Privacy policy

Foilara works without an account. Your collection, your photos and your scan records stay on your phone. Controller: Lucas Michael Marx, datenschutz@foilara.app.

Controller

Lucas Michael Marx
c/o Impressumservice Dein-Impressum, Stettiner Str. 41
35410 Hungen
Deutschland
Email: datenschutz@foilara.app

We have not appointed a data protection officer; for every question about data protection you can reach us at this address.

On your phone

The camera is used only to recognise cards, and the recognition runs on the phone: no photo is uploaded. Your collection, binders, wishlist, purchase prices, the scan log, the photos of wrong-card reports and the error log are stored in the app's own storage. This data is not included in iCloud or the Android backup. Photos of wrong-card reports are stored reduced in size and without location data, and deleted after 90 days. Uninstalling the app deletes all of it; a copy in the Downloads folder that you have "Share scan reports" make stays until you delete it yourself. When you sign out you decide whether the collection stays on the phone; deleting your account also deletes it from the phone.

Access to your device (§ 25 TDDDG)

The app stores data only in its own storage (database, picture cache, settings) and uses the camera when you start a scan or take a photo; the operating system asks you first. Both are needed for the app to provide the service you use. The app creates a random device identifier that only serves the matching between your devices (it is sent only with an account); it is not an advertising identifier. You turn on notifications yourself; only then does an identifier of your device go to our server. There are no cookies and no advertising or analytics identifiers.

What the app connects to

The Foilara server (api.foilara.app, hosted by netcup in Germany) for prices, price history, set pictures, a copy of the card images and a copy of the TCGdex card data (sets, cards, search). The app asks no other catalog or picture service; when our server lacks a card picture, it fetches it from TCGdex itself. The app sends search terms and the Cardmarket product numbers, or set and number, of the cards in your collection and wishlist, not tied to any account; the request does contain the cards of your collection and your IP address. Our server fetches the price data itself, once a day, from PokeTrace and TCGGraph and passes it to the app; the app does not contact these services itself, and they receive no data from you. Every connection transmits your IP address, as the internet requires. Our server uses it to limit requests per minute and in technical logs kept for troubleshooting and against abuse: the access log keeps the IP address only cut to its network (last part for IPv4) and is deleted after 7 days; the error log contains no IP address. This also applies to the website foilara.app: it sets no cookies and uses no analytics.

Links to marketplaces

When you open a card on Cardmarket or eBay, the app tells our server only that a link to that marketplace was opened, for which game. We keep a daily count and nothing else: no card, no device, no address. The marketplace's own privacy policy applies from there.

No tracking

No advertising, no analytics or tracking tools of our own, no profiles, we do not sell personal data and pass it on only as described in this policy. One exception, text recognition: when you scan, Google ML Kit reads the card's text on the device. The image and the recognised text stay on the phone, but ML Kit sends technical usage and performance data to Google (device model, operating system, app version, timings, on iPhone an identifier per installation) so Google can run the feature, find errors and detect misuse. This data is not linked to an account; it cannot be switched off in the app.

Scan reports and feedback

"Share scan reports" puts the scan log, the error log and the report photos into one file and opens your phone's share sheet; you choose who gets it. The file is deleted from the cache after sharing. Under "For testers", "Send to Foilara" sends the same file straight to our server: without an account or device ID; the IP address is only counted briefly in memory (an hourly limit) and is not stored with the report. Only the operator can see the reports; they are deleted after 90 days. Please photograph cards only, never people. "Delete test data", or deleting your account, removes the data from the phone. Feedback you send by e-mail is used to answer and improve the app, and deleted when it is no longer needed.

Account and sync

An account is optional (sign in with Apple or Google). The server then stores only the provider's user ID, with no e-mail address and no name (it reads the sign-in proof Apple or Google issues only for that ID). For Apple it also keeps a key that Apple issues for the sign-in, so it can revoke the sign-in at Apple when you delete your account; it is deleted with the account. With an account, your collection, binders, wishlist, sealed products and progress are sent over an encrypted connection and stored on our server (netcup, Germany), not additionally encrypted there, so your devices match; nobody else can see them. This includes notes, purchase prices and dates, binder names, target prices, certificate numbers and your progress log. You can delete the profile or delete your account at any time, and this data is then deleted from the server. You get a copy of your data (account, sign-ins, sessions, profile, friends, collection, trades) through the export in your account.

Profile and friends

Under “Friends” you may choose a display name (and a username) and publish a trade list (cards offered and wanted). The server then stores the display name, the username, a friend code and that list; only signed-in people who know your code can see it. In Account you choose who sees your profile and list (anyone with the code, friends only or nobody; a new profile is visible to friends only at first) and whether anyone may send you a friend request. The server stores who is friends with whom or has asked; friends see your display name and username. You can also show a profile picture from a fixed choice, your level, your badges and folders (card lists without prices) on your profile; the server stores only what you release for that and shows it to the same people as your profile. Equally optional are a short text about you, a rough place (country, region or city, letters only, never an address) and whether it shows how recently you were active (only roughly: today, this week, this month, longer ago); the month your profile began is visible to everyone who can see your profile. The server stores only what you enter for this. You can withdraw the list at any time.

