Privacy Policy

BirdBook (“BirdBook”, “we”, “us”) is a social network for bird photographers, available at birdbook.net. BirdBook is a data-driven platform. The records our members create — photographs, recordings, identifications, and precise observation data — are the core of the service, and we collect and use them extensively. This policy states plainly what we collect and what we do with it. We operate from Australia and handle personal information in accordance with the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and, where applicable, the GDPR.

By creating an account or using BirdBook, you consent to the collection, use, retention, and disclosure of your information as described in this policy. This consent is a condition of using the service. If you do not agree with any part of this policy, do not create an account and do not use BirdBook.

1. Information we collect

We collect all information you provide and all information generated by your use of the service. This includes:

1.1 Account information

• Registration details: username, email address, and a password (stored as a salted hash), together with any display name, bio, and profile photo you provide.
• Google sign-in: if you choose to sign in with Google, we receive your basic profile via the openid, email, and profile scopes — your email address, name, and profile picture. We do not request access to your Google Drive, contacts, calendar, or any other Google data, and we never receive your Google password.

1.2 Content and metadata

• All uploaded media: every photograph and audio recording you upload, together with captions, notes, and identifications.
• Full EXIF metadata, including exact GPS coordinates: we extract and retain the complete metadata embedded in your photos — camera body, lens, exposure settings, capture date and time, and precise GPS coordinates. GPS coordinates are stored permanently at full precision. Location fuzzing applies to public display only; it does not alter what we store or what we may share under section 4.
• Activity locations: the locations associated with your sightings, posts, and other activities on the service.

1.3 Interactions

• Your social activity on the platform: follows, reactions, comments, posts, group and event participation, and the metadata of your direct messages (participants, times, and volumes), as well as message content needed to deliver and store your conversations.

1.4 Device, browser, and usage data

• Technical and analytics data generated as you use the service: IP address, device and browser characteristics, pages and features used, session activity, timestamps, and server logs. We use cookies, local storage, and analytics tooling as deployed on the service to collect this data (see section 6).

2. How we use your information

We use the information we collect for the following purposes:

• Operating and improving the service: providing your feed, profile, life list, maps, groups, events, messaging, and identification features, and analysing usage to develop and improve BirdBook.
• AI model training and evaluation: BirdBook may use uploaded media, metadata, and identifications — including yours — to train, fine-tune, evaluate, and improve its own species-identification and related models.
• Scientific research and conservation: sightings on BirdBook are occurrence records of scientific value. We may use, analyse, and share occurrence data (species, exact location, date, and supporting evidence such as photos or recordings) for research and conservation purposes as described in section 4.
• Aggregated and derived data: we may create aggregated, statistical, or otherwise derived data from your information, and we may retain and use such data indefinitely for any purpose.
• Sending service notifications (replies, mentions, messages, announcements).
• Keeping the platform secure and preventing spam, fraud, and abuse.

3. Location data

• GPS coordinates from your photos and sightings are stored permanently at full precision as part of the scientific record.
• Fuzzing is a display measure only. Locations shown to other members on public sightings and maps are obscured to an approximate area to protect members and sensitive species from casual disclosure. This does not affect what BirdBook stores internally or what may be shared with conservation and research partners under section 4, including at full precision.
• Locations of threatened or sensitive species receive additional care in public display, and our Terms of Service prohibit members from disclosing them.

4. Sharing and disclosure

BirdBook may use, license, commercialise, and share data — including showing advertising, sharing aggregated or derived data with commercial partners, and licensing occurrence data — at its discretion. Data is currently shared as follows:

• Other members: content you post publicly (photos, sightings, comments, your profile) is visible to other BirdBook users. Direct messages are visible only to their participants.
• Conservation organisations, researchers, and biodiversity databases: BirdBook may, at its discretion, share occurrence data — species, exact location, date, and supporting evidence — with conservation organisations, scientific researchers, and biodiversity data aggregators (such as GBIF- or ALA-style repositories). Precise, unfuzzed locations may be shared under data-sharing agreements with such partners. Contributing your sightings to the scientific record in this way is an inherent part of the service.
• Service providers and infrastructure: BirdBook runs on infrastructure we operate in Australia. Network-level services used to deliver the site (such as DNS and connection routing) may process IP addresses in transit.
• Google: only if you choose Google sign-in, in which case Google processes the sign-in itself under its own privacy policy.
• Legal requirements: we may disclose information where required by law or where reasonably necessary to protect the safety of members, the public, or wildlife, or to protect BirdBook’s rights and operations.

5. Data storage and security

• Your data is stored on servers located in Australia that we operate.
• All traffic is encrypted in transit using HTTPS.
• Passwords are stored only as salted hashes and are never visible to us.
• Access to production systems is restricted to the operator.

No online service can guarantee perfect security, but we take reasonable steps as required by APP 11 to protect your information from misuse, interference, loss, and unauthorised access. If a data breach likely to result in serious harm occurs, we will notify affected members and the OAIC as required by law.

6. Cookies and analytics

BirdBook uses cookies and browser local storage to keep you signed in (session and refresh tokens), to remember interface preferences, and to support such analytics and measurement tooling as is deployed on the service from time to time. We may add or change analytics tooling without separately notifying you; continued use of the service constitutes acceptance. If you clear your tokens you will be signed out.

7. Data retention

• We retain your account data and content for as long as your account is active.
• Aggregated and derived data may be retained and used indefinitely, including after you delete content or your account.
• Occurrence records persist after account deletion. When your account is deleted, your profile and messages are removed, but occurrence records derived from your sightings (species, location, date, and associated evidence) persist in de-identified form. This preserves the integrity of the scientific record, including data already shared with research and conservation partners, which cannot be recalled.
• Media and identifications already used to train or evaluate our models are not removed from trained models by deletion of the source content.
• Server logs are retained for security and operational purposes.

8. Your rights

Where the Australian Privacy Principles or the GDPR confer rights on you, we will honour them to the extent the law requires:

• Access and correction: you may request access to, or correction of, the personal information we hold about you by emailing dean.mcintosh@gmail.com.
• Deletion: you may delete individual sightings and content in the app, and you may request deletion of your account by email. Deletion is subject to the retention provisions in section 7, including the persistence of de-identified occurrence records and aggregated or derived data.

We will respond to requests within a reasonable period (and within the timeframes the GDPR requires where it applies). If you are unsatisfied with our response, you may complain to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) or your local data protection authority. Beyond what the law requires, the handling of your data is governed by this policy, which you accepted as a condition of use.

9. Children

BirdBook is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them. If you believe a child under 13 has created an account, please contact us and we will delete it.

10. International visitors

BirdBook is operated from, and your data is stored in, Australia. By using the service from outside Australia you consent to your information being transferred to and processed in Australia under this policy.

11. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy at any time. Changes are effective when posted, and the “Last updated” date above will change. Continued use of BirdBook after a change takes effect constitutes acceptance of the updated policy. If you do not accept an updated policy, your only remedy is to stop using the service.

12. Contact

BirdBook (birdbook.net) — privacy questions, access, correction, or deletion requests: dean.mcintosh@gmail.com.