The Aviary

The Aviary — Privacy Policy

Last updated: October 3, 2026

The Aviary is a game about discovering the birds around you by their sound. This policy explains, in plain language, what the app does with your microphone and your data. It reflects how the app actually works.

The short version

Identification happens on your phone. Your recordings never leave your device. We do not sell your data, show ads, or track you across other apps. The only things that sync to the cloud are your game save and an approximate location — and only so you can restore your forest and appear on the world globe.

Microphone & recordings

• When you tap Listen, the app records through your microphone until you tap finish, leave the app, or 10 minutes pass, and runs the on-device BirdNET model as it listens. Audio is processed on your phone as it arrives; only the most recent 15 seconds are held in memory.
• A short clip (up to 15 seconds) of each bird you add is saved only on your device (in the app’s private storage) so you can play it back later. Nothing is ever uploaded to our servers or shared with anyone.
• You can turn off saving recordings at any time in Settings, and deleting the app removes them.

Location

• Location is optional. If you grant it, the app uses your coordinates on your device to check which species are expected where you are and to flag unusual or out-of-range identifications.
• Only a coarse location (rounded to roughly 11 km) and a general region are ever sent to the cloud, to place you on the world globe. Your precise GPS position never leaves your phone.
• To label how common or rare a bird is near you, the app looks up public eBird checklist data from GBIF.org. Only an approximate area (the centre of a grid cell about 25 km across) and the current month are sent; the results are kept on your phone so the lookup isn’t repeated. Nothing about you or your recordings is included.
• If you decline location, the app still works — you just won’t get rarity or out-of-range warnings.

Account & cloud sync

• The app creates an anonymous account for you automatically — no email, password, or name is required to play.
• Your game save (forest name, the birds you’ve found and their names, your avatar, decorations, and coins) and a public profile (forest name, avatar, bird count, and coarse location) sync to our cloud provider (Supabase) so you can restore your forest and use the globe, friends, and trading features.
• Other players can see your public profile (forest name, avatar, bird count, approximate location) — never your recordings or your precise location.

What we do NOT collect

• We do not upload or store your audio recordings.
• We do not use advertising or third-party analytics/tracking SDKs, and we do not track you across other apps or websites.
• We do not sell or rent your data.
• We do not access your contacts, photos, or precise location history.

Recording responsibly (your responsibilities)

• The Aviary is a tool for recording bird sound. You are responsible for using it lawfully.
• Some places (including Florida and other “all-party consent” states and countries) restrict recording where people have a reasonable expectation of privacy or where a conversation may be captured. Only record where you have the right to, and follow the laws that apply to you.
• Don’t use the app to record people without their consent.

Children

The Aviary is a general-audience app and is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them. If you believe a child has provided personal information, contact us and we will remove it.

Your choices & control

• You can grant or revoke microphone and location permission any time in your device Settings.
• You can turn off “Save recordings” in the app’s Settings.
• You can request deletion of your synced game data by contacting us. Uninstalling the app removes all on-device data, including your recordings.

Data retention

On-device data (recordings and your save) remains until you delete it or uninstall the app. Cloud-synced save data is kept while your account is active and is removed on request.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as the app evolves. Material changes will be reflected here with a new “last updated” date, and you may be asked to review the notice again.

Contact

Questions or requests: myaviaryforest@gmail.com.