A private journal
Other members cannot browse your Journal or My Trophy Room.
Your records. Your privacy.
Keep your hunting and observation records in one place. Here is what information Cairnory uses, who handles it and the choices available to you.
Sharing is optional
Choose a photo and details for Hall. Posts also show your Hall profile and publication information.
Choose what to add
Photos, precise saved locations, voice setup and notifications are optional.
We do not sell your private journal records, photos or locations, or use them for advertising. Service providers help run Cairnory and optional features; some processing may take place outside the EEA. See providers and locations.
Use Account to request an export or account deletion. See how deletion works.
1. What we use and why
Your account. We use your email address, account identifier, sign-in details and preferences to create, provide and secure your account. We also record your age-group declaration and when it was made to apply Cairnory’s 18+ access rule. This screen does not collect your date of birth or an identity document. If you choose Google, we receive your email address, Google account identifier and email-verification status. Cairnory does not receive your Google password or access to your Gmail, contacts or Drive.
Your records. We store the profile, hunts, observations, animal or sighting details, equipment, notes, photos and optional locations you enter so you can use your private journal and the features you request.
Premium purchases. Google Play handles Android subscription payments. We receive the technical purchase reference and subscription information needed to verify Premium, restore purchases and keep access up to date. We send Google a pseudonymous account identifier to associate the purchase with your Cairnory account. We store the purchase reference encrypted so our server can check renewals even when the app is closed. Cairnory does not receive your card or bank details.
Community and service information. We use Hall posts, reactions, reports and moderation records to run the community. Device, session and network information helps us deliver notifications, prevent abuse and investigate problems. We use support messages to answer your requests.
Most information comes from you. Google supplies sign-in information when chosen; your device supplies permission and technical information; other members may provide reports or interactions concerning your Hall posts.
Our reasons for processing
- Providing your service: account access, private records, exports, Premium verification and the optional features you request are processed to perform our service contract with you.
- Keeping Cairnory safe and reliable: security, fault investigation, abuse prevention and Hall moderation serve our legitimate interests in protecting users and operating the service. Support also relies on the service contract or, for general enquiries, our legitimate interest in answering them.
- Legal responsibilities: relevant information may be used to meet legal obligations or, under our legitimate interests, handle and defend legal claims.
Account details and sign-in verification are necessary for an account. Without them, we cannot provide one. Photos, precise saved locations, voice setup, Hall sharing and phone notifications are optional.
2. Features you choose
Photos, location and weather
Add photos from your library or camera where supported. Selected originals are uploaded and may include camera location tags. We create display and thumbnail copies without those tags and then attempt to delete the originals. A picture can still reveal people or places.
You choose whether to save a precise location against an animal or sighting. This is separate from starting an activity: Cairnory does not continuously track your route. Local weather uses an approximate point sent to Open-Meteo. If weather is enabled and permission remains available, it may refresh on later visits.
Voice setup
When you choose voice setup, we send your recording to OpenAI for transcription, then send the transcript to OpenAI to suggest hunt-start details. You review the form before starting. Cairnory does not retain recordings or transcripts in the Journal or application request/error logs.
Hunters’ Hall
To use Hall, you must be signed in with a verified account, confirm that you are 18 or over and accept its rules. Posts include your chosen photo and selected record details, your Hall nickname, optional avatar, publication date and reactions. Your current Hall profile is used, so changing it also updates how existing posts identify you.
Saved location fields, private notes, contact details and unselected photos are not included. The chosen image is checked by AWS Rekognition. We have opted out of AWS using these images to improve its AI services. Authorised moderators may review reported Hall content. Checks can make mistakes, and you can contact us about a decision.
You can withdraw your post without deleting the private source. Other members can view or take screenshots of shared content; withdrawing it cannot recall their copies.
Phone notifications
With your permission, Firebase Cloud Messaging uses a device identifier and delivery information to send Hall notifications. Message text may appear on your lock screen.
Change available preferences in Cairnory or permissions in your phone or browser settings. You can continue using the manual forms and other features without enabling these options.
Photo originals and location tags
Original uploads are temporary processing files. We attempt to delete them after creating display and thumbnail copies; failed attempts enter cleanup retries. Storage cleanup rules make remaining current temporary files eligible for expiry after two days, and their historical versions after one day. Old versions of deleted or replaced saved photos become eligible after 14 days. Storage cleanup runs asynchronously. Active saved photos have no automatic expiry under these rules.
Voice setup: OpenAI processing and retention
OpenAI does not use API content for model training by default. Under its standard controls, audio transcription has no retained application state or abuse-monitoring logs. OpenAI may retain transcript content in abuse-monitoring logs for up to 30 days, or longer where required by law or reasonably necessary to protect its services or others from harm. See OpenAI’s data controls.
Saved locations, maps and device permissions
Precise saved location information stays in your private record. Viewing an in-app map does not send your saved coordinates to the original map-data provider.
Your device may ask for camera, photo, microphone, location or notification permission. These controls are separate from our legal reasons for processing. Disabling a permission stops the device feature; it does not remove records already saved.
3. Providers and processing locations
We use AWS for app hosting, private storage, security emails and Hall image checks; Google for Google sign-in, Google Play subscriptions and Firebase notifications; Vercel for our public website; Open-Meteo for weather; and OpenAI for optional voice setup. Zoho Mail handles support messages.
