Civvo privacy policy
Last updated
Civvo lets you report street problems, like fly-tipping and potholes, to your local council. This policy explains what information the app uses, who it goes to, and how to delete it.
Who runs Civvo
Civvo is made and run by Ismail Mohamed, an independent developer in the United Kingdom (“we” in this policy). We decide how your information is used, which makes us the data controller under UK data protection law.
Questions or requests about your data: civvo.support@protonmail.com.
What Civvo uses, and why
There's no sign-up, and no names or passwords. Civvo uses only what it needs to send your reports and run the app.
- A random ID for your phone. Civvo signs your phone in anonymously, so your reports can be linked to you without an account.
- Your email address, if you confirm one. Before your reports are sent, we email you a 6-digit code to check you're a real person. Your confirmed email also brings your reports back if you reinstall Civvo or change phone. We keep only a scrambled copy of the code, and it expires after 10 minutes.
- Your reports. Each report holds a photo, the pin on the map, the street and postcode, a category, anything you write, the date and a reference. If you mark it fixed, we record that, and an after photo if you add one.
- Your location. Civvo uses your phone's location to put the pin where you are and to show reports near you. It doesn't keep a record of where you've been; the only locations stored are the pins of reports you send.
- Your postcode, for bin days. To find your bin days, your postcode and your address's council ID pass through our servers to your council's website. We don't store them. Your address and bin days are saved only on your phone.
- Reports you flag. If you flag a report, we record that you flagged it and why.
- Usage data. Google Analytics for Firebase records which screens you open, when you send a report (with its category) and when you mark one fixed. It also records basic details like your phone model, system version and country. No advertising ID is used. You can turn this off in Account › Share usage data.
- Crash reports. If Civvo crashes, Firebase Crashlytics receives technical details of the crash, your phone model and system version, so we can fix it.
- Photo checks, on Android. Google's ML Kit finds faces and number plates on your phone. It never sends your photo anywhere, but it sends Google statistics about how well it works, with your phone model, system version and an ID for Civvo on your phone.
Our legal basis under UK GDPR is legitimate interests: getting street problems to the right council, stopping abuse, and keeping the app working.
What's public
Reports are public, so anyone using Civvo can see them.
- What others see: a report's photo, street and postcode, category, description, date, reference and whether it's fixed. They never see your email address or your phone's ID.
- No house numbers. Civvo names a place by its street, never a house number.
- Faces and number plates are hidden on your phone, before the photo is uploaded. It can miss some, so check your photo before you send it.
- Photo links are open. Anyone with a photo's web address can view it without the app.
- Flagged reports. A report that three people flag is hidden from everyone except the person who sent it.
Who else gets your information
We don't sell your information or use it for advertising. These services handle it for Civvo:
| Who | What they get | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Your council | Your report: photo, pin, street and postcode, category, description, date and reference. Not your email address. | So they can deal with the problem. They keep it under their own privacy policy. |
| Google (Firebase) | Everything described above. The database, photos and our servers are in Google's London data centre. Usage data, crash reports and ML Kit's statistics may be processed outside the UK. | Running Civvo's database, photo storage, sign-in, servers, usage data and crash reports, and the photo checks on Android. |
| Brevo | Your email address and code; your report, on its way to the council. | Sending Civvo's emails. |
| postcodes.io | The pin's location. | Finding the postcode and which council covers it. |
| Apple or Google, through your phone | The pin's location. | Naming the street. |
| OpenFreeMap | Your IP address and the part of the map you're viewing, as with any website. | Drawing the map. |
| Your council's website | Your postcode and address ID, sent from our servers, not your phone. | Looking up your bin days. |
If someone flags a report, we get an email with the report and the confirmed email address of the person who sent it, so we can stop abuse.
How long we keep it
| Information | Kept until |
|---|---|
| Reports and their photos | You delete the report, or use Delete my data |
| Your confirmed email | You use Delete my data |
| An email code | You use it, ask for another, or use Delete my data |
| Reports you flagged | You use Delete my data, or the report is deleted |
| Usage data | Google Analytics deletes detailed events after 2 months, and other data linked to your phone 14 months after your last use |
| Crash reports | Firebase Crashlytics deletes them after 90 days |
| The email of someone banned for abuse | Kept, so it can't be used to confirm again |
Delete my data in Account deletes your reports and their photos, the flags you made, your confirmed email, any unused code and your sign-in, and clears Civvo on your phone. It can't recall reports councils have already received, or usage data already sent.
If you delete the app without using Delete my data, your reports stay on Civvo.
Your rights
Under UK data protection law you can ask to see the information we hold about you, correct it or delete it, or object to how we use it. Email civvo.support@protonmail.com. You can delete it yourself at any time with Account › Delete my data.
If you're unhappy with how we've handled your information, you can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office.
Changes to this policy
If we change this policy, we'll update this page and the date at the top.