FluttrPrivacy policy
Last updated September 22, 2026
Fluttr is a bird watching app made by one person. This page says plainly what the app collects, why, who can see it, and how to get rid of it.
The short version
- You can browse birds, use Sound ID, and keep a life list without creating an account. That data stays on your phone.
- If you sign in, your catches, badges, and profile are backed up to our server so friends can see them and so they follow you to a new phone.
- Friends see what you caught and when, never where. Locations and notes are only ever shown to you.
- We do not sell data, show ads, or use advertising or analytics trackers.
- You can delete your account and everything in it from inside the app, at any time.
What we collect and why
| Data | Why | Where it lives |
|---|---|---|
| Email address | To sign you in with a one-time code and to contact you about your account. | Our server (Supabase) |
| Username and display name | So friends can find you. You choose both. | Our server |
| Catches: species, date and time, how you identified it | Your life list, badges, and the friends feed. | Your phone, and our server when signed in |
| Catch location | Optional. Saved with a catch so you can remember where you saw it. Shown only to you; never to friends. | Your phone, and our server when signed in |
| Catch notes | Optional. Your own reminders. Shown only to you. | Your phone, and our server when signed in |
| Friendships, cheers, comments | The social features. | Our server |
| Device push token | To send notifications about cheers, comments, and friend requests, if you allow them. | Our server, and Apple or Google's push services |
| Microphone audio | Sound ID listens through the microphone to identify birds. Audio is processed on your phone and is never recorded, stored, or uploaded. | Nowhere |
We do not collect contacts, photos, advertising identifiers, or precise location in the background. Location is read only at the moment you catch a bird, only if you have granted permission, and you can catch birds without it.
Who can see what
- Only you: catch locations, catch notes, your email address, and your notification list.
- Your accepted friends: your username and display name, which species you caught and when, your badges, and cheers and comments on your items.
- Anyone signed in: your username and display name appear in search results so friends can find you. Nothing else is public. There are no public profiles.
Services we rely on
- Supabase hosts our database and sign-in (servers in the United States).
- Sign-in emails are sent through Google's Gmail service.
- Push notifications are delivered by Apple Push Notification service on iPhone and Firebase Cloud Messaging on Android. They receive only the device token and the text of the notification.
- Species descriptions, photos, and recordings come from Wikipedia, Wikimedia Commons, iNaturalist, and Xeno-canto. Loading them fetches files from those sites, which see your IP address like any website you visit.
- The Sound ID model downloads from GitHub the first time you use it.
None of these services receive your catches, and we do not use analytics, crash-reporting, or advertising SDKs.
Children
Fluttr is not directed at children under 13 and we do not knowingly collect data from them. If you believe a child has created an account, email us and we will delete it.
Keeping and deleting your data
We keep your data for as long as you have an account. To delete everything, open Account in the app and choose Delete my account. That immediately and permanently removes your profile, catches, badges, friendships, cheers, comments, notifications, and push tokens from our server. Data kept only on your phone is removed when you uninstall the app. You can also email us to request deletion.
Security
Data travels over HTTPS. Access to the database is enforced per user on the server, so the app cannot read another person's private data even if it tried. Sign-in uses one-time codes; we never store a password.
Changes
If this policy changes in a way that matters, we will note it in the app and update the date at the top of this page.
Contact
James Hollyer · privacy@fluttrbirds.com