PRIVACY POLICY FOR Binly UK Bin Day Reminder

PRIVACY POLICY FOR BINLY – BIN COLLECTION & REMINDERS

Effective Date / Last Updated: September 26, 2026

This Privacy Policy governs the manner in which Vide Apps ("we", "us", or "our") collects, uses, maintains, protects, and discloses information collected from users ("User", "you", or "your") of the Binly – Bin Collection & Reminders mobile application ("App"), available under package name com.videapps.binly.bin.collection on the Google Play Store.

We respect your privacy and are deeply committed to protecting the privacy of your personal data. We built Binly on a local-first, privacy-by-design architecture: the App does not require a user account, has no user login, and does not operate any cloud servers or proprietary databases collecting your personal information.

Please read this Privacy Policy carefully to understand our data practices, how your information is handled, and your privacy rights. By downloading, accessing, or using the App, you agree to the collection, processing, and use of information in accordance with this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree with this policy, please do not use the App.

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1. CORE ARCHITECTURAL PRINCIPLE: LOCAL-FIRST & NO USER ACCOUNTS

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- No Account Required: You do not need to register, sign in, or provide your name, phone number, or email address to use Binly.

- No Dedicated App Backend Server: We do not operate any external cloud server or remote database that collects, stores, tracks, or analyzes your personal data, saved addresses, collection schedules, or reminder configurations.

- Local Device Storage: All user-entered locations, schedules, custom reminder times, notification configurations, and app preferences are stored exclusively and securely on your local device (using local IndexedDB / Dexie storage and Android private app preferences).

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2. INFORMATION WE COLLECT AND HOW IT IS PROCESSED

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A. Information You Provide Within the App

When configuring and using the App, you may enter the following data directly into the App interface:

- UK Postcode and Address: To determine which local council manages your waste collection and to fetch your specific household bin schedule, you provide a UK postcode and select your property address from the council's public lookup list.

- Location Nicknames: You may assign optional names to your saved addresses (e.g., "Home", "Flat", "Parents").

- Reminder & Notification Preferences: You may configure custom reminder times (e.g., the evening before at 7:00 PM or the morning of collection at 7:00 AM) and notification audio/vibration settings.

- Display Preferences: Your chosen colour palette and theme mode (Light, Dark, or System default), as well as calendar presentation preferences.

Storage & Handling: All of the above data is stored strictly within your device's isolated application storage. It is never transmitted to us or any remote server controlled by us.

B. Camera and Barcode Data (On-Device Processing)

Binly includes an optional barcode scanner to help you identify what household items and packaging materials belong in which bin:

- Camera Usage: If you choose to use the barcode scanner, the App requests access to your device camera (android.permission.CAMERA).

- On-Device Optical Processing: Camera frames are scanned and analyzed entirely on your device using on-device machine learning (Google ML Kit Barcode Scanning).

- No Image Storage or Transmission: The App does not capture, record, store, or transmit any photographs, video feeds, or facial images.

- Barcode String Lookup: Only the extracted numeric barcode value (e.g., "5000128001234") is transmitted over an encrypted HTTPS connection to Open Food Facts to fetch public packaging material information.

C. Geolocation Information (Optional)

Binly includes an optional feature to help you discover nearby community recycling points and bring banks:

- Search Near Me: If you tap "Search near me", the App requests permission to access your device's coarse/approximate location (android.permission.ACCESS_COARSE_LOCATION).

- Purpose: Your approximate coordinates are used strictly at the moment of your request to query community OpenStreetMap data within a nearby radius.

- No Background Tracking or Location Logging: We do not track your location in the background, do not record your movement history, and never store or upload your coordinates to any server operated by us.

- Postcode Alternative: Location permission is completely optional. You can find recycling points by typing a UK postcode without granting location access.

D. Information Collected Automatically by Third-Party SDKs (Advertising)

While we do not collect personal identifiers on external servers, the App integrates the Google Mobile Ads SDK to display advertisements that help support ongoing development and maintenance. Ads are served by Google AdMob and, when AdMob has no ad available, by Google Ad Manager / Google Ad Exchange (AdX) through our authorised Google ad partner. These advertising networks automatically collect certain device-level technical identifiers:

- Device & Network Identifiers: Google Advertising ID (com.google.android.gms.permission.AD_ID on Android 13+), Internet Protocol (IP) address, device brand and model, operating system version, network carrier, and system language.

- Ad Interaction & Diagnostic Data: Ad impressions, clicks, viewability metrics, and crash/diagnostic logs used for fraud detection, ad delivery, and network security.

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3. DIRECT THIRD-PARTY PUBLIC SERVICE LOOKUPS

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To provide real UK bin collection dates, accurate council mapping, and recycling guidance, the App makes direct, client-side HTTPS queries from your device to the following trusted, public data services:

1. Postcodes.io (https://postcodes.io)

   - Purpose: Resolves your entered UK postcode to an administrative district and local authority name using Office for National Statistics (ONS) and Ordnance Survey open data (Open Government Licence v3.0).

