Effective date: June 10, 2026
I’m Sean Mandable, and I make Brown Sign. This policy explains what the app accesses, how it’s used, and what leaves your device.
What the app accesses
| Data | Why | Leaves your device? |
|---|---|---|
| Camera | To photograph brown roadside signs for OCR text recognition | No. Photos are processed on-device and never uploaded. A small thumbnail is saved locally for your history log. |
| Location | To rank landmark search results by distance from you | Only as coordinates in API queries to Wikipedia and Wikidata (e.g., “find articles near 41.5, -72.6”). Never sent to any analytics or tracking service. |
| Text you type | To search for landmarks by name | Sent to Wikipedia, the National Park Service API, and Wikidata as search queries. No personal identifiers are attached. |
On-device processing
- OCR (reading sign text from photos) runs entirely on-device using Apple’s Vision framework.
- Apple Intelligence features (text cleanup, summary polishing, match scoring) run on-device using Apple’s FoundationModels framework. No text is sent to Apple or any cloud LLM.
- Search history is stored locally on your device using SwiftData. It is never synced, uploaded, or backed up to any server.
- Nearby results from your most recent search are cached on-device (in the app’s Caches folder) so the Nearby tab opens instantly. The cache holds only public landmark data, never personal information, and is cleared when you delete the app.
Third-party services
The app makes network requests to these services to look up landmark information:
| Service | What’s sent | Privacy policy |
|---|---|---|
| Wikipedia / Wikimedia | Search queries, coordinates | wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Privacy_policy (opens in new tab) |
| Wikidata | Landmark titles, coordinates (for Nearby searches) | Same as Wikipedia |
| National Park Service API | Search queries | nps.gov/aboutus/privacy.htm (opens in new tab) |
No personal information (name, email, device ID, IP address) is intentionally sent to any of these services. Standard HTTPS requests may expose your IP address to the server, as with any internet connection.
Data collection
Brown Sign does not collect, store, or transmit:
- Personal information (name, email, phone number)
- Device identifiers (IDFA, IDFV)
- Analytics or usage data
- Crash reports (unless you opt in via Apple’s standard iOS crash reporting)
- Advertising data
There are no ads, no accounts, no sign-up, and no tracking of any kind.
Data retention
All data stays on your device. Deleting the app removes all stored history, thumbnails, and cached images. There is nothing to delete on any server because nothing was ever uploaded.
Children’s privacy
Brown Sign does not knowingly collect any personal information from anyone, including children under 13.
Changes to this policy
If this policy changes, the updated version will be posted at this URL with a new effective date. The app does not collect contact information, so there is no way to notify users directly. Check this page if you have concerns.
Contact
Questions about privacy? Email me at support@seanmandable.me.