Privacy Policy
This policy explains how the bimsy iPhone app ("bimsy", "the App") handles your information. bimsy is made by Politechaos ("we", "us"). We built bimsy to keep as little about you as possible: there is no account, no sign-in, no advertising and no tracking.
The short version
- Your photos and your saved Sightings live on your iPhone, not on our servers.
- To identify a creature, the photo you choose is sent to our identification service and on to our AI provider. Our service keeps no copy of the photo or of the answer.
- We keep only anonymous counts, such as how many identifications succeeded or failed.
- Payments are handled entirely by Apple.
1. Photos and identification
What is sent. When you scan, the App prepares the photo you took or picked (it reduces its size and removes location and other capture metadata) and sends it to our identification service, together with the language the answer should be written in.
Who processes it. Our service passes the photo to our AI model provider, OpenAI, which analyses it and returns a description of the creature and its risks. OpenAI does not use data sent through its API to train its models.
How long it is kept. Our identification service stores no photo and no answer: both exist only for the time it takes to answer your request. Our provider may retain the content of a request for up to 30 days to monitor for abuse, after which it is deleted, unless the law requires otherwise. We are working to remove this retention, and will update this policy when we do.
Camera and photo library. The App asks for camera or photo-library access only when you choose to scan, and uses it only for the photo you take or pick.
2. What stays on your iPhone
When you save a scan as a Sighting, the photo, a thumbnail, the identification answer and the time are stored on your iPhone only. They are excluded from iCloud and device backups, and they are not sent to us. You can delete one Sighting, or all of them, at any time in the App. Deleting the App deletes them.
3. The installation identifier
The App creates a random identifier on your iPhone and stores it in the device's keychain. It sends this identifier with each identification so our service can limit how many requests one installation makes in a short period, which protects the service from abuse. The identifier is not linked to your name, Apple ID or any other identity, and our service never writes it down: it is used for the duration of the request and then discarded.
4. Operational data we keep
Our service records anonymous operational counts — for example, that an identification succeeded, was refused or failed, and which version of the App made it. These records contain no photo, no identification result, no installation identifier and nothing that identifies you or your device. Like any web service, our hosting provider (Cloudflare) processes the network address of each request in order to deliver it.
5. Subscriptions and payments
Bimsy Pro is purchased through the Apple App Store. Apple processes the payment; we never see or store your payment details. The App checks your subscription status with Apple on your device.
6. What we don't do
- No accounts, profiles or sign-in.
- No advertising, and no advertising or tracking identifiers.
- No analytics or crash-reporting services inside the App.
- We do not sell or share your information for marketing.
7. Contacting support
If you write to us, we receive your email address and whatever you choose to include, and use them only to reply. Please don't send photos or identification results unless you want us to see them.
8. Children
bimsy is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them.
9. Your rights
Because we keep no photos, results or account data about you, there is usually nothing we hold that could be accessed or deleted on request — your data is on your iPhone and under your control. If you have a question or a request under your local data-protection law, contact us and we will help.
10. Changes
If the way bimsy handles information changes, we will update this page and its "Last updated" date.
11. Contact
Politechaos — support@politechaos.app