Privacy Policy - Croc Watch

Effective Date: 26 March 2026

Croc Watch is a mobile application developed by Voluntary Nature Conservancy (VNC). We are dedicated to safeguarding your personal information and ensuring your privacy while you contribute to important citizen science research.

Important Disclosure: Location Data

To fulfill its core purpose of mapping crocodile populations, Croc Watch accesses your location data. We collect this in two ways:

Precise Location (GPS): With your permission, we collect latitude and longitude coordinates to pinpoint the exact location of a sighting.
Manual Entry: If you choose not to share GPS data, you may manually provide the City, State, and Country.

This data is collected only while the app is in use to record a sighting report. We do not track your location in the background.

1. Information We Collect

We collect the following information via our Flutter application and Firebase backend:

Account Information: Name, email address, password (encrypted), and an optional profile photo.
Sighting Reports: Crocodile species details, behavioral data, and environmental notes.
Location Data: GPS coordinates (Lat/Long) or manually entered geographic data (City, State, Country).
Media Uploads (Optional): Photos or images of sightings submitted by the user. Media upload is not mandatory to submit a report.

2. How We Use Your Information

The information collected is utilized to:

Manage your user account and verify your identity via Firebase Authentication.
Research & Conservation: Sighting data is used by VNC scientists to monitor crocodile populations and habitat trends.
Communicate updates regarding Croc Watch or other VNC activities.

3. Data Security & Storage

Your trust is important to us. Croc Watch uses industry-standard security measures:

Encryption in Transit: All data sent between the app and our Firebase backend is encrypted using Transport Layer Security (TLS/HTTPS).
Encryption at Rest: Data stored on Firebase servers is encrypted by Google's infrastructure.
Secure Authentication: Passwords are managed securely through Firebase Auth and are never stored in plain text.

4. Data Sharing

We do not sell, lease, or trade your personal information. Sighting data (anonymized) may be shared with conservation partners or government wildlife departments for the purpose of environmental protection and research.

5. Your Rights & Data Deletion

You have the right to access, correct, or delete your personal information. Because Croc Watch is a citizen science project, please note our retention policy:

Personal Data: Your profile and account details can be deleted upon request.
Scientific Data: Sighting reports (GPS and photos) are anonymized and retained for research integrity once your personal identifiers are removed.

View Data Deletion Instructions

6. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Any changes will be posted here and will take effect immediately. We encourage you to review this page periodically.

7. Contact Us

If you have questions about this policy or our data practices, please contact Voluntary Nature Conservancy at:

Email: [email protected]
Phone: +91 98981 42170
Address: 101 Radha Darshan, B/H Union Bank, V V Nagar, Anand, Gujarat – 388120