1. Summary

• Magnetic readings are processed on your phone.
• Captures stay in the app and, if you save one, in your phone's Pictures/MetalDetector folder. We do not receive them.
• Google Firebase receives app-usage and crash data, including device identifiers.
• The app shows one Google AdMob banner ad, after asking for consent where the law requires it.

2. Who we are and how to contact us

MetalDetector for Android (package com.softnerd.metaldetector) is published on Google Play by Srikanth Mannepalle under the SofNerds name ("we", "us"). We are the data controller for the personal data this policy describes, and its Data Fiduciary under India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023.

• Privacy questions, requests and complaints: the contact form at https://sofnerds.co.in/contact. Name the app (MetalDetector) in your message. This is also our grievance channel under India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act.
• Messages sent through the form are stored as described in our website privacy policy: https://sofnerds.co.in/legal/privacy
• This policy: https://sofnerds.co.in/apps/metaldetector/privacy

3. What the app does

MetalDetector uses your phone's magnetic sensor to show the strength of nearby magnetic fields, such as those from iron, steel or magnets. You can capture a camera picture with the reading on it and keep a history.

4. What stays on your phone

The app keeps the following only on your phone:

• Captures: the camera picture with the reading drawn on it, in the app's private storage (History).
• Gallery copies: when you save a capture, a copy goes to Pictures/MetalDetector. Your gallery app can see it, and it stays after you uninstall the app.
• History: field strength, whether the threshold was reached, date and time, and the picture's file name.
• Settings. Your ad-consent choice is stored on your phone by Google's consent SDK.

Nothing in this list is sent to us.

5. What is sent off your phone, and who receives it

The app contains these Google services. They send the data described below to Google over encrypted (HTTPS) connections. No other company receives data from the app, unless you send something yourself (see the next section).

1. Google Analytics for Firebase: an app-instance ID; the advertising ID when your phone provides one; device model, Android version and app version; language, and the country and approximate location worked out from your IP address; how the app was installed (the Google Play install referrer); and usage events: app opens, sessions, screens viewed, app updates and time in the app, and taps on named buttons such as Share or Settings. It does not receive what you type, measure, record or save in the app. Why: to understand how the app is used and to improve it.
2. Firebase Crashlytics: when the app crashes or hits an error, a report with the place in the code where it failed, the app version, device model, Android version, free memory and storage, screen orientation, a random Crashlytics installation ID and the time. Why: to find and fix crashes.
3. Firebase Remote Config (with Firebase Installations): a Firebase installation ID, the app and Android versions, language, country and time zone. In return the app downloads its settings, such as whether the ad banner is switched on. Why: to change settings without an app update.
4. Google AdMob (the Google Mobile Ads SDK): the advertising ID and app set ID when available, and, where applicable, other identifiers related to accounts signed in on the phone; your IP address, which gives an approximate location; device and app information; diagnostics such as app launch time; and your interactions with ads, such as which ads are shown and tapped. Why: to choose, show and measure ads, limit how often you see the same ad, and prevent ad fraud. For this data Google is an independent controller and follows its own privacy policy.
5. Google User Messaging Platform (part of AdMob): a consent request when the app opens and, where the consent form is shown, your choice. Your choice is stored on your phone. Why: to ask for, and remember, your consent to ads where the law requires it.

We run no servers for this app. Google provides Firebase to us as a service provider. Google's policies: Google Privacy Policy https://policies.google.com/privacy · How Google uses information from apps that use its services https://policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites · Firebase privacy https://firebase.google.com/support/privacy

6. When you choose to share or contact us

• Share: sends a link to the app on Google Play, only to the app you pick.
• "More apps" and "Rate": open our Google Play pages ("More apps" loads inside the app). Google receives the request as it would in any browser.
• Contacting us: if you email us from your own email app, or use our website contact form, we receive your email address, your name if you give it, and what you write, and use them only to reply.

