Plate Safari privacy policy
Last updated 9 November 2026. Plate Safari is made by Bedroom Traders Ltd, trading as Boring Mods ("we"), United Kingdom. Contact: boringf80@gmail.com.
The short version
- Your collection lives on your phone. Plate Safari works fully without saving an account; until you save one we hold only a random ID and a made-up username.
- Photos you share have the plate characters and faces blurred on your phone before they are sent. We never receive a plate's characters as text.
- We never receive or store your exact location. A shared find shows a country and a city name only, and only a few hours after you share it (until then it says "Spotted recently").
- No ads, no selling of data, no tracking across other apps or websites.
On your phone only
Your finds, the photos you take or pick, the photo's date and the photo's location (from the photo's own metadata) are kept on your device. The exact location is used to name the country and nearest city, and to show a private pin on your own map. It is never sent to us or shown to anyone else. Deleting the app deletes all of this.
Your account
When the app first opens it makes you an account so you never hit a sign-up wall. Until you save it, it holds only a random ID, a made-up username (like PlateHunter4821) you can change, and a sign-in session: no name, no email, no age, none of your finds. You can save it with Apple, Google or your email address, so you never lose your collection.
| What | Why |
|---|---|
| If you save with email: your email address. We email you a 6-digit code to sign in (no password) and send nothing else to it, ever. The code is stored only as a one-way code and stops working after 10 minutes or 5 wrong tries | To sign you in on any device |
| A backup of your collection once your account is saved: your finds with their small photos, points and home country. Your private map pins (exact places) are never in it | So a new phone or a reinstall gets everything back |
| A one-way, keyed code made from the ID that Apple or Google gives us when you sign in (not your email, not your name) | To recognise your account on any device |
| Your year of birth and an age bracket (13-15, 16-17, 18+). We ask your date of birth once, when you save your account or before you first share, comment or follow, and keep only the year | To apply the right safety settings. Under-13s cannot make an account |
| Display name, handle, home country (optional), privacy setting | Your public profile and the "away from home" part of the score |
| Finds you choose to share: the blurred photo (re-encoded on our server, which removes all metadata), plate type, country and city name, the day and part of the day, car class, short-plate tick | The shared feed, leaderboards and "What is this?" help |
| A code made from the photo's pixels and, if the app read it, a keyed code made from the plate's characters (never the characters themselves) | To spot the same photo or the same plate posted twice (anti-cheat) |
| Comments, likes, suggestions, follows, blocks and reports | The social features and keeping them safe |
| Short-lived rate-limit counters made from your IP address (keyed, changed daily) | Stopping abuse |
| Device integrity checks (Apple App Attest, Google Play Integrity) | Proving a find was posted from the real app |
Legal bases (UK and EU GDPR): performing our contract with you (running your account and the features you use) and our legitimate interest in keeping the service safe and fair. Data is stored on our web host in the European Union / United Kingdom.
Who can see what
Shared finds are public unless your account is private, in which case only people you follow back see them. Teen accounts (13-17) start private; 13-15 stay private. A teen's home country is never shown, and only people a teen follows can comment on their finds. Private accounts and teens are left off the leaderboards.
Reports and moderation
Anyone signed in can report a find, comment or person. A find reported for a readable plate or a visible face is hidden straight away; a person checks every report. Accounts that break the rules can be closed.
How long we keep it, and deleting your account
Until you delete it. Delete a shared find from the feed at any time, or delete your account in Profile: your account, email address, collection backup, finds, photos, comments, likes, suggestions, follows and blocks are deleted from our server at once. Sign out in Profile keeps your collection on the phone and your account ready for when you sign back in. Reports you made are kept without your name. Backups roll over within 30 days.
Sharing with others
We don't sell or rent data. We use Apple and Google only to sign you in (if you choose them), an email service only to send your sign-in code, and to check device integrity, and our web host to run the service. We disclose data only if the law requires it.
Your rights
You can access, correct, export or delete your data, and object to processing. Most of this is in the app; for anything else email boringf80@gmail.com. You can complain to the UK Information Commissioner's Office (ico.org.uk) or your local data protection authority.
Children
Plate Safari accounts are for people aged 13 and over. If you think a child under 13 has an account, report them in the app or email us and we will delete it.
Changes
We'll update this page and the date at the top, and tell you in the app about important changes.