   - Data Sent: The entered UK postcode only. No personal identifiers are attached.

2. Supported UK Local Authority APIs & Public Portals

   - Purpose: Fetches the official household waste and recycling collection schedules for your property.

   - Data Sent: Your postcode and property reference identifier (such as Unique Property Reference Number - UPRN, or internal council address ID).

   - Councils: Lookups occur directly between your device and the respective council waste system (e.g., Greater Cambridge Shared Waste Service, Bury Council, London Borough of Haringey, Recollect-supported councils such as Newcastle, Middlesbrough, Redcar & Cleveland, Caerphilly, Bassetlaw, East Ayrshire, and Stirling).

3. Open Food Facts (https://world.openfoodfacts.org)

   - Purpose: Retrieves open product packaging descriptions (under the Open Database Licence - ODbL) when you scan a barcode.

   - Data Sent: The scanned numeric barcode string only.

4. OpenStreetMap / Overpass API (https://overpass-api.de)

   - Purpose: Retrieves publicly mapped community recycling containers and bring banks (under the Open Database Licence - ODbL).

   - Data Sent: Approximate latitude/longitude coordinates or postcode bounding box.

None of these external services receive user account information, names, or contact details from Binly.

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4. THIRD-PARTY ADVERTISING & CONSENT MANAGEMENT (GOOGLE ADMOB, AD MANAGER & UMP)

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The App serves adaptive banner ads and infrequent, capped interstitial ads between task completions. Every ad is requested from Google AdMob first. If AdMob cannot supply an ad, the same ad space is requested from Google Ad Manager / Google Ad Exchange (AdX), managed on our behalf by an authorised Google ad partner under Google's Multiple Customer Management (MCM) programme. Advertisers bidding through Google Ad Exchange may receive the same technical identifiers described in Section 2D, subject to your consent choices.

Both AdMob and Ad Manager ads are delivered by the same Google Mobile Ads SDK, and your consent choices (Section 4B) apply to both.

A. Google Privacy Policy

Google AdMob and Google Ad Manager operate in accordance with Google's Privacy Policy:

- Google Privacy & Terms: https://policies.google.com/privacy

- How Google uses data from apps: https://policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites

B. Consent Management (Google User Messaging Platform - UMP)

In full compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the UK GDPR, and Google's EU User Consent Policy:

- Consent Dialog: Users in the UK and European Economic Area (EEA) are presented with a consent form powered by Google's User Messaging Platform (UMP) before personalized ads are requested.

- In-App Consent Management: You can review, change, or withdraw your advertising consent choices at any time directly within the App by navigating to:

  Settings > Ad privacy choices

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5. HOW WE USE COLLECTED INFORMATION

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We process data exclusively for the following legitimate purposes:

- Delivering Local Bin Collection Schedules: Resolving your council and displaying upcoming collection dates for your household bins.

- Generating Offline Reminders: Scheduling local device alarms and push notifications to alert you the night before or the morning of collection day.

- Waste Sorting Guidance: Providing accurate advice on how to recycle and dispose of everyday household items and packaging.

- Locating Recycling Points: Showing nearby public bring banks and household waste recycling centres on a map.

- Serving Advertisements: Displaying non-intrusive banner and interstitial advertisements via Google AdMob and Google Ad Manager / Ad Exchange in accordance with your consent preferences.

- Security & Integrity: Protecting against advertising fraud, preventing abuse of council endpoints, and ensuring application stability.

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6. DEVICE PERMISSIONS DISCLOSURE

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Binly requests only the minimum permissions necessary to deliver its core features. Permissions are requested contextually when you invoke the relevant feature:

- android.permission.INTERNET:

  Allows the App to connect to council endpoints, Postcodes.io, Open Food Facts, Overpass API, and load advertisements.

- android.permission.ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE:

  Allows the App to detect internet availability and gracefully handle offline states.

- android.permission.POST_NOTIFICATIONS (Android 13+ / API 33+):

  Allows the App to deliver local reminder notifications for upcoming bin collection days. Requested only when you enable reminders.

- android.permission.ACCESS_COARSE_LOCATION (Optional):

  Allows the App to identify your approximate location when you tap "Search near me" for recycling points. Fully optional; can be denied without impacting any other feature.

- android.permission.CAMERA (Optional):

  Allows the barcode scanner to optically read barcodes on product packaging. Fully optional; can be denied without impacting manual item searches.

- com.google.android.gms.permission.AD_ID:

  Allows the Google Mobile Ads SDK (AdMob and Ad Manager) to access the Google Advertising ID on Android 13+ devices for advertising analytics, frequency capping, and ad personalization based on user consent.

