In Hand: privacy policy

Who publishes the app

In Hand is published by the author of aithatgives.org, the same person named as the developer in Google Play. It is free, has no ads, no account and no paid features, and is not affiliated with any of the institutions whose warnings it shows. Questions about this policy: hello@aithatgives.org.

What the app collects

Nothing. The app has no analytics, no crash reporting, no advertising library, no push-notification service and no account. It never sends anything you type, scan, choose or follow anywhere. I have no way of knowing who uses the app or how.

What stays on your phone

The app keeps a few things in its own storage on your device: the downloaded warning data, the settings you chose (language, text size, what you follow: allergens, a small child, product categories, which sources), and the time of the last check. None of it leaves the phone. Uninstalling the app removes all of it.

The one connection the app makes

To get the warnings, the app downloads small files from gosiarutkowska.github.io, a static site hosted by GitHub Pages. It does this when you open the app and, if Android allows it, in the background about four times a day. Product photos on the list are loaded from the same place. The app does not connect to GIS, UOKiK, GIF, RASFF or Safety Gate directly: a script running on GitHub fetches those sources and turns them into the files the app reads.

Like any web server, GitHub sees the IP address of the phone that asks for a file, the time, and which file it was. I do not receive, see or store any of that. How GitHub handles it is described in the GitHub General Privacy Statement. The downloaded files are the same for everyone, so the request says nothing about you beyond the fact that a phone somewhere asked for them.

Camera

The camera is used only when you open the scanner, and only to read the barcode or data matrix on a pack. The image is processed on the device and discarded. No photo is saved, and none is sent anywhere. You can refuse the camera permission and still use everything else in the app.

Notifications

A notification is created on your phone, by the app itself, when a newly downloaded warning matches what you follow. There is no push service: nothing is sent to your phone from outside, and no notification token is created or shared. You can turn notifications off in the app or in Android settings at any time.

Reading aloud

The "read aloud" button hands the text of a warning to the text-to-speech engine built into your phone's operating system. The app does not use any speech service of its own. Which engine speaks, and whether it works offline, depends on your Android settings.

Other permissions

The app asks Android for: Internet (to download the data), Camera (scanner), Notifications, running in the background and starting after a reboot (so the check happens when the app is closed), Vibration (a short buzz when a scan finds a match) and launcher badges (requested by the notification library; the app never shows a number on its icon). It deliberately does not ask for the microphone, location, contacts, storage access or the ability to draw over other apps.

Links that leave the app

Each warning links to the original notice at the institution that published it (gov.pl, uokik.gov.pl, rdg.ezdrowie.gov.pl, ec.europa.eu). Settings link to aithatgives.org and to buymeacoffee.com. These open in your browser, where the privacy policy of that site applies; the app itself sends nothing to them.

Children

The app is not directed at children and, since it collects no data, collects none from children either. The "small child at home" setting only changes which warnings you are told about.

Your rights

Under the GDPR you have the right to access, correct and erase your personal data. Because I hold no data about you, there is nothing for me to show, correct or delete; everything the app keeps is on your phone, under your control. If you believe this is wrong, write to me and I will look into it.

Changes

If the app ever starts doing something this page does not describe, this page changes first and the date at the top moves. The source code of the app, including the part that downloads the data, is public at github.com/gosiarutkowska/czujka, so anyone can check that the description matches the behaviour.