In short: your photo, and the location saved inside it, are sent to our servers to identify the fish and look up the local fishing rules. They are processed and deleted, never stored by us. Your catch history and your Collection stay on your device, where we cannot see them.

Who we are

Fish Identifier: CatchScan is built and operated by Venus Cloud Ltd (Company Number 07563716), registered in England and Wales. In this policy, "we" and "our" mean Venus Cloud Ltd, and "the app" means Fish Identifier: CatchScan.

What we collect and why

Photos of your catch

  • Photos you capture or choose are sent to our API for identification.
  • They are analysed by OpenAI's GPT vision models on OpenAI's servers.
  • Photos are not stored on our servers after processing, and are not used to train AI models.
  • The photo itself remains in your device's photo library and in your in-app history, under your control.

Location

CatchScan is location-aware, because fishing regulations depend on exactly where a fish was caught. This is the part of the app that handles the most sensitive data, so it is worth being precise about it.

  • Where it comes from. Where a photo carries GPS coordinates in its metadata, we read them from the photo itself. That is how identifying an older photo still returns the rules for the water you actually fished. If a photo has no coordinates and you have granted location permission, the app may use your device's current location instead.
  • What is sent. The latitude, longitude and a resolved region name are sent to our API alongside the photo. They are used to work out which fishing jurisdiction governs that water, including whether it falls in state or federal waters, and to look up the regulations that apply.
  • Who receives it. Coordinates are sent to OpenAI as context for the identification, and are used to query NOAA water-boundary data for United States waters.
  • Where it is kept. The location associated with a catch is stored on your device with that catch, so follow-up questions stay anchored to the same place. We do not keep it on our servers.
  • Declining is fine. Location is optional. Refuse the permission, or use photos without GPS metadata, and the app still identifies fish. You simply will not get location-specific regulations.

We do not track your movements, build a location history, or use your location for advertising.

Your catch history and Collection

  • Identifications, chats, photos and your species Collection are stored locally on your device.
  • The app keeps up to 100 chat sessions; older ones are removed automatically to save space.
  • We cannot read any of it. It is not synced to our servers.
  • Deleting the app removes this data from your device.

Subscription and free-usage records

  • Purchases are handled entirely by Apple. We never see your payment details.
  • To apply the daily free-identification limit, the app records a date and a count in your device's Keychain. It contains no personal information and is never transmitted.
  • Because it lives in the Keychain, this record persists if you delete and reinstall the app. That is deliberate, to keep the free allowance fair.

Analytics and crash reports

  • We use Google Firebase to collect anonymous usage statistics and crash reports.
  • This covers which screens are viewed, which features are used, device type and iOS version.
  • It contains no personally identifiable information, and no photos or catch data.

Support requests

  • If you contact support, we receive your email address and whatever you tell us.
  • Debug logs are attached only when you choose to send them.
  • Support correspondence is retained so we can follow up and improve the app.

What we never do

  • Store your photos on our servers after processing.
  • Sell your personal information, or share it with advertisers.
  • Use your photos or conversations to train AI models.
  • Build a profile of where you fish or track you between sessions.
  • Access your photo library without your permission.

How your data is protected

  • All traffic to our API uses HTTPS.
  • API requests are signed with HMAC-SHA256, so the photo, the location and the rest of the request cannot be altered in transit.
  • Data held on your device is protected by iOS security, including the Keychain and file protection.
  • Photos are deleted from our servers immediately after processing.

Third parties we rely on

OpenAI

Photos, your questions and the capture location are processed by OpenAI's GPT models to identify the species and answer follow-up questions. OpenAI does not retain the images after processing and does not use them to train its models. See the OpenAI privacy policy.

NOAA

For United States waters, capture coordinates are used to query publicly available NOAA water-boundary data, which is how the app tells state waters from federal waters. NOAA does not receive any information that identifies you.

Google Firebase

Anonymous analytics and crash reporting. See the Firebase privacy information.

Apple

Subscriptions, billing and refunds are handled by Apple under Apple's own terms and privacy policy.

Your rights

Because almost everything the app produces lives on your device, you are already in direct control of it:

  • Access and deletion. View or delete any catch, chat or Collection entry in the app. Deleting the app removes all of it.
  • Location. Revoke location permission at any time in iOS Settings.
  • Analytics. Limit app tracking in iOS Settings.
  • Requests. If you are in the UK or EU, you have rights of access, rectification, erasure, restriction, portability and objection under UK GDPR and GDPR. Contact us and we will respond within 30 days.

Children

CatchScan is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, contact us and we will delete it.

International transfers

We are based in the United Kingdom, and the services we rely on (OpenAI, Google, Apple) may process data in the United States and elsewhere. Where personal data is transferred outside the UK or EEA, it is done under appropriate safeguards.

Changes to this policy

We will post any revised policy on this page and update the date at the top. Continuing to use the app after a change means you accept the revised policy.

Contact us

Questions about this policy, or about your data, can be sent through our contact page or from Settings inside the app.

Terms of Use