ParkWatch — Privacy Policy

Effective Date: February 20, 2026

ParkWatch ("we," "our," or "us") is committed to protecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, and safeguard your information when you use the ParkWatch mobile application ("the App").

1. Information We Collect

Account Information: When you create an account, we collect your email address and a securely hashed password.

Photos: When you submit a report, you upload a photo from your device. Photos are stored on our servers and displayed in the app feed.

Location Data: With your permission, we collect your device's location when you create a post. This is used to tag the city and geographic coordinates of the reported violation. Location data is only collected when you actively submit a post, not in the background.

Post Content: Violation category, captions, and timestamps you provide with your submissions.

2. How We Use Your Information

To operate and provide the core features of the App
To display posts in the community feed and discovery features
To enable location-based discovery of nearby reports
To moderate content and respond to reports of inappropriate use
To communicate with you about your account (e.g., password resets)

3. Information Sharing

We do not sell, trade, or rent your personal information to third parties. We may share information only in the following circumstances:

When required by law, regulation, or legal process
To protect the rights, safety, or property of ParkWatch, our users, or the public
With service providers who help us operate the App (e.g., hosting), under strict confidentiality agreements

4. Data Retention

We retain your account data for as long as your account is active. If you delete your account, we will permanently remove your personal information and posts. Some anonymized, aggregated data may be retained for analytics purposes.

5. Data Security

We use industry-standard measures to protect your data, including encrypted passwords (bcrypt hashing), secure token-based authentication, and HTTPS encryption for all communications. However, no method of electronic storage is 100% secure.

6. Your Rights

You have the right to:

Access the personal data we hold about you
Delete your account and all associated data
Change your password at any time
Withdraw location permissions through your device settings

7. Children's Privacy

ParkWatch is not intended for use by anyone under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If we discover that a child under 13 has provided us with personal information, we will promptly delete it.

8. Third-Party Services

The App may use third-party services for geocoding (converting locations to city names). These services have their own privacy policies. We use the OpenStreetMap Nominatim API for geocoding, which is subject to the OpenStreetMap Foundation Privacy Policy.

9. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify users of significant changes by posting the updated policy in the App. Your continued use of the App after changes are posted constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

10. Contact Us

If you have questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact us at:

Email: support@parkwatch.app