iSIMILAR Privacy Policy

Last updated: October 23, 2026

This policy explains what data the iSIMILAR app uses, what leaves your phone and why, and what rights you have. It applies to the iSIMILAR app for iOS and Android.

1. The short version

  • Your photos never leave your phone. Your photos, the thumbnails used to analyse them and the visual vectors the app calculates are created, stored and searched only on your device.
  • There is no account. We never ask for your name, email address or phone number.
  • To sell and manage the subscription, fix errors, check for required updates and, if you turn them on, send notifications, the app sends technical data about purchases, usage and errors to the providers listed in section 5. This data never includes your photos or the content of your gallery.
  • That data is linked to random identifiers, not to your name. Under the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) it is pseudonymous personal data, not anonymous data, and this policy treats it as personal data.
  • We do not show ads, we do not track you across other companies’ apps or websites, we do not collect the advertising identifier (IDFA on iOS, Advertising ID on Android) and we do not sell your data.

2. Who is responsible for your data

Data controller: Anibal Castano, self-employed, established in Italy
Address: Via Giotto 15, Roma
VAT number (P. IVA): 18150071001
Email: info@isimilar.app

Anibal Castano is also the seller of iSIMILAR on the App Store and Google Play. We have not appointed a Data Protection Officer because the law does not require one for this activity.

3. What stays on your phone

  • Your photos and your albums.
  • 224-pixel thumbnails the app creates temporarily to analyse each photo.
  • The visual vectors (lists of numbers that describe what a photo looks like) and the search index, stored in a local database on your phone.
  • The photo you take with the camera to search.
  • Your app settings, such as language and notification preferences.

The visual analysis runs entirely on your phone and works without an internet connection. None of this is sent to us or to anyone else. It is deleted when you use Settings > Reset App or uninstall the app.

4. Permissions the app asks for

  • Photos: required. To scan and search your gallery on your phone and, only when you confirm it, to delete, move or share photos.
  • Camera: optional. To take a photo and use it as a search.
  • Notifications: optional. Only if you turn on the weekly reminder (section 5.4).

You can change these permissions at any time in your phone’s settings.

5. What leaves your phone, service by service

Each provider acts on our behalf as a data processor under a data processing agreement and must protect your data at least to the level described in this policy. None of them receives your photos, thumbnails, vectors, the photo you take with the camera or any other content of your gallery.

5.1 RevenueCat (RevenueCat, Inc., United States): purchases

What it receives:

  • Your purchase and subscription information: product, dates, price, currency, store, trial and renewal status.
  • A random user ID created by RevenueCat when you first open the app. It is not your name, email or Apple or Google account.
  • Basic technical data: app version, operating system, and language and region settings.

Why: to process, validate and restore your subscription. Legal basis: performance of the contract you enter into when you subscribe (Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR). Retention: while your subscription is active and for 3 years after your last activity, unless you ask us to delete it earlier. How to object: this data is needed to provide the subscription. You can ask us to delete it (section 9); if you then use Restore Purchases, a new record is created so you keep PRO.

5.2 RevenueCat: measurement fields

What it receives, linked to the same random user ID:

  • paywall_trigger: what opened the PRO screen (a camera search, a batch delete, a batch move to an album, or the button in Settings).
  • batch_size: how many photos you had selected when the PRO screen opened from a batch action.
  • gallery_size: the size of your gallery as a range (under 3,000, 3,000 to 10,000, or over 10,000 photos). Sent once, after the first scan.
  • use_case: only if you choose to answer the optional question shown after a purchase or after a free trial starts: what you mainly use iSIMILAR for (repair and technical service; construction, installations or inspections; a portfolio; another type of work; cleaning up memes and screenshots; products, shopping and everyday photos; or something else). You can skip it.

Why: to understand which features lead people to choose PRO and what they use the app for, so we can improve it. Legal basis: for paywall_trigger, batch_size and gallery_size, our legitimate interest in improving the app with a small set of data that never includes your photos (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR). For use_case, your consent, given by choosing to answer (Art. 6(1)(a)). Retention: same as section 5.1. How to object or withdraw consent: email us with your iSIMILAR ID (section 9) and we will delete these fields. The app may record new ones the next time the PRO screen opens; if you ask, we will delete those too.

5.3 Firebase Crashlytics (Google): error reports

What it receives: when the app crashes or hits an error, a report with technical details of the error and the state of the app at that moment, device model, operating system version and app version, linked to an installation identifier. It is not linked to your iSIMILAR ID.

