Privacy
Lifer Privacy Policy
Effective date: 14 October 2026 · Version: 2026-10-14 · Data controller: LIFER LTD · Company no. 17374952 · ICO registration no. ZC260168 · sam@getlifer.app
This Privacy Policy applies to the Lifer mobile application, the Lifer website at getlifer.app, and all related services, including the beta waitlist, account system, Audio Catch, Camera Catch, Field Camera, catches, regional species packs, Cloud Vault, map, Nests, social features, bird alerts, and support.
Who is responsible for your information: LIFER LTD is the data controller. It is a private limited company registered in England and Wales under company number 17374952, with its registered office at 128 City Road, London, EC1V 2NX, United Kingdom.
Transfer to LIFER LTD: until 28 September 2026, Samuel Scott Lewis trading as Lifer was the controller. From 29 September 2026, responsibility for operating Lifer and the personal information used to provide it transfers to LIFER LTD. This is not a sale of your information. The company receives the existing account and service records needed to continue Lifer for the same purposes described in this policy. LIFER LTD will honour your existing visibility, sharing and consent choices, which you can change at any time. Your account, catches, subscription and data-protection rights remain unchanged.
What changed in this version: we corrected how Field Camera identifies a photo: Lifer now sends the identifier the country where the photo was taken and your phone's location at the time, rounded to about 10 kilometres, so it can favour local birds. We also added information for residents of Canada (section 13): where your information is processed, the person in charge of protecting it, your rights and how to complain, and that new accounts in Canada start with a private profile.
Previous version: the version effective from 6 October 2026 remains available at getlifer.app/privacy/2026-10-06.
1. Information we collect
Information you provide directly
- Account details: email address, username, display name, and optional bio.
- Waitlist signup: email address submitted via the website form.
- User content: catches/sightings, optional catch photos, optional saved audio clips, custom species/card photos, optional Nest photos, optional location attached to a catch, Bird Walks, social posts, comments, reactions, milestone activity, Nest reports, and content you submit through appeals or support requests.
- Preferences and agreements: notification settings, visibility/privacy toggles, Nest participation and automatic-joining choices, biodiversity data-sharing choices, versioned acceptance of legal documents, and your self-declaration that you meet Lifer's minimum age.
We do not require a phone number to use Lifer.
Information collected automatically
- Device and app information: operating system, platform (iOS or Android), app version, device model, advertising and push identifiers where applicable, and crash/error diagnostics. Sensitive fields such as coordinates and authentication tokens are redacted before an error report is transmitted.
- Location data (foreground): precise GPS coordinates when you actively record a catch, use the map, set a Bird Alert area, choose regional species/image packs, review whether a catch falls within a Nest boundary, or open location-based features. Collected only with your explicit permission.
- Location data (background): used only by two features you start yourself. When you start a Bird Walk, the app tracks your GPS route in the background until you end the walk, so the route can be drawn on the map. When you start a Field Camera session and choose to allow it, the app records timestamped location points in the background during that session, so it can match your photos' capture times to where you were. Those points stay on your device (see Field Camera below). Background recording stops when the walk or session ends. You grant this permission separately. On Android, both features use a location service with an ongoing notification instead of background location permission.
- Push notification token: generated if you enable notifications; used only to deliver alerts you have opted into.
- Usage and event data: feature interactions needed to operate service features.
- Website metadata: IP address and standard request logs from our hosting infrastructure when you visit getlifer.app.
Audio Catch
Lifer listens for birds, not people. We do not use audio to identify people, and we do not create voiceprints or any other biometric identifier. A saved clip can still pick up nearby voices, so please do not record other people's conversations without their consent.
If you submit an Audio Catch for review, authorised reviewers can view the submitted catch details. Including a short audio clip is optional. If you include one, it is uploaded so the reviewers can listen to it while assessing the identification or whether the bird should be treated as a wild or captive record.
Camera Catch
Authorised Lifer reviewers may review public Camera Catches for identification accuracy and community integrity. A reviewer may approve a result, correct the species and resulting rarity or points, or mark it as unable to be identified. Corrections can be applied automatically to the catch and are recorded in an audit trail. Private Camera Catches are not included in this routine review queue. You can question a correction by contacting support.
Field Camera
Photos you add: Lifer keeps a private copy of each photo you add on your device, separately from your photo library, until you delete it. The app reads the photo's camera details on your device, including its lens and exposure settings, so you can choose to show them if you share the catch. When a photo is checked, the original stays on your device. Over an encrypted connection, the app sends Lifer's backend the camera make and model and the original capture time from the photo's metadata (EXIF), a fingerprint (a cryptographic hash) of the original, and a copy of the area around the bird you selected, at most 1,600 pixels across. When your phone's location at the capture time is known, it also sends the country where the photo was taken and that location rounded to about 10 kilometres (one decimal place). It does not send any GPS coordinates your camera may have recorded. Lifer checks the capture time against your session and sends the cropped copy, with that country and rounded location, to OpenAI to identify the bird and grade the photo; the location helps it favour birds found in that area. Lifer does not store the original or the cropped copy on its servers. It keeps a record of your session, the fingerprint so the same photo cannot be submitted twice, and the results of the checks and identification.
