Effective date: July 4, 2026
Summary
Dino Locator does not collect, store, or sell your personal data. There are no accounts, no analytics, no advertising, and no tracking of any kind. Everything the app saves — your favorites, settings, and cached search results — stays on your device.
Location
Dino Locator can optionally use your device's location to search for fossil specimens discovered near you. If you grant location access:
- Location is used only while the app is open ("While Using the App" permission) at approximately 1 km accuracy.
- Your approximate coordinates are sent to the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) API solely to return fossil records near you. They are not stored by us and are not linked to your identity.
- We never store your location on any server, and we never share or sell it.
Location access is optional. You can decline it or revoke it at any time in iOS Settings, and still browse the map manually.
Third-Party Services
The app retrieves publicly available scientific data from these services. Standard network information (such as your IP address) is visible to them when the app makes a request, as with any internet connection:
- GBIF (api.gbif.org) — fossil occurrence records. GBIF terms
- Wikipedia (wikipedia.org) — species descriptions and images. Wikimedia privacy policy
We do not send these services any personal information beyond what is required to perform a search.
Purchases
Dino Locator offers optional one-time tips as in-app purchases. All payments are processed by Apple through the App Store. We never see your payment details. See Apple's privacy policy for how Apple handles purchase data.
Notifications
If you enable the optional "Fossil of the Day" notification, it is scheduled locally on your device. No push notification servers are involved and no data leaves your device.
Data Stored on Your Device
Your favorites, settings, cached search results, widget data, and Spotlight search entries are stored only on your device (and in your personal iCloud device backups, if enabled). Deleting the app removes all of this data.
Children's Privacy
Dino Locator is suitable for all ages. Because the app collects no personal data, it does not knowingly collect information from children or anyone else.
Changes to This Policy
If our data practices ever change, we will update this page and revise the effective date above.
Contact
Questions about this policy? Email dino-locator@outlook.com.