Legal

Privacy Policy

Last updated: July 11, 2026

Bird Call Identifier provides private, account-free bird identification. We do not display ads or sell personal data. This policy explains how our mobile applications, website, and related services handle information.

Bird Call Identifier is operated by Soufiane Benabid (benabid.me). For anything related to this policy, email contact@birdcallidentifier.com.

Information we collect in the app

In short: depending on the features you choose, the app processes photos, audio recordings, written bird descriptions, optional location, sightings, subscription entitlement, and limited technical data. You never need to create an account or provide your name or email.

Photos you submit

When you identify a bird with the camera or a photo from your library, only the image you actively submit is sent over an encrypted connection to the Bird Call Identifier backend. It is processed automatically by our proprietary bird-identification system, returned as an identification result, and then automatically deleted from the identification system. Submitted photos are not retained as part of the identification request, reviewed by people, used to train advertising systems, or made public. The app never browses or uploads your photo library in the background.

Sound recordings you submit

When you use sound identification, only the recording you actively submit is sent over an encrypted connection to the Bird Call Identifier backend. It is processed automatically by our proprietary bird-sound identification system, returned as an identification result, and then automatically deleted from the identification system. Submitted recordings are not retained as part of the identification request, listened to by people, used to train advertising systems, or made public. The microphone is active only while you choose to record.

Search queries

When you identify a bird by describing its size, colors, markings, behavior, or other characteristics, the text you submit is sent securely to the Bird Call Identifier backend, processed automatically to return a likely species, and then automatically deleted from the identification system. Please do not include names, contact details, or other personal information in a bird description.

Location (optional)

If you grant location access, the app uses the location made available by your device to improve identification accuracy (bird activity varies by region and season), show likely species and sightings near you, support the seasonal migration map, and note where a sighting happened in your life list. Depending on your device settings, this may be precise or approximate location. Location is collected only while you use a location-related feature, not in the background. It is optional, the app works without it, and you can change your choice at any time in your device settings.

Sightings and life-list information

We store the species result, identification method, date and time, and location if you enabled it so that your life list, favorites, history, and statistics remain available. The original photo, audio recording, or written description submitted for identification is not stored with the server-side result. Any image the app keeps locally for your own sighting remains under the app's local storage controls.

Subscription information

The app marketplace or payment provider through which you subscribe processes your payment. The app may receive and send to our servers a transaction or subscription identifier, product purchased, entitlement status, and relevant purchase, renewal, or expiration dates so we can unlock Premium, restore purchases, prevent fraud, and provide support. We do not receive your full payment-card details or marketplace account password.

Technical and network information

When the app communicates with our servers, our infrastructure may process IP address, request date and time, app and operating-system version, device type, response status, and limited error or diagnostic information. We use this information to deliver requests, maintain security, prevent abuse, enforce usage limits, diagnose failures, and operate the service. We do not use it to advertise to you or track you across other companies' apps or websites.

What we do not collect

  • No name, email, or account details — there are no accounts.
  • No payment-card or bank details — payments are handled by the applicable app marketplace or payment provider.
  • No advertising identifiers — the app contains no ads and no ad networks.
  • No contacts, messages, health data, browsing history, or background location.

How we use your information

In short: to provide identification and nearby-bird features, maintain your life list and Premium access, secure and support the service, and improve reliability and identification quality.
  • Identification. Submitted photos, recordings, or descriptions—and optional location when enabled—are processed to determine which species you saw or heard and provide a relevant result.
  • Your life list. Sightings (species, date, identification method, and location if you allowed it) are stored so your collection and stats persist.
  • Premium access. Subscription records are used to provide purchased features and restore access.
  • Security and support. Technical records are used to respond to requests, troubleshoot errors, prevent fraud and misuse, and protect the service.
  • Service quality. We may use aggregate identification outcomes that do not contain the submitted photo, recording, or description to measure accuracy, diagnose failures, and improve reliability.

We do not sell or rent personal information, use it for targeted advertising, combine it with data from other companies for advertising, or share it with data brokers. We do not track you across apps or websites owned by other companies.

Our identification technology

Bird Call Identifier uses a proprietary identification system designed and developed specifically for this app. Our models and matching technology were built from the ground up to recognize birds from sound, photographs, and observed characteristics. The system compares submitted inputs against an extensive, carefully organized global reference database covering bird species, vocalizations, visual characteristics, geographic ranges, habitats, and seasonal patterns from around the world.

Identification is performed automatically on the Bird Call Identifier backend operated for us. We do not send your submitted photo, audio recording, or written description to a third-party consumer AI chatbot or to an external bird-identification service. Results are generated by our own identification system. No human routinely views or listens to submitted identification inputs.

Backend processing and service providers

The Bird Call Identifier backend receives the specific photo, audio recording, or description you choose to submit, along with optional location when enabled and the technical information needed to complete the request. The backend processes that input solely to generate the requested bird identification. Once processing is complete and the result has been returned, the submitted photo, recording, or description is automatically deleted from the identification system and is not placed in a training dataset.