Location during a session: when you start a session, you choose whether Lifer records your phone's location only while the app is open, or also in the background, including while your screen is locked, for that session. Lifer saves these timestamped location points privately on your device, not on Lifer's servers, and uses them to match each photo's capture time to where your phone was at that moment. Recording stops when you end the session or after 12 hours, and the stored points are then deleted; if the app is closed at that moment, the deletion completes the next time it runs. A saved photo keeps only the single location point matched to it, which is deleted with the photo. On iPhone, background recording uses the "Always" location permission; on Android it uses a location service with an ongoing notification.
Catches from Field Camera: if a photo passes the checks, you can save it as a catch. It is stored like any other catch, with the photo's capture time and the matched location, and that location is only ever shown publicly as an approximate area, as described in section 4.
Sharing a Field Camera catch: if you share it to the social feed, the post shows the name of the camera that took the photo. If you turn on Include camera settings, it also shows the lens, focal length, aperture, shutter speed and ISO. These details are stored with the catch, are visible to anyone who can see the post, and are deleted when you delete the catch. The app remembers your choice on your device for future shares.
Captive records and Legendary review
If you mark a bird as captive, or a reviewer later classifies it as captive, we store that classification with the record. Captive records can remain in your catch history and can be shared according to your privacy choices, but they receive zero points and are excluded from your Life List and competitive features.
A claimed wild Legendary Camera or Audio Catch is held for review before a catch or rewards are added. Authorised reviewers can access the submitted catch details and Camera Catch image, or any Audio Catch clip you optionally include, even if the resulting catch would otherwise be private. This is a specific verification process and is separate from the routine public Camera Catch review described above. Reviewers may approve, correct, classify as captive, or reject the submission. The decision and resulting corrections are recorded in an audit trail.
Nests
Flocks and The Hide
Messages in The Hide are visible to the other members of that Flock. They are not public, not shown on your profile, and not included in community summaries. Members can screenshot or repeat what you write, so please do not post anything you would not want shared outside the group.
Depending on your notification setting for each Flock, message content may be included in a push notification or a daily digest sent to your devices. You can set each Flock to instant, daily digest, or off.
Blocking: if you block another member, we stop showing you their messages and reactions in The Hide, exclude them from your unread counts and digests, and prevent them from reacting to your messages.
Reporting: if you report a message, we record the message, its author, the reporting account, the reason you select, any details you add, and a copy of the message text taken at the time of the report. That copy is kept so the report can still be assessed if the message is later deleted or edited. Reports are reviewed by authorised Lifer moderators and are retained as an enforcement record.
Information from third parties
- Google or Apple Sign-In: if you choose a third-party sign-in provider, we receive the account identifier and the profile information the provider makes available, which may include your email address and name. Apple may provide a private relay email.
- Subscription providers: RevenueCat provides your current entitlement and subscription status.
- Discord account linking: if you choose to link your Lifer account to Discord, we receive and store your Discord user ID, username, display name, and avatar reference so we can recognise you across both services. Where you are a member of the official Lifer Discord, we may also update your rank role there to match your Lifer rank. Linking is optional, and you can unlink at any time, which removes the stored Discord identifiers.
- Imported birding records: if you manually import records from eBird, Birda, BirdTrack, or iNaturalist, we receive the sighting data from your export file. We do not pull data from those services without your action.
Information you must provide and optional information
An account identifier and authentication information are required to create and operate an account. A username is required for account and community features. If you do not provide these, we cannot provide an account. Location, photos, audio, notifications, contacts with support, public sharing, advertising consent, and biodiversity sharing are optional; declining them only limits the features that need that information. Precise and background location permissions can be changed in your device settings.
