1. At a glance
Sneaker Scout does not require an account for scanning, the private Vault, or browsing public finds and Global rankings, and it does not use advertising or cross-app tracking SDKs. Your saved discoveries, captions, sizing, and generated artwork remain on your device unless you separately choose to publish a find. Sign in with Apple is required to join rankings, sync XP, add friends, or publish.
2. Camera and imported photos
Camera access is used only when you open Scan and capture a sneaker. You may also choose a photo from your library. When AI recognition is configured, the app resizes the selected image and sends it through Firebase AI Logic to Google's Gemini service to propose and verify a sneaker identity.
If you cancel the scan, the app does not intentionally save the photo. If you save a discovery, a normalized copy is stored on your device and may be displayed as the discovery's feed photo. For an AI-assisted addition, the app may save a normalized local copy so you can review, retry, research, or regenerate its collectible artwork. Deleting the associated draft or custom sneaker removes its locally managed photo and artwork.
3. AI research, search grounding, and artwork
For an AI-assisted addition, the photo and sneaker-related prompt may be sent to Google Gemini for visual identification, search-grounded release and market research, and 2D artwork generation. The app may store citations returned by the service and open those sources when you choose to review them.
Unsupported release, price, production, and rarity claims are left unknown or treated conservatively. AI-assisted results are labeled unverified and are not authentication, provenance, financial, or appraisal advice. See our AI Transparency page for additional detail.
4. Capture integrity checks
Sneaker Scout asks the AI service to look for signs that a submission is a photograph of a screen, print, product listing, or another image rather than a physical shoe. A suspected reproduction may be blocked. This automated safeguard can make mistakes and cannot prove that a shoe is authentic or physically present.
5. Service providers
Google Firebase and Gemini
Firebase App Check sends app and device attestation signals to help prevent unauthorized API use. Google processes scan images, prompts, grounded search queries, model responses, and generated artwork under the applicable Firebase, Gemini API, and Google Search grounding terms. Google may retain limited service or abuse-prevention logs according to its terms and the project's configured data controls.
Apple
Apple processes optional Sign in with Apple, App Store downloads, subscription purchases, billing, restore operations, and subscription status. Sneaker Scout reads verified identity and entitlement status but does not receive your Apple password or full payment-card details.
6. Optional location
Location permission is requested only after you choose to use your current location while editing a discovery. Hidden is the default. City only publishes an approximate city-level pin. Exact spot stores a precise coordinate in a protected Firebase record and returns it only to you and accepted friends; other viewers receive an approximate city-level pin. Existing discoveries are not uploaded with coordinates unless you edit and republish after seeing this choice. Sample posts contain no real coordinates, and the website does not request browser geolocation.
7. Ranked accounts and private XP metadata
Global rankings can be browsed through a guest Firebase session. Guest sessions do not create public profiles, sync XP, send requests, or appear on a board. If you explicitly consent and use Sign in with Apple, Firebase stores an account identifier, your chosen handle and city, and private score events containing a one-way sneaker fingerprint, catalog identifier when applicable, rarity, category, supported release traits, awarded XP, event time, and schema version.
Public scout rows contain your handle and city, lifetime XP, level, rank tier, qualifying-find count, top rarity, and ranking timestamps. A public row is created only after at least one qualifying XP event. Exact coordinates, captions, sizes, condition, values, and unpublished photos are never included in score events or public scout rows.
8. Friends, notifications, and public cards
Friend requests and accepted friendships are private to the participating accounts. Blocks and reports are private operational records. If you enable notifications from the request center, Firebase stores a notification installation identifier and sends generic request or acceptance alerts. The in-app inbox remains available when notification permission is denied.
Publishing a photo is a separate opt-in. A public find can appear in Global and Friends feeds and contains the sneaker name, brand, rarity, date, city, and a newly rendered JPEG whose longest edge is no more than 512 pixels. Source EXIF and GPS metadata are removed. Ranked finds may exceed public finds because private score metadata can sync without publishing photos.
9. Website data
This marketing and support website does not intentionally use advertising cookies, account sign-in, contact forms, camera access, or location access. Vercel may process ordinary hosting and security logs, such as IP address, user agent, requested page, and timestamp, to deliver and protect the site. We will update this policy before adding analytics or another website data recipient.
10. Your choices
- Decline camera or location permission, or change either permission in iOS Settings.
- Cancel a scan before saving it.
- Delete saved discoveries, drafts, or custom sneakers in the app.
- Hide a discovery to keep its card from the public service.
- Choose a coarse public city pin or an exact pin shared only with accepted friends.
- Sign out of rankings without deleting your ranked account.
- Delete the ranked account from the You tab. Fresh Apple authentication is required; the app revokes the Apple token and deletes the Firebase identity, profile, XP events, friends, requests, blocks, reports, public cards and images, and notification installations. Your private local Vault remains.
- Remove the app to delete its locally stored app data from that device.
- Manage or cancel subscriptions through your Apple Account.
11. Security and limitations
We use platform security features and Firebase App Check to reduce unauthorized service use. No storage or transmission method is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee that an AI provider, hosting provider, or device will never experience an incident.
12. Changes and contact
We will revise this notice before materially changing the app's use of identity, cloud data, analytics, advertising, or data recipients. The latest effective date appears above. For privacy questions or deletion help, visit Support or email thomaswilliamwall@icloud.com.