us at privacy@gardenpal.co.uk.