Ekin privacy policy
Effective 31 October 2026
Ekin is a plant-care app. This page explains what the app and its server do with your information, in plain language. If anything here is unclear, write to us at the address at the bottom.
In short: Ekin keeps what it needs to run your garden, sends only what is necessary to the services it relies on, does not show ads, does not track you across other apps or websites, and does not sell your data. You can download or delete everything from the Account screen.
What Ekin stores about you
| What | Why | When it is removed |
|---|---|---|
| Your name, email address, and a password hash, or the identity id from Google or Apple if you sign in with them | Your account | You delete your account |
| Your growing spaces: name, kind, light, drainage, size, timezone, and coordinates or a map outline if you enter them | Care plans and weather | You delete the space (30-day Undo) or your account |
| Your plants, soil checks, reminders you marked done or snoozed, journal entries, harvests, growth measurements and archive history | The core features of the app | You delete the plant (30-day Undo) or your account |
| Care details estimated by AI for plants outside the built-in list | Your care schedule | You delete your account |
| Your phone's push notification token | Sending reminders | You sign out, turn reminders off, or delete your account |
| An AI usage log: which feature, how many uses, token counts and time. It holds no questions, answers or photos | Your monthly allowance and cost control | You delete your account |
| Shared plant pictures drawn by AI, labelled only with a plant name such as "tomato" | Showing a plant's picture | They contain no personal data and are kept |
| Server logs: which outside service was called, the address path, status and duration | Keeping the service running | They are rotated by our hosting provider |
Photos you choose for a photo check or to identify a plant are held in memory while the request runs and are not saved. The app shrinks them and removes location data before sending.
Who else receives information
| Service | What it receives | When |
|---|---|---|
| Open-Meteo | The coordinates of your space | Weather forecasts and past-years climate for planting ideas |
| Google Maps | Map requests from your device | When you draw a plot |
| Firebase Authentication (Google) | Your Google or Apple sign-in, which the server verifies. Your identity there is deleted when you delete your account | When you sign in with Google or Apple |
| Apple | The sign-in request, if you use Sign in with Apple. With "Hide My Email" Apple gives us a private relay address instead of your real one | When you sign in with Apple |
| Expo push service | Your push token and the text of the notification | Sending reminders |
| Google Gemini (AI) | Your question or note, plant and space details, a short climate summary, a rounded location (about 100 km wide, never your exact position) for planting ideas, and any photo you choose | Only when you use an AI feature, and only if your account is confirmed |
| GBIF, Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons | The name of a plant, sent from our server, never your account details | When the app shows a plant's photo and description |
| Resend | Your email address and the code or message | Confirmation and password-reset emails |
Your name and email address are never sent to the AI service. Ekin uses a paid Gemini plan, under which Google does not generally use content to improve its products.
Your choices
- AI is optional. Everything except the AI features works without it, and a switch in Account turns off the AI tips on planting suggestions.
- Download your data. Account → Download my data gives you a file with your spaces, plants, history and settings.
- Delete your account. Account → Delete account removes your spaces, plants, history, AI-estimated care details, usage log and push tokens, and your Google or Apple sign-in identity. If you signed in with Apple, we also revoke the Apple sign-in connection.
- Location is optional. You can enter a timezone instead of coordinates for indoor pots.
- Photos ask first. The app asks for your confirmation before the first photo is sent.
What Ekin does not do
Ekin has no advertising and no analytics or tracking tools. It does not track you across other companies' apps or websites, and it does not sell or rent your information.
Children
Ekin is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect their information.
Changes
If this policy changes in a way that matters, we will update the date above and tell you in the app.
Contact
Questions or requests about your data: [email protected]