Privacy Policy
How Phizzy handles your data.
1. What Phizzy is
Phizzy is a mobile app for cataloging your vinyl record collection. You use the camera to scan album covers or barcodes; the app identifies the record, helps you grade and organize it, and saves it to your personal library. Phizzy includes social features (a feed where users can see each other's additions, follow each other, and react to posts) and uses third-party services to identify and value records.
This policy explains what information we collect, why, who we share it with, and the choices you have.
2. Information we collect
We collect only what we need to make the app work. Categories below match the standard taxonomies used by Apple App Store and Google Play.
2.1 Information you give us directly
- Account information: email address, username, password (stored hashed via Firebase Authentication — we never see your plaintext password).
- Profile information: display name, optional bio, optional avatar image, streaming-service preference (Spotify or Apple Music), leaderboard opt-in state, public-account state.
- Records you scan or add: album metadata (title, artist, label, year, country, etc.), cover art, photos you take of records, condition grades you provide, pressing details, extras you flag, personal notes, prices you paid, dates you added items, custom cover images you upload, and the location where you bought each record (store name, address, coordinates) if you choose to provide it.
- Social content: posts on the feed, captions, likes, emoji reactions, follows, wishlists.
- Communications: if you contact us (e.g. for support), we keep a record of that exchange.
2.2 Information collected automatically
- Device and technical data: device type, operating system version, app version, language, time zone, crash logs and diagnostic information. Used to fix bugs and stability issues.
- Usage data: which features you use, scan attempts and outcomes, error rates. Used to improve the app. We do not use third-party analytics that build cross-app advertising profiles.
- Camera images during scanning: when you use the scanner, photos are captured and processed. Photos are sent to Google's Gemini and Google Cloud Vision APIs to identify the record. We do not retain raw scan images on our servers after identification, but Google's processing of those images is governed by Google's policies (see §4).
- Cover fingerprints: for performance, we compute a small mathematical fingerprint (perceptual hash) of cover photos and cache the fingerprint with the identified record metadata, so that future scans of the same cover by you or other users return faster. The fingerprint is not a recoverable image; you cannot reverse it back to your original photo.
2.3 Information we don't collect
- We do not request or store your real-world address, phone number, payment card information, government ID, or biometric data.
- We do not access your contacts, microphone, calendar, or photo library beyond what you explicitly select.
- We do not track you across other apps or websites for advertising purposes.
3. How we use your information
- To run the app: identify records you scan, save them to your library, compute rarity and value scores, show you your collection.
- To run social features: show your additions in the feed (if your account is public), let users follow each other and react to posts.
- To improve Phizzy: fix bugs, improve scan accuracy, refine the rarity and valuation algorithm. The cover-fingerprint cache improves identification speed for everyone.
- To communicate with you: respond to support requests, send essential service notices (account security, terms changes). We do not send marketing emails without your separate opt-in.
- To comply with legal obligations: respond to lawful subpoenas or court orders, prevent fraud and abuse.
We do not use your data to train large language models or sell it to advertisers. (See §6 for our position on aggregated data and B2B partnerships.)
4. Third-party services we use
Phizzy relies on the following third-party services to function. Each has its own privacy practices, governed by their own policies.
| Service | Purpose | Data shared | Their policy |
|---|
| Firebase (Google) | Authentication, database, storage, crash reporting | Account info, all collection data, avatar images, custom covers, crash diagnostics | firebase.google.com |
| Google Gemini API | Album identification from cover photos | Photos you take during scanning | policies.google.com |
| Google Cloud Vision | OCR and reverse-image search during scanning | Photos you take during scanning | policies.google.com |
| Discogs | Record metadata, pressing info, marketplace data | Search queries, no personal data | support.discogs.com |
| Spotify | Canonical album info, streaming links | Search queries, no personal data | spotify.com/legal |
| Apple iTunes Search | 30-second track previews | Search queries, no personal data | apple.com/legal/privacy |
| Mapbox | Store/location autocomplete | Search queries you type into the location picker | mapbox.com/legal |
5. How we share your information
We share your information only in the following circumstances:
- With service providers listed in §4, for the purposes described.
- In our social features: if your account is public (which it is by default), the records you add appear in the global feed and are visible to all signed-in Phizzy users. Your username, display name, avatar, and the records, captions, prices, and locations you've chosen to make visible are part of that public surface. You control this — see §7.
- For legal reasons: if we receive a valid legal request (subpoena, court order, government inquiry under applicable law), or if we believe in good faith that disclosure is necessary to prevent fraud, abuse, or harm.
- In the event of a business transfer: if Phizzy is acquired or merged, your information may transfer to the new entity, subject to the same protections in this policy. We will notify you in advance and give you the opportunity to delete your account before any transfer.
