Privacy Policy

Last updated: 8 October 2026

This Privacy Policy explains how Hallmark ID: Silver & Gold ("the App", "we", "us"), published by Halim Öztürk, handles information when you use the App. We built the App to keep your data on your device wherever possible, and to collect as little as we can.

The short version

Your scanned photos and saved collection are stored on your device. We do not sync them to our own cloud.
We do not require an account or login, and we do not sell your data or show third-party ads.
We collect anonymous usage analytics to improve the App, and process subscriptions through the App Store.

Information the App handles

Photos and scans

When you scan a hallmark, the App uses your camera or a photo you select from your photo library. Reading the marks happens on your device first using Apple's on-device text recognition. Many scans are resolved entirely on-device and never leave your phone.

For marks that on-device reading cannot resolve with confidence (for example faint or symbol punches), a single image is sent to our secure server-side proxy, which forwards it to a third-party vision model (Google Gemini or OpenAI) to help read the punches and returns the extracted marks. Our proxy stores nothing: it holds no database and does not log the image, and the image is used only to fulfil that request. The vision provider may retain the request briefly for its own abuse monitoring under its own policy. Our API keys live only on the proxy and are never embedded in the App. Your saved photos remain stored locally on your device.

Your collection

Pieces you save — including the photo, decoded marks, weight, notes, and estimated values — are stored locally on your device using Apple's on-device database. This data is not transmitted to us.

Analytics

We use a third-party analytics service (Mixpanel) to understand how the App is used so we can improve it. Analytics events are anonymous and pass through a privacy filter. They may include a random device/installation identifier, app and operating-system version, device model, and four non-identifying onboarding answers (your stated goal, collector type, collection-size range, and where you first heard about the App, picked from a short list). We do not send your name, email, photos, or the contents of your decodes to analytics.

Approximate location. Our analytics provider derives an approximate city, region and country from the IP address your events arrive from. The App itself never asks for or reads your device location and contains no location code at all — there is no GPS involved.

Crash and performance data

The App subscribes to Apple's MetricKit, which delivers crash, hang and performance reports for this App to the App itself after the fact. We forward those reports to the same anonymous analytics service so we can find and fix what is actually breaking. They contain diagnostic information — stack frames, launch and hang durations, memory figures — and no photos, no decodes, and nothing you typed. There is no third-party crash SDK in the App.

Subscriptions and purchases

Subscriptions are sold and processed through Apple's App Store using StoreKit, and managed with a third-party subscription service (RevenueCat). Apple processes your payment; we do not receive or store your payment-card details. We receive your subscription and entitlement status, and the same anonymous onboarding preferences described above (used to understand conversion and lifetime value).

What the App Store privacy label says

Apple asks every app to declare the data it collects. This page and that label are written from the same reading of the App's source code, and they agree. Our declaration lists eight data types, all marked not linked to your identity and not used for tracking:

User Content → Photos or Videos — App Functionality. The single image sent to the vision proxy when an on-device read is not confident.
Location → Coarse Location — Analytics. IP-derived by the analytics provider; the App has no location code.
Identifiers → Device ID — a random per-installation identifier for analytics and subscription state.
Purchases → Purchase History — subscription and entitlement status.
Usage Data → Product Interaction — Analytics.
Other Data → Other Data Types — Analytics. Your answer to the onboarding question about where you first heard of the App.
Diagnostics → Crash Data and Performance Data — App Functionality, via MetricKit as described above.

There is no user account and no user ID: the App has no login, so there is no name or email to collect. There is no advertising SDK, no advertising identifier and no App Tracking Transparency prompt, because there is nothing here to track you with.

Metal prices

To estimate melt values and power the Home Screen widget, the App fetches current silver and gold spot prices from a third-party pricing service. These requests fetch prices only; no personal information about you is sent.

Widget

If you add the Home Screen widget, a small snapshot of spot prices and your collection's estimated melt value is shared between the App and the widget on your device using an app group. This stays on your device.

What we do NOT do

We do not sell or rent your personal data.
We do not display third-party advertising.
We do not require an account, and we do not ask for bank or financial-account logins.
We do not sync your photos or collection to our own servers or to iCloud in this version.
We do not include social features, user-generated-content feeds, or messaging.

Permissions the App may request

Camera — to photograph a hallmark for scanning.
Notifications (optional) — to alert you when a metal's spot price moves and your collection's estimated melt value changes. You can decline or disable this at any time.
Special offer notifications (optional, off by default) — an occasional subscription offer, sent only if you turn this on in the App's Notification settings. Turning it off also cancels any offer notification already scheduled.

Choosing an existing photo needs no permission at all. The App uses Apple's system photo picker, which runs outside the App: you pick one image and the App receives only that image. It never gets access to your photo library, and iOS does not ask you for any.

The camera prompt is presented directly by iOS, with no explanatory screen in front of it. The optional notification request is introduced by a short in-app screen you can decline. You can change either permission any time in your device Settings.

Data retention

Data you create (scans and collection items) remains on your device until you delete it or uninstall the App. Images sent to the vision proxy for low-confidence reads are not retained after processing. Anonymous analytics are retained by the analytics provider per its standard retention policies.

Third-party services

The App relies on the following third parties, each governed by its own privacy policy: Apple (App Store, StoreKit, on-device services), Mixpanel (analytics), RevenueCat (subscription management), a metal-price data provider (spot prices), and our own server-side vision proxy, which forwards low-confidence images to Google Gemini or OpenAI for reading.

Children

The App is not directed to children and does not knowingly collect personal information from children.

Your choices

You can revoke camera, photo, and notification permissions in device Settings, delete saved pieces within the App, and remove all local data by uninstalling the App. Depending on your region, you may have rights to access or delete personal data; contact us using the details below.

Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Material changes will be reflected by the "Last updated" date above.

Contact

Questions about this policy? Email halimozturk@windowslive.com.