Trading

When you propose a trade to someone, the server stores the proposal: the cards on both sides, who made it, its state (proposed, accepted, confirmed, rated or cancelled) and the times. When you meet, you confirm the trade with a one-time code that one person shows and the other scans or types; it is valid for 10 minutes and is deleted after the confirmation or the cancellation. Afterwards each person can rate the other (a thumb and fixed words, no free text). Only the two people involved see a trade; your profile shows the number of confirmed trades and the share of positive ratings. Trades and ratings are deleted as soon as one of the two people deletes their account. Foilara does not carry out the trade; you settle the handover and payment between yourselves.

Notifications

If you turn on notifications, the server stores the identifier of your device (from Apple on an iPhone, from Google on Android) and sends messages through Apple's push service or Google's Firebase Cloud Messaging when someone sends you a friend request or accepts yours; the message names the person. You can turn them off at any time, which deletes the identifier. The "New sets" switch also works without an account: the server then stores only the device identifier, the language of the notification and the card languages you collect (up to 10), linked to no person, and announces newly released sets. Turning it off deletes the entry; if the app does not check in for 180 days, the server deletes it by itself.

Purchases and subscription

You buy Foilara Pro through Apple's App Store or Google's Play Store. Payment, payment details and invoices are handled there; we receive neither your name nor your email address nor any payment details. On your device the app stores whether Pro is active and until when, and how many free scans you have used; this count never leaves your device. Apple and Google notify our server of subscription events (purchase, renewal, cancellation) with transaction identifiers, the product, price and currency, the store's country, times and, where one was used, the name of the redeemed offer code, but with nothing about you as a person. We use this to keep the subscription status current and to count how often a partner's code was used. The legal basis is the contract (Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR) and, for counting per partner, our legitimate interest (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR). We keep these notifications until two years after the subscription ends. Apple's and Google's privacy policies also apply to the purchase.

Reports and blocks

We keep reports and blocks (reason, who reported); three reports hide a profile until we have reviewed it. A word list rejects insulting or unacceptable text in names and short texts. You can block people at any time; they then do not see you and cannot propose a trade to you.

How long we keep data

Access log of the server and the website: 7 days, with the IP address shortened; error log: no IP address. Photos of wrong-card reports on your phone: 90 days. Sessions not used for 90 days, and entries you deleted: 90 days as a deletion marker, so that your other devices take over the deletion, then gone for good; if you delete your account, all data is deleted from the active system. An account you have not signed in to for 24 months: deleted with all its data. Reports against profiles: 12 months. Server backups: encrypted, 30 days, so deleted data is gone from them at the latest by then. Account, collection, profile, friends, trades and ratings: until you delete them or your account. The daily total of marketplace links contains nothing that could be tied to a person and is not deleted. Scan reports you send us under "For testers": 90 days. Device identifiers for "New sets": until you turn the switch off, at the latest 180 days after the app last checked in. Messages from Apple and Google about subscriptions (purchase notifications): 2 years.

Recipients and third countries

Hosting: netcup (Germany), which stores the data on our server on our behalf. Sign-in: Apple and Google tell us the user ID; for the sign-in itself they are controllers of their own. Notifications: Apple (push service) and Google (Firebase Cloud Messaging) receive the device identifier and the text of the message. Text recognition: Google (ML Kit) receives technical usage and performance data (see “No tracking”). These providers are based in the USA; the transfer relies on the European Commission's adequacy decision for the EU-US Data Privacy Framework where the provider is certified, otherwise on standard contractual clauses. Price sources (PokeTrace, TCGGraph): receive no data from you, our server fetches prices from them. TCGdex: receives no data from you; our server fetches the catalogue and images there. Marketplaces (Cardmarket, eBay): their privacy policy applies from the moment you open the link. In the beta test through TestFlight Apple processes crash and usage data under its own terms. Other recipients are the people you share data with yourself: friends (depending on your setting), the other side of a trade, and whoever you send scan reports or feedback emails to. We do not sell personal data; advertisers receive nothing.

Legal basis

Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR for the functions of the app that you use (collection, prices, search, account, sync, trade). Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR for operating the server securely, troubleshooting and preventing abuse (access log, request limits, reports and blocks); our legitimate interest is a stable service without abuse. Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR and § 25(1) TDDDG for functions you turn on yourself (profile, published lists, place, notifications); you can withdraw consent at any time with effect for the future by turning the function off or withdrawing it. § 25(2) no. 2 TDDDG for the app's storage and the camera access, which are needed for the service you asked for.

No obligation, no automated decision

You do not have to give any data: Foilara works without an account and without a profile. Without an account there is no matching between devices and no functions with friends. There is no automated decision-making including profiling under Art. 22 GDPR. Several reports against a profile hide it automatically for the time being until we have checked it; this is a technical safety measure, not a final decision.

Your rights

You have the right to access, rectification, erasure, restriction of processing and data portability. You can object at any time, on grounds relating to your particular situation, to processing we base on legitimate interests (Art. 21), and withdraw a consent at any time (Art. 7(3)); processing until then remains lawful. You can complain to a data protection authority: for us that is the Landesbeauftragte für den Datenschutz und für das Recht auf Akteneinsicht Brandenburg; you can also turn to the authority where you live or work (Art. 77). Write to datenschutz@foilara.app.

As of 9 November 2026