Why: to find and fix errors and keep the app stable and secure. Legal basis: our legitimate interest in the stability and security of the app (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR). Retention: 90 days; Google then starts removing reports from its systems (source: firebase.google.com/support/privacy). How to object: email us. Because error reports are not linked to your iSIMILAR ID, we cannot pick out yours; reports stop when you uninstall the app and are deleted after 90 days.

5.4 Firebase Cloud Messaging (Google): notifications

What it receives: only if you turn on the weekly reminder and allow notifications, a notification token linked to a Firebase installation identifier, together with device model, language, time zone, operating system version and app version. If you do not turn on the reminder, no token is created.

Why: to send you notices about the app and about new versions. We never send promotional or advertising notifications. The weekly reminder itself is created on your phone and sends no data. Legal basis: your consent, given when you turn on the reminder and accept the notification permission (Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR). Retention: when you turn off the reminder, the app deletes the token. Otherwise Google treats a token as expired after 270 days without activity on Android (source: firebase.google.com/docs/cloud-messaging/manage-tokens). How to withdraw consent: turn off the weekly reminder in the app’s Settings, or turn off notifications for iSIMILAR in your phone’s settings.

5.5 Firebase Remote Config (Google): required updates

What it receives: country and language settings, time zone, operating system version and app identifiers, linked to a Firebase installation identifier.

Why: to know the minimum app version that still works and, if yours is older, to ask you to update. This check is technically necessary for the app to work safely. Legal basis: our legitimate interest in keeping the app working and secure (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR). Retention: Google keeps the installation identifier until it is deleted, and removes deleted identifiers from its systems within 180 days (source: firebase.google.com/support/privacy). How to object: email us. The app cannot work safely without this check, so the only way to stop it completely is to uninstall the app.

5.6 Payments

Payments are processed by Apple (App Store) or Google (Google Play) under their own terms and privacy policies. We never see your card or bank details; we only receive the status of your purchase through RevenueCat. Apple and Google keep their own purchase records.

5.7 Emails you send us

If you write to us, we use your email address and message to answer you, based on our legitimate interest in replying and, for privacy requests, our legal obligation (Art. 6(1)(f) and 6(1)(c) GDPR). We keep them for 24 months after the last message.

6. International transfers

RevenueCat and Google may process data in the United States.

  • RevenueCat, Inc.: the European Commission’s Standard Contractual Clauses, included in RevenueCat’s data processing agreement.
  • Google LLC (Firebase): Google is certified under the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework; Firebase’s terms also include the Standard Contractual Clauses.

These providers use their own sub-processors, bound by the same obligations. You can ask us for a copy of these safeguards.

7. Your rights

You can ask us to access your data, correct it, delete it, restrict its processing, receive a copy of it, and object to processing based on legitimate interest (Arts. 15 to 21 GDPR). Where processing is based on consent, you can withdraw it at any time without affecting what was done before.

Because there is no account, we need your iSIMILAR ID to find your data in RevenueCat (section 9). Error reports and Firebase identifiers are not linked to that ID, so we cannot identify which ones are yours (Art. 11 GDPR); the retention periods above still apply.

We will answer within one month. You can also lodge a complaint with the Italian data protection authority, the Garante per la protezione dei dati personali (www.garanteprivacy.it), or with the authority of the EU country where you live or work.

8. On your phone

Settings > Reset App deletes the visual index and the analysis data. Uninstalling the app deletes everything the app stores on your phone. Your photos are not deleted in either case.

9. Deleting your data and contacting us

Step-by-step instructions: https://isimilar.app/delete-data

In short: open Settings in the app, press and hold the version number to copy your iSIMILAR ID, and email it to info@isimilar.app with the subject “Delete my data”. Deleting your data does not cancel your subscription; see the Terms of Use.

10. Age

You must be at least 14 years old, or the minimum age required by the laws of your country if higher, to use iSIMILAR.

We do not knowingly collect data from anyone below that age. If you think this has happened, write to us and we will delete it.

11. Automated decisions

We do not make decisions about you based solely on automated processing, and we do not build advertising profiles.

12. Changes to this policy

If we change how the app uses data, we will update this page and the date above before the change reaches the app. If the change is significant, we will also tell you in the app.

13. Contact

info@isimilar.app