2. How we use your information
| Purpose | Examples | Legal basis |
|---|---|---|
| Service delivery | Running your account, storing catches, rendering the map, operating optional Nests, sending alerts, processing subscription entitlements | Contract |
| Optional Nest participation | Matching your own catch coordinates against place boundaries, recording chosen participation, calculating place-level totals, leaderboards, milestones and Guardian status | Contract and your affirmative feature choice; legitimate interests for integrity, fraud prevention and aggregate statistics |
| Bird Walk route tracking | Recording GPS route during an active walk | Contract; explicit permission for background location |
| Field Camera | Checking that a photo's camera, capture time and session are consistent; matching its capture time to your phone's location on your device; identifying and grading the photo; preventing the same photo being submitted twice; and showing the camera details you choose to share | Contract; your explicit permission for location, including background location where you allow it; legitimate interests for integrity and fair play |
| Flocks and The Hide messaging | Delivering your messages to the other members of a Flock, storing replies, reactions, mentions and read state, applying your blocking choices, and sending the message notifications or digests you have chosen | Contract; consent for message notifications |
| Community moderation | Receiving and assessing reports about messages, comments, photos, Nests and profiles, retaining a copy of reported content, and acting on rule breaches | Legitimate interests in a safe community; legal obligation where applicable |
| Competitions, quizzes and awards | Running daily and weekly competitions such as Golden Hour, Twilight Hour, the daily quiz, weekly challenges and the community photo contest, calculating standings, and awarding Crests, medals and points | Contract; legitimate interests for integrity and fair play |
| Community contributions | Reviewing and publishing bird sprite artwork and Nest drafts you submit, and displaying the contributor credit you choose | Contract and your affirmative choice to submit |
| Notifications | Sending bird alert, message and service notifications you have opted into | Consent |
| Crash and error monitoring | Diagnosing app failures to maintain reliability | Legitimate interests |
| Security and abuse prevention | Detecting fraudulent submissions, enforcing community rules | Legitimate interests; legal obligation where applicable |
| Product improvement | Understanding feature usage to improve Lifer. Authorised analysts can view aggregated, non-identifying activity reports covering totals, trends and species counts; individual accounts are not named and this access is logged | Legitimate interests |
| Community updates | Publishing daily summaries of public leaderboard and catch activity in official Lifer community channels | Legitimate interests |
| Legal compliance | Meeting obligations under applicable law | Legal obligation |
| Billing and subscriptions | Processing and validating in-app purchases | Contract; legal obligation |
| Waitlist management | Sending beta access and launch communications | Consent |
| Lifer AI and photo moderation | Providing requested Camera Catch and Field Camera identification, scoring and possible captive-status assessment; reviewing public Camera Catches and submitted Legendary catch claims; checking public Aviary card and Nest photos against safety, privacy and wildlife guidelines | Contract for requested identification; legitimate interests for public-content accuracy, safety, and abuse prevention |
| Advertising | Historical ad delivery and measurement through Google AdMob, which ended on 24 July 2026; the inactive AdMob software that is still included in the app | Consent where storage or access to information on your device is required; legitimate interests for limited service funding and non-device processing where permitted |
| Open biodiversity data sharing | Considering eligible bird observations for publication through the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) | Explicit consent |
Ad serving was disabled on 24 July 2026. The only active production ad unit was removed. The Lifer app, including current versions on iPhone and Android, still includes Google's AdMob software. Lifer does not request or show ads, and no production ad unit has been active since 24 July 2026, so no ad can be served. The software can still start when the app opens and contact Google, sending your IP address, device and app information and, where available, your device's advertising identifier. We plan to remove it in a future version. Before re-enabling ads in a future version, Lifer will add the appropriate consent choice where storage or access to device information requires consent. We do not sell your personal data for money.
Our legitimate interests are maintaining a secure and reliable service, preventing manipulation, reviewing public content, understanding aggregate feature performance, providing community features users expect, and sustainably funding Lifer. We balance those interests against users' privacy, minimise the data used, honour visibility choices, and provide objection or opt-out routes where applicable.
3. Third-party service providers
We share personal data only with providers needed to run Lifer, or where you have explicitly chosen open biodiversity data sharing. Where a provider acts as our processor, its applicable terms and data-processing agreement restrict how it may use the data.
