Last updated: October 30, 2026
PlantDoctor ("we", "our", or "us") operates the PlantDoctor mobile application and website. This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect, why we collect it, and the choices you have. By using PlantDoctor, you agree to the practices described below.
When you diagnose or identify a plant from a photo, the image is sent through our backend to third-party identification and AI services that power species identification, classification, disease assessment support, mushroom identification, and related analysis. A photo you attach to an "Ask the botanist" question is also sent to those AI services, only to answer that question; we do not keep it as a photo archive. Providers return a result and process the image under their own privacy policies.
Photos stored with your history — when a plant identification or diagnosis succeeds, the app saves the result to your history and uploads a compressed copy of the photo to U.S. cloud storage under your account, so it can be restored on another device. Deleting your account deletes these uploaded photos. Deleting an individual plant or history entry does not remove the stored photo; it remains under your account until you delete your account.
With your permission, the app asks your device for a high-precision (GPS) location first and falls back to network-based location. The resulting latitude/longitude is used to fetch local weather for watering reminders, to resolve your city name, and to show plants commonly found near you. Our backend forwards the coordinates to our weather provider (see §5); for local plant suggestions it sends them to the U.S. Census Bureau and searches GBIF for an area around them, then sends the resulting U.S. county identifier to Rootfast. Your device also sends the coordinates to BigDataCloud to turn them into a city name. Your saved location (coordinates and city name) stays on your device as your location setting; our backend may cache local results by an approximate area grid (about 0.1°) that is not linked to your account. You can deny location access; the app still works without it, but local weather and local-plant features are unavailable.
We collect a device identifier — the Android ID on Android, the identifier for vendor on iOS, or a locally generated ID if neither is available — and send it with API requests. Our current backend does not store this identifier with your account. We also process basic app and OS version information to keep the app stable and to report crash diagnostics.
PlantDoctor offers pay-per-scan credits as well as an optional Pro subscription, managed through RevenueCat. When you make a purchase, Apple's App Store / Google Play processes the payment via RevenueCat; we never see or store your full payment card details. We receive only a confirmation that a purchase succeeded and the resulting credits/entitlement. Credit balances and subscription status are kept on your account so they stay available across devices after you sign in.
Amazon Affiliate: When you tap a "Buy on Amazon" link for a recommended product, we may earn a small affiliate commission from Amazon. The Amazon affiliate tag is embedded in the link so Amazon knows the referral came from the app. Amazon may receive information about the click and purchase under its own privacy policy. This does not change the price you pay and never shares any of your plant or personal data with Amazon.
No. We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information to any third party. We never use your plant photos or account data for advertising networks.
PlantDoctor is not intended for children under 13 years of age. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child under 13 has provided us information, contact us and we will delete it.
PlantDoctor provides general plant care guidance only. It is not a substitute for professional horticultural, agricultural, or medical advice. Diagnosis results and product suggestions are informational; always follow the manufacturer's label. For serious plant disease or pest infestation, consult a certified arborist or your local Master Gardener program.
Your plant profiles, care and diagnosis logs, entitlements, and account data are processed and stored on U.S. cloud infrastructure. Routine operation of the app keeps this data on U.S. infrastructure.
When you submit a photo for identification or disease assessment, that image is sent to third-party identification and AI partners. Weather lookups send your device's coordinates to our weather provider; reverse-geocoding sends your coordinates to BigDataCloud; city-name searches send the name you type to Open-Meteo; local plant suggestions send your coordinates to the U.S. Census Bureau and an area around them to GBIF, and may send a county identifier to Rootfast (see §5). Our request logs record the API endpoint, status and timing, not the coordinate values.
You can use PlantDoctor either way: buy scan credits to pay as you go (free scans are used first each day; after that, each scan uses one credit, and credits never expire), or subscribe to Pro for a monthly scan quota (50 scans per month on both monthly and annual plans) and extra features. Both are managed through RevenueCat and processed by Apple / Google. A PlantDoctor account is required to use the app (sign in with Google; on iOS, Apple Sign-In may also be available); your credit balance and subscription status are tied to that account.
We do not sell your personal information. If you are a California resident, you have the right to: (1) Know what personal information we collect, use, and disclose; (2) Request deletion of your personal information; and (3) Opt out of the sale of your personal information (not applicable because we do not sell). To exercise these rights, email [email protected] with the subject "CCPA Request". We will verify your request and respond within 45 days. We will not discriminate against you for exercising your rights.
We rely on a limited set of service providers to run the app:
These providers process data only to perform their functions for us and under their own privacy policies.
You can permanently delete your account and all associated cloud data at any time:
Deletion is permanent and cannot be undone. Diagnostic logs, if any, are retained only as described in §7.
We keep your photos, logs, and profile while your account is active. If you delete your account, we remove associated records within 30 days. Request logs record the API endpoint, response status and timing; coordinate values are redacted before logging and the logs are not linked to your account. Backup logs used for diagnostics are retained only as long as needed for service quality.
We use industry-standard measures including HTTPS in transit, encryption at rest, and access controls on our U.S. cloud backend that allow only you to read your own data. No method of transmission is 100% secure, but we work to protect your information.
We may update this policy from time to time. If changes are material, we will notify you in the app. Continued use after changes means you accept the updated policy.
Questions or requests? Email [email protected] and we will respond within 3 business days.