Privacy Policy

1. Information We Collect

Account Information

When you create an account, we collect your email address and display name. This information is used to authenticate you and enable cloud sync features.

Beekeeping Data

The App allows you to record and manage beekeeping data including apiaries, hives, colonies, queens, inspections, treatments, harvests, tasks, and sensor readings. This data is created and owned by you.

Photos and Voice Notes

You may capture photos and voice notes within the App to document your hive inspections. Voice notes are processed on-device using on-device speech recognition and are never sent to external speech-to-text services. If cloud sync is on, the photo and audio files are stored with your synced records in Firebase Cloud Storage, so they are available on your other devices and to members of your organization.

Sensor Data

If you connect Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) hive sensors (such as BroodMinder or BEEP devices), the App collects sensor readings including temperature, humidity, and weight data from your hives.

AI Apiary Analysis (Optional, Opt-In)

The App includes an optional feature called AI Apiary Analysis that writes a plain-language summary of a colony's condition. If — and only if — you enable it, the App sends the following to Google's Gemini model running on Google Cloud Vertex AI: your hive records (name, type, frame count, status); inspections from the last 90 days, including the notes you typed or dictated; treatment history; Bluetooth sensor readings; and your apiary's name, environment type and approximate region (latitude rounded to a whole degree, roughly 111 km).

It does not send your name, email address, account details, exact GPS coordinates, street address, photos, or audio recordings. Google processes this data to generate your analysis and return it to you.

The feature is off until you turn it on. The first time you tap “Generate AI Analysis”, the App shows a disclosure naming Google and listing exactly what is transmitted, and nothing is sent unless you agree. You can withdraw consent at any time in Settings → Privacy → AI Apiary Analysis, after which nothing further is sent. If you never enable it, none of your beekeeping data is ever sent to an AI service.

Crash Reports

We use Firebase Crashlytics for crash reporting. When the App encounters an error, anonymous diagnostic information is sent to Google, including device type, operating system version, app version, and error details. This data does not include your personal beekeeping data or account information.

2. How Your Data Is Stored

On-Device Storage

All your beekeeping data is stored locally on your device using an embedded database. The App is designed to work fully offline — you do not need an internet connection to use core features.

Cloud Sync (Optional)

When you enable cloud sync, your data — including the photos and voice-note audio attached to your records — is synchronized to Firebase servers (Firestore and Cloud Storage) to enable multi-device access and organization features. You can disable sync at any time, in which case all data remains exclusively on your device. When sync is disabled, no beekeeping data leaves your device.

3. Organizations and Shared Data

The App supports organizations where multiple beekeepers can collaborate. When you join an organization, other members of that organization can view and manage shared hive data based on their assigned role (viewer, technician, admin, or owner). Only data explicitly associated with the organization is shared — your personal data outside the organization remains private.

4. How We Use Your Information

We use your information to:

• Provide and maintain the App's functionality
• Sync your data across devices when cloud sync is enabled
• Enable collaboration within organizations
• Send you invitation notifications when invited to an organization
• Diagnose and fix crashes and bugs via anonymous crash reports
• Improve the App based on aggregated, non-identifying usage patterns

5. What We Do Not Do

• We do not sell your personal data to anyone
• We do not share your beekeeping data with a third party unless you explicitly ask us to — today the only such case is the opt-in AI Apiary Analysis feature described in section 1 and section 6
• We do not use your beekeeping data, notes, photos or location for advertising. Advertising measurement is limited to install and purchase attribution, uses only a device advertising identifier, and on iOS runs only if you allow tracking when the system asks
• We do not send your voice recordings to any speech-recognition or AI service — all transcription happens on your device. With cloud sync on, the audio file is stored with your records, like a photo
• We do not use your data to train any AI model, and neither does Google

6. Third-Party Services

The App uses the following third-party services:

• Firebase/Firestore (Google) — cloud data sync and authentication, when sync is enabled
• Firebase Crashlytics (Google) — anonymous crash reporting and error tracking
• Firebase Analytics (Google) — anonymous product usage analytics (which screens are used, which features are tapped), on by default and not linked to your account or to any advertising identifier. Never includes your hive records, notes or location. Turn it off at any time in Settings → Privacy → Analytics
• Google Cloud Vertex AI (Gemini) — generates the optional AI Apiary Analysis. Receives the data listed in section 1 only after you explicitly agree. Google acts as our processor under the Google Cloud terms and does not use the data to train its models
• Meta (Facebook) SDK — measures which advertisements led to an install or purchase. On iOS this runs only if you allow tracking when the system prompt asks; it receives a device advertising identifier and app events, never your beekeeping data
• RevenueCat — manages subscription entitlements and purchase state
• Resend — delivers organization invitation emails on our behalf
• Google Pollen API and Open-Meteo — return local pollen, air-quality and weather forecasts. They receive an apiary's coordinates to answer the request, and no other data about you
• Mapbox — renders the apiary map. Map tile requests carry the area of the map you are viewing

Each of these services has its own privacy policy governing how they handle data. We encourage you to review their respective privacy policies.

7. Data Retention and Deletion

Your on-device data remains on your device until you delete it or uninstall the App. For cloud-synced data, you can request account deletion through our Data Deletion Instructions. When your account is deleted, all associated synced data will be permanently removed from our servers within 14 days.

8. Data Security

We take reasonable measures to protect your data. On-device data is stored in the App's private storage, protected by your device's operating-system sandbox and its own device encryption (for example, the passcode or screen lock you set); the App does not add a separate layer of database encryption. Cloud-synced data is transmitted over encrypted connections (TLS) and stored on Google Cloud (Firebase) servers, which encrypt data at rest. However, no method of electronic storage or transmission is 100% secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

9. Children's Privacy

The App is not directed at children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child under 13 has provided us with personal information, please contact us at support@tryhivesense.com and we will promptly delete it.

10. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of any changes by posting the new Privacy Policy on this page and updating the "Last updated" date. We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically.

11. Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact us at:

Email: support@tryhivesense.com
Developer: HiveSense
Website: HiveSense