Effective date: 1 July 2026
Who we are (data controller): The Safari Guy, a trade name of Sydney Beheer B.V. (registered with the Dutch Chamber of Commerce), Clusiuslaan 2, 1906 XM Limmen, the Netherlands. Contact: info@thesafariguy.co.za.
WildLogger is a wildlife/safari field-journal and community app. We care about your privacy by design: your journal is yours, you stay in control, and we collect as little as possible. This page explains what we collect, why, and your rights.
The short version
- Local-first. You can use WildLogger without an account. Your journal stays on your device until you sign in to back it up or choose to share something.
- EU hosting. When you sign in, your data is stored on Supabase in the EU (Frankfurt, Germany).
- You own your data and photos. You can export everything and delete your account from inside the app.
- Sensitive species are protected. Locations of endangered/sensitive species are always coarsened and delayed before anything is shared — never exposed precisely or in real time.
- No ads, no selling your data.
What we collect and why
Only if you create an account / sign in:
| Data | Why | Legal basis (GDPR) |
|---|---|---|
| Email address, display name, sign-in provider (Apple/Google/email) | Create and secure your account | Contract |
| Age confirmation (16+) | Eligibility; we don’t target minors | Legal obligation / legitimate interest |
| Consent choices (photos as reference images; sharing for science) | Honour your opt-ins | Consent |
| Your journal: safaris, sightings (species, date, count, sex/age, notes), weather | Back up and sync your journal | Contract |
| Location of a sighting (GPS coordinates and/or place name) | Show sightings on your map; optional sharing | Consent (you choose to attach/share) |
| Photos (full-resolution and thumbnails) and their EXIF metadata | Your journal; optional community/reference use | Contract / Consent |
| Community content (posts, captions, avatar, blocks, reports) | Run the community feed | Contract / Consent |
| Subscription status | Unlock paid features | Contract |
Stored only on your device (not sent to us): your iNaturalist API token (if you connect iNaturalist), and any journal/photos you haven’t chosen to back up or share.
We do not collect advertising identifiers, and we do not use tracking for advertising.
How sharing works (you decide)
- Back-up & sync happens only when you’re signed in.
- Community: sharing a sighting is a deliberate, per-post action. Posts show the park/region, never exact coordinates.
- Science (iNaturalist → GBIF): only if you opt in. Shared under a Creative Commons CC BY-NC licence.
- Anti-poaching protection: for sensitive/endangered species (e.g. rhino, elephant, pangolin, wild dog, big cats) we coarsen the location (to roughly a 22 km grid), hide the place name, and apply a 30-day delay (embargo) before any external publication — in the community, in iNaturalist, and in our server-side fallback. This is non-negotiable.
Who we share data with (processors / third parties)
- Supabase (hosting, authentication, storage) — EU region.
- Apple — Sign in with Apple, in-app purchases, and WeatherKit (weather).
- Google — Sign in with Google (if you choose it).
- Mapbox — map tiles.
- iNaturalist — only if you connect it / opt in to science sharing.
We do not sell your personal data. We only use processors that handle data on our behalf under appropriate agreements.
Photo licence (only if you opt in)
If — and only if — you turn on “let my photos be used as species reference images,” you grant The Safari Guy a non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to use those specific photos as species reference images across The Safari Guy apps (including paid features), and externally under CC BY-NC. You keep ownership and can withdraw consent and delete your photos at any time. Photos you don’t opt in for are not used this way.
How long we keep data
We keep your account data while your account exists. When you delete your account, it enters a 30-day grace period (so you can change your mind by signing back in); after that it is permanently deleted, including your photos in storage. Externally published science records (iNaturalist/GBIF) that already left our systems cannot always be fully retracted — we tell you this before you publish.
Your rights (GDPR)
You can access, export (“download all my data”), correct, and delete your data, withdraw consent, and object to certain processing — all from Settings in the app, or by contacting us at info@thesafariguy.co.za. You may also lodge a complaint with your data protection authority (in the Netherlands: the Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens).
Children
WildLogger is not directed at children. You must confirm you are 16 or older to create an account.
International users
Data is stored in the EU. If you use the app from outside the EU, your data is transferred to and processed in the EU.
Changes
We may update this policy; we’ll post the new effective date here and, for material changes, notify you in the app.
Contact
The Safari Guy (Sydney Beheer B.V.) · Clusiuslaan 2, 1906 XM Limmen, the Netherlands · info@thesafariguy.co.za