Important Note on Exact Alarms:

Binly explicitly does NOT request or use the SCHEDULE_EXACT_ALARM permission. Reminder notifications use standard system alarms (setAndAllowWhileIdle), respecting battery optimization and Google Play policy standards.

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7. DATA RETENTION AND GOOGLE PLAY DATA SAFETY COMPLIANCE

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In accordance with Google Play Developer Policies and data protection laws:

A. Local Data Retention:

- Location: All personal preferences, saved addresses, schedules, and reminders reside exclusively on your device's internal storage.

- Duration: Retained for as long as you keep the App installed, or until you explicitly delete or wipe your data within the App.

- Cloud Storage: We do not retain, store, sync, or back up any of your personal data on remote cloud servers.

B. Third-Party Ad Network Retention:

Google AdMob and Google Ad Manager retain technical identifiers (such as Advertising IDs and IP addresses) according to its own privacy policy and legal retention schedules (typically 30 days to 24 months) for fraud prevention, reporting, and security.

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8. USER CONTROL, DATA EXPORT & DATA DELETION RIGHTS

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You maintain full ownership and control over all information stored within Binly. You can manage or permanently erase your data at any time:

1. In-App Location Deletion:

   You can delete any saved address at any time by navigating to Locations, swiping or tapping the delete option. This immediately removes all associated collection schedules and reminder alarms.

2. In-App Data Export (Backup):

   You can export a complete copy of your saved data (locations, schedules, reminders, and preferences) in open JSON format at any time via Settings > Backup and data > Export backup.

3. In-App Complete Data Wipe:

   You can erase all application data with one tap by going to:

   Settings > Backup and data > Clear everything

   This immediately cancels all scheduled reminders and wipes all local databases and preferences back to a fresh install state.

4. Device Storage Deletion:

   You can delete all application data through your device settings:

   - Open Android Settings > Apps > Binly.

   - Tap Storage & Cache.

   - Tap "Clear Storage" / "Clear Data".

   This action immediately and permanently deletes all local databases, files, and preferences.

5. Uninstalling the App:

   Uninstalling Binly from your device automatically and permanently erases all locally stored data, databases, and scheduled alarms.

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9. GDPR & UK GDPR COMPLIANCE (FOR UK & EUROPEAN USERS)

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Because Binly is primarily designed for UK households, we comply with the UK Data Protection Act 2018 and the UK / EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR):

- Data Controller: Vide Apps acts as the data controller for the App.

- Legal Bases for Processing:

  * Performance of a Contract / Legitimate Interests: Processing postcodes and address selections to deliver council waste collection schedules and reminders.

  * User Consent: Processing device location (coarse location), camera frames for barcode scanning, and personalized advertising via the Google UMP consent banner.

- Your Rights: You have the right to access, rectify, port, or erase your data, and to restrict or object to processing. Because all data is stored locally on your device, you exercise these rights directly through the App's export, edit, and wipe features.

- Consent Withdrawal: You may withdraw your advertising consent at any time via Settings > Ad privacy choices, and you may revoke camera or location permissions in your Android system settings.

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10. CALIFORNIA PRIVACY RIGHTS (CCPA / CPRA COMPLIANCE)

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For users residing in California under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA):

- No Sale of Personal Data: We do not sell your personal information or personal data to third parties.

- Limited Data Sharing: Technical identifiers are shared with Google AdMob and Google Ad Manager / Ad Exchange (including advertisers bidding through it) solely for advertising purposes as disclosed herein, subject to your consent and privacy settings.

- Non-Discrimination: We will not discriminate against any user for exercising any of their privacy rights under California law.

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11. CHILDREN'S PRIVACY (COPPA & AGE-APPROPRIATE DESIGN)

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Binly is a household utility application intended for general audiences and homeowners/tenants. It is not directed to children under the age of 13 (or under 16 in the UK/EEA). We do not knowingly collect or solicit personal information from children. If you believe that a child has provided personal information within the App, please contact us at videapps11@gmail.com so that we can take prompt appropriate action.

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12. DATA SECURITY

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We prioritize the security of your data:

- All communications with council APIs, Postcodes.io, Open Food Facts, Overpass API, AdMob, and Google Ad Manager use secure, encrypted Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS / TLS).

- Local data is protected within Android's sandboxed application storage, accessible only by Binly.

- We do not operate external servers, significantly minimizing the risk of centralized data breaches or unauthorized access.

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13. CHANGES TO THIS PRIVACY POLICY

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We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, app features, or legal and regulatory requirements. When updates occur, we will revise the "Effective Date / Last Updated" date at the top of this document. We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically.

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14. CONTACT US

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If you have any questions, comments, concerns, or requests regarding this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact us:

- Developer / Publisher: Vide Apps 

- Application: Binly – Bin Collection & Reminders

- Package Name: com.videapps.binly.bin.collection

- Contact Email: videapps11@gmail.com