Privacy Policy

KaChow is an app for photographing the cars you spot, parking them in a garage of the models you have seen, and sharing them with the people who follow you. This policy explains what we collect when you use it, why, and what control you have.

1. Who we are

KaChow is operated by the developer of the KaChow app ("we", "us"). For any question about this policy or your data, write to support@kachow.app.

2. What we collect

Account information

When you register we store your email address, username, and a securely hashed version of your password. We never store your password in readable form. You may optionally add a display name, a short bio, a profile photo and a country.

Content you post

The photos you upload, the car make, model, year and colour attached to a spot, your captions, and your comments. This content is stored on our servers so it can be shown in the app.

Camera and photo library

The app asks for the camera so you can photograph a car where you find it, and for your photo library so you can post one you already took. Both permissions are used only for the photo you pick: we do not read, index or upload the rest of your library, and refusing either permission leaves the rest of the app working.

Location

If you grant location permission, a spot can be saved with the coordinates and an approximate place name of where you took the photo. This powers the map and the "nearby" feed. Location is optional: you can refuse the permission, or revoke it at any time in iOS Settings, and still use every other part of the app. Spots you have already posted keep the location they were saved with until you delete them.

Photos are re-encoded when uploaded, which strips the EXIF metadata (including any GPS tag) embedded by your camera. Only the coordinates you explicitly attach to a spot are kept.

Activity in the app

Likes, saves, follows, follow requests, blocks, reports, achievements, daily quests, points and leaderboard position, the cars parked in your garage, and the time you were last active. These exist to make the game and the social features work.

Subscription status

If you subscribe to KaChow Pro, we store the date your subscription runs until, so the app knows whether Pro is active. Payment is taken by Apple: we never receive your card number, billing address or Apple ID. See service providers below for the role RevenueCat plays.

Things you send us

Feedback you write in the app, requests to add a car that is missing from our catalogue, and reports you file about a spot, a comment or an account — together with the message you attach to them. Reports are linked to your account so we can act on them and detect abuse of the reporting system, but the person you report is not told who reported them.

Usage analytics

The app records which screens and features are used — for example that a spot was taken or a drift run finished — together with your KaChow user ID, app version and device model, so we can see what works and fix what does not. See service providers for the role PostHog plays.

Advertising

If you do not have KaChow Pro, the app shows ads: a banner in the feed, a video between drift runs, and an optional video you can choose to watch for a free garage bay. The ads are served through Unity LevelPlay, which runs an auction among ad networks (currently ironSource Ads and Unity Ads). To do that, those networks receive technical data from your device — such as device model, operating system, language, an app-scoped device identifier, IP address (from which an approximate location is derived) and how you interact with the ads. We do not ask for, or give them, Apple's advertising identifier (IDFA), and we do not share your account details, spots, photos or the precise location of a spot with them. When you earn a bay from a video we record that you did, to apply the daily limit.

Technical data

Our servers keep standard request logs (IP address, timestamp, requested endpoint, app version) for security, abuse prevention and debugging. Sign-in tokens are stored so you stay logged in between sessions.

3. How we use it

• To run the app: showing your feed, profile, garage, quests and map.
• To identify cars in the photos you choose to have recognised.
• To work out whether KaChow Pro is active on your account.
• To keep the community safe — handling reports, blocks and bans.
• To keep the service secure and diagnose failures.
• To contact you about your account when it is necessary.
• To show ads to people without KaChow Pro, and to measure and improve the app.

4. What we do not do

• We do not sell or rent your data to anyone.
• We do not track you across other companies' apps or websites, and we do not use Apple's advertising identifier (IDFA).
• We do not give advertisers your account details, your spots, your photos or where you took them.
• We do not show ads to KaChow Pro subscribers.

5. Who else sees it

Other people in the app

Your username, display name, bio, profile photo, country, points, achievements and garage are visible to other users, as is a badge showing that you have Pro. Your spots are public unless your account is set to private, in which case only approved followers see them. Comments and likes are visible to anyone who can see the spot.

Service providers

• OpenAI — when you ask KaChow to identify a car, that photo is sent to OpenAI's API to be analysed and the result returned. OpenAI does not use API data to train its models.
• Apple — distributes the app and processes every purchase. Apple handles the payment and tells us nothing about it beyond that it happened.
• RevenueCat — manages subscriptions on our behalf. It receives your KaChow user ID together with the purchase and device information Apple returns, and tells our server when your subscription starts, renews or ends. It does not receive your spots, photos, location or email address.
• PostHog — receives the usage analytics described above, linked to your KaChow user ID, so we can understand how the app is used.
• Unity (Unity LevelPlay, ironSource Ads and Unity Ads) — serve the ads shown to people without KaChow Pro and receive the device and ad-interaction data described under Advertising. Their own handling of it is set out in Unity's privacy policy at unity.com/legal.
• Our hosting provider — the application, database and uploaded images are hosted on Railway infrastructure.

We also disclose data where the law requires it, or where it is necessary to protect our rights or someone's safety.

6. How long we keep it

Your account data and content are kept for as long as your account exists. Logs are kept for a short, rolling period. When you delete your account, your profile, spots, photos, garage, comments and points are permanently removed; anonymised or aggregated records that cannot identify you may remain, as may copies kept in encrypted backups for a limited period before they expire, and records of a purchase we are required to keep for tax and accounting.

7. Your choices

• Edit — change your profile details at any time from Edit Profile.
• Go private — require approval before anyone can follow you.
• Block and report — block any account, and report content that breaks the rules.
• Permissions — turn the camera, photo library and location permissions on or off in iOS Settings whenever you like.
• Ads — KaChow Pro removes all ads. The free-bay video is only ever played when you choose to watch it.
• Delete — Settings → Delete account permanently erases your account and its content. Cancel a subscription separately in the App Store; deleting your account does not cancel it.
• Access a copy — email us and we will send you the data we hold about you.

Depending on where you live you may also have the right to correct or restrict the processing of your data, or to object to it, and to complain to your local data protection authority. Email support@kachow.app to exercise any of these.

8. Security

Traffic between the app and our servers is encrypted with HTTPS. Passwords are hashed, and access to production systems is restricted. No system is perfectly secure, but we take reasonable measures to protect your information and will notify you if a breach affects it.

9. Children

KaChow is not intended for children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect data from them. If you believe a child has created an account, contact us and we will remove it.

10. International transfers

Our providers may process data in countries other than yours, including the United States. Where that happens, we rely on appropriate safeguards such as the European Commission's standard contractual clauses.

11. Changes to this policy

If we change this policy we will update the date at the top of this page, and — for significant changes — tell you in the app before they take effect.

12. Contact

Questions, requests or complaints: support@kachow.app.