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Wild Plant ID & Survival

Plantato Privacy Policy

Plantato helps users identify wild plants and other natural organisms, understand potential hazards and beneficial uses, compare look-alike species, maintain field observations, and access selected wilderness information.

We respect your privacy and aim to process only the information needed to provide the features you choose to use.

Effective: October 2, 2026 · Last updated: October 2, 2026

1. Information Plantato May Use

Camera and photos

Plantato may request access to your device camera or photo library so you can photograph or select plants, fungi, or other specimens for identification. Where the operating system supports limited photo access, you can select individual photos instead of granting access to your entire library.

With Local or Offline Identification, supported image analysis may occur on your device. With Cloud or Hybrid Identification enabled, an image may be sent to the selected identification service to return identification candidates.

Location information

Plantato may request approximate or precise location when you choose a location-aware feature. Location may be used to improve geographic plausibility and seasonal or habitat evidence, determine whether a species is known in a region, attach coordinates to a field observation, or support offline regional information.

Location permission is optional. If you deny it, identification can still be used, but location-based evidence may be unavailable. Plantato does not use location for advertising.

Field Journal information

If you use the Field Journal, Plantato may store species observations, photos, notes, date and time, permitted location coordinates, habitat information, identification results, look-alike verification status, and saved or bookmarked species. Journal information is intended to remain on your device unless you deliberately export, share, back up, or otherwise transmit it.

App preferences

Plantato may store your preferred identification mode, text size, reduced-motion and other accessibility settings, selected regional packs, bookmarks, training or learning progress, and preferred start screen. These preferences are generally stored locally on your device.

2. Local and Offline Processing

Plantato is designed to support offline functionality. Where supported, the app may use locally stored machine-learning models, botanical taxonomy files, species databases, toxic-look-alike information, regional packs, morphology data, hazard information, and journal data.

In Local Only mode, supported botanical image identification is intended to occur on the device without sending the image to a remote identification provider. Some features may be unavailable if the necessary offline model or regional pack has not been installed.

3. Cloud and Hybrid Identification

  • Local Only: identification uses locally available resources. Remote identification services are not required for supported local functions.
  • Cloud: an image or related identification request may be sent to an external plant-identification provider.
  • Hybrid: Plantato may perform local analysis first and, when internet access is available and the feature is enabled, use an external provider for additional identification information.

Plantato is intended to indicate which identification mode is active.

4. Third-Party Services

Some versions or configurations of Plantato may rely on third-party botanical or biodiversity services and datasets. These may include PlantNet, Atlas of Living Australia, iNaturalist, or Australian botanical, herbarium, and biodiversity data sources.

When you use a feature connected to a third-party service, the image, location context, species query, or other information needed to complete the request may be sent to that provider. Each provider operates under its own privacy policy, data practices, licences, and terms. Plantato does not control those practices.

5. API Keys and User-Configured Services

Certain advanced or development features may allow you to provide an API key for an external service. Where supported, that credential is intended to be stored locally on the device. You are responsible for protecting your credentials and complying with the terms of the external service.

6. Information We Do Not Intentionally Collect

Unless a future feature clearly informs you otherwise, Plantato is not designed to require:

  • your real name, postal address, or contacts;
  • phone-call history or SMS messages;
  • financial information or health records; or
  • advertising identifiers for behavioural advertising.

Plantato does not sell users’ personal information.

7. Analytics and Diagnostics

A released version may use limited technical information needed to diagnose crashes, maintain performance, or improve reliability if analytics or crash-reporting services are included in that version. This information may include the app version, device or operating system version, crash information, performance information, and technical error logs.

If a third-party analytics or crash-reporting provider is added, this policy will be updated to identify the provider and describe the relevant data practices.

8. Permissions

  • Camera: captures images for identification and field observations.
  • Photos or media: lets you select an existing image or save or export an observation.
  • Location: supports geographic identification evidence, field observations, maps, and regional information.
  • Storage: where required by the device, maintains offline regional packs, local databases, machine-learning models, exports, and journal information.
  • Sensors: where supported, device orientation, compass, or related sensors may support field or navigation features.

You can generally review or change permissions through your device settings.

9. Survival and Safety Features

Plantato may provide offline wilderness, hazard, plant-safety, or survival information using identification results, geographic information, downloaded regional data, hazard databases, and field observations. Plantato does not require personal medical information to use these features.

Plantato is an informational and identification-support tool. An identification result does not establish that a plant, fungus, berry, herb, or other organism is safe to eat, touch, use, or administer medically.

10. Data Storage

Much of Plantato’s information may be stored locally on your device, including journal records, bookmarks, preferences, downloaded regional packs, offline databases, machine-learning models, and cached identification data. Deleting Plantato may delete this local information unless you separately exported or backed it up.

11. Data Retention

Local information remains on your device until you delete individual records, clear app data, remove regional packs, uninstall Plantato, or use another deletion feature provided by the app. Information sent to an external identification or biodiversity service may be retained under that provider’s privacy policy.

12. Sharing of Information

Plantato does not sell personal information. Information may be shared only when needed to:

  • process a cloud identification request you initiate;
  • access third-party biodiversity information;
  • comply with applicable law; or
  • protect users, the app, or others from fraud, abuse, or security threats.

Information you intentionally export or share from the journal is controlled by you after export.

13. Children’s Privacy

Plantato is not intended to knowingly collect personal information from children without appropriate consent where required by law. Parents and guardians should supervise children using outdoor, identification, or survival features. Identification results must not be relied on as confirmation that a wild organism is safe for a child to eat or touch.

14. Security

We use reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect information handled by Plantato. No software, device, local database, internet connection, or external service is completely secure. Protect access to your device and any exported field records.

15. International Data Processing

If you use a cloud-based identification service, information may be sent to or processed in a country other than the one where you live. The relevant provider’s privacy policy governs its processing of that information.

16. Your Choices

You can control much of Plantato’s data use by:

  • refusing camera or location access;
  • using Local Only mode where available;
  • avoiding cloud identification;
  • deleting journal entries;
  • removing downloaded regional packs;
  • clearing locally stored app information; or
  • uninstalling Plantato.

Some features may not function without the relevant permission or data.

17. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this policy when Plantato’s features, third-party integrations, data practices, or legal requirements change. The revised policy will show a new last-updated date. Material changes will be communicated through the app, its store listing, this website, or another appropriate method.

19. Important Identification Notice

Plantato uses artificial intelligence, botanical databases, geographic evidence, and other information to assist with identification. Results may be incomplete, uncertain, or incorrect. Do not treat an identification as confirmation that a wild organism is safe to consume, touch, use medicinally, or otherwise interact with.

Where the available evidence is insufficient, Plantato may display: “Identification insufficient. Do not infer safety.”

Use authoritative local guidance and consult a qualified expert whenever identification or safety is uncertain.