Privacy Policy

What we collect

We aim to collect as little personal information as possible, and to be plain about what we do collect and why.

If you create an account

Antown has an iPhone app and a website, and one account works on both. We store the email address you sign in with, and any profile details you choose to add. You sign in with your email address and a password. The password is handled by Google Firebase Authentication — it goes straight to Firebase, and we never see or store it ourselves. If you forget it, we can email you a link to set a new one.

If you don't

The sample addresses work without an account, in the app and on the website. In the iPhone app your free first search does too: for that we generate an anonymous identifier, stored on your device, so the app works and your free search isn't spent twice. It isn't tied to your name or email. On the website, searching an address of your own needs a free account.

On the website we store a random identifier in your browser and send it with each request, so we can count visits and connect activity before and after you sign in. Clearing this site's data removes it, and deleting your account resets it.

The addresses you look up

We keep a log of the addresses and suburbs searched. For signed-in users that powers your research history, which is the same in the app and on the website; more broadly it tells us which insights are useful and where to focus development.

Location

If you tap "Use my current location" in the iPhone app, the app asks iOS for your location once, converts it to a street address to use as your search, and does not store the coordinates. You can decline and type an address instead — nothing else in the app changes. The website never asks for your location.

Payment details

• In the iPhone app, purchases are handled entirely by Apple through the App Store. We never see or store your card number or billing address. What we receive from Apple is a signed confirmation that a purchase happened, which we use only to unlock what you paid for.
• On the website, purchases are paid by card through Stripe, our payment processor. Your card details go straight to Stripe — we never see or store your full card number. Stripe tells us that a payment succeeded, and we keep Stripe's reference for your customer record so that the purchase, and any later refund or dispute, is matched to your account.

Usage data (analytics)

The iPhone app uses Google Analytics for Firebase to record how the app is used — which screens are opened, when a search is started, and whether a purchase succeeded. This tells us which parts of Antown work and which do not.

The iPhone app never sends your searched addresses to analytics. An address is reduced to its suburb, state and postcode before it leaves your device; the street number and street name are discarded and never transmitted. Analytics data is tied to a random app identifier, not to your name or email, and we do not collect the Apple advertising identifier (IDFA).

You can turn this off at any time in the app: Profile → Settings → Share usage data. Switching it off stops collection and clears what was gathered on your device.

The website uses Google Analytics too, to count visits and see which pages are used. It records the pages you open, and on the search pages the web address of the page includes the address or suburb being looked at. It isn't tied to your name or email. You can block it with your browser's privacy or content-blocking settings.

Nothing here is used for advertising or shared with data brokers.

How we use it

To operate and improve Antown: to sign you in, show your research history, unlock what you've purchased, process payments and refunds, send the emails you ask for (such as a password-reset link), respond when you contact us, and decide what to build next. We do not sell your personal information, and we do not use it for third-party advertising.

Who else is involved

Antown relies on a small number of providers:

• Google Firebase, for sign-in, hosting, data storage and analytics;
• Apple, for App Store purchases and the iPhone app's maps;
• Stripe, for card payments on the website;
• third-party property websites and data-retrieval services, as the source of the sales information shown — a third-party retrieval service and our own fetch those websites' public pages for the address or suburb you search, and receive that address or suburb, not your name or email;
• Photon (operated by komoot, Germany), for address suggestions as you type — it receives what you type in the search box;
• a map-tile provider (CARTO), for the website's maps — your browser loads map images from it for the area shown; and
• OpenStreetMap (Nominatim), for placing addresses on the map — our server sends it the address you search.

Using Antown necessarily means those services process the requests needed to deliver it.

Your Antown account record and research are stored in Google Cloud's Sydney region (australia-southeast1). Sign-in (Firebase Authentication), address suggestions, address mapping (OpenStreetMap), map tiles, data retrieval, Apple, Stripe and Google Analytics may process data outside Australia under their own policies.

Deleting your account

You can delete your account at any time — in the iPhone app from Profile → Delete my account, or on the website from Profile → Delete account. That permanently removes your account, your research and your search history, and cannot be undone. It does not cancel an App Store subscription — cancel that in your Apple account settings. Apple and Stripe keep their own records of past payments under their own policies.

If you'd rather we did it, or you want a copy of what we hold or to correct it, email hello.antown.tech@gmail.com.

Children

Antown is not directed at children and we do not knowingly collect information from anyone under 13.

Changes

We may update this page as Antown evolves. When we do, we'll revise the "last updated" date above. Continuing to use Antown after a change means you accept the updated policy.