Effective October 10, 2026
BugShield privacy policy
BugShield is designed as a local-first app. You can use photo identification and the full 2,000-species library without creating an account or sharing your location.
Photos and analysis
BugShield never takes photos automatically and does not run live camera analysis. A photo is processed on your device only after you press the shutter or choose it from the system photo picker, review it, and continue. The selected image is stored in the app's private document storage so it remains available in your BugBook.
Offline model comparison
The bundled insect and crop-pest models run inside this app without uploading your photo. The Offline insect models screen creates a temporary local JPEG for comparison and clears its results when you leave. Normal Identify scans save their model evidence in BugBook.
Optional Vision Foundry desktop models
If you pair Vision Foundry and approve Send photo on a saved observation, BugShield sends a resized JPEG to the service address shown in the confirmation. Location and observation notes are not sent. The supplied local BioCLIP runtime processes the photo in memory without retaining it. A remote service is controlled by its operator and may have different retention policies. Model suggestions and provenance are saved in your local BugBook, separate from the original identification. Pairing codes are stored in the device secure store. Disconnect in Vision Foundry settings to remove the code. Core ML Kit screening remains on device.
Nearby lookup and location
The full Bug Library works without location. If you press Find bugs near me, BugShield asks for foreground location, rounds the coordinates to two decimal places (roughly one kilometer before latitude effects), and sends that approximate point to the iNaturalist API to request research-grade species counts within about 50 kilometers. BugShield does not store the coordinates. iNaturalist may process network request data under its own privacy policy.
Context and observations
Optional context such as setting, approximate size, behavior, and a manually entered broad region is stored locally with the observation. Your review and suggested species are saved privately as unverified feedback. They never overwrite the original identification or train a model. Sharing details for review opens the system share sheet; BugShield does not send a review request to an expert service.
Sharing and third parties
BugShield does not automatically upload photos, sell personal data, run advertising trackers, or share data with an analytics provider in the current release. Library images and taxonomy are retrieved from iNaturalist-hosted sources, and the optional nearby lookup contacts the iNaturalist API. If you choose Share, your device's system share sheet sends content only to the destination you select. App stores may process download and diagnostic data under their own policies.
Retention and deletion
Observations remain on this device until you delete local data in Settings or uninstall the app. A result also offers deletion of its observation, photo, or manually entered location. Deleting local data removes BugBook records, stored and temporary photo files, saved items, model suggestions, the Vision Foundry pairing code, and onboarding preferences from this installation. If cleanup fails, Settings offers a retry. Original photos in your system photo library are not deleted.
Journal, backups and exports
Field notes, folders, tags, life stages, counts and follow-up dates stay in your local BugBook. Follow-ups do not send notifications. If you create a backup, a readable, unencrypted JSON file includes the selected records, notes, manually entered locations, model evidence and optionally available photos. Pairing codes and credentials are excluded. CSV exports include notes but omit location unless you enable it. Review packets let you preview the text and choose whether to include notes or location; photos are shared separately. Files leave the app only through a destination you choose. Restore validates a selected backup and adds missing records while preserving existing records. Exported copies are under your control and are not removed when you delete local app data. Temporary export copies remain in private app cache so your chosen recipient can finish reading them; copies older than 24 hours are cleaned on a later app launch. Deleting local data clears this cache.
Downloaded reference photos
When you choose Keep reference photo offline or download your saved species, BugShield contacts the attributed iNaturalist photo host and stores a local copy. The original source and license credits remain visible. You can remove these downloads in Offline library; deleting local data also removes them. Reference downloads are separate from your own observation photos and are not included in a BugBook backup. Downloading more references does not change the bundled recognition models.
Device backups
BugShield disables Android cloud backup for its app data. On Apple devices, your operating system may include app data in backups according to your device settings. Copies you share or retain in device backups are controlled by you and those services; deleting this installation does not delete those copies.
Read iNaturalist’s privacy policy
Questions or changes
Material policy changes will be reflected here with a new effective date. For support or privacy questions, contact Leech Labs at hello@leechlabs.io.
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