Privacy Policy

What we collect

We keep this minimal. Here's a clear breakdown:

Data	When	Why
Email address	If you create an account	To identify your account and send essential notifications
Display name	If you set one	To personalise your profile screen
Saved & liked stories	When you interact with content	Kept on your device only, to remember what you've liked and saved — we don't receive or store this on our servers, and it isn't synced across devices
Feedback you send	When you submit via the feedback form	To improve the app and respond to you
Basic usage analytics	While using the app	To understand which content is useful (no personal identifiers attached)

What we don't collect

We do not collect your location. We do not track you across other apps or websites. We do not build advertising profiles.

No precise GPS location data
No microphone or camera access
No contacts or address book
No cross-app tracking identifiers (IDFA, GAID)
No financial or payment information
No biometric data

The map view in the Explore screen is powered by publicly available geographic data. It does not track your location — it simply shows where stories are set.

How we use it

The data we collect is used only to make ForestStar work better for you:

Identifying your account, if you choose to create one
Responding to your feedback
Understanding which types of stories are most useful

“We use your data to improve ForestStar. Nothing else. There are no advertisers. There is no data broker. There is just Jayottam, trying to make the app better.”

Third parties

We use a small number of trusted third-party services to operate the app. Each is chosen for their privacy practices:

Cloud infrastructure — for storing accounts and content securely
Map tiles — for the Explore map view (no location data sent)

We do not share your data with advertisers, data brokers, or analytics companies that sell audience data.

We may be required to disclose data if compelled by law. In that event, we will notify you where legally permitted.

Your rights

You have the right to:

Access — request a copy of the data we hold about you
Correct — update or fix inaccurate information
Delete — request full deletion of your account and data; you can also delete your account directly from the app's Profile screen at any time
Opt out — email us to opt out of usage analytics
Export — request your account data in a readable format

To exercise any of these rights, email admin.foreststar@gmail.com. We'll respond within 30 days.

Children

ForestStar is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect data from anyone under 13. If you believe a child has provided us with personal data, please contact us and we will delete it promptly.

The content on ForestStar — wildlife, nature, conservation — is suitable for all ages. Account creation is intended for users 13 and older; browsing ForestStar's content does not require an account at all.

Security

We use industry-standard encryption for data in transit (HTTPS/TLS) and at rest. Passwords are hashed and never stored in plain text.

We are a small team. If you discover a security vulnerability, please report it directly to admin.foreststar@gmail.com before making it public. We take security seriously and will respond quickly.

Changes to this policy

If we make material changes to how we handle your data, we'll notify you in the app before the change takes effect. The "Last updated" date at the top of this page always reflects the current version.

We don't expect to change much here — we're not building an ad business, and this policy reflects that.

Questions about your privacy?

Reach out directly. This is a real person on the other end:

admin.foreststar@gmail.com →

Or use the feedback form and select "Something else" as the type.

In this document