7. Advertising and the advertising ID

MetalDetector shows one Google AdMob banner ad. It does not show full-screen, video, rewarded or app-open ads.

• Consent: in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom and Switzerland, the app shows Google's consent form before it requests any ad, and requests ads only as your choice allows. If you do not consent, Google may still show ads that are not personalised, using less of your data.
• Elsewhere, Google may use the advertising ID and the data listed above to show ads based on your interests, including your activity in other apps and websites.
• Change your consent choice at any time: open Privacy options in the app's menu or settings. The item appears where your region requires it.
• Delete or reset your advertising ID: Android Settings > Privacy > Ads (on some phones, Settings > Google > Ads). Once it is deleted, apps cannot use it to personalise ads for you.
• Your Google ad settings: https://myadcenter.google.com. How Google uses data for advertising: https://policies.google.com/technologies/ads

Google Analytics for Firebase also reads the advertising ID, for analytics. We do not sell your personal data, and nothing you create or save in the app is used for ads.

8. Permissions

Android asks you before the app can use the camera, microphone, location, photos or notifications, and you can change your answer at any time in Android Settings > Apps > MetalDetector > Permissions.

• Camera (CAMERA): for the camera view and to capture a picture with the reading.
• Photos (READ_MEDIA_IMAGES, READ_MEDIA_VISUAL_USER_SELECTED; READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE on Android 12 and older): asked for when you save a capture, to put a copy in Pictures/MetalDetector. The app does not read or show your other photos. If you refuse, captures stay in the app's History.
• Storage on Android 9 and older (WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE): to save the gallery copy on those versions.
• Vibration (VIBRATE): to vibrate when a strong field is detected. No prompt.
• Internet and network state (INTERNET, ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE): let the Google services listed above connect. No prompt.
• Advertising ID and Android ad-services APIs (AD_ID, ACCESS_ADSERVICES_AD_ID, ACCESS_ADSERVICES_ATTRIBUTION, ACCESS_ADSERVICES_TOPICS): added by Firebase Analytics and the Google Mobile Ads SDK to read the advertising ID and, where your phone supports them, Android's Privacy Sandbox ad APIs. No prompt. See "Advertising and the advertising ID" above.
• Install referrer (BIND_GET_INSTALL_REFERRER_SERVICE): added by Firebase Analytics to learn how the app was installed. No prompt.
• Wake lock and foreground service (WAKE_LOCK, FOREGROUND_SERVICE): declared by Google's and Android's libraries to finish short background tasks such as sending analytics. The app runs no foreground service of its own. No prompt.
• Google Play licence check (CHECK_LICENSE): added by Google Play when it delivers the app, to confirm the copy came from Google Play. No prompt.

9. Why we use information, and our legal bases

• To run the app's features. Most of this happens only on your phone (see "What stays on your phone").
• Analytics and crash reports: to understand how the app is used, find and fix faults, and keep it working on different phones. In the European Economic Area, the UK and Switzerland our legal basis is our legitimate interest in maintaining and improving the app. You can object (see "Your rights").
• Remote settings: to change how the app behaves, for example switching the banner on or off, without an update (legitimate interest).
• Ads: to keep the app free. In the European Economic Area, the UK and Switzerland, personalised ads, and storing or reading ad information on your phone, rely on the consent you give in Google's consent form.
• Messages: to answer you when you contact us.
• Legal duties: to meet legal obligations and respond to lawful requests.

We do not make decisions about you by automated means that have legal or similarly significant effects. In India, we process personal data under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 only for the purposes listed here.

