RecycleHow

Privacy Policy for RecycleHow

Effective date: 25-08-2025

RecycleHow ("we," "our," or "us") respects your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how our mobile application RecycleHow (the "App") collects, uses, and protects your information.

1. Information We Collect

When you use RecycleHow, we may collect the following information:

  • Photos you upload: You can take a picture of an item to identify materials for recycling.
  • Anonymous usage identifiers: Generated by Firebase to prevent abuse and manage rate limiting.
  • Interaction counts: The number of times a unique user interacts with the App is recorded to enforce fair usage limits.
  • Feedback information: If you choose to provide feedback during testing or via forms.

We do not collect:

  • Your name, email address, phone number, or other directly identifying personal information through the App.
  • Your location data. Location is only processed on your device to generate a recycling search URL and is never collected or stored by us.

2. How We Use Your Information

We use the collected information to:

  • Identify materials in your uploaded photos using Google Cloud Vision API.
  • Match detected materials with recycling guidance from RecycleNow.
  • Enforce fair usage by tracking anonymous interaction counts.
  • Improve the performance and reliability of the App.

3. Data Storage and Retention

  • Photos: Uploaded images are stored temporarily in secure Google Cloud Storage and automatically deleted within 1 hour.
  • App data: Metadata (labels, similarity scores, rate limits) may be cached in Firestore for performance, but does not identify you personally.
  • Interaction counts: Stored anonymously and used only for rate limiting.
  • Feedback forms: If you participate in testing, responses may include your email address or other voluntary details. These are stored securely and only used for testing purposes.

4. Data Sharing

We do not sell or share your personal data with third parties for marketing purposes.
We use trusted service providers solely to provide the App's functionality:

  • Google Cloud Platform (Cloud Storage, Vision API, Vertex API, Geocoding)
  • Firebase (Authentication, Firestore, Functions)
  • RecycleNow website (to display recycling information)

5. Your Rights

You may:

  • Request deletion of feedback data you have provided by contacting us.

Since most data in the App is temporary and anonymized, we generally cannot identify individual users from App usage alone.

6. Security

We use industry-standard security measures (such as encrypted storage and secure connections) to protect your information. However, no method of electronic storage is 100% secure.

7. Children's Privacy

RecycleHow is not designed for children under the age of 18. We do not knowingly collect personal information from users under 18.
Use of the App is not restricted by age, but it is intended for adults.

8. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. The effective date will be updated accordingly.

9. Contact Us

If you have questions or requests regarding this Privacy Policy, please contact us:

Email: mthaak.dev@gmail.com