Last updated 31 August 2026

Privacy policy

PlotFinder is made by Starlight Software Solutions. This policy explains exactly what the app collects, why, and what it does not collect.

What we collect

Only what the app needs to work:

• Your email address, to hold your account. Where you set a password it is stored only as a slow one-way hash; nobody at PlotFinder can read it.
• If you sign in with Apple or Google, the account identifier that provider gives us and the email address they confirm. We never receive your Apple or Google password, and we do not ask either provider for anything else.
• A display name, a phone number and a profile picture, if you choose to add them. All three are optional, all three can be cleared from the profile screen at any time, and the app works exactly the same without them.
• Your approximate location, when you allow it. This is used to work out which town you are in.
• The start and end points of any route you ask for, at the moment you ask for it.
• A count of how many route lookups you have made today, so the free allowance can be applied.
• Which subscription you hold and when its period ends, so the app knows what you have paid for.
• The IP address and device type of each sign-in, kept with the sign-in record so a stolen session can be recognised.

What we do not keep

We do not store your coordinates. When the app reports where you are, the server works out which town that falls in, saves the name of the town, and discards the position. There is no location history on our servers.

The list of plots you have recently opened is held on your phone only. It is never sent to us, and signing out erases it.

We never see your card details. Payment is handled entirely by Apple or Google, and neither passes a card number to us.

We do not collect analytics, advertising identifiers, or any form of tracking across other apps or websites. There are no third-party advertising or analytics libraries in this app.

Why we need your location

On the Free and Basic plans, the town you can search is the town you are in. Location is how the app knows which one that is, and it updates when you travel, at no cost.

Permission is optional. Without it you can still use the app, but you will need to be on a plan that lets you choose towns, and route lookups from your current position will not work.

Location is only ever read while the app is open. Nothing here tracks you in the background.

Who else sees your data

A small number of service providers, each only as far as necessary:

• Google Maps Platform receives the start and end coordinates of a route in order to calculate it. Google does not receive your email address, your account, or anything identifying you — the request is made by our server, not your phone.
• Amazon Web Services hosts the service and stores the database, in their Cape Town region.
• RevenueCat keeps track of which subscription you hold, on our behalf, and tells our server when it changes. It receives your account number and the store's receipt. It does not receive your email address, your name or your location.
• Apple or Google will handle payment if you buy a subscription.

Plot data

The plot and coordinate data PlotFinder searches is reference data about land parcels. It is not personal information about you, and your searches are not added to it.

How long we keep it

Your account and its settings are kept until you delete the account. Daily lookup counts are kept as a running record against your account.

Deleting your account deletes it: the account, your profile details and picture, your town selection, your Apple or Google sign-in link, your sign-in records, your subscription record and your usage counts are removed immediately and together. It is not a flag that hides you.

One thing survives, and it is deliberate. Where a store has sent us a message about a payment, that message is kept with your account number removed from it, because it is the only evidence anywhere that a payment was received. It holds what the store told us — never your name, your email address or your location.

You can delete your account from Account → Delete account, inside the app. You do not need to contact us. If you have already removed the app, you can ask us instead, at the address below.

Your choices

You can withdraw location permission at any time in your device settings, and the app will keep working with the limits described above.

You can add or clear your display name, phone number and profile picture whenever you like, from the profile screen.

You can delete your account, and everything attached to it, from inside the app.

You can ask us what we hold about you, or ask us to correct it, at the address below.

Children

PlotFinder is not directed at children and we do not knowingly collect information from anyone under 13.

Changes

If this policy changes in a way that affects what we collect or who sees it, the app will be updated and the date at the top of this document will change with it.