Privacy & Terms

Planters

Get Cache is a privacy focused planter-first app.

You don't have to know or care about any technical stuff. It just works, easy, out of the box, offline, with no account. Works if you just use one tiny feature yourself or a whole camp using all the features.
Your work stays yours — to you and everyone else. Nothing merges or syncs automatically. Send and receive tallies, maps, plots, and trees. Everything shows who made it. You can always see your own work, or the big picture, and nothing can blur the two.
Peer to peer, low trust network. It is a free decentralized system in which the data is yours, not owned by your company or a client. You can share with them the data they want but only when you're ready on your terms. With transparency and running in the planters' favor wherever possible.

These promises describe the app by default. Share links, covered below, are the one way you can choose to put a copy on our server, and the app warns you before it does.

The purpose of the app is to empower you, on your terms, with the best planting app possible.

You own your data. All of it — tallies, maps, plots, tracks — is yours, seen only by you, and a backup on our server is still yours: we hold it for you and claim no rights to it. You choose what & when to share. No one, including, your boss, your company, our servers, the internet, can see it.

See the local-first principles video.

If you make an account, a backup of that data is sent to our server periodically, or you can send backups to yourself.
You don't have to use the tallies feature or the plot feature. The map alone is killer.
Sharing happens by exporting a .getcache (or .kmz or PDF Map etc) and its sent straight to whomever you intend via AirDrop, email, messaging — your choice. The file does not pass through our servers or your company's possesion.
Or you can share by link. Then a copy is stored on our servers, and anyone with the link can see it.
You can also sync share with your foreman and you can disconnect with them anytime.
Error reports are anonymous, with or without an account — your phone strips anything that points to you before sending. They help us fix the bugs. No usage tracking either way.

There is a lot of nuance to privacy and have questions, ideas feedback, feel free to write info@getcache.org. I'm figuring this out too.

Who we are

Get Cache is part of the ReTreever suite of apps, published by Ground Truth Data Inc., a company incorporated in BC, Canada.

In this policy, "we," "our," and "us" refer to Ground Truth Data Inc. "The app" or "Get Cache" refers to the Get Cache mobile application.

If you have questions about this policy, email info@getcache.org.

How Get Cache works (and why that matters for privacy)

Get Cache is a decentralized, local-first app: no company server sits between you and the people you share with. When you tally trees, draw plots, or view maps, all of that information is stored in a local database on your device. If you have an account, we keep a copy of that database on our servers in Canada so we can restore it for you. We can read that copy — that is what lets us recover your data and help with support. We do not sell your data. We may share aggregated, anonymized summaries — which species went on which blocks, never who planted what — with university research labs, free of charge. If you do not have an account, your data stays on your device (and in your backup copies). We don't have a copy. We can't read it. We can't recover it if you delete the app. DEF send yourself regular backups if you don't have an account.

Two modes: with or without an account

Without an account (default):

Anonymous error reports only — nothing in them points to you. If the app crashes it also shows you the full report, and that reaches us only if you tap Send.
All your tally data stays on your device.
You can use the full app offline.
We have no way to identify you, contact you, or link a crash report back to you.

With an account (optional, only if you sign up):

Your local database is backed up to our servers, so you don't lose your data if your phone breaks. We can read that copy — that is how restore and support work. We don't hand it to anyone else.
You can contact us for support and we can help you troubleshoot.
You can delete your account at any time, and we'll delete the associated data.

None of the above happens unless you create an account. You can use Get Cache fully without ever doing so.

Sharing tallies and data

When you send data to a foreman, or anyone else, Get Cache exports a .getcache file. Under the hood these files are either CSV, KML or SQLite. That file does not pass through our servers. It's private data between you and the recipient. You send it through whatever channel you choose — AirDrop, iMessage, email, Signal, a USB cable, anything.

The recipient can be anyone with Get Cache installed. There are no "foreman accounts" or special roles. Anyone can accept sent data and asusme a defacto foreman roll.

This means:

We don't know who you sent a tally to.
We don't know what was in it.
We don't store a copy.
We can't intercept or read it in transit.

If you choose to send a tally over email or another internet service, that service's privacy policy applies to the transmission. We have no involvement.

Share links (optional)

Everything above stays true unless you make a link. A link puts a copy of that one item on our server so anyone with the link can view it. You can delete a link anytime.

Viewing needs no account and no app. The link itself is a random code; it holds no location or other data.
How long we keep it: until you delete it, or until nobody has opened it for a year. Every open restarts the year. An expired link stops working at once, and its copy is erased the next time anyone creates a link.
A deleted link shows "No longer available".
We can't take back screenshots or copies someone made while they could see it.

Importing maps (PDFs, KMLs, KMZs)

When you import a map into Get Cache — a georeferenced PDF, a KML or a KMZ, whether you pick it from your device's Files app, pull it in from Dropbox, accept it from a share sheet, or open it via a deep link — the file is sent to our servers for conversion. This is the one place in the app where data flows the "wrong" way, and we want to be honest about it.

Why: map files come in every shape and size, and turning them into something your phone can draw quickly is heavy work. Phones do it slowly, drain the battery, and often fail. A server does it in a few seconds and sends the result back.

