Privacy Policy

Tree Fungi Identifier — owned by Estonian Arboricultural Society. Initial development: Olga Orlova.

Last updated: May 2, 2026

Data We Collect

The app collects the following data:

• Email address — used for account registration via Firebase Authentication
• User group — selected during onboarding (e.g., Student, Arborist, Teacher)
• Notification consent — whether the user agrees to receive notifications
• Photos — sent to the server for fungi identification. Photos are processed in memory and are not stored on the server
• Location data — collected when saving an observation and submitting it to PlutoF (University of Tartu). Location is not stored on our server
• PlutoF login credentials — when the user logs in to PlutoF through the app, the username and password are sent over HTTPS directly to plutof.ut.ee (University of Tartu). We do not store PlutoF passwords on our server

How We Use Data

• Email is used for authentication and password recovery
• User group and notification consent are used for anonymised audience statistics and optional email notifications
• Photos are used solely for real-time fungi identification and are not saved
• Location data is sent to PlutoF together with the observation and is not stored on our server

Data Storage

User authentication data is stored in Firebase (Google Cloud). Anonymised audience statistics (user group, notification consent) are stored on a server hosted by Hetzner (Germany/Finland, EU).

Third-Party Services

• Firebase Authentication (Google) — user accounts
• PlutoF (University of Tartu) — species data and observation submission
• Hetzner (Germany/Finland, EU) — hosting of the AI identification server

Data Sharing

We do not sell or share personal data with third parties.

Data Deletion

Users can request data deletion by contacting [email protected]. Requests are processed within 30 days.

Your GDPR Rights

Under the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) you have the right to access, correct, or delete your personal data. Complaints can be filed with the Estonian Data Protection Inspectorate (Andmekaitse Inspektsioon, www.aki.ee).

Contact

Estonian Arboricultural Society
E-mail: [email protected]