Privacy Policy

Effective date: 2 May 2026 · Applies to: Scan — the iOS app published by nettrash on the App Store. The same binary runs on iPhone, iPad, Mac (via Mac Catalyst), and Apple Vision Pro (via Designed for iPad); this policy covers all four destinations.

This policy is versioned alongside the app's source code; the most recent commit on main is authoritative.

TL;DR

Scan does not collect, transmit, sell, or share any personal data. It contains no analytics, no advertising SDKs, no third-party trackers, and no remote servers operated by us. Everything you scan, generate, or save stays on your device — and, if you're signed in to iCloud, in your own private iCloud database.

If that already answers your question, you don't need to read the rest.

What we collect

Nothing. Scan does not transmit any data about you to us or to any third party. There is no account to create, no email to register, and no telemetry pinging home from the app.

We have no servers in this picture. The app's network access is limited to the URL schemes you explicitly trigger by tapping a smart action — for example, opening a scanned https:// URL in Safari, an upi://pay URI in your installed UPI app, or a SEPA verification URL on the issuing tax authority's site. In every such case, the network request goes from your device directly to that destination — Scan is not in the loop.

Data stored on your device

Scan keeps a single local database — your scan history — using Apple's Core Data with NSPersistentCloudKitContainer:

• Each entry records the decoded value, the symbology, a timestamp, and any notes you choose to attach.
• The database lives in the app's sandbox directory on your device.
• If you're signed in to iCloud and have Scan enabled in Settings → [Your Name] → iCloud → Apps Using iCloud, the database is mirrored to your own private iCloud database via CloudKit. Apple stores it; we never see it.
• Deleting a scan from the History tab removes it from the local database and the iCloud mirror.
• Deleting the app removes the local database. To remove the iCloud copy, sign in at iCloud.com → Account → Manage iCloud Storage or delete the app's data from Settings → [Your Name] → iCloud → Manage Account Storage.

We have no access to this database under any circumstance.

Permissions Scan asks for, and what each one is used for

Every privileged action is gated on a system-supplied edit-and-save sheet that you control. If you cancel that sheet, nothing is saved.

Importing files and the Share Sheet

Beyond the live camera, Scan can decode codes from images and PDFs you bring in yourself:

• Photos / Files import in the Scan tab. The iOS Photo Picker and the Files importer both run out-of-process; Scan only ever receives the single item you pick.
• Share to Scan. When you tap the iOS Share button on an image or PDF in any other app and choose Scan, iOS hands the file to Scan's app extension. Decoding happens entirely inside the extension on your device; no data is transmitted, and nothing is persisted unless you tap Save to History in the result sheet.
• Universal Links (https://nettrash.me/scan/<base64url>) and the me.nettrash.scan:// custom scheme open pre-decoded payloads directly in Scan. The decoding has already happened in whatever app produced the link; Scan just re-presents the content. No additional network access is involved on Scan's side.

Third-party services

None. Scan ships with zero third-party SDKs, frameworks, or libraries beyond what Apple itself provides as part of iOS. There are no analytics tools (Firebase, Mixpanel, Sentry, etc.), no advertising SDKs (AdMob, Meta, etc.), no crash reporters that phone home, and no attribution providers. The only external network connections are the ones you initiate — tapping "Open in Safari" on a scanned URL, for example.

Tracking

Scan does not "track" you in the sense Apple's App Tracking Transparency framework defines: it does not link any data collected in the app with data from other apps, websites, or offline sources to build a user profile, and it does not share any data with data brokers. Scan therefore does not present an ATT prompt and is declared with Data Not Collected on its App Store privacy nutrition label.

Children's privacy

Scan is rated 4+ and is suitable for all ages. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children, because we do not collect personal information from anyone.

International data transfers

Because Scan does not transmit personal data anywhere, there are no cross-border transfers to disclose under the GDPR, UK GDPR, CCPA, LGPD, or similar regimes. Your scan history's iCloud mirror is governed by Apple's iCloud privacy terms, not ours.

Your rights

Because we hold no data about you:

• There is no record to access under GDPR Article 15 / CCPA "right to know".
• There is no record to delete under GDPR Article 17 / CCPA "right to delete" (the local + iCloud database is yours alone — see the deletion steps above).
• There is no record to correct under GDPR Article 16.
• There is nothing being sold or shared under CCPA / CPRA, so no opt-out is required.

If you'd like confirmation in writing that we hold no data about you, email the address below and we will reply.

Changes to this policy

If a future version of Scan ever changes any of the above — adds analytics, integrates a third-party SDK, transmits data off-device, or requests new permissions — this document will be updated in the same release and the Effective date at the top will be bumped. The full history of this file is visible in the project's git log on GitHub: github.com/nettrash/Scan/commits/main/PRIVACY.md.

Contact

For privacy questions, please email nettrash@nettrash.me.