10. How long information is kept

• On your phone: until you delete it in the app, clear the app's storage, or uninstall the app. Files saved to Pictures/MetalDetector stay after you uninstall, until you delete them.
• Android backup: if backup to your Google Account is turned on, Android may include this app's data in your device backup. That backup is controlled by you and Google; we cannot access it.
• Google Analytics for Firebase: event-level data is kept for at most 14 months and then deleted. Aggregated reports built from it may be kept longer.
• Firebase Crashlytics: crash reports and their identifiers are kept for 90 days.
• Firebase installation ID (Remote Config): kept until we delete it through Firebase; Google then removes it within 180 days.
• Google AdMob: Google keeps advertising data under its own retention policy: https://policies.google.com/technologies/retention
• Messages you send us: kept only as long as we need them to answer you and to keep a record of the request.

11. How to delete your data

• In the app: swipe a capture away in History. This deletes the app's copy; delete the gallery copy in your gallery app.
• Everything the app keeps in its private storage: Android Settings > Apps > MetalDetector > Storage > Clear storage, or uninstall the app.
• Files the app saved to Pictures/MetalDetector: these stay on your phone after you uninstall. Delete them in your gallery or file manager.
• Data held by Google: the app has no accounts and we do not ask for your name, so we cannot look up your analytics or crash data from a request. It is deleted automatically after the periods above. To stop further collection, uninstall the app. To break the link with past advertising data, delete or reset your advertising ID.
• Messages you sent us: ask us to delete them through https://sofnerds.co.in/contact.

12. Children

MetalDetector is intended for adults aged 18 and over. It is not designed for or directed at children, and we do not knowingly collect personal data from anyone under 18, which is the age of a child under India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, or under the age of digital consent where you live.

If you believe a child has used the app and sent us personal data, contact us and we will delete it.

13. International transfers

We are based in India. The Google services listed above process data on Google's servers in the United States and other countries.

• For data from the European Economic Area, the UK and Switzerland, Google relies on transfer safeguards such as the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses.
• India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 allows transfers outside India except to countries the Government of India restricts.

14. Security

• Everything the app sends goes over encrypted connections (TLS/HTTPS).
• Data on your phone is protected by Android's app sandbox and your phone's encryption. The app does not add its own encryption, so protect your phone with a screen lock.
• If a breach affects your personal data, we will tell you and the authorities as the law requires.

15. Your rights

Depending on where you live, you have rights over your personal data. Exercising them is free. We reply within one month; if a request is complex and the law allows more time, we will tell you why, and in India we will close it within 90 days at most.

• India (Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 and Rules, 2025): you can ask for a summary of the personal data we process and of our processing, and the names of those we share it with (Google, as listed above); ask us to correct, complete, update or erase it; withdraw consent where processing relies on it; nominate someone to exercise your rights if you die or become unable to; and have your grievance resolved by us. If we do not resolve it, you can complain to the Data Protection Board of India.
• European Economic Area, UK and Switzerland (GDPR, UK GDPR and Swiss law): access, correction, erasure, restriction, portability, objection (including to processing based on our legitimate interests), withdrawal of consent at any time without affecting earlier processing, and a complaint to your data protection authority (in the UK, the Information Commissioner's Office).
• Elsewhere, including US states with privacy laws: you may have similar rights under local law. The choices under "Advertising and the advertising ID" let you opt out of personalised ads.
• How to ask: use the contact form at https://sofnerds.co.in/contact, name the app, and say what you want. We may ask for information to confirm the request is yours. Because the app has no accounts, we may not be able to find records about you; if so, we will tell you.

16. The version currently on Google Play

This policy describes the latest build of MetalDetector. Version 1.0.0 (build 4), which Google Play may still be distributing while the update rolls out, differs as follows:

• It also shows full-screen (interstitial) ads.
• It does not show Google's consent form before requesting ads in the European Economic Area, the UK and Switzerland.
• It declares the microphone permission (RECORD_AUDIO), added by its camera component. It never asks for it and never records sound.
• It does not ask for the photos permission; it uses the older storage permissions instead.

Update the app from Google Play to get the behaviour this policy describes.

17. Changes to this policy

We update this policy when the app changes how it handles data, and change the "Last updated" date at the top. If a change needs your consent, we will ask for it in the app first.