Privacy Policy

1.Who we are

Scavengia (scavengia.com and the Scavengia apps) is operated by LowDro LLC, a North Carolina limited liability company, 4030 Wake Forest Road STE 349, Raleigh, NC 27609 ("we", "us"). This policy explains what we collect, why, and the choices you have. Questions or requests: hello@scavengia.com.

2.What we collect

• Account: email address, username, handle, profile picture, bio and profile settings, sign-in provider (for example Google).
• Location: your device's precise location while the map, a ride-along you host, or a sighting is in use. We use it to place drops near you, check that opens happen where you are, and tag finds with a region. We keep a coarse version (about 1 km) with your finds; precise points from ride-alongs are kept for 30 days for safety and anti-cheat, then deleted.
• Gameplay: finds, trades, market listings, coins, emeralds, quests, guild membership, friends, reports you file or that are filed about you.
• Sightings: photos you take in the app, their capture time and location, and the species you or our tools suggest. Before upload the app re-encodes the photo, which removes embedded metadata (EXIF, including GPS), and blurs faces where your device supports it.
• Payments: handled by Stripe (web) or Google/Apple (apps). We receive a payment reference, amount, status and the last four digits/brand of a saved card. We never see or store full card numbers.
• Device and visit data: a first-party visitor token (to assign visitor IDs and limit abuse), IP address, browser type, and basic logs for security.
• AI features: text and images you send to AI features (Curator questions, disputes, the style studio) and the responses.

3.How we use it

• To run the game: maps, drops, collections, trading, profiles, guilds, ride-alongs and sightings.
• To keep it fair and safe: anti-cheat (location checks, duplicate detection, rate limits), moderation and reports.
• To process purchases and send receipts and account notices (for example inactivity warnings).
• To improve the game using aggregated, de-identified statistics.
• We do not sell your personal information, and we don't show third-party ads.

4.Who we share it with

• Service providers that host or run parts of Scavengia for us: Supabase (database, storage, sign-in), Cloudflare/Lovable (hosting), Stripe (payments), Resend (email), and AI model providers (OpenAI and the Lovable AI gateway) for AI features you choose to use. They may only use data to provide their service.
• Other players see what you make public: username, handle, profile, showcased finds, guild activity, market listings, and public sighting cards (region only, never exact location).
• Ride-alongs: riders see a delayed, smoothed version of the host's route (never live, never near home areas) and chat messages.
• iNaturalist: only if you connect your own iNaturalist account. Then sightings you choose to share post to iNaturalist under your account, with the licence you pick there, and are governed by iNaturalist's terms and privacy policy. Records there are public and may be shared onward (for example to GBIF). Sensitive species are posted with obscured locations.
• Legal: if the law requires it, or to protect players' safety.

5.Open data we read

Species lists, local rarity and catalogue records come from public sources such as iNaturalist (read-only), GBIF, Wikipedia/Wikidata and museum open-access collections. We don't send them your personal data to do this.

6.Embedded content

Profiles and guild pages can embed content from an allowlist (for example xat chat rooms). Embedded services load from their own servers and may set their own cookies; their privacy policies apply.

7.How long we keep it

• Full-size sighting photos: up to 30 days (longer only while waiting to be sent to iNaturalist at your request); thumbnails stay with your card.
• Ride-along precise points: 30 days. Chat: 90 days.
• Payment records: as long as tax law requires.
• Account data: until you delete your account. Inactive accounts: after a year of inactivity, finds gradually return to the game's pools (see the Terms); your account itself remains until you delete it.

8.Your choices and rights

You can turn off location in your browser or device settings (the game needs it to play), disconnect iNaturalist, opt out of seasonal styles, and edit or delete your profile content. You can ask us to access, correct, export or delete your personal data by emailing hello@scavengia.com. Depending on where you live (for example the EU/UK under GDPR, or California under the CCPA/CPRA), you may have additional rights, including to object or to complain to your data protection authority. We'll respond within 30 days.

9.Children

Scavengia is not directed to children under 13, and we don't knowingly collect personal information from them. Players aged 13 to 17 can play but can't host or join ride-alongs (18+) and can't connect iNaturalist without a guardian. If you believe a child under 13 has an account, email hello@scavengia.com and we'll delete it.

10.Security

We use encryption in transit, row-level access controls, encrypted storage of third-party tokens, and least-privilege server keys. No system is perfectly secure; tell us at hello@scavengia.com if you find a problem.

11.International transfers

We're based in the United States and our providers may process data in the US and other countries, with safeguards such as standard contractual clauses where required.

12.Changes

We'll post changes here and tell you in the app before material changes take effect.