Privacy Policy

ShowSherpa ("the app") is a movie and TV recommendation app for iPhone. This policy describes what data the app collects, what it does with it, and what it never does.

Summary

What the app collects

If you create an account

Account creation is optional. Everything you can do in the app — picking a show, searching, trivia, favorites — works without signing in. When you do sign in (via Firebase Authentication), we store the following, linked to your user ID, on Google Firestore:

• Email address — used as your sign-in credential.
• Display name — shown on your profile; you can leave it blank or change it anytime.
• User ID — an opaque identifier assigned by Firebase Authentication.
• Your content — the titles on your watchlist and library, your favorites, your ratings, your friends list, and recommendations you send or receive.

All of this is used solely to let you sync your data across devices and share recommendations with friends. None of it is used for analytics, advertising, or profiling.

On your device only (never uploaded)

Some data stays on your iPhone and is never sent to our servers:

• Location (when in use) — if you grant location permission, your approximate coordinates are used on-device to build a Google Showtimes URL for nearby theaters and to query Wikidata for filming locations near you. Location is never stored on our servers and never leaves the app except as part of the query URLs you tap through to.
• App preferences and caches — things like your chosen streaming platforms, content filters, biometric-lock preference, and a cache of poster URLs are stored in your device's local database and UserDefaults.

What we do not collect

For clarity, ShowSherpa does not collect or store: photos, audio, contacts, health or financial data, physical address, phone number, browsing or search history outside the app, device identifiers for advertising (IDFA), or any behavioral/analytics data. Firebase Analytics and IDFA collection are explicitly disabled.

Third-party services

ShowSherpa uses the following external services:

• Google Firebase (Authentication, Firestore, Remote Config) — hosts your account and synced data when you sign in. Firebase Analytics is disabled. See Google's privacy policy.
• The Movie Database (TMDB) — public movie/TV metadata and posters. Queries include the title you searched or were recommended.
• OMDb API — Rotten Tomatoes and IMDb ratings for titles you view.
• Open Library — book-to-screen metadata.
• Wikidata — filming location data for the location-aware discovery features.

These services receive only the query (e.g., a title or a coordinate) needed to answer the lookup. None of them receive your account identifier or email from ShowSherpa.

Tracking

ShowSherpa does not perform Apple-defined tracking. We do not link the data we collect to third-party advertising networks or data brokers, and we do not request your Advertising Identifier (IDFA).

Your choices

• Delete your account: sign in, open Settings, and choose "Delete Account." Your Firestore documents are removed.
• Use without an account: every core feature works without signing in. In that mode nothing about you leaves your device.
• Revoke location or notification permissions: iOS Settings → ShowSherpa → toggle off. The app continues to work.
• Disable biometric app lock: iOS Settings → ShowSherpa, or in-app Privacy & Security settings.

Children

ShowSherpa is not directed at children under 13 and does not knowingly collect data from them. Contact us if you believe a child has created an account.

Changes to this policy

We'll update this page when our practices change. Material changes will be announced in the app's release notes.

Contact

Questions, data-deletion requests, or concerns: scott@seis.com.