Privacy policy

Last updated 20 August 2026

Provenance Search appraises a photograph of an artwork and returns a description and possible attributions. It also includes Flora, a free plant-identification feature. This policy explains what the app collects, what it does not, and how to delete your data.

Photographs

• A photo you submit is sent to the appraisal model, used to produce that single result, and then discarded. It is not written to disk, not stored on the server, and not retained after the response is returned.
• Photos are never used to train models, and are never shared with anyone other than the model provider named below.

Using the app without an account

• The art appraisal feature can be used without an account. To apply the free allowance fairly, the app sends a randomly generated device identifier and the server records that identifier with a count of free appraisals used. It contains no name, email, phone number or advertising identifier, and is not linked to your identity.
• Flora requires no account at all and is free and unlimited.

If you create an account

Creating an account is optional, and only needed to keep appraisal credits and to make a purchase. If you do, the following is stored:

• Your email address and a display name.
• Your password, stored only as a salted PBKDF2 (SHA-256) hash. The password itself is never stored and cannot be recovered from the hash.
• If you use Sign in with Apple, the stable identifier Apple provides, plus the email address Apple releases to us — which is Apple's private relay address unless you choose to share your real one.
• The date the account was created, your count of free appraisals used, and your remaining credit balance.
• A session token so you stay signed in, which expires automatically.

Purchases

• Purchases are handled entirely by Apple through the App Store. The app never sees or receives your card details, billing address, or Apple ID password.
• The purchase receipt is verified with Apple's App Store Server API so credits can be added to your account. Only the resulting credit balance is stored.

Who the data is shared with

• Google Vertex AI (Gemini) — receives the photograph in order to generate the appraisal or plant identification. No account details are sent with it.
• Apple — processes purchases, verifies receipts, and provides Sign in with Apple.

That is the complete list. There is no advertising, no analytics or tracking SDK, no third-party payment processor, and no data broker. Nothing is sold or shared for marketing, and no data is used for cross-app or cross-site tracking.

Deleting your account and data

You can delete your account at any time from within the app, using the Delete account button on the main screen. No email or request to us is required.

• Deletion is immediate and permanent, and removes your email address, display name, password hash, Apple identifier, credit balance and all session tokens.
• Any unused appraisal credits are forfeited on deletion and cannot be restored.
• The anonymous per-device count of free appraisals is retained so the free allowance cannot be reset indefinitely. It is unlinked from your account at deletion and holds no personal information.

Children

The app is not directed at children and does not knowingly collect information from anyone under 13.

What the results are, and are not

Appraisals are AI-generated stylistic assessments. They are informational only and are not confirmed attributions, valuations, authentications, or proof of ownership. Establishing actual provenance requires documented ownership history.

Contact

Questions about this policy or about your data can be sent to support@provenancesearch.uk.