Christian Bumberger

Privacy Policy

App “PlantPal” · Last updated: October 2026

The app contains no advertising, no analytics tools and no tracking. For identification, care tips, the plant check, the sensor bridge and the subscription check the app communicates with a server of mine (api.bumberger.at, hosted by World4You in Austria).

What is sent to my server

For identification and the plant check (“Check plant”) the app sends the photo you took, for care tips the plant’s name (botanical and common), each with the selected language, over an encrypted connection (HTTPS) to my server. If the plant already has a check, it also sends the earlier photo and the last finding for the comparison. For “Ask about this plant” it sends your question, up to the last three questions and answers of that conversation, the plant’s name and a short summary of what the app knows about it (care tips, last check and your notes on this plant). The server forwards the request to Anthropic’s API (Claude) and returns the answer to the app. I do not store photos, questions or answers and do not write them to any log; on my server they exist only for the duration of the request. The app does not save a conversation either; it ends when you close it.

What my server stores

To limit usage, the server counts requests per kind and calendar month. They are assigned to a random identifier of your app installation (not linked to your name, Apple ID or email address) or, with a subscription, to the pseudonymous original transaction number issued by Apple. In addition the server logs for each request the time, kind, number of tokens processed and response time – without photo, plant names or answer text – as well as technical error messages. I delete the counters after 13 months and the request log after 90 days. The hosting provider World4You keeps the usual technical access logs (for example with the IP address); its privacy policy applies to these. The legal basis is providing the app’s functions (Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR) and my legitimate interest in abuse protection and cost control (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR).

Protecting the free allowance (Apple DeviceCheck)

So that the free allowance cannot be reset over and over by deleting or reinstalling the app, the app uses Apple’s DeviceCheck service. Without a subscription, the app sends a token generated by Apple to my server. With it, my server queries two yes/no values that Apple stores for your device and sets one of them to “free requests were used this month” as soon as you make your first free request of the month. Another identifier on the same device then gets no new free allowance. Without this device check, no free requests are possible. I receive no other information about you or your device from Apple; I do not store the token. The value expires by itself at the turn of the month. The legal basis is my legitimate interest in protection against abuse (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR).

Deleting data on my server

In the app under “About → My data → Delete data on the server” you immediately delete the counters and log entries that my server has stored for your installation or subscription. Afterwards the app creates a new random identifier. Your allowance is not reset by this: if you have already used free requests this month, your device stays blocked from further free requests through Apple DeviceCheck (see above) until the month ends. With a subscription, the counters for the current month are kept so that the monthly allowance cannot be reset by deleting; everything else, including counters from earlier months, is deleted. An existing subscription stays valid. Any sensor bridges you set up are deleted too, along with their readings. Because I do not know you by name, I can assign this data only through this function in the app; an email to me is not enough for that. Short-lived technical counters for the per-minute request limit expire by themselves within an hour. I cannot delete data held by Apple (purchases, account and the DeviceCheck value), in your iCloud (you delete it with the app function “Delete all plants and data” or in your iCloud settings), by Anthropic (its terms apply) and the technical access logs of my hosting provider.

Anthropic (Claude)

The requests are processed by Anthropic PBC (USA); data may be transferred to the USA. How Anthropic processes data is governed by its terms and privacy notices. My server transmits no information about you personally (no name, no Apple ID, no email address). A photo can, however, contain information visible in the picture – so please photograph only plants and not people. Please do not write personal data such as names, addresses or health details about people into questions and notes; they are sent to Anthropic with the question.

“PlantPal Plus” subscription

You buy and manage the subscription through Apple. Apple processes payment data, name and email address; I do not receive them. To unlock the subscription the app sends the transaction of your subscription, signed by Apple, to my server, which checks its authenticity and validity.

Collection on your device and in iCloud

The app stores plants, photos, journal entries, notes, care tips, plant checks and the dates for watering, fertilizing and repotting on your device. If you are signed in to iCloud, they sync to your other devices through your private iCloud area (CloudKit), as do your household and winter watering settings. I have no access to them. Apple’s privacy policy governs what data Apple processes as part of iCloud.

