Privacy policy

Last updated: April 29, 2026

The short version

Almost everything stays on your phone. We only collect what we need to run the parts of the app you actually use. We don't sell your data.

What's stored on your device

Your tickets, pools (names, members, contributions, photos), favorites, weekly budget, app preferences, practice-game balance and history, and a local cache of lottery results. It lives in the app's private storage — other apps can't see it.

Photos you attach to pool tickets stay on your device. They don't go to our servers unless you turn on Cloud Backup (see below).

What we get when you sign in

Signing in is optional. You only need it for Pro features like Cloud Backup. If you use Sign in with Apple, Apple sends us a unique ID and an email (which may be Apple's relay address). If you use email sign-in, we get the email you typed.

We never see your password, payment info, or anything else from your Apple ID.

Cloud Backup (Pro, optional)

Turn this on and the app uploads a single copy of your local database to our backup service over an encrypted connection. Only you can read your own backup — access is locked to your account.

When you restore, that file comes back down and overwrites whatever is on the new device. We keep a small rolling history (the last seven backups) so you can roll back if something goes wrong.

Heads up: photo files don't go up yet. Only the database does. We'll update this policy if that changes.

Push notifications

Buy reminders and draw-result reminders are scheduled by your device — they don't talk to our servers and work even if you're not signed in.

Live win alerts (the push you get when a ticket actually hits) require sign-in. Your device sends a push token to Expo Push Service (operated by Expo, Inc.); we store it next to your account so the win-checker can deliver the alert.

You can turn any of this off any time in this app under Settings → Notifications, or revoke notifications entirely in iOS Settings.

Ticket scanning

The scanner exists for one purpose: reading the numbers and draw date off a printed lottery ticket. Only point the camera at a lottery ticket. Do not scan people, faces, ID cards, credit cards, medical records, anything sexual or violent, or anything involving a minor. Misuse can violate our terms and the terms of the AI provider that processes the image.

When you scan, the cropped image is sent over an encrypted connection to our backend, which forwards it to Google Gemini for OCR. We don't keep the image after Gemini returns; only the numbers it extracted get saved on your device. Google may apply its own safety filters and retention policy to the image during processing.

If a scan returns an error or the result looks wrong, double-check by typing the numbers manually instead of repeating the scan.

Subscriptions

Pro is billed by Apple through the App Store. We use RevenueCat to check whether your subscription is active and unlock Pro on your device. Apple sends us a transaction ID and an entitlement status — that's it. We never see your card, billing address, or full Apple ID.

Ads

Free users see banner ads from Google AdMob. AdMob may use your device ID, IP, and in-app activity to personalize ads, subject to your iOS App Tracking choices. You can opt out of personalized ads in iOS Settings → Privacy & Security → Tracking. Pro users don't see ads.

Lottery data

Winning numbers, jackpots, and prize-tier info come from public sources (state lottery sites, the Multi-State Lottery Association, NY Open Data). This data is about the lotteries, not about you.

Who we share data with

A few service providers run pieces of the app on our behalf:

• Our backend service hosts the database, sign-in, and the edge functions (cloud backup, win-checker, OCR forwarding).
• Expo, Inc. — push token delivery and build tooling.
• Google Gemini — ticket OCR. Receives the cropped scan only.
• Google AdMob — banner ads for free-tier users (Pro is ad-free).
• RevenueCat — checks whether your Pro subscription is active.

Apple is also involved as the platform: Sign in with Apple, App Store billing, push delivery to your device.

What we don't collect

We don't touch your contacts, calendar, browsing history, location (beyond what an IP address tells any web server), health data, or financial accounts.

We don't sell or rent your data. Ever.

Your rights

• Wipe local data anytime: Settings → Reset app data.
• Sign out anytime to stop anything happening on our servers.
• Have a cloud backup you want gone? Email us at the address below and we'll delete it within 30 days.
• California residents: you have extra rights under the CCPA. Email us and we'll handle access, correction, or deletion requests.

Kids

This app isn't for kids. You need to be 18+ (or 21+ in some states). We don't knowingly collect anything from anyone under 18. If you think a child gave us their info, email us and we'll delete it.

Updates to this policy

We may change this from time to time. The "Last updated" date at the top tells you when. If you keep using the app after a change, that counts as accepting the new version.

Contact

Questions or requests: support@lottopal.app