| Provider | Purpose | Data shared |
|---|---|---|
| Supabase | Database, authentication, storage and server functions | Account data, catches, content, location data, and cropped copies of Field Camera photos while they are checked (processed in memory, not stored) |
| Cloudflare (R2 and Workers) | Media storage; working out the habitat (biome) around a location | Private catch audio, private catch photos, private species/card photos, and public/shared images where you choose to share them. For habitat lookups, the coordinates being checked, such as where you are when you open the Catch screen, and your IP address, used to return the habitat type |
| OpenAI | Lifer AI Camera Catch and content moderation | Camera Catch photos, including optional user-selected library photos, approximate coordinates rounded to three decimal places where available, country and habitat/biome context for identification and photo quality scoring; the cropped part of a Field Camera photo, with the country where it was taken and a location rounded to about 10 kilometres, for identification and photo grading; uploaded image and claimed species name for public Aviary card moderation; and proposed public Nest photos for safety, privacy, place relevance, face, number-plate and wildlife checks. Face and number-plate checks only look for whether one is visible so the photo can be rejected; they do not recognise or identify anyone. Private-only Aviary images are not sent to OpenAI for public-card moderation. |
| Sentry | Crash and error reporting | App error events, device/OS/version, and Lifer user ID. Default personal-information collection is disabled; coordinates and credential-related fields are redacted before transmission. If you voluntarily submit a feedback report, it may also contain the name, email, and message you provide. |
| RevenueCat | Subscription and entitlement management | App user ID, purchase receipts, entitlement status |
| Mapbox | Map rendering and tile delivery | IP address, approximate location from tile requests, device info |
| Google (connectivity check) | Checking whether your device is online, so catches made offline can be queued and synced later | IP address and standard request information. No account identifiers are sent. |
| Google / Apple | Optional sign-in authentication | Account identifier and profile information made available by the provider, which may include email address and name |
| Expo, Apple Push Notification service (APNs), and Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM) | Delivering notifications you enable | Push token, platform, and notification title/body and routing data required for delivery |
| Google AdMob | Inactive advertising software still included in the app; historical ad delivery and measurement | When the app opens, the AdMob software may start and contact Google with IP address, device/app information, advertising identifier where available, and coarse region information. The production ad unit was removed on 24 July 2026, so it cannot serve an ad. We plan to remove the software in a future version. Historical ad-interaction and measurement data remains subject to Google's retention controls. |
| Discord | Hosting official Lifer community channels and automated daily community summaries; optional account linking and rank-role sync; hosting the community photo contest | Public usernames and selected public activity such as leaderboard position and points, a highlighted public catch, or Prismwing count. Aggregate catch and Bird of the Day totals do not identify individual users. If you link your account, we also exchange your Discord user ID, username, display name and avatar reference, and may set your rank role in the official server. We do not send email addresses, locations, private profiles, private catches, private media, messages from The Hide, or private notes. |
| GBIF and open-data users | Open biodiversity occurrence publishing, only where you opt in | Eligible observation data such as scientific name, observation date, country, generalised coordinates, coordinate uncertainty, and method metadata. We do not publish your account email, username, profile, private media, or private notes. |
| Resend | Transactional email (waitlist, notifications) | Email address |
| Netlify | Website hosting | IP address, standard request logs |
| Wikipedia (Wikimedia) | Species description text fetched live on the species detail screen | Species scientific name; device IP address as part of the HTTP request |
| iNaturalist | Species taxonomy and conservation status fetched live on the species detail screen | Species scientific name; device IP address as part of the HTTP request |
| Apple / Google Play | App distribution and in-app purchase processing | Per their platform policies |
Website asset providers: Google Fonts are loaded from Google's servers when you visit getlifer.app. This is an asset delivery request, not a tracking cookie, but it may result in your IP address and browser information being received by Google. The homepage also offers an optional Instagram video. Nothing is loaded from Instagram unless you press play, and Instagram's player may then set its own cookies under Meta's privacy policy.
4. Information sharing
Beyond the providers above, we may share information in these circumstances:
- Transfer to LIFER LTD: on 29 September 2026, the Lifer service and the personal information needed to continue it transfer from Samuel Scott Lewis trading as Lifer to LIFER LTD, as explained at the top of this policy.
- Future business transfers: in the event of a merger, acquisition, reorganisation, or asset sale, personal data may transfer to the successor entity subject to applicable law and equivalent privacy protections.
- Legal reasons: when required by law, court order, or governmental authority; or to protect the rights, safety, or property of users or others.
- Your profile is public by default: other users can see your profile, including your collection and profile activity. If you turn on Private profile in Settings, others need your approval before they can view your profile activity and collection; your username and basic profile details stay visible so people can find you and ask to follow.
- When you share publicly: catches marked public, your public profile, permitted Nest identity/activity, and leaderboard data are visible to other Lifer users according to the relevant visibility settings. Nest identity surfaces respect profile privacy, approved-follower, and blocking settings. Public catch locations are always approximate, shown as a shaded area rather than an exact point, or hidden, and may be generalised further to protect sensitive wildlife. Life List records may show species, date, country, or region where the feature supports it, but raw Life List coordinates, location names, private notes, and source identifiers are not disclosed to other users.
- Within a Flock: messages you post in The Hide, and any catch, species, or Bird Walk you attach to them, are shared with the other members of that Flock. They are not public and do not appear on your profile or in community summaries.
- Public Camera Catch review: authorised Lifer reviewers can access public Camera Catch photos and catch details to approve them, correct the bird and resulting game values, or mark them as unable to be identified. Review actions are audited.
- Legendary catch review: when you submit a claimed wild Legendary catch, authorised reviewers can access the submitted catch details and Camera Catch image, or any Audio Catch clip you optionally include, to approve, correct, classify as captive, or reject it. This applies regardless of the visibility you would otherwise choose for the resulting catch. Review actions are audited.
- Reported content: if you or another user reports content, authorised moderators can access the reported item, a stored copy of it, and the accounts involved, in order to assess the report and act on it.
