Privacy Policy
Updated 11 September 2026
InsectWise suggests insect matches and compares visible bite-mark patterns. No InsectWise account is required. Having no account does not make all data processing anonymous.
Photo analysis and your choice
Before an identification, InsectWise asks whether you want to send that photo to our server and OpenAI for analysis. Choosing Not now, dismissing the confirmation, or opening the privacy policy does not authorize sending the photo or spend a free identification. Your saved field guide is available without uploading a new photo. The request includes the photo and insect/bite mode. The app does not add your name, email or GPS coordinates, but the photo itself may contain personal information. Avoid including identifying details or unnecessary sensitive information.
Service-provider processing
The application does not intentionally save submitted original photos to its own image database. This is not a promise that all providers immediately erase every input. OpenAI processes API inputs under its applicable data controls. API data is not used for model training by default unless the organization opts in. Abuse-monitoring logs may contain input/output content and are normally retained for up to 30 days, subject to the provider’s legal and safety retention exceptions. We do not promise Zero Data Retention. Optional completion storage is disabled; that setting does not eliminate abuse-monitoring retention. Hosting and network providers may also process connection metadata, including IP addresses, to operate and protect their services.
Hosting connection metadata
Vercel hosts the InsectWise API. Vercel receives end-user IP addresses and may derive city/country-level location from IP while operating and protecting the service. Runtime request metadata can include items such as request path, user agent, status, request ID and processing region. The current InsectWise Vercel scope is on the Hobby plan; Vercel currently documents one hour of Runtime Logs access for Hobby. That dashboard retention window is not a promise that every Vercel service-generated or security record is deleted after one hour. We do not use this information for advertising or cross-app tracking.
Server-side result cache
The revised backend reuses structured results in process memory for the same image and mode. A result stops being eligible for reuse after 10 minutes, with at most 128 results per running instance. Original photo bytes are not included in ready cache entries. Public reference-photo information uses a separate 60-minute, 256-entry memory cache. Expiry is checked before access and timers clean entries while a process is running; a suspended process may delay timer cleanup. This is not a secure physical-erasure guarantee. Restart or capacity eviction can remove data earlier, and separate instances do not share results. Historical data from older persistent-cache deployments and provider logs are separate: deleting local app data does not remove them. Contact us about applicable retention and deletion controls.
Your saved field guide
When you choose Save to field guide, the app keeps a local copy of your photo, the primary match and reasons, and candidate names and scores. It does not automatically save every identification. These records are not synchronized to an InsectWise account. Device backup settings may also apply to app data. A saved record does not contain every field of the server response or downloaded reference photographs.
Purchases
Apple processes payment. RevenueCat manages verified entitlements and restore operations using an anonymous app user identifier and purchase information. Anonymous does not mean that no identifier or technical metadata exists. The app does not intentionally provide RevenueCat with your name or email. The store purchase system associates transactions with the relevant store account.
Reference photographs
Reference photos come from Wikimedia Commons only when explicitly supported license metadata, matching license links and any required author credit pass the backend checks. Otherwise the app omits the image. The updated app shows work/author credit and provides Photo source and License links; reference images are resized without intentional cropping. Metadata is not a warranty of ownership or other rights. Image requests from your device can disclose connection metadata to the image provider.
Support and feedback
Report a wrong match opens a draft in your email app. You decide whether to send it. The draft contains result details but does not attach the photo automatically. If you send it, support receives your email address and the content you choose to provide. Avoid sensitive medical or personal information. You may contact us with privacy or deletion requests; we will investigate and explain the applicable local, hosting and provider controls.
Other choices
InsectWise does not request GPS or iOS Location Services, display advertising, or use an advertising identifier in its application code. As described above, the hosting provider can still receive the network IP address and derive city/country-level location from it. It is not designed for cross-app advertising tracking. A store age rating does not mean that an uploaded photo cannot contain a child’s information. A parent or guardian should supervise photo sharing by a child. The app is not a medical diagnostic service.