Privacy Policy

Last updated: 2026-06-06

Birdy is built and operated by Albin Viktor Lindblom (Sweden). This policy explains what data the app handles and how. Birdy is designed to work fully offline. We do not collect, transmit, or sell personal data.

1. What data does Birdy handle?

Birdy stores the following data locally on your device:

• Bird observations you save: species, timestamp, optional photo, optional audio recording, optional handwritten note, optional location label, and — if you have enabled "Save location with my finds" — optional GPS coordinates (see section 2a below).
• Photos you choose to associate with an observation. Stored in the app's private files directory (filesDir/observations/).
• Audio recordings (3-second clips) captured for bird-call ID. Stored in the app's private files directory (filesDir/observations/) when you save the resulting observation; otherwise discarded after classification.
• App preferences: your display name (optional), preferred language, premium state.
• Badge unlocks and progress counters.

This data never leaves your device unless:

• You actively share an observation via the system share sheet (e.g., email, message), in which case the receiver decides where it goes.
• You enable Google's Android Auto-Backup to Google Drive (Settings → Backup), which encrypts and uploads app data to your Google account.

2. Permissions Birdy uses

• Camera (android.permission.CAMERA) — required to identify birds via the live viewfinder. Frames are processed on-device by the AI model and discarded after classification. No frame is uploaded. Camera permission is foreground-only.
• Microphone (android.permission.RECORD_AUDIO) — required to identify birds by their call. Audio is captured in 3-second clips, processed on-device by the BirdNET-Lite model, and either saved to your observation (if you tap save) or discarded immediately after classification. No audio is uploaded.
• Photo picker (Android 13+ PickVisualMedia) — no permission required; you choose which photo to share with Birdy per pick.
• Location (ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION + ACCESS_COARSE_LOCATION) — used only when you have enabled "Save location with my finds" in Settings (this toggle is off by default). When on, Birdy records your device's GPS coordinates at the moment you save a field observation, so you can see it on your personal finds map. Location is stored only in the device-local database. It is never transmitted, synced to a server, or shared with anyone.
• Internet (INTERNET + ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE) — used to fetch map tile imagery from MapTiler when you view the personal finds map. See section 2a.

2a. Location and the personal finds map

If you turn on "Save location with my finds" (off by default), Birdy records the GPS location of observations you make in the field and stores it only on your device. This lets you see your finds on your personal map. The location data never leaves your phone.

When you view the map, the map imagery (tiles) is loaded from MapTiler over a secure HTTPS connection. Only the area of the map you are viewing is sent to MapTiler in order to fetch the correct tiles — your bird finds and their coordinates are never included in these requests and are never transmitted anywhere. MapTiler's own privacy policy applies to these tile requests.

If you keep "Save location with my finds" off (the default), no location data is ever captured, stored, or requested.

3. AI / machine learning

Birdy uses two on-device classifiers, both running entirely via TensorFlow Lite — no image or audio data is sent to any server for inference:

• AIY Birds V1 (image classifier) from Google, distributed under the Apache 2.0 license.
• BirdNET-Lite v2 (audio classifier) from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Source code is MIT-licensed; the model weights are distributed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 (NonCommercial). Birdy ships audio-ID as a free feature for all users, with no paywall, in compliance with the model's license.

4. Third-party services

Birdy does not include analytics, advertising SDKs, crash reporting, or tracking. We do not have a backend.

Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons are listed as content sources for encyclopedia text and reference photos. These are bundled with the app at build time; the app does not fetch from them at runtime.

MapTiler — when the personal finds map is displayed, map tile imagery is fetched from MapTiler over HTTPS. MapTiler receives the map viewport (the geographic area being displayed) in order to serve the correct tiles. Your bird finds and their coordinates are never sent. See MapTiler's Privacy Policy for details on how MapTiler handles tile requests.

5. Premium purchases

If you purchase a premium subscription, the transaction is handled by Google Play Billing. Birdy receives only the purchase token from Google — not your name, email, or payment details. See Google Play's Privacy Policy for details on how Google handles billing data.

6. Children

Birdy is intended for users aged 13 and older. We do not knowingly collect data from users under 13.

7. Your rights

Since Birdy stores data only on your device, your rights under GDPR (right to access, right to erasure, etc.) are satisfied by:

• Accessing your data: open the Diary / Lifelist tabs in Birdy.
• Deleting your data: long-press an observation to delete, or uninstall the app to clear all data.

8. Changes to this policy

If we change this policy materially, we will note the change in the app's release notes. The "Last updated" date above always reflects the current version.

9. Contact

Questions? Email albin@abrahamssons.se.