- Community photo contest: the contest runs in the official Lifer Discord. If you enter, your entry and Discord username are visible there. If your entry is selected as a weekly winner and you confirm the link to your Lifer account, we may copy the image to Lifer storage and display it, with your chosen credit, on the Lifer home screen, and award the associated prize points to your account.
- Published community contributions: if you submit bird sprite artwork or a Nest draft and it is approved, it becomes visible to other users, alongside the contributor credit you agree to. You can ask for a credit to be changed or removed by contacting support.
- Official community summaries: if your profile is public, we may include your public username and selected public activity in automated summaries posted to official Lifer community channels, including Discord. These may show leaderboard position and points, a highlighted public catch, or Prismwing count. Aggregate catch and Bird of the Day totals may include activity without naming you. Private profiles are excluded from named summaries.
- Social sharing: if you choose to share a catch photo with a social feed post, that shared copy is visible according to the post's visibility settings and is separate from your private Cloud Vault copy.
- Field Camera posts: a shared Field Camera catch shows the camera that took the photo and, if you turn on Include camera settings, the lens, focal length, aperture, shutter speed and ISO recorded in the photo. These details are visible to anyone who can see the post.
- Open biodiversity data sharing: if you opt in, we may consider eligible future records, and any historical records you separately choose to include, for publication through GBIF under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence. GBIF publication is open worldwide and enables reuse by researchers, conservation bodies, and the public. We do not publish your account identity, private media, or private notes. Coordinates are generalised, and sensitive species are generalised further or withheld.
You can withdraw biodiversity data-sharing consent in Lifer Settings at any time. Withdrawal stops future consideration for publication and we will remove records from future dataset versions where possible. Copies already downloaded or reused under an open licence may remain outside Lifer's control.
5. Data security
- Row-level security policies restrict access according to ownership and the visibility choices that apply to each feature.
- Data is encrypted in transit (TLS) and at rest by our infrastructure providers.
- New private Cloud Vault media, including private catch audio, private catch photos, and private species/card photos, is encrypted by Lifer before storage using standard AES-GCM encryption. Public/shared media is not treated as private encrypted Cloud Vault media because it needs to be displayed to other users.
- Some older legacy private media may remain in its original storage format until migrated or replaced by newer encrypted uploads.
- Authentication tokens and credentials are never logged or included in error reports. They are redacted at source in our Sentry integration.
- Access to production systems is restricted to authorised personnel.
No method of transmission over the internet is 100% secure. We take reasonable steps to protect your data, but cannot guarantee absolute security.
6. Data retention
| Data | Retention period |
|---|---|
| Account and profile data | While your account is active. An in-app deletion request has a 30-day cancellation period. After that period, primary account and profile data is deleted or anonymised, subject to the limited exceptions below. |
| Catches, sightings, and social content | Until you delete the item or your account, subject to abuse-prevention and legal exceptions. |
| Nest participation, Guardian history and legal acceptance | Participation and competitive records are retained while your account is active. Versioned legal and minimum-age declarations may be retained afterwards where reasonably needed to demonstrate agreement, protect users, resolve disputes, or meet legal obligations. |
| Nest photos and reports | Pending, approved, rejected, or reported submissions are retained while needed to moderate, display, investigate or resolve the submission. Removed media is deleted or made inaccessible, subject to short-lived backups, security, legal and abuse-prevention records. |
| Flock messages in The Hide | Until the message is deleted, the Flock is deleted, or your account-deletion process completes. A message can be deleted by you or by an owner or admin of that Flock. Deleting erases the message text, any attached link, and its mentions for all members, and clears its reactions; a placeholder recording that a message was deleted, by whom and when, remains in the conversation. Where a message was reported before deletion, the copy held with that report is kept as described below. |
| Content reports and moderation records | Reports about messages, comments, photos, Nests or profiles, including the copy of the reported content stored at the time of the report, are retained while needed to assess the report, apply and review enforcement, and handle any appeal or dispute. These may outlive deletion of the original item, because a report cannot be assessed once its subject is gone. |
| Competition, quiz and award records | Standings, Crests, medals, awarded points and prize records for Golden Hour, Twilight Hour, the daily quiz, weekly challenges and the photo contest are retained while your account is active, so leaderboards and profile history stay consistent. |
| Discord link data | While the link is active. Unlinking removes the stored Discord identifiers. Records of role changes already made in Discord are governed by Discord's own retention. |
| Published community contributions | Approved bird sprite artwork and Nest content may remain published after account deletion, because other users' collections and Nests depend on it. The contributor credit can be removed or anonymised on request. |
| Private Cloud Vault media | Until you delete the item or cloud copy, or until the associated account-deletion process completes. Object-storage cleanup may finish separately from the primary account purge. Limited provider backups may persist until their normal overwrite cycle. |
| Pending Camera Catch photos | Saved locally on your device for retry when you choose "save for later"; normally removed after upload, discard, or expiry. |
