Upclean Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

Welcome to upclean! This Privacy Policy explains how we ("upclean," "we," "us," or "our") collect, use, and share information about you when you use our mobile application, website (upclean.xyz), and related services (collectively, the "Services").

Your privacy is a top priority, and we are committed to being transparent about how we handle your data. By using our Services, you agree to the collection, use, and sharing of your information as described in this policy.

2. Information We Collect

We collect information in a few different ways to operate our Services and provide you with a rewarding experience.

A. Information You Provide to Us:

• Account Information: When you create an account, we collect your email address and username.
• User Content (Proof of Cleanup): We collect the before-and-after photographs you submit for a cleanup, including the associated metadata (time, date, etc.).
• Verification Data: We collect the information you provide when verifying another user's cleanup, such as litter type tags and brand information.
• Communications: If you contact us for support or other inquiries, we will collect the information contained in your communications.

B. Information We Collect Automatically:

• Location Data: To map cleanups, our Services require access to your device's precise location data. We collect the geographic coordinates of your cleanup activities to associate them with a specific H3 hexagon on our public map.
• Usage Information: We collect information about how you interact with our Services, such as the features you use, the actions you take, and the time and duration of your activities.
• Device Information: We collect information about the device you use to access our Services, including the hardware model, operating system, and unique device identifiers.

3. How We Use Your Information

We use the information we collect for the following purposes:

• To Provide and Maintain the Services: To operate the core cleanup submission and verification loops, manage your account, and distribute your UPLIFTS rewards.
• To Display Public Cleanup Activity: Your username and the location of your verified cleanups are displayed on our public map to showcase the community's collective impact.
• For Verification: Your cleanup photos are shared with other users of the Services for the sole purpose of peer-to-peer verification.
• To Improve Our Services: We analyze usage data to understand how our community uses upclean, allowing us to fix bugs, develop new features, and improve the user experience.
• To Create Anonymized Datasets: We aggregate User Content (photos, tags, brand data) and Location Data to create valuable datasets. This data is anonymized and stripped of all personally identifiable information before being made available to our partners or on our future data marketplace.
• To Communicate With You: To send you service-related announcements, updates, and support responses.

4. How We Share Your Information

We only share your information in the following circumstances:

• Publicly: As a core feature, your username and the general location (H3 hexagon) of your cleanups are publicly visible on the upclean map.
• With Other Users for Verification: Your "before" and "after" cleanup photos are shared with other users to verify your submission.
• With Sponsors: We provide our sponsors with aggregated and anonymized analytics about cleanup activity within their sponsored zones. We do not share your personal user data with them.
• With Data Partners: We may share or sell the fully anonymized and aggregated datasets as described in Section 3. These datasets do not contain your personal information.
• With Service Providers: We use third-party vendors for services like cloud hosting and analytics, who process data on our behalf.
• For Legal Reasons: We may disclose your information if required to do so by law or in response to a valid legal request.

5. Your Rights and Choices

You have control over your information in the following ways:

• Account Information: You can review and update your account information at any time within the app's settings.
• Location Services: You can enable or disable location services through your mobile device's settings. Please note that disabling location services will prevent you from being able to use the core features of our Services.
• Account Deletion: You may request to delete your account by contacting us at privacy@upclean.xyz. Please note that some anonymized data may be retained in our datasets, and data associated with future blockchain transactions may be immutable.

6. Future Integration with the Peaq Blockchain

To enable our on-chain economy, you will have the option to link a peaq DID (Decentralized Identifier) to your upclean account. Please be aware that when you choose to do this, information related to your rewards transactions (e.g., your public wallet address, transaction amounts, and timestamps) will be recorded on the peaq blockchain. Data recorded on a public blockchain is immutable and cannot be deleted.

7. Children's Privacy

Our Services are not intended for individuals under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13.

8. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. If we make material changes, we will notify you through the Services or by other means to provide you with an opportunity to review the changes before they become effective.

9. Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact us at privacy@upclean.xyz.