For accounts with a Cairnory password, Have I Been Pwned — Pwned Passwords helps check newly chosen passwords against known compromised passwords without receiving your password.
Our main application is hosted in Ireland, with recovery infrastructure in Germany. Some providers may process information outside the European Economic Area, including in the United States.
Our staff and providers access information as needed to operate, support and protect Cairnory. Other members see the Hall content you choose to publish. Private records are not automatically sent to clubs or wildlife organisations. Relevant information may be disclosed where required by law or needed to handle legal claims.
Provider safeguards and further information
For processing on our behalf, the applicable terms for AWS, Vercel hosting, Firebase Cloud Messaging and OpenAI API services include data-processing and international-transfer provisions. Where required, these provide for standard contractual clauses and applicable UK provisions, or an available adequacy decision. Contact us to request information about the safeguards for your data.
Google sign-in, Google Play payments and Open-Meteo also involve providers acting under their own privacy terms. Google handles payment details and its purchase records under its own terms; cancelling a subscription is separate from deleting a Cairnory account. OpenMeteo GmbH is based in Switzerland. Weather requests use an approximate location sent by our server; the provider says it deletes individual request logs after 90 days. See Open-Meteo’s terms and privacy notice.
4. Keeping and deleting records
We keep the records you choose to save so you can return to your journal, until you delete those records or your account. Open Account to request an export or account deletion. An export does not remove your records.
Delete individual records while keeping your account. Open the hunt or observation in Journal and use its Delete control, or open the record’s photo controls to remove a selected photo. For help with deleting particular personal data without closing your account, email info@cairnory.com, identify the data you want removed and tell us that you want to keep your account. We may need to verify your identity. The backup, technical and legal retention periods below still apply to relevant copies.
Export any records you want to keep before confirming account deletion. Confirmation ends normal account access and prevents new exports. Deletion begins after a seven-day grace period; the deletion-status screen shows the deadline and available cancellation controls. Automated production database backups are retained for 14 days. Manual pre-change snapshots become eligible for removal after 30 days, subject to a current recovery-safety and hold check.
A separate deletion-control record, without Journal content, helps prevent deleted information returning from backups. It is kept for at least 400 days after a deletion request completes or is cancelled, and may remain longer where still necessary for recovery protection and deletion verification. After this minimum, we review that necessity at least every 30 days while the record is retained.
The encrypted purchase reference is removed when Google confirms that the subscription has expired or the pending purchase is cancelled, or when an elapsed reference can no longer be verified. A purchase hash, last subscription status and verification time can remain with your account to support purchase verification and account history; the account-deletion process applies to these account records. Google may retain its own payment records under its terms and legal obligations.
Export archives are available for 24 hours; export-request records may remain for 30 days. Routine production application logs are kept for seven days.
Ordinary support conversations become eligible for removal six months after final closure. Closed moderation case records become eligible twelve months after the final decision or closure, once any applicable appeal period has ended. We check eligible records in a monthly manual review and remove those no longer needed. Open complaints, investigations and active restrictions are reviewed separately; a specific legal requirement or ongoing claim may justify keeping the relevant records longer.
More about deletion and retained records
Deleted data can remain in protected backups until they expire. Deletion controls prevent it returning to active use after recovery.
Specific legal obligations or a continuing legal claim can require relevant records to be kept longer. Cancellation before the deadline requires the verification shown on the deletion-status screen; contact us if you cannot use it.
For help with deletion outside the app, visit Account deletion or contact info@cairnory.com. Keep downloaded archives secure: they can include private photos and saved locations.
5. Security and device storage
We use encrypted connections and production storage, private photo storage, account access controls and safeguards against repeated or abusive requests.
Essential cookies or equivalent device storage keep you signed in and remember preferences. The app may keep local form state and cached resources. Clearing app or website storage may sign you out or remove unfinished entries.
6. Your rights and contact
Subject to applicable law, you can request access, correction, deletion, restriction or a portable copy of your data. Where processing relies on consent, you can withdraw it without affecting earlier lawful processing.
Your right to object: you can object to our use of your personal data for our legitimate interests. Contact info@cairnory.com and explain your circumstances.
Contact info@cairnory.com, or write to NOILYM LIMITED using the contact details in section 7. We may need to verify your identity. If an exception prevents us carrying out a request, we will explain it.
You can complain to the Irish Data Protection Commission or another competent authority. In the UK, you can contact the Information Commissioner’s Office.
7. Who operates Cairnory and how to contact us
NOILYM LIMITED operates Cairnory and is responsible for the personal data described here. We are an Irish private company limited by shares, registered under company number 827572.
Cloghaun, Claregalway, H91 E06N, Irelandinfo@cairnory.com
This notice covers the Cairnory app, app.cairnory.com, our website and support.
8. Age and updates
Cairnory is for people aged 18 or over, including those using private observation features. It is not intended for anyone under 18. Contact us if you believe an under-18 is using Cairnory or have a concern about their personal data so we can investigate and take appropriate action.
We update this notice when our features, providers or obligations change. The published version will show its date, and we will communicate material changes where required.