Privacy Policy

Flashbulb is a slower kind of camera — an app for capturing a trip a few frames at a time and reliving it later. We built it as a deliberate alternative to social media, and that philosophy extends to your data: we collect the minimum we need to make the app work, we never sell it, and we don't track you or run ads.

This policy explains what we collect, why, and your choices.

Who we are

Flashbulb ("we", "us") provides the Flashbulb mobile app. For any privacy question or request, email flashbulbapp.support@gmail.com.

What we collect

• Account information — your name, email address, and a password. Passwords are stored only as a salted bcrypt hash; we never see or store your actual password.
• Photos you capture — the frames you shoot in the app, along with any private caption you add and the time each was taken.
• Approximate location (optional) — if you grant location permission, we attach a coarse location (rounded to roughly 1 km) to each frame so we can label it with a place name and the weather at the time. We do not track your location in the background or build a location history; a location is only read at the moment you capture a frame.
• Push notification token — if you enable notifications, a device push token so we can send you prompts and "your frame is ready" alerts.
• Limited technical data — basic error and diagnostic information when something crashes, so we can fix it.

How we use your data

• To create and secure your account.
• To store your photos and show them back to you (and to the people you've invited to a shared trip).
• To label frames with place and weather.
• To send the prompts and reveal notifications that are core to how Flashbulb works.
• To keep the app reliable and fix crashes.

That's the whole list. We do not use your data for advertising, profiling, or any purpose unrelated to running the app.

What we don't do

• We don't sell or rent your data to anyone.
• We don't show ads.
• We don't use third-party advertising or analytics/tracking SDKs.
• We don't track you across other apps or websites.

Who we share data with

We use a small set of trusted service providers ("subprocessors") strictly to operate the app. They only process data on our behalf:

• Render — application hosting and database.
• Amazon Web Services (S3) — secure storage of your photos.
• Expo — delivery of push notifications (which routes through Apple and Google's push services).
• Resend — sending transactional emails such as password resets.
• Honeybadger — error monitoring (receives technical crash data and an account identifier, not your photos or password).
• OpenStreetMap (Nominatim) and Open-Meteo — converting an approximate location into a place name and weather. These receive only coarse coordinates, not your identity.

We may also disclose information if required by law.

Shared trips

If you join or create a shared trip, the photos and captions on that roll are visible to the other members of that trip. Only share trips with people you trust.

Data retention and deletion

We keep your account and photos until you delete them. You can delete your account at any time — email flashbulbapp.support@gmail.com and we'll remove your account and associated photos. Backups are purged on a rolling basis.

Your rights

Depending on where you live (e.g. under GDPR or CCPA), you may have the right to access, correct, export, or delete your personal data, and to object to certain processing. To exercise any of these, email flashbulbapp.support@gmail.com and we'll respond within 30 days. We don't sell data, so there's nothing to opt out of on that front.

Security

Data is encrypted in transit (HTTPS). Passwords are stored as bcrypt hashes and access tokens are stored hashed, never in plain text. No system is perfectly secure, but we work to protect your information.

Children

Flashbulb is not directed to children under 13 (or under the minimum age of digital consent in your country). We don't knowingly collect data from children.

Changes to this policy

If we make material changes, we'll update this page and the "Last updated" date above.

Contact

Questions or requests: flashbulbapp.support@gmail.com.