Privacy Policy
Last updated: April 4, 2026
Hey there, fellow plant person. We built rootr. to help neighbors share the green things they grow — not to harvest your data. This policy explains what we collect, why we need it, and how you stay in control.
1. Who we are
rootr. is operated by SilvaByte, LLC. When we say "we," "us," or "our" in this policy, that's who we mean. When we say "you," we mean you — the person using rootr. to swap plants with your neighbors.
2. Information we collect
Here's the full picture of what we gather and why:
Account basics
- Your email address — we use it to sign you in with a magic link (no passwords to remember)
- A display name you choose — so other swappers know who they're chatting with
- An optional bio — totally up to you
Location
- Your approximate coordinates (latitude and longitude) — so we can show you plants nearby
- City and neighborhood — derived from your coordinates to display on your profile
- A search radius you set (5, 10, 25, or 50 miles) — you decide how far to look
Your plants
- Plant names, descriptions, care details, and photos you upload
- Whether you're offering to swap or give away
Activity
- Swipe history (which plants you liked or passed on) — so we don't show the same ones again
- Swap records — who offered what, the status, and optional ratings afterward
- Chat messages between you and other swappers
Device info
- Push notification tokens — so we can ping you when someone wants your monstera
- Your notification preferences — you choose what gets through
3. How we use your information
Everything we collect serves the core purpose of connecting plant people:
- Showing you plants available near you
- Letting you list your own plants for others to discover
- Facilitating swaps and conversations between neighbors
- Sending notifications you've opted into (swap requests, messages)
- Displaying ads to keep rootr. free (more on this in section 6)
- Improving how rootr. works for everyone
We don't sell your data. We sustain rootr. by selling ad space — not your information.
4. Location data
Location is core to how rootr. works — swapping plants with someone across the country doesn't make much sense. Here's how we handle it:
- We ask your browser or device for coordinates via the standard Geolocation API
- We send those coordinates to OpenStreetMap's Nominatim service to get your city and neighborhood name — they don't store this data
- Your coordinates are stored in our database to power nearby plant discovery
- You control your search radius, and you can update your location anytime in settings
5. How we share your information
We keep your data close:
- Other rootr. users — Your display name, city, and plant listings are visible to nearby users. Your email and exact coordinates are never shared.
- Supabase — Our database and infrastructure provider. They store your data securely on our behalf.
- OpenStreetMap/Nominatim — Receives your coordinates once to return a place name. They operate under their own privacy policy.
We don't share your personal data with advertisers, data brokers, or anyone else.
6. Advertising
rootr. is free, and we'd like to keep it that way. To make that work, we show ads between swipes. Here's how we handle it:
- We do not sell, share, or give your personal information to advertisers — ever
- Ad partners may receive anonymized, aggregated data (like general region — never your exact location, name, or email)
- We will never target ads based on your messages, plant listings, or swap activity
- We may work with third-party ad networks in the future — if we do, we'll update this policy before that happens
In short: ads keep the lights on so you can keep swapping. Your data stays yours.
7. Data storage and security
- Your data is stored in a Supabase-hosted PostgreSQL database with row-level security — meaning database rules enforce that you can only access your own data
- Authentication tokens on mobile devices are stored using encrypted secure storage
- Photos are stored in Supabase Storage with access controls
- All data is transmitted over HTTPS
8. Your rights and choices
You're in the driver's seat:
- Access — You can view all the data you've provided in the app
- Update — Edit your profile, plants, and preferences anytime
- Delete — You can delete your account from within the app, which permanently removes your profile, plants, swipe history, and messages
- Notifications — Toggle notification types on or off in your settings
- Location — Revoke location access through your device settings at any time
9. Children's privacy
rootr. is not intended for anyone under 13. We don't knowingly collect information from children. If you believe a child has created an account, please reach out and we'll remove it.
10. Changes to this policy
If we make meaningful changes to how we handle your data, we'll update this page and the "last updated" date above. For significant changes, we may also notify you through the app.