Notifications

Reminders for watering, fertilizing and repotting as well as reminders for the next plant check are local notifications on your device; no data is transmitted for them.

Widget and vacation plan

For the widget, the app stores the names, watering dates and small thumbnails of your plants in a storage area on your device that only PlantPal and its widget can read. The vacation plan is created as a PDF on your device and is only passed on if you share it yourself. No data is sent to me or to Anthropic for either.

Plant sensor (Bluetooth)

When you connect a plant sensor (Flower Care), the app searches for nearby sensors via Bluetooth. It reads soil moisture, light, soil conductivity, temperature and battery level, plus the hourly values stored in the sensor. iOS asks once for your permission to use Bluetooth; you can withdraw it at any time in your device settings. The app stores the link between sensor and plant and the readings with the plant in your collection. Like the collection, they are synced to your other devices via your private iCloud space if you are signed in to iCloud, so your iPad, for example, shows the values your iPhone has read. They are sent to my server only if you set up the sensor bridge (see below), and never to Anthropic. The target values for moisture, light and fertilizer come with the care tips; as there, only the plant’s name is sent. If you disconnect the sensor or delete the plant, the app also deletes its readings, on all devices and in iCloud.

Sensor bridge (PlantPal Plus)

With PlantPal Plus you can set up a sensor bridge: a small ESP32 at your home running my PlantPal Bridge firmware. It receives the radio packets of your Flower Care sensors via Bluetooth and sends them to my server every 5 minutes over an encrypted connection (HTTPS): for each sensor an identifier made of the last three bytes of its Bluetooth address, plus soil moisture, light, conductivity and temperature, and the battery level if the sensor transmits it. During setup the app creates a random bridge key, registers it with my server and transfers it, together with the Wi-Fi name and Wi-Fi password, to the bridge via Bluetooth. The Wi-Fi name and password stay on the bridge; they are not sent to my server. So you don’t have to enter everything again for the next bridge, the app remembers the Wi-Fi name and password in your device’s keychain; from there they are not passed on and not synced via iCloud. My server stores only a checksum (SHA-256) of the key, linked to the pseudonymous identifier of your subscription, plus the latest readings and hourly readings for each sensor. I delete the readings after 7 days, and a bridge whose readings no app with a subscription has retrieved for 40 days together with all its readings. Only the app with your subscription can retrieve the readings, so they appear with your plants. The app keeps the bridge key in your private iCloud storage so you can also remove the bridge from your other devices. With the trash button next to the bridge under “Settings → Sensor Bridge” and with “Delete data on the server” you delete bridges and readings immediately; on the bridge itself, holding the BOOT button for 5 seconds erases the Wi-Fi access and the key. As with every request, my hosting provider sees the IP address of your internet connection (see above). The legal basis is providing the feature you chose (Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR).

Report a problem

“Report a problem” opens an email to support@bumberger.at that you can read and edit before sending. It contains the app version, device model, iOS version, language, the number of your plants and checks and your subscription status – no photos or notes.

Mac version

This policy also applies to PlantPal on the Mac. Identification, care tips, the plant check, questions, the subscription, the free allowance with Apple DeviceCheck and the iCloud sync work there exactly as described above. The differences:

Android version

This policy also applies to the Android version of PlantPal, with the following differences:

No tracking

PlantPal contains no ads, no analytics or tracking services and creates no account.

Contact by email

If you email me, I use your address and message only to answer your request.

Your rights

Under the GDPR you have the right of access, rectification, erasure, restriction of processing and objection, and the right to lodge a complaint with the Austrian Data Protection Authority (dsb.gv.at). You delete plants, photos and checks in the app under “About → My data → Delete all plants and data”; this also removes the copy in your iCloud. You delete the data on my server there with “Delete data on the server” (see below). You cancel a subscription in your Apple account settings.

Controller

Christian Bumberger
Falkenweg 12
4050 Traun, Austria
support@bumberger.at