Playground Finder Privacy Policy

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Introduction

Welcome to Playground Finder! We built this app for families, caregivers, and outdoor lovers who want to discover nearby parks and playgrounds with confidence.

This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect, how we use it, and your rights. We believe privacy should be simple — so we've written this in plain English.

By using Playground Finder, you agree to the practices described here. If you have any questions, reach out to us any time.

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Data Collection — Foreground Location

Playground Finder collects location data to find nearby parks and playgrounds relative to your current position, even when the app is running in the foreground.

Your location is used solely to search for parks near you. It is transmitted to our server, used to query local park infrastructure, and immediately discarded. We do not build a movement history or timeline of your locations.

Location is only accessed while you are actively using Playground Finder
We never request background location access
Location data is never linked to your account profile
You can revoke access at any time in your device Settings

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Our Security Guarantee

We take your family's privacy seriously. Our data practices are designed to collect only what is strictly necessary — and nothing more.

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We do not log, sell, or permanently store persistent background movement history. Data is processed ephemerally to query local infrastructure and instantly discarded.

All communication between Playground Finder and our servers uses HTTPS encryption. We regularly review our security practices to keep your data safe.

No movement history or location logs retained
No sale or sharing of personal data with advertisers
No cross-app or cross-site tracking
HTTPS encryption on all data in transit

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Community Contributions

Playground Finder is powered by a community of park-lovers. When you contribute — adding amenities, voting on features, or posting safety alerts — your contributions are stored in our database and visible to all Playground Finder users.

Amenity votes and reports are associated with your anonymous User ID
Safety alerts you post include your User ID and an expiry timestamp
Contributed content is visible to all Playground Finder users
You may delete your account at any time to remove associated data

Your display name or email address is never shown alongside your contributions — only your internal, anonymous User ID is stored.

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Google Third-Party Services

Playground Finder uses the following Google services to power its core features:

Google Maps Platform — interactive park map display
Google Places API — discovering parks and playgrounds near you
Firebase Authentication — secure, password-protected sign-in
Cloud Firestore — storing community amenity data and safety alerts

These services are governed by Google's Privacy Policy. By using Playground Finder, you also agree to Google's terms as they apply to these integrations.

We do not use Google Analytics, Google Ads, or any advertising or behavioural-tracking SDKs.

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Contact Us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or how your data is handled, please reach out:

Email: privacy@playgroundfinderapp.com

We aim to respond to all privacy enquiries within 5 business days.