| Field Camera photos and session location on your device | Saved Field Camera photos stay on your device until you delete them. Session location points stay on your device and are deleted when the session ends or after 12 hours; a saved photo keeps only its matched location point, which is deleted with the photo. Removing Lifer from your device also removes them. |
| Field Camera checks | Session records, photo fingerprints and the results of checks and identification are kept while your account is active, so repeat submissions can be detected and catches can be audited, and are deleted with your account. Original Field Camera photos never leave your device, and the cropped copies sent for checking are not stored. |
| Camera details on shared Field Camera catches | Stored with the catch and deleted when you delete the catch or your account. |
| Camera Catch, Legendary review and moderation processing | Lifer retains the resulting catch and any public or Legendary-review audit record while needed to operate the catch, handle disputes, and prevent abuse. Submitted review media is retained while needed to decide and audit the review, handle a dispute, and prevent abuse, subject to account deletion and applicable legal exceptions. OpenAI API inputs and outputs may be retained in abuse-monitoring logs for up to 30 days under its default API policy, unless a different approved retention setting applies. |
| Bird Walk route data | Stored as part of your walk record; deleted when you delete the walk or your account. |
| Location data attached to catches | Retained as part of the catch record for as long as the catch exists. |
| Biodiversity data-sharing consent history | While your account is active and afterwards only where needed to demonstrate or manage consent, resolve a request, or meet legal obligations. |
| Waitlist email addresses | Until you request removal, the beta process concludes, or the operational need ends. |
| Push notification tokens | While active and valid; removed when revoked or superseded. |
| Crash and diagnostic data (Sentry) | Typically 90 days per Sentry's data retention settings. |
| Billing and transaction records | Per applicable tax, accounting, and legal requirements (typically 7 years). |
| Website infrastructure logs | Typically 30–90 days per provider policy. |
Account deletion detail: during the 30-day cancellation period, data remains stored and existing public or shared content may remain visible according to its visibility settings. Signing back in cancels the request. After the period ends, deletion from Lifer's primary systems is irreversible. We may retain limited security, consent, financial, dispute, review-audit, and legal records for as long as reasonably necessary, and providers may retain encrypted backups or logs until their normal expiry. Information already copied by other users or lawfully published to an open dataset can remain outside Lifer's control.
7. Your rights
Depending on where you live, you may have the following rights over your personal data:
- Access: request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
- Rectification: ask us to correct inaccurate data.
- Deletion: ask us to delete your data, subject to legal retention obligations.
- Restriction: ask us to limit processing while a dispute is resolved.
- Portability: receive your data in a structured, machine-readable format.
- Objection: object to processing based on legitimate interests.
- Consent withdrawal: withdraw consent at any time where processing is consent-based.
Open biodiversity records: withdrawing GBIF consent stops future consideration and we will remove your records from future Lifer dataset versions where possible. Because published records may be copied and reused under CC BY 4.0, we cannot guarantee removal from third-party copies that were lawfully obtained before withdrawal.
To exercise any right, email sam@getlifer.app. We may verify your identity before processing the request.
Response timelines
- GDPR / UK GDPR: within 1 month (extendable by 2 months for complex requests).
- United States: within 45 days (extendable by a further 45 days where state law allows, with notice). See section 12.
- Canada (PIPEDA and provincial laws, including Quebec): within 30 days. See section 13.
Right to complain
If you are in the UK or EEA, you have the right to lodge a complaint with your local supervisory authority. In the UK, this is the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO). In the EEA, contact your national data protection authority. If you are in Canada, see section 13.
8. Children's data
Lifer is not directed at children below the applicable digital-consent age. You must be at least 13 years old to create an account. If the law where you live sets a higher minimum age for you to consent to an online service, you must meet that age or have any parent or guardian authorisation required by law.
Some features involve location and public sharing. If you are under 18, a parent or guardian should review your privacy, visibility, location, and notification choices with you. Catches are private by default. Profiles are public by default, except new accounts in Canada, which start private (section 13). You can change your profile's visibility in Settings. We provide controls for public sharing.
We do not knowingly collect personal data from children below the applicable minimum age. If you believe a child has provided us with personal data, contact us at sam@getlifer.app and we will delete it.
If you live in the United States, Lifer is not directed at children under 13 and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them, as required by the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act. We do not sell or share the personal information of anyone we know to be under 16.
If you live in Quebec and are under 14, a parent or guardian must consent on your behalf before you use Lifer.
9. Automated decision-making
Lifer uses automated systems to suggest bird species, assign quality scores, check that a Field Camera photo's camera, capture time and location are consistent with your session, assess visible indications that a Camera Catch may show a captive bird, classify regional rarity tiers (Common, Uncommon, Rare, or Legendary), calculate points, power social/ranking features, and moderate proposed public photos. Audio Catch identification runs on-device; Camera Catch, Field Camera and proposed public Nest photos use Lifer's backend and OpenAI. Authorised reviewers may review and correct public Camera Catch results, submitted Legendary catch claims, captive status, or moderated content. These systems and corrections affect in-app records and game values but do not produce legal or similarly significant effects on you. You may report content or contest an identification, moderation, rarity, captive-status, correction, or scoring issue through support.
