Pikeworks
Privacy policy
Last updated 19 September 2026.
Plant Vault keeps your garden on your phone. There's no Plant Vault account and no Plant Vault server, so in ordinary use nothing you write reaches me.
Who is responsible
Plant Vault is made by Pikeworks, a sole trader in Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. Pikeworks is the data controller for the small amount of processing described below. For anything about this policy, write to plantvault@pikeworks.co.uk.
What stays on your phone
Your gardens, plants, wishlist, kit, diary, photos, reminders, remembered facts and chat history are kept in Plant Vault's own database on the phone. I can't see them. They're included in your phone's own backup if you have that turned on (Android's backup to your Google account, or iCloud on an iPhone), which is between you and Google or Apple.
What leaves your phone, and only when you ask
| What | Goes to | Why |
|---|---|---|
| The rows of your garden records | Google Sheets and Google Drive, in your own account | Only if you link a sheet. Plant Vault asks for the narrow "drive.file" permission, so it can only see the file it created or that you picked. Unlink at any time in Settings. |
| Your question, your photos, and a summary of your own plants | Google (Gemini, through Firebase AI Logic) | Only when you use Plant Vault AI. Google processes it to produce the answer. See Google's terms below. |
| Rounded coordinates for your garden | MET Norway (api.met.no) | To fetch the forecast. No name, no account, no device identifier. |
| A postcode or town you type | postcodes.io | Only when you add or change a garden's place, to turn it into a rough position. |
| An AI answer you report, with its question and your note | Pikeworks, in Plant Vault's own Firebase database (London) | Only when you tap "This was wrong", so I can look at the answer. |
| Your subscription state | Google Play, or the App Store on an iPhone | To check whether Plant Vault AI is paid for. Google or Apple handles the payment. I never see a card. |
Plant Vault has no advertising, no analytics and no tracking. Nothing is sold or shared with anyone else.
Plant Vault AI
The AI is Google's Gemini, reached through Firebase AI Logic. When you ask something, the app sends your message, any photos you attach and a summary of your garden records so it can answer about your own plants: plant names, varieties, locations, care dates and notes, your kit and wishlist, open reminders, facts you asked it to remember, each garden's name and area (never its postcode) and the forecast. Google processes it under the Firebase terms and the Gemini API terms. Firebase App Check makes sure only the real app can send those requests. I don't keep a copy of your conversations. They stay on the phone and you can delete them.
Reporting an answer
If an answer is wrong or unsuitable, "This was wrong" under it sends that one question, that one answer, anything you type about it and the app version to me. It's stored in Plant Vault's own Google Firebase database in London, which only I can read. Nothing else from your garden goes with it, and nothing identifies you unless you type it. I read reports to put the app right, and delete them within a year.
Don't put anything private into a question that you wouldn't want Google to process. Plant Vault AI is for adults: you must be 18 or over to use it.
Photos and the camera
Photos you add stay in Plant Vault's own storage on the phone. The camera and gallery are only used when you choose a photo. A photo only leaves the phone if you attach it to an AI question, or if you've linked a sheet and the photo is part of a record you asked to be copied there.
Notifications
Care notes, reminders and frost warnings are worked out on the phone and shown by the phone. Nothing is sent from a server, because there isn't one.
Your rights
Your records live on your phone, so you're in control of them. Settings has an export of everything as CSV and JSON, and "Delete everything", which clears the app. A sheet you linked is yours, in your Drive, and you delete it there. You also have the usual UK GDPR rights over any personal data I hold, which in practice is only what you send me in an email. Write to plantvault@pikeworks.co.uk and I'll answer within a month. You can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk.
Children
Plant Vault isn't aimed at children or designed for them. Plant Vault AI requires you to be 18 or over.
Changes
If this policy changes, the date at the top changes with it, and anything important is pointed out in the app.