The short version
- Other growers see your display name, picture, listings and a rough distance. Never your address, ZIP code, email or exact location.
- We don't sell your data, show ads, or use tracking or analytics.
- You can delete your account and data in the app at any time.
RootToGo is an iPhone app for swapping plants with people nearby. This policy explains what the app and this website collect, why, who can see it, and how to delete it. "We" means the team behind RootToGo. Questions? Email support@shimi.life.
What we collect
| What | Why |
|---|---|
| Email address and password | To create your account and let you sign in. Your password is stored scrambled (hashed), so nobody can read it, including us. |
| Display name and profile picture | So other growers know who they're swapping with. The picture can be a photo or a plant emoji. |
| ZIP code | To work out roughly how far away plants are. We turn it into a map point and also store a copy shifted 300–800 meters in a random direction; only the shifted copy is ever used for other people's searches. |
| Your plants and photos | Names, stages, notes, quantities and photos you add, plus the family links between a plant and its cuttings. |
| Listings, offers and swaps | What you put up for swap, offers you make or receive, and whether swaps were completed. |
| Chat messages | Messages you send inside a swap, so you and the other grower can arrange it. |
| Ratings, Seeds and badges | Ratings you give and receive, your Seeds balance and history, and badges you've earned. |
| Reports and blocks | If you report or block someone, we keep a record so we can review it and enforce it. |
We don't collect your phone's location, contacts, or advertising identifier, and we don't use analytics or tracking tools. The camera and photo library are used only when you choose to add a photo. Photos are shrunk before upload, which also removes hidden location data stored in the photo.
Who can see what
Other RootToGo growers can see
- Your display name and profile picture.
- Your active listings, with their photos and a rough distance such as "about 5 mi".
- Your average rating, number of completed swaps, and up to 3 badges you choose to show.
Only the grower you're swapping with can see
- Your chat messages in that swap.
- Your name in the history of plants you've swapped with them. Anyone else sees "Another grower".
Only you can see
- Your email, ZIP code and location.
- Your activity history, Seeds history and full badge list.
- Reports you've made and who you've blocked. The person you report or block is not told.
Plant pictures and profile pictures are stored as image files so the app can show them; someone with the direct link to an image file could open it.
Services we use
- Supabase stores the app's data and photos and handles sign-in.
- Apple turns your ZIP code into a map point when you sign up or change it, and delivers the app through the App Store.
- An email service sends sign-in and password-reset emails.
- GitHub Pages hosts this website, and Google Fonts provides its typeface. This website sets no cookies.
These services handle data only to run RootToGo for us. We don't sell or share your information with anyone for advertising or marketing.
Deleting your data
You can delete your account in the app: Edit Profile → Delete account. This deletes:
- your account, email, display name, profile picture, ZIP code and location;
- your plants, listings and the photos only you use;
- your chat messages, Seeds, badges, activity and blocks.
Swaps still in progress are cancelled. Some shared history stays for the other people in it, without your name: a grower you swapped with keeps their plant, its family tree, the record that a swap happened, and a rating you gave them, but you appear only as "Deleted grower" or "A grower". A photo of a plant you gave away stays with that plant. Reports about other people that you made are kept, without your name, so we can finish reviewing them. Deleted data may remain in our providers' backups for a short time before it's cleared.
You can also change your name, picture and ZIP code, delete plants, or block someone at any time. To ask for a copy of your data or for help deleting it, email support@shimi.life.
Keeping your data
We keep your information while your account exists, and delete it as described above when you delete your account.
Age
RootToGo is for people 18 and older, because swaps involve meeting other people. We don't knowingly collect information from anyone under 18. If you believe someone under 18 has an account, email us and we'll remove it.
Security
Data is sent over encrypted connections. Our database only lets each person read and change what they're allowed to: for example, nobody else can read your location or your private history. No system is perfectly secure, so please use a password you don't use anywhere else.
Changes to this policy
If we change this policy, we'll update the date at the top. If a change is significant, we'll tell you in the app before it takes effect.
Contact
Email support@shimi.life with any question about your privacy or your data.