No other automated decision-making with significant effects is applied to your account.
10. Cross-border data transfers
Because we use global infrastructure providers, your data may be processed outside your country of residence, including outside the UK and EEA. For restricted transfers from the UK, we use an adequacy regulation or an appropriate safeguard such as the UK International Data Transfer Agreement or the UK Addendum to the EU Standard Contractual Clauses, together with the required transfer risk assessment. For restricted transfers from the EEA, we use an adequacy decision or the EU Standard Contractual Clauses and supplementary measures where required.
If you live in the United States, your information is processed in the United Kingdom, the European Union and the United States by Lifer and the providers listed in section 3.
If you live in Canada, your information is processed outside Canada, in the United Kingdom, the European Union and the United States, by Lifer and the providers listed in section 3. See section 13.
You can request more information about specific safeguards by contacting sam@getlifer.app.
11. Cookies and storage/access technologies
Mobile app
The app does not rely on browser cookies. It uses sandboxed local application storage for session information, preferences, downloaded species data, game state, caches, offline or pending queues, and saved Field Camera photos with their session location history. Anyone with access to an unlocked device may be able to interact with locally available app data, so protect your device with its security features.
The app, including current versions, contains Google's AdMob software, which may store or access identifiers and other device information when it starts or attempts an ad request, although the production ad unit was removed on 24 July 2026. We plan to remove it in a future version. Where UK or EEA law requires consent for this storage or access, consent is the appropriate basis. Device advertising controls do not by themselves replace any consent required from Lifer. Future versions will not reactivate ad serving without the appropriate consent choice where required.
Website (getlifer.app)
Strictly necessary storage only. We use browser localStorage to remember your light/dark theme preference. No advertising cookies or tracking cookies are used.
When you visit the website, your browser loads fonts from Google Fonts. This is an asset delivery request and may result in your IP address and browser information being received by Google. If you press play on the optional Instagram video on the homepage, Instagram's player is loaded from Meta's servers and may set its own cookies. It is not loaded, and sets nothing, unless you press play.
If non-essential cookies are added in future, we will implement a consent mechanism where required by law. You can manage cookies and local storage through your browser settings at any time.
12. Additional information for United States residents
This section applies if you live in the United States. It adds to the rest of this policy and explains the rights you may have under state privacy laws, including the California Consumer Privacy Act as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act, and the comprehensive privacy laws of other states.
Personal information we collect
In the last 12 months we have collected the following categories of personal information. Sections 1 to 3 give more detail.
| Category | Examples | Where it comes from | Why we use it | Who receives it for a business purpose |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Identifiers | Email address, username, display name, Lifer account ID, IP address, push token, and the advertising identifier where the inactive AdMob software reads it | You, your device, Google or Apple sign-in | Running your account, security, notifications | Supabase, Cloudflare, Sentry, RevenueCat, Expo, Apple, Google (including the inactive AdMob software), Resend, Netlify |
| Commercial information | Subscription status and purchase records | Apple, Google, RevenueCat | Providing Lifer Pro | RevenueCat, Apple, Google |
| Internet or other electronic activity | Feature use, crash and error reports, website request logs | Your device and browser | Running and improving Lifer, fixing faults, preventing abuse | Supabase, Sentry, Netlify |
| Geolocation data | Precise location of catches, map views, Bird Alert areas, Bird Walk routes, and Field Camera session location history (kept on your device) | Your device, with your permission | Recording catches, maps, alerts, Nests, Bird Walks and Field Camera capture locations | Supabase, Mapbox, Cloudflare (habitat lookups), OpenAI (rounded to about 100 metres for Camera Catch and about 10 kilometres for Field Camera), and GBIF only if you opt in |
| Audio, electronic and visual information | Catch photos, Field Camera photos and camera details, optional saved audio clips, profile, card and Nest photos | You | Your collection, Camera Catch and Field Camera identification, sharing you choose, moderation | Supabase, Cloudflare, OpenAI |
| Inferences | Rarity, points, rank and similar in-game results | Created by Lifer | Running the game and competitions | Not disclosed, except where you choose to share them |
| Sensitive personal information | Precise geolocation; account login details; the content of your messages in The Hide | You and your device | Only to provide the features you use, keep Lifer secure, and meet legal obligations | Supabase |
We keep each category for the periods described in section 6.
