Privacy, in plain words.

Last updated October 24, 2026. This policy covers the itemscan.ca website and the ItemScan app for iPhone, iPad and Android. It is written by the person who builds the app, not by a legal department, and it describes what actually happens.

The short version. Your collection lives on your phone. If you choose to sign in, your records (never your photos) are also kept in your account so they follow you between devices. Photos you take are used on the phone or for one identification and then discarded; none of them are kept on our servers. The website does not track you. We do not sell data, we do not show ads, and we do not build profiles.

The website

itemscan.ca is served by Cloudflare. Like every web host, Cloudflare sees the basic details of each request (your IP address, the page you asked for, your browser type) to deliver the page and to protect the site from abuse; Cloudflare's own privacy policy applies to that. We do not set cookies for the website.

The website does not use analytics or advertising cookies at the moment. If that changes, this policy will say so first.

The support form

When you write to us through the support page, the name, email address and message you type are sent to us as an email through our email delivery provider and kept in our mailbox so we can answer you. We use them only to reply. We do not add you to any list. Ask us at any time and we will delete the conversation.

The app

Your collection data

Everything you record in ItemScan (items, collections, places, prices, condition notes, your own values) is stored on your device. You can use the app without an account, and nothing is sent to our servers to keep. Backups are files you make yourself and store where you choose; they are yours.

Accounts and sync

If you sign in, we keep your email address, the name you give us, and a copy of your records (items, collections, places and their details) on our servers, so that the same collection appears on every device you sign in on and survives a lost phone. Photos are never part of that copy; they stay on the device they were taken on. Signing in uses a code we email you; we never store a password. We keep a record of which devices are signed in, when they were last used, and the app version and kind of device, so we can see what needs fixing. You can sign out at any time (your device keeps its copy) and you can delete the account from inside the app, which removes the account and every record we hold for it.

Photos and the camera

ItemScan asks for camera access to identify items. Barcodes and the text on cards and labels are read on the phone whenever possible. When an identification needs our server, the photo is sent, processed and discarded in the same moment: it is not written to storage, not used to train anything, and not kept in logs. We never keep a photo of your collectibles on our servers, and we never will without asking you first and changing this policy.

What leaves your phone

Without an account: only what is needed to answer a question you asked (a barcode or cert number for a lookup, a photo for an identification that is discarded immediately), and a once-a-day signal that a copy of the app was opened, with the app version and the kind of device, so we know how many copies are in use. That signal carries no content and no location. With an account: your records, as described above. Catalogue and pricing providers, where they are used, receive the identifier or the image needed to answer, never your name, your account or your collection.

Analytics in the app

Beyond the once-a-day open signal above, the app does not send usage analytics at the moment. If it does in the future, it will send only which screens are used and whether a scan succeeded, never your collection data and never photos, and this policy will say so first.

The camera, barcodes and reading cards

Barcodes are read on the phone itself; the camera picture is used only to find the barcode and is never stored or sent anywhere. When you ask ItemScan to read a card, a label or a coin, that one picture is sent to our server, passed to Cloudflare's AI service, which processes it on our behalf, and discarded; it is not written to storage, not used to train anything, and not kept in logs. The small copy you see in the app stays on your device.

Your choices

Everything in the app can be exported as a spreadsheet file or a backup file at any time.
Deleting the app deletes your collection from the device. Deleting your account (More, Account, Delete account) removes everything we hold on our servers. Deleting your data explains both.
Camera access can be switched off in your phone's settings; manual entry keeps working.

Children

ItemScan is not directed at children under 13 and we do not knowingly collect information from them.

Where we are

ItemScan is made in Alberta, Canada, and follows Canadian privacy law. If you are somewhere else, your local rules may give you additional rights, and the way the app is built (your data on your device, no account, no photo storage) is meant to respect them by default.

Changes

If this policy changes, the date at the top changes and the change is described here. We will not quietly start keeping data this policy says we do not keep.

Contact

Questions about privacy go through the support page.