Privacy Policy

Last updated: July 27, 2026

Plushie Scout ("we," "our," or "the app") is operated by KLMN Studio LLC. This policy describes what data we collect, how we use it, and your rights.

What we collect

Plushie Scout collects the display name (a nickname — no real name needed) and avatar you choose during onboarding. To sign you in we use Clerk with either a one-time email code or Google/Apple sign-in, so we hold the email address tied to your account but never your password. We store the pins (store locations) you create, the photos and notes you add, and the names you give your plushies.

Location

Your device's location is used on your device to center the map and to drop a pin where you are. A pin's coordinates (a store location) are saved as part of that pin. Your live "blue dot" is computed on your device and is never sent to us, and we never track or store your location in the background.

Checking that a pin is a real store

When you create a pin, we send that pin's coordinates to Google Places to check whether a real shop exists there. This is a child-safety step — it is how we avoid publishing someone's home on a public map — which means the check necessarily runs before we know whether the location is residential. A pin we cannot confirm as a business stays private to its creator until we have reviewed it.

Be clear about what this involves: a pin is normally dropped where you are standing, so the coordinates sent to Google are typically your own location at that moment. We send that single point and nothing that identifies you, but it is a genuine location snapshot rather than an approximation. What we never send is continuous or background location — your live "blue dot" is computed on your device and stays there, and a coordinate leaves the app only when you choose to create a pin.

What we don't collect

We do not collect your age, gender, phone number, or contacts. We use no advertising identifiers, run no ads, and never track you across other apps or websites. We never sell your data.

How we use your data

Your pins, photos, plushie names, and notes are shared with other Plushie Scout users on the community map, and your display name and avatar appear on the discoveries you create. That's the whole point of the map. Your content is used for exactly two purposes: publishing it on the map, and the safety checks described in this policy — verifying that a new pin is a real business, and scanning uploaded photos for unsafe content. It is used for nothing else, and never for advertising or profiling.

Photos

Photos you upload are stored on Cloudflare R2 and are visible to other app users. Every photo is scanned automatically and can be reported by other scouts; flagged photos are hidden pending review. Please don't upload photos of people (especially children), personal information, or anything you wouldn't want publicly visible.

Diagnostics

We use Sentry to collect crash reports and basic performance data so we can fix bugs. Web addresses in those reports have their query strings stripped. This data is never used for advertising or tracking.

Third-party services

We use the following services to operate the app. Each has its own privacy policy, and we share only the minimum data each service needs to do its job:

• Clerk — sign-in and account management (email code, or Google/Apple sign-in)
• Cloudflare R2 — photo storage
• AWS Rekognition — automated photo moderation; every uploaded photo's image bytes are sent to Amazon Web Services to be scanned for unsafe content
• Sentry — crash reports and diagnostics
• Resend — transactional email (for example, moderation alerts)
• Mapbox — address search on the map
• Google Places — verifying that a new pin is a real business. When a pin is created, that pin's latitude and longitude are sent to Google to check whether a shop exists there. This is a child-safety step: it is how we avoid publishing a home address on the public map, so the check necessarily runs before we know whether the location is residential. Only the submitted pin's coordinates are sent — never your live location, and nothing identifying you.
• Railway — API hosting and database

Purchases

If you buy a Scout Pass, the purchase is processed by Apple or Google — we never see your card details. We store a record of the purchase so we can unlock your account across your devices.

Children's privacy

Plushie Scout is a family app, not a service directed to children under 13, and we rely on Apple's and Google's age controls at sign-in. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children under 13. If you believe a child under 13 has provided data, email [email protected] and we will delete it promptly.

Deleting your account

You can delete your account any time in Settings → Delete account (or email [email protected]). This deletes the photos you uploaded, your patches, and your personal data, and anonymizes your account. The pins you placed stay on the map — other scouts rely on them — credited to "A Wandering Scout" rather than to you. If a purchase of yours was refunded, we keep that purchase's store transaction identifier (a receipt number, not your identity) after deletion so a refunded purchase can't be reused.

Security

We use HTTPS for all data in transit, signed URLs for photo access, rate limiting on all endpoints, and follow security best practices. However, no system is 100% secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. If we make material changes, we will notify users in the app. Continued use of the app after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

Contact

Questions or concerns about your privacy? Email us at [email protected].

KLMN Studio LLC
Atlanta, GA