Sale and sharing
We do not sell personal information, and we do not share it for cross-context behavioural advertising (targeted advertising). Advertising in Lifer ended on 24 July 2026. Before then, Android builds displayed ads through Google AdMob, which disclosed identifiers (such as the advertising identifier and IP address) and internet activity to Google and can count as "sharing" under California law. The app still contains the AdMob software, which may contact Google when it starts, but it can no longer receive an ad, and we plan to remove it in a future version. We have no actual knowledge of selling or sharing the personal information of anyone under 16.
Sensitive personal information
We only use sensitive personal information to provide the features you ask for, to keep Lifer secure, and to meet legal obligations. We collect precise location only after you allow it in your device's location settings, and you can withdraw that permission there at any time. We do not use sensitive personal information to infer characteristics about you. Because of this, the California right to limit the use of sensitive personal information does not apply, but you can still ask us about it.
Your rights
Depending on the state you live in, you may have the right to:
- know what personal information we have collected about you, where it came from, why we use it and who we disclose it to, and get a copy of it in a portable format;
- have personal information deleted;
- have inaccurate personal information corrected;
- opt out of the sale of personal information, targeted advertising, and profiling that produces legal or similarly significant effects (we do none of these);
- not be treated differently for exercising any of these rights.
How to make a request
Email sam@getlifer.app, or delete your account from the app's settings. We will confirm we have received your request within 10 business days and respond within 45 days. If we need more time, we will tell you why, and we may take up to a further 45 days where the law allows.
We need to verify that a request comes from you. We usually do this by asking you to confirm the request from the email address on your account, or from inside the app while signed in.
You can use an authorised agent to make a request for you. We may ask the agent for signed permission from you, and may still ask you to verify your identity directly.
Appeals
If we decline your request, you can appeal by replying to our decision or by emailing sam@getlifer.app with "Privacy appeal" in the subject. We will respond within 45 days and explain our decision. If you are not satisfied, you can contact your state Attorney General.
Global Privacy Control and Do Not Track
We do not track you across other companies' apps or websites, and we do not sell or share personal information, so there is nothing for these signals to switch off. If your browser or device sends a Global Privacy Control signal, we treat it as a valid request to opt out of sale and sharing. We do not respond differently to Do Not Track signals.
California "Shine the Light"
We do not disclose personal information to third parties for their own direct marketing purposes.
Contact
LIFER LTD is responsible for your personal information. Contact sam@getlifer.app with any question about this section.
13. Additional information for residents of Canada
This section applies if you live in Canada. It adds to the rest of this policy, which also applies to you.
Who is responsible
The person in charge of the protection of personal information at LIFER LTD is Sam Lewis, Director. You can contact him at sam@getlifer.app or at the postal address in section 15.
Where your information is processed
Your information is processed outside Canada, in the United Kingdom, the European Union and the United States, by Lifer and the service providers listed in section 3, under contracts that require them to protect it. While it is held in another country, it is subject to that country's laws and may be accessible to its courts, law enforcement and national security authorities.
Private by default
New accounts that we identify as being in Canada, from the phone's time zone or the country of its location, start with the most private settings: a private profile, with Guardian Nests and species masteries hidden from other people. Catches are private by default for everyone, and optional sharing such as open biodiversity data is off until you turn it on. You can change any of these in Settings.
Location
Lifer uses your device's location only with your permission, to record where you catch birds, show maps, Bird Alerts and Bird Walks, and match Field Camera photos to where they were taken. You can refuse or withdraw location permission at any time in your device's settings; features that need location will then ask again or work without it.
Your rights
You can ask to access the personal information we hold about you, have it corrected, and withdraw your consent, subject to legal and contractual limits. If you live in Quebec, you can also ask to receive the computerised personal information you gave us in a structured, commonly used technological format, ask us to stop disseminating your personal information or to de-index any link to it where the law allows, and be told about decisions based exclusively on automated processing (section 9). We respond within 30 days.
Privacy incidents
If a privacy breach involving your information creates a real risk of significant harm, or in Quebec a risk of serious injury, we will notify you and the relevant privacy commissioner as the law requires.
Right to complain
You can complain to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada. If you live in Quebec, you can also complain to the Commission d'accès à l'information du Québec; in Alberta or British Columbia, to that province's Information and Privacy Commissioner. We would appreciate the chance to resolve your concern first at sam@getlifer.app.
14. Policy updates
This policy may be updated periodically. The effective date at the top will always reflect the most recent version. For material changes to what data we collect, who we share it with, or how we use it, we will provide notice through the app, the website, or by email where required by law.
Where an update materially changes the agreement or requires a fresh acknowledgement, Lifer may ask you to review the new documents before continuing to use account features.
15. Contact
For privacy questions, rights requests, or removal of waitlist data:
LIFER LTD
128 City Road
London
EC1V 2NX
United Kingdom
LIFER LTD is registered with the UK Information Commissioner's Office under registration number ZC260168.
We aim to acknowledge all privacy enquiries within 5 business days.