What that means for your privacy:

The file travels to and from our server over an encrypted connection.
We convert it and send it straight back. We do not keep the file you sent, the converted result, or any record of what was in it. Once your phone has the result, our server has nothing.
We do not look inside the file or use it for anything other than converting it for you.
This applies only to importing. Sharing a map with a teammate never touches our servers.

Imported maps are not backed up

Imported maps live only on your phone. They are not part of the cloud backup — they can be huge, and we'd rather not hold them. If you reinstall the app or switch phones, re-import the original file, or export the map as a .getcache file first and keep that copy somewhere you control.

What we collect

Without an account

Anonymous error reports — what went wrong, which screen, app and device version, and a count of a few moments (a file shared or received, a backup that worked or failed). Your phone strips anything that could point to you before sending: no account, no email, no IP address, no names, no location. Sent to our error tracker, Sentry. No screen recordings, no usage tracking. When the app crashes it also shows you a technical report, and we receive that only if you tap Send.

With an account

Email address — to sign you in and contact you about your account. There is no password; you sign in with a one-time code, or with Google or Apple.
Cloud backup — a copy of your local database (tallies, plots, drawn maps, tracks), uploaded periodically while you're signed in. We can read this copy; that is how restore and support work.
Support messages — anything you send us.

We do not collect your name, phone number, contacts, photos, or anything outside the app.

Location

We do not collect or store your location. GPS is used on your phone only in the moment — to show where you are on the map and to pick the area to download for the offline preview. Tallies carry no location. Tracks (the path you walk while planting) and the pins and pieces you draw are your own map content: stored with the rest of your data, included in your cloud backup if you have an account, and shared with no one unless you send them.

When you view the map online, your phone asks Mapbox for the map imagery for the area on screen. Mapbox sees your IP address and the rough region you're looking at (tens of kilometres wide), not your GPS position. That request goes straight from your phone to Mapbox; we never see it.

How we use account data

Sign you in and send essential account emails (sign-in codes, security notices)
Back up and restore your data
Help you when you contact support
Find and fix bugs
Build aggregated, anonymized summaries — which species went on which blocks, never individual planters, tallies, or emails — that we may share with university research labs

We do not sell your data, share it with advertisers or with other tree-planting companies and contractors, use it to train AI models, or build a marketing profile on you.

Dropbox (optional)

If you connect Dropbox, it creates an Apps / Get Cache folder and Get Cache can see only what you put in that folder — Dropbox enforces this. File names and downloads go straight from Dropbox to your phone, not through our servers. Revoke access any time at dropbox.com/account/connected_apps.

Third-party services

Mapbox — map imagery when you're online. Sees your IP address and the rough area on screen. Privacy policy.
Supabase (account users) — hosts sign-in, account data, and cloud backups, on servers in Canada. Privacy policy.
Apple App Store / Google Play — handle the download under their own policies. We see only aggregate download counts.

No advertising SDKs, no social media trackers, no Google Analytics or Facebook.

Data retention and deletion

Without an account: we hold nothing but anonymous crash reports, which age out after about 90 days. Deleting the app deletes your data.

With an account: we keep your account data while the account is active. Delete your account any time in the app or by emailing info@getcache.org, and we delete it within 60 days, except records we're legally required to keep.

Your rights

Wherever you live, you can ask to access, correct, export, or delete the data we hold about you, and you can opt out of optional collection like usage analytics without losing access to the app. (Without an account there is nothing to look up — crash reports are anonymous.) Email info@getcache.org; we respond within 30 days.

If you're in the EEA, UK, or California, the rights above cover what GDPR, UK GDPR, and the CCPA guarantee. Mention the framework in your request and we'll handle it accordingly. We do not sell personal information.

Children

Get Cache is for users 13 and older. We don't knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child has created an account, contact us and we'll delete it.

Security

Account data is protected with encrypted connections, encrypted storage, passwordless sign-in, and access controls on our servers. No system is perfectly secure; if a breach affects your data we'll notify you and the relevant authorities as required by law. Data on your phone is protected by your phone — passcode, biometrics, and your own device backups.

International users

We are based in Canada and so are our servers. If you create an account from outside Canada, your account data is stored in Canada and you consent to that transfer. Without an account, nothing is transferred anywhere.

Changes to this policy

If we change how we handle your data in a way that matters, we'll tell you in the app or by email before it takes effect. Typo and clarity fixes may happen without notice. The "Last updated" date below always reflects the latest change.

Terms of Use

Service provider: Get Cache is operated by Ground Truth Data Inc.
Acceptable use: You agree to use Get Cache only for lawful purposes and in accordance with these terms.
No warranty: The service is provided "as is" without warranty of any kind.
Shared links: Anyone who has a link you shared can see what it holds, so send it only to people you mean to. Deleting a link stops new views; it can't recall copies already made.
Trademarks: The ReTreever and Get Cache names, logos, and brand assets are the property of Ground Truth Data Inc.

By using Get Cache, you agree to these terms.

Contact

Questions, concerns, requests, or just want to say hi:

Email: info@getcache.org
Mail: Ground Truth Data Inc., Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada