Verdant Privacy Policy
Verdant is an app for iPhone and Android, published by Transcendental Apps, that helps you study for the WSET Level 2 wine qualification. This policy explains what information we do and don't collect, and who we share it with. It covers both versions of the app; where the two platforms differ, the difference is called out.
Summary
- Verdant does not require an account. There is nothing to sign up for and no profile tied to you.
- You control your study data. Verdant does not send your notes or progress to our servers. On Android, your phone’s backup and transfer services can preserve them, and you can create a backup file yourself.
- Verdant collects anonymous, bucketed usage analytics to understand which features help people study. This data is coarse, is not linked to you, and never includes your notes or the wines you taste. Details below.
- Verdant does show ads through Google AdMob, and processes the optional ad-free purchase through Google Play Billing on Android or the App Store on iPhone. Those services collect information independently, covered below.
- Verdant is not directed at children under 13.
Your Tasting Notes and Study Progress
Everything you create in Verdant, your tasting notes, the wines you record, your drill history, and your study progress, is stored locally in the app’s own storage. We do not receive this content. There is no Verdant account system or studio server holding a copy.
You can export your tasting notes at any time from the Settings screen, which hands them to your device's share sheet so you can save or send them yourself. Nothing is shared until you choose to share it.
Backup and Recovery on Android
The Android version of Verdant supports Android’s system backup and phone-to-phone transfer for your progress, review schedules, tasting notes, study goals, and selected preferences. Google’s Android backup service can store an encrypted copy through the Google account already configured on your phone. Cloud backup requires a supported client-side encrypted transport, and availability depends on your device settings and whether a backup has completed. We do not receive or have access to these backups.
You can also create and restore complete backup files in Settings. Android’s file picker lets you choose local storage or a storage provider available on your device. A provider you choose handles that file under its own privacy policy. Backup files are readable JSON without password protection and include your tasting notes, wine details, and study history. Anyone with access to the file can read it, so keep it somewhere private. A local file survives uninstalling Verdant; keep a copy elsewhere to protect against losing your phone.
Restoring a file replaces your learner data after confirmation. Verdant keeps the previous state privately on the phone so you can undo the restore. An upgrade may also retain a local copy of the previous storage for recovery. These recovery copies are excluded from automatic backup. Uninstalling Verdant or clearing its storage removes these private copies. Exported files and existing system backups are managed separately through your chosen storage provider or device backup settings.
Backups do not include purchase entitlements, advertising or consent state, SDK identifiers, or reminder settings. Purchases are restored through Google Play. Backups are for recovery, not continuous synchronization between devices, and cannot recover data deleted before a copy was made.
Anonymous Usage Analytics
To understand which parts of Verdant actually help people learn, the app records a small set of anonymous, coarse usage events through Google Analytics for Firebase. For example: that a drill round was completed, that a tasting note was saved, or which study area was opened. Each event carries only bucketed values, such as an accuracy band (for example "75 to 89 percent") rather than your exact score.
This data cannot be used to identify you and is never linked to an advertising identifier. We deliberately never collect:
- the text of your tasting notes, or the names, vintages, or producers of wines you record;
- anything you type into a search box;
- exact counts, scores, or timings that could single you out;
- your device identifiers or advertising ID joined to these events.
Where the law requires consent for this kind of analytics (for example in the EEA, the UK, and Switzerland), Verdant asks for it through Google's consent prompt and only collects analytics if you agree. In those regions you can change or withdraw your choice at any time from Settings, Privacy options.
Data Our Third-Party Services Collect
Google AdMob (ads)
Verdant displays ads using the Google Mobile Ads SDK. Google may collect and process information such as:
- Device and ad identifiers (on Android, the Android Advertising ID)
- Approximate location derived from IP address
- App interaction events such as ad impressions and clicks
- Crash and diagnostic data
Google uses this information to serve ads and measure ad performance.
On iPhone, Verdant does not ask to track you. The app does not show Apple's App Tracking Transparency prompt and does not access your device's advertising identifier (the IDFA). Ads are served without it, and ad attribution goes through Apple's SKAdNetwork, which reports at the campaign level rather than tying anything to you.
On Android, you can review and reset your advertising identifier in your device's system settings under Google and Ads.
If you opt out of personalized ads through the in-app consent prompt, AdMob honors that signal on both platforms.
How Google uses data from AdMob partner apps
In-app purchase
If you buy the “Remove ads” upgrade, the transaction is processed by your app store: Google Play Billing on Android, or the App Store on iPhone. That store handles payment information directly; Verdant never sees your payment method or billing details. The store returns a purchase record to the app, which we use only to unlock the ad-free state locally on your device.
Google privacy information for Play Billing
Permissions Verdant Requests
- Internet access, used to serve ads, gather consent, process the optional purchase, and send the anonymous analytics described above.
- No other sensitive permissions such as location, microphone, camera, or contacts.
How We Would Contact You About This Policy
We don't. Verdant has no account system, so we have no way to reach you. If this policy changes, the updated version will be posted at the same URL as before, and the effective date above will be updated.
How to Contact Us
Email: contact@transcendental-apps.com
For feedback, bug reports, or privacy questions, reach us at the address above.
Children's Privacy
Verdant is intended for a general adult audience studying wine and is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect information from children. The third-party services above, AdMob and the app stores that process purchases, may have their own age restrictions; check Google's and Apple's terms for details.
Changes to This Policy
If we materially change how Verdant handles data, we will update this policy and bump the effective date above. Because we do not collect contact information, we cannot notify you individually. Please check this page if you'd like to stay current.