We use contracted cloud infrastructure providers to host and deliver the backend. Those infrastructure providers may necessarily process submitted data in transit or temporary memory, and network information such as an IP address, solely to provide secure computing, networking, and storage services on our behalf. They do not determine the identification result and are not authorized to use submitted content for their own purposes.

Other providers may process the minimum information needed for infrastructure hosting, content delivery, subscription validation, security, or technical support. They may process information only under our instructions and to provide their contracted service. We require every provider that receives user data from us to provide the same or an equivalent level of privacy and security protection described in this policy and required by applicable law and platform rules. We do not authorize providers to advertise with, sell, train their own models on, or track users with submitted content.

We may also disclose information when reasonably necessary to comply with law, enforce our terms, investigate fraud or security issues, or protect users, the public, our rights, or the service. If the business is involved in a merger, acquisition, financing, or sale of assets, information may be transferred subject to this policy and applicable law.

Your consent and control

Before the app accesses your camera, microphone, photo library, or location, your operating system presents the relevant permission request. The app sends a photo, recording, or written description to the Bird Call Identifier backend only after you choose that feature and submit the content. You can withdraw future permission through your device settings or by no longer submitting content; withdrawal does not affect processing already completed.

Device permissions

Permissions are requested in context and used only for the feature described. You can grant or revoke them at any time in your device settings. A feature that requires denied access may not work, but the rest of the app remains available.

  • Camera — to photograph a bird for identification.
  • Microphone — to record a bird song for identification.
  • Photo library — to pick an existing photo to identify.
  • Location — to improve identification accuracy and show nearby birds.

Subscriptions and payments

Premium subscriptions may be offered through the marketplace where you downloaded the app, such as the Apple App Store or Google Play, or through another disclosed payment provider. That provider processes your payment under its own privacy policy and terms. We do not see or store your full payment-card or bank-account information. You can manage or cancel a subscription through the marketplace or provider used to purchase it.

This website

The website does not require an account. If you email us, we receive the address, message, and other information you choose to provide and use it to respond and keep an appropriate support record. Our hosting infrastructure may automatically log IP address, browser and device type, requested page, referring page, and request date and time. We use these logs to deliver, protect, troubleshoot, and improve the website. The website does not use advertising or cross-site tracking cookies.

Data retention and deletion

  • Identification inputs. Submitted photos, recordings, and descriptions exist on the backend only for the time required to process the request and return the result. They are automatically deleted from the identification system after processing and are not retained in the server-side life list or used as model-training data.
  • Life list and app records. Sightings, preferences, and related records are retained for as long as needed to preserve your collection and app settings. Records stored locally are removed when you delete them in the app or delete the app.
  • Subscription records. Entitlement and transaction records may be retained for the subscription relationship and afterward as required for accounting, dispute resolution, fraud prevention, and legal compliance.
  • Technical logs. Server and security logs are retained for a limited period appropriate to operations, troubleshooting, abuse prevention, and legal obligations, then deleted or de-identified.
  • Support messages. Correspondence is retained as needed to resolve the request and maintain appropriate business records.

You can delete individual sightings in the app. Deleting the app removes its locally stored data and caches. For questions or requests concerning other information, email contact@birdcallidentifier.com with the subject “Bird Call Identifier privacy request.” We will act within the period required by applicable law and instruct applicable processors to delete relevant data, subject to lawful retention exceptions.

Security

Communication between the app and our servers uses encrypted connections (HTTPS). We use reasonable administrative, technical, and organizational safeguards appropriate to the information we process. No transmission or storage system can be guaranteed completely secure.

Children

Bird Call Identifier is for a general audience and is not directed to children under 13 (or the minimum age required by local law). We do not knowingly collect personal data from a child without any consent required from a parent or guardian. Because photos, audio, descriptions, and location can contain or be associated with personal data, a parent or guardian who believes a child submitted such information should contact us so we can investigate and delete it as required.

Your rights and choices

In short: you can see, limit, or delete what the app knows about you — most of it directly on your device.
  • Deny or revoke any permission in your device settings without losing the rest of the app.
  • Delete sightings from your collection inside the app.
  • Request access, correction, or deletion of applicable information by emailing us.
  • Withdraw future consent by revoking permissions or no longer submitting content.
  • Deleting the app removes its on-device data and caches; separately request deletion of server-side data as described above.

Depending on where you live (for example the EU/EEA, the UK, or California), you may have additional statutory rights such as access, correction, portability, and deletion. We honor reasonable requests regardless of where you live — email contact@birdcallidentifier.com.

Changes to this policy

If we change this policy, we will update this page and the date at the top. If a change materially expands how we collect, use, or share personal data, we will provide any additional notice or consent required by law or applicable platform rules before applying the new practice.

Contact

Questions, concerns, or requests about your privacy: contact@birdcallidentifier.com. More about the developer at benabid.me.