Privacy Policy

01 Information We Collect

Biota is designed to work without an account and without collecting personal information. We do not ask for your name, email address, phone number, or any other identifying details.

The only data Biota stores is what is necessary to provide the core experience:

• Zip code — entered by you during onboarding, used to determine your ecoregion, and stored locally on your device.
• Ecoregion and location metadata — derived from your zip code (ecoregion name, code, approximate coordinates, state). Stored locally on your device only.

None of this information is transmitted to us or stored on any server we operate.

02 Camera and Photo Library Access

Biota requests access to your device camera and photo library exclusively for plant identification. When you use the identify feature:

• Photos you take or select are sent to a plant identification service to generate identification results.
• Photos are not stored by us after the identification is complete.
• We do not use your photos for any purpose other than providing you with identification results.
• Camera and photo library access is optional — you can use Biota to browse native plants without ever granting these permissions.

You can revoke camera and photo library permissions at any time through your device settings.

03 Location Information

Biota does not access your device's GPS or precise location. We ask for a zip code instead — a deliberate choice to give you full control over what location information you share.

Your zip code and the ecoregion data derived from it are stored on your device using local storage. This data is never transmitted to us. You can reset your location at any time within the app, which clears all stored location data.

04 Plant Data and Supabase

Biota fetches plant information — species names, images, collection details, ecoregion boundaries — from a database we operate using Supabase. These are read-only requests for public plant data.

• No personal information is included in these requests.
• Requests include your ecoregion code and state so we can return the relevant plants for your region.
• We do not log or store individual user queries.

Supabase is a US-based infrastructure provider. You can review their privacy practices at supabase.com/privacy.

05 Third-Party Services

Biota uses a small number of third-party services to function. These services have their own privacy policies, which we encourage you to review:

• Supabase — database infrastructure for plant data. (Privacy Policy)
• Mapbox — map rendering for ecoregion visualization. Mapbox may log tile requests, which may include approximate region data. (Privacy Policy)
• Nominatim / OpenStreetMap — zip code geocoding. Queries include only the zip code you enter. (Privacy Policy)

We do not use advertising networks, analytics platforms, or any service that tracks your behavior across apps or websites.

06 Data Retention

All data Biota stores (your zip code and derived ecoregion metadata) lives on your device. You can delete it at any time by resetting your location in the app or by uninstalling Biota. We have no copy of this data and cannot delete it on your behalf.

07 Children's Privacy

Biota does not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. Because Biota does not collect personal information from any user, it is suitable for use by all ages. If you believe a child has shared personal information through the app, please contact us and we will address it promptly.

08 Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we will update the "Last updated" date at the top of this page. We encourage you to review this page periodically. Continued use of Biota after any changes constitutes your acceptance of the updated policy.

09 Contact

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or how Biota handles data, please reach out:

• Email: hello@mybiota.co
• Website: mybiota.app