Privacy Policy
Last updated 26 August 2026
This policy explains what DermDecode (“the app”, “we”) collects, why, and what you can do about it. DermDecode is published by Muhammad Haris Siddiqui, the data controller for the purposes of the UK GDPR and the EU GDPR.
1. Information we collect
Information you give us
- Your skin profile — skin type, concerns (for example breakouts or sensitivity), ingredient preferences you want flagged, and whether you have turned on pregnancy mode. Some of this is health-related information, and we treat it as sensitive.
- Photographs of product ingredient panels that you choose to scan.
Information created when you use the app
- An account identifier. The app signs you in anonymously the first time you open it. That identifier is a random value; it is not your name or email.
- Scan history — the product name and brand read off the label, the extracted ingredient list, the resulting score and breakdown, and the profile snapshot the breakdown was based on.
- Technical and diagnostic data — app version, device model, operating system version, crash reports, and request timing.
Information from third parties
- Subscription status from Apple or Google, via RevenueCat, so the app knows whether DermDecode Pro is active. We never see your payment card details.
- Your email address, only if you choose to sign in with Apple or Google to keep your history across devices. Signing in is optional.
2. How photographs are handled
When you scan a product, the photo is compressed on your device and sent over an encrypted connection to our server, which passes it to Google’s Gemini service for a single purpose: reading the ingredient text off the label. The image is processed in memory and is not written to our database or any file storage. We keep the extracted text, not the picture.
Please avoid photographing faces, other people, or anything other than the ingredient panel.
3. How we use your information
| Purpose | Data used | Legal basis (UK/EU GDPR) |
|---|---|---|
| Read the ingredient label you scanned | Photograph | Performance of a contract |
| Produce a breakdown matched to you | Skin profile, extracted ingredients | Performance of a contract; explicit consent for health-related fields |
| Keep your scan history | Scan records, account identifier | Performance of a contract |
| Enforce free-tier scan limits and unlock Pro | Account identifier, subscription status | Performance of a contract |
| Show non-personalised adverts in the free tier | Device and advert identifiers | Legitimate interests (funding a free tier) |
| Understand which features are used | Usage events, account identifier | Legitimate interests; consent where required |
| Fix crashes and keep the service reliable | Diagnostic data | Legitimate interests |
4. Advertising
The free tier shows adverts supplied by Google AdMob. DermDecode requests non-personalised adverts only, and does not ask for permission to track you across other companies’ apps and websites. Google may still process limited device and advert identifiers to deliver an advert, cap how often you see it, and detect fraud. See Google’s partner policy. Your skin profile is never shared with the advertising system.
DermDecode Pro shows no adverts at all.
5. Who we share information with
| Provider | What they receive | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Google (Gemini) | The scanned photograph, transiently | Reading label text |
| Google AdMob | Device and advert identifiers | Non-personalised adverts |
| RevenueCat | Account identifier, purchase receipts | Managing subscriptions |
| PostHog | Usage events, account identifier | Product analytics |
| Sentry | Crash reports and diagnostics | Stability |
| Apple / Google | Purchase and, if you sign in, account details | Billing and sign-in |
We never sell your personal information, and we do not share it for cross-context behavioural advertising.
6. Where your data is held
Scan history and profile data are stored on servers we operate in the United States (Boston, Massachusetts). The providers listed above also process data in the United States. If you are in the United Kingdom, the European Economic Area or Switzerland, your data is therefore transferred out of your region; those transfers rely on the UK International Data Transfer Addendum or the EU Standard Contractual Clauses, as applicable.
7. How long we keep it
- Photographs: not retained.
- Scan history and profile: until you delete the scan, delete your account, or the account has been inactive for 24 months.
- Diagnostic and analytics data: up to 12 months.
8. Your rights and choices
You can ask us to give you a copy of your data, correct it, delete it, restrict or object to how we use it, or withdraw a consent you previously gave. Inside the app you can edit your skin profile at any time, delete individual scans from your history, and delete your entire account under Settings → Delete account. You can also request deletion from the web.
Deleting your account removes your profile, scan history, scan counts and subscription record from our servers. It does not cancel a subscription — cancel that in the App Store or Google Play.
To exercise any right, email haris.sidd786@gmail.com. We answer within 30 days and never charge for a request or treat you differently for making one. If you are in the UK or the EEA you also have the right to complain to your national data protection authority — in the UK, the Information Commissioner’s Office.
If you live in California or another US state with a privacy law
Depending on your state you may have the right to know what personal information we collect and why, to obtain a copy of it, to correct it, to delete it, and to limit the use of sensitive personal information. Your skin profile is treated as sensitive personal information and is used only to produce your results — never to infer characteristics about you for advertising.
We do not sell your personal information, and we do not share it for cross-context behavioural advertising. Adverts in the free tier are non-personalised. Use the same contact address above to make a request; you may also authorise an agent to make it for you.
9. Children
DermDecode is not directed at children and is not intended for anyone under 13 (or under 16 where local law sets a higher age). We do not knowingly collect information from children. If you believe a child has used the app, contact us and we will delete the account.
10. Security
Traffic between the app and our servers is encrypted in transit. Scan records are protected by row-level security so that an account can only ever read its own rows, and the privileged operations that adjust scan counts cannot be called by a client.
11. Changes to this policy
If we change this policy we will update the date at the top of the page, and for significant changes we will tell you in the app before the change takes effect.
12. Contact
Muhammad Haris Siddiqui — haris.sidd786@gmail.com