Privacy Policy

This policy explains what the Streetfinch iPhone app, the Streetfinch service that runs its checks, and this website do with information. Streetfinch is made by Serious Business (“we”, “us”).

The short version

• You do not need an account to use Streetfinch. Sign in with Apple is optional.
• Your businesses, checks and reports are stored on your iPhone.
• To run a check, the app sends the business details and the search phrase to the Streetfinch service.
• Your location is used only when you tap “Use my location instead”, and it is not sent to the Streetfinch service.
• The app contains no advertising and no third-party analytics or tracking software.
• This website uses no cookies. It uses Abner, a cookieless analytics tool, to count page views.

What stays on your iPhone

The app stores these on your device:

• The businesses you add, including name, address and map position.
• The search phrases you track and the results of each check, including the maps and any action plan.
• Your report branding, if you fill it in: your name or business name, website, email address and logo. These appear on PDF reports that you choose to share.
• Re-check reminders, which iOS schedules on your device.
• The credential that identifies your installation or your sign-in to the Streetfinch service, kept in the iOS Keychain.

PDF reports are created on your device. They leave it only when you share them.

You can remove the businesses and checks saved on your device at any time with “Delete all businesses and checks” in the app’s settings.

What the app sends to the Streetfinch service

An anonymous installation credential. When the app first connects, the service creates a random identifier for that installation. It is not linked to your name, email address or Apple Account. It lets you run checks and hold credits without signing in. The service stores a scrambled (hashed) form of the credential, not the credential itself.

Finding your Google listing. When you confirm your business, the app sends the business name, address and map position to the service so it can find the matching listing on Google Maps.

Running a check. The app sends the business name, the identifier of its Google Maps listing if there is one, your search phrase, and the map coordinates of the search locations around the business. The service passes the search to a search results data provider, receives the rankings and returns them to the app. The service keeps a record of each check that includes the business name, the search phrase and the credits used. If you are signed in with Apple, the record also includes the listing identifier, the number of search locations and the center point of the check. The service also keeps the result of a check so the app can recover it if the connection drops, without charging you twice.

Shared result cache. Ranking results for a search phrase at a map location may be reused for up to 24 hours. Cached results are stored by phrase and location, not by who asked.

The optional action plan. If you ask for an action plan, the app sends the business name, the search phrase, a summary of that check’s results and the names and rankings of competing businesses in it. An AI model run by our cloud infrastructure provider writes the plan from that information. The plan is a starting point, not a guarantee.

Purchases. Purchases are made through Apple. We never receive your payment card details. To add credits or confirm a subscription, the app sends Apple’s signed purchase record to the service, which stores the transaction identifier, the product, the credits added and, for subscriptions, the expiry date.

Device verification. To recover purchases on an installation that is not signed in, the app uses Apple’s App Attest service to confirm that the request comes from a genuine copy of Streetfinch on a genuine Apple device. The service stores the public key that Apple issues for this.

Limiting abuse. When an installation is first registered, the service uses the IP address of the request to limit how many installations can be created in an hour. It stores only a one-way hash that changes each hour, not the address itself.

Your location

Streetfinch asks for your location only if you tap “Use my location instead” while looking for your business. It requests an approximate location, uses it once to search Apple Maps for businesses near you and to sort them by distance, and keeps it in memory only for that search. Your location is not sent to the Streetfinch service and is not saved.

You can decline and search by business name and town instead.

The search locations in a check are points around the business you chose. They are not your own location.

Apple Maps

The app uses Apple Maps to search for businesses, to look up an address you type and to draw maps. Those searches are sent to Apple and handled under Apple’s privacy policy.

Sign in with Apple (optional)

If you choose to sign in, Apple confirms your identity to the Streetfinch service. The service stores the account identifier that Apple issues for Streetfinch and an encrypted token that is used to disconnect Streetfinch from your Apple Account if you delete your account. The sign-in request asks Apple for your email address, but the service does not store your email address or your name.

Signing in keeps your credits with your account. Your businesses and checks stay on your device either way.

Deleting your account

If you are signed in, you can delete your account in the app’s settings with “Delete account”. This disconnects Streetfinch from your Apple Account, deletes your account record, the records of your checks and your purchase records from the service, and removes the businesses and checks saved on your device.

To prevent abuse, the service keeps a one-way hash that marks the account as deleted and the identifiers of purchase transactions that were already used, so the same purchase cannot be claimed twice. Usage counters that are not tied to the content of your checks may also be kept.

Deleting your account does not cancel a subscription. Subscriptions are managed in your App Store account settings.

Who we share information with

We do not sell your information and we do not use it for advertising. Information is passed to others only to make the app work:

• A search results data provider, which receives the search phrase and the map coordinates of each search location, and the details of the business being looked up when you confirm your listing. It does not receive your installation credential or your Apple account identifier.
• Our cloud infrastructure provider, which hosts the Streetfinch service and its database and runs the AI model that writes action plans.
• Apple, for maps, purchases, optional sign-in and device verification.

This website

This website uses Abner, a cookieless analytics tool, to count page views. It sets no cookies and does not track you across other sites. The website has no forms. If you switch between the light and dark theme, your choice is saved in your own browser and is not sent to us.

Like any website, the company that hosts this site receives standard technical information when your browser requests a page, such as your IP address and browser type.

If you email us

If you email us, for example to ask about launch or to get support, we receive your email address and whatever you write. We use it to reply and, if you asked, to tell you when Streetfinch is available.

Changes to this policy

If this policy changes, we will post the new version on this page and update the effective date.

Contact

Questions about this policy: support@streetfinch.com or the Serious Business support page.