Tessera — Privacy Policy

Last updated: 24 June 2026

1. Who runs Tessera

Tessera is operated by an independent developer (referred to as "we" or "us" in this policy). For any privacy question, write to phillipvarkey@gmail.com.

2. Data we collect

2.1 Account data

• Email address — used to sign you in and as your unique account identifier.
• Display name (optional) — shown on your museum-run plans, leaderboard entries, and feedback messages.
• Profile photo (optional) — only stored on your device; never uploaded.

2.2 Location data

• When you tap "Use my location" or "Find my city", we read your device's approximate location (low-accuracy GPS, city-level).
• The latitude/longitude pair is stored once on your user record so we can show the nearest museums. We also reverse-geocode it to a city name (e.g. "Warsaw") for the museum-runs feature.
• We do not track your location continuously. You can revoke location access in your phone's system settings — the rest of the app keeps working.

2.3 Activity inside the app

• Favourites, visited museums, course progress, and game scores are stored locally on your device. None of this leaves your phone unless you explicitly post a museum-run plan.
• Last seen timestamp — a single timestamp updated when you open the app, used to count active users.
• Museum-run plans you post + RSVPs you make are stored centrally so other users in your city can see them.
• Feedback messages you send via Profile → Send feedback are stored so the developer can read them.

2.4 What we don't collect

• No ads, no advertising IDs, no third-party analytics SDKs.
• No behavioural tracking, no cross-app profiling.
• No precise GPS coordinates (we only ever request low-accuracy).
• No payment information — donations go through Buy Me a Coffee in a separate browser session that Tessera doesn't observe.

3. How we use your data

• Show the daily painting, your favourites, and your course progress.
• Suggest museums near you and show museum-run plans in your city.
• Let other users see your display name on plans you post or join.
• Help the developer fix bugs (when you send feedback).

We never sell your data and never share it with advertisers.

4. Where your data lives

• On your device — favourites, course progress, leaderboard scores, settings, the email you signed in with.
• Firebase / Google Cloud Firestore (eu-west region) — user accounts, museum plans, feedback messages. Firebase is provided by Google Ireland Ltd; their privacy notice is at firebase.google.com/support/privacy.
• Wikimedia Commons — painting images are loaded from Wikimedia's servers. No user data is sent with these requests beyond a generic User-Agent.

If you are in the EU, your data is processed in the EU (eu-west region). Limited operational access by Google staff outside the EU is governed by Standard Contractual Clauses.

5. How long we keep it

• While your account is active — for as long as you keep using Tessera.
• If you delete your account — all the data listed in section 2 is wiped from our servers and your device within minutes. Some Firestore audit logs may persist for up to 30 days before Google's normal log retention removes them.
• Past museum-run plans are auto-hidden once their date passes and removed from the visible app immediately. Firestore records are deleted with your account.

6. Your rights (GDPR)

If you are in the EU, UK, or Switzerland, you have the right to:

• Access — most of your data is visible directly in the app (Profile, favourites, course progress). For Firestore-only data (your plans, RSVPs, feedback messages), email us.
• Rectification — change your display name or photo from Profile → tap your avatar.
• Erasure — Profile → Delete my account. This is immediate and permanent.
• Portability — email us and we'll send a JSON export within 30 days.
• Object / restrict — email us.
• Lodge a complaint with your local data-protection authority (in Poland: UODO; in Germany: BfDI; in Spain: AEPD).

7. Children

Tessera is rated for general audiences but isn't designed for children under 13. We don't knowingly collect data from children. If you believe a child has signed in, email us and we'll delete the account.

8. Changes to this policy

We'll update the "Last updated" date at the top whenever we change anything. Material changes (new data collection, new third parties) will also be announced in the app on next launch.

9. Contact

Privacy questions, data-subject requests, or anything else:
phillipvarkey@gmail.com

10. Account & data deletion

10.1 How to delete your data — in the app

1. Open the Tessera app
2. Sign in (if you aren't already)
3. Go to the Profile tab
4. Scroll down and tap Delete my account
5. Confirm twice — the second time by typing DELETE

10.2 How to delete your data — without the app

If you can't or don't want to use the app, email us at phillipvarkey@gmail.com from the email address linked to your account. We'll process the deletion request within 7 days and reply to confirm when it's done.

10.3 What gets deleted

All of the following data, listed in Section 2, is permanently and immediately erased when you delete your account:

• Your email address and display name
• Your approximate city (used for the Nearby tab)
• Your in-app interaction counters (which features you've used)
• Any museum-run plans you posted
• Any RSVPs you made to other people's plans
• Your username reservation
• Your profile photo, if you uploaded one
• All local data on your device (favourites, course progress, settings)

10.4 What is retained (and for how long)

The following data may be retained briefly after deletion:

• Crash reports and diagnostics — these are aggregated and not tied to your identity, but raw error logs are auto-purged by our infrastructure provider (Firebase) within 90 days.
• Encrypted backups — Firebase's automatic database backups are retained for up to 30 days, after which the deleted records cannot be recovered.

No other data is retained. We do not keep an archive, shadow copy, or re-identification record of deleted accounts.

10.5 Account deletion is irreversible

Once deleted, your data cannot be restored. If you want to use Tessera again, you can sign up fresh with the same or a different email address.