We do not sell your personal information to third parties for their own marketing purposes. We do not share your personal information with advertising networks. For the purposes of CCPA/CPRA, we do not "sell" or "share" your personal information as those terms are defined under California law.
6. Aggregated and anonymized data
We may produce aggregated, anonymized statistics from collection data — for example, "the most-collected records of 2026," "average price paid for a record in a genre," or "trending wishlist items." These statistics do not identify any individual user and are not reversible to your account.
We may share these aggregated, anonymized statistics with third parties — for instance, record labels, retailers, or industry researchers. We will never share data tied to your identity, your specific collection, your specific purchases, your specific locations, or your specific behavior with any third party for their commercial use without your separate, explicit, opt-in consent.
As of the effective date of this policy, no such opt-in mechanism exists in the app and no such sharing is occurring.
7. Your rights and choices
7.1 Account-level controls in the app
In Settings, you can:
- Edit your profile (display name, avatar, bio).
- Change your username.
- Change your password.
- Toggle leaderboard visibility.
- Set your account to private (when launched — not all features are available yet).
- Toggle Spotify cover sync.
- Manage who you follow.
- Delete your account — see §7.5.
7.2 Rights under GDPR (EU and UK users)
If you are in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, or Switzerland, you have these rights:
- Access: request a copy of your data. Email privacy@phizzy.app.
- Rectification: correct inaccurate data. Most fields are editable in-app.
- Erasure ("right to be forgotten"): delete your account and associated data. See §7.5.
- Restriction: ask us to limit processing of your data.
- Portability: export your collection data in machine-readable form. Email privacy@phizzy.app.
- Objection: object to specific processing.
- Withdraw consent: withdraw any consent you've given.
- Complaint: lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority.
We respond to requests within 30 days.
Lawful bases for processing under GDPR: we process your data on the bases of (a) contract — to provide the app you signed up for; (b) legitimate interests — to improve the app, prevent fraud, and run our social features; (c) consent — for any opt-in features; and (d) legal obligation — to comply with applicable laws.
7.3 Rights under CCPA/CPRA (California users)
If you are a California resident, you have these rights:
- Right to know what personal information we have about you.
- Right to delete your personal information.
- Right to correct inaccurate personal information.
- Right to limit the use of "sensitive personal information" (we do not use any).
- Right to opt out of "sale" or "sharing" — we do not sell or share your personal information as those terms are defined under California law.
- Right to non-discrimination — exercising these rights will not affect your service.
To exercise any right, email privacy@phizzy.app or use the in-app deletion flow.
7.4 Other US states
Residents of Colorado, Connecticut, Virginia, Utah, Texas, Florida, Oregon, Delaware, Iowa, Indiana, Montana, Tennessee, New Jersey, and other states with comprehensive privacy laws have substantially similar rights. Contact privacy@phizzy.app to exercise them.
7.5 Account deletion
You can permanently delete your account from Settings → Delete Account. When you do:
- Your account, profile, and all records you've added are deleted from our active systems within 7 days.
- Your feed posts are removed within the same window.
- Backup copies on Firebase infrastructure are purged on Google's standard schedule, typically within 90 days.
- Cover-fingerprint cache entries that include identification metadata you contributed remain in the shared cache without any link to your account — these are public-domain metadata, not personal information. If you want even those entries removed, email privacy@phizzy.app.
- Aggregated, anonymized statistics already produced cannot be unwound, since by definition they cannot be linked back to you.
We retain minimal records (e.g. account-deletion timestamp, email hash) for fraud prevention and legal compliance, for 24 months.
8. Children's privacy
Phizzy is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect information from children under 13. If you believe a child under 13 has created an account, email privacy@phizzy.app and we will delete the account.
For users between 13 and 17, we comply with applicable laws restricting data processing for minors. We do not show targeted advertising to any user.
9. International transfers
Phizzy's primary infrastructure is hosted by Google (Firebase) in the United States. If you are in the EU, UK, or another jurisdiction with data-export restrictions, your data is transferred to the US under Google's Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) and other safeguards Google has put in place under the EU-US Data Privacy Framework.
10. Security
We use industry-standard measures to protect your data: encrypted connections (HTTPS/TLS), encrypted storage, hashed passwords, access controls on our backend, and Firebase Security Rules limiting what each user can read and write. No system is perfectly secure; if a breach affecting your data occurs, we will notify you without undue delay as required by law.
11. Changes to this policy
We may update this policy. If we make material changes, we will notify you in-app and by email (if you've provided one) at least 30 days before the change takes effect. Your continued use after the effective date constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.
12. Contact us
Questions, concerns, or requests:
Email: privacy@phizzy.app