SparkSheet Privacy Policy

Last updated: 27 October 2026

This policy explains, in plain English, what the SparkSheet app collects, why, who else handles it, how long it is kept and what your rights are. It applies to the SparkSheet apps for iPhone and Android.

The short version

• No accounts. We never ask for your name, email address, phone number or payment details.
• Your camera images and your History stay on your phone, unless you choose to send us a photo.
• What the app does send us (part numbers, brands, anonymous problem reports, and anything you choose to send) carries no name, account, device ID or advertising ID. Our servers do not store IP addresses.
• Everything we store about look-ups and reports is deleted automatically on a fixed schedule (mostly 90 days).
• Ads come from Google AdMob. We ask Google for non-personalised ads only, and we do not track you across other companies' apps or websites.
• We do not sell personal information, and we never share it with sponsors.

1. Who we are and how to contact us

SparkSheet is provided by Carwyn Hunt ("we", "us"). Carwyn Hunt is an individual developer and is the "controller" of the information described in this policy, which means he is responsible for it. He is currently based in Australia and plans to move to the United Kingdom in 2027.

Contact for any privacy question, request or complaint: support@sparksheet.app.

We aim to handle information in line with the privacy laws of the places where SparkSheet is offered, including:

• the Australian Privacy Act 1988 and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs);
• the UK GDPR, the Data Protection Act 2018 and the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR);
• the New Zealand Privacy Act 2020.

2. What the app handles, and why

On your phone only (never sent to us)

• Camera. The camera reads part numbers using text recognition that runs on your phone. Camera images are not uploaded or stored, unless you choose to send one (see "Photos you choose to send").
• History. The History page keeps the last 20 datasheets you opened (part number, brand, link and date). It is stored only on your phone and is never uploaded. You can clear it at any time with Clear history on the History page, and it is removed if you delete the app.
• Settings and ad choices are stored on your phone.

Datasheet look-ups (manufacturer websites)

To find a datasheet, the app contacts the manufacturer's public website (for example se.com, siemens.com or hager.com) with the part number. Like any website, those sites receive your IP address and normal web-request details, and they handle them under their own privacy policies. Datasheets open in the in-app browser or your chosen browser and are not stored by the app.

Our datasheet index

Before contacting manufacturer sites, the app asks our server whether it already knows the datasheet link for the part.

• What is sent: the part number and the brand (if known). Nothing that identifies you.
• What we keep: if the index has no link, we record the part number, brand and the day, so we can add it later. These "not found" records are deleted automatically after 90 days. We keep these records only while Send anonymous reports is on. When it's off, the app tells the index not to record anything about your look-ups.
• Abuse limits: our reports server uses a single overall daily limit on how many items it stores in total. It uses no IP address or identifier.
• Index rate limit: our datasheet index also limits how many requests can be made per minute. To do this, Cloudflare's rate-limiting service briefly uses a one-way scrambled (hashed), shortened form of your IP address. This is held only in memory and is never written to our storage.

Confirming a datasheet (optional)

When Send anonymous reports is on, after a datasheet opens the app may ask "Is this the right datasheet?" It asks only for links that haven't been confirmed yet, and only once per part on your phone. Answering is optional; you can close the question with ✕.

• Checking whether to ask: before asking, the app checks with our server whether the link is already confirmed. It sends only the brand, part number and link.
• If you answer Yes or No: the app sends only the brand, the part number, the datasheet link and your answer. No device, user, install or advertising ID, app version or photo is sent.
• What we keep: we keep each answer with the day (not the time), and a running count of Yes and No answers for each link. Answers are deleted after 90 days. The per-link count holds no information about you.
• Your phone remembers which parts you've been asked about (brand and part number only), so you aren't asked again. This list is never sent.
• Index confirmations: for some makers, a Yes is also sent to our datasheet index with the part number, brand, link and app version. We check the link, or wait for several confirmations, before showing it to other users. Confirmations that are never checked, or not confirmed enough, are deleted after 180 days. Once a link has been checked and added, only the part number, brand and link are kept, as public index data.
• If you tap No, the app also sends an anonymous "wrong datasheet" report (see below). It may then offer to send your photo (see "Photos you choose to send").

Anonymous problem reports

To fix look-ups that fail, when Send anonymous reports is on the app sends an anonymous report when a look-up finds nothing, fails to load, or you tap "Wrong datasheet".

• What is sent: the part-number text that was read or typed, the brand (if detected), the type of problem, the app version and the date (day only).
• What is not sent: no photo, no device, install, user or advertising ID, and no exact time. Our server does not store IP addresses or request headers.
• Why: only to find and fix look-ups that don't work.
• How long: deleted automatically after 90 days.
• Your choice: Send anonymous reports in Settings is on by default, and your choice is saved on your phone. If you turn it off, the app sends no failed-search or "wrong datasheet" reports, doesn't ask "Is this the right datasheet?", doesn't check whether a link is confirmed, and sends no confirmations to our index. Suggest an improvement and sending a photo still work, but only when you choose to use them.

Photos you choose to send (optional)

When a search fails, or after you answer No to "Is this the right datasheet?", the app may ask "Send this photo to the developer?". Nothing is sent unless you tap to send it.

• Before sending, the app shrinks the photo (at most 1024 pixels wide) and re-saves it. This removes location and camera details (EXIF). Our server strips any remaining hidden data as well.
• The photo is sent with only the brand (if detected), the part-number text read, the reason, the app version, and, where there is one, a random reference number. That number links the photo to the failed-search report or the "No" answer it belongs to, so we can see whether the label was misread. If Send anonymous reports is off, there is no report to link to, so the photo is sent on its own. No device, user, install or advertising ID is sent, and our server does not store IP addresses.
• Why: only to improve label reading and look-ups for that kind of label.
• How long: deleted automatically after 90 days.
• Please photograph only the product label, never people, faces, documents or client details. If a photo shows any of these, we delete it as soon as we notice.

Suggestions (optional)

If you use Suggest an improvement in Settings, the app sends only what you type (up to 500 characters), the category you choose (if any), the app version and the date (day only). There is no name or email field. Please don't include personal details; if you do, we delete them when we notice. Suggestions are used only to improve SparkSheet and are deleted after 90 days.

Regional usage totals (planned)

We plan to count how SparkSheet is used in each region, for example "120 Schneider look-ups in Queensland today".

• Where the region comes from: our hosting provider (Cloudflare) works out the approximate country (and, in some countries, the state or region) from the internet connection. The app does not use GPS or ask for location permission.
• What we keep: only daily totals per brand and region. Your IP address and region are never stored against you or a device.
• Why: to plan which brands to support and to show regional sponsors how many people in their region use the app (see section 3).

Distributor links

If you scan an RS stock number or Farnell order code, the app may show a plain link to that product on the distributor's website. We earn nothing from these links and add no tracking. The distributor's site handles your visit under its own privacy policy.

3. Advertising and sponsors

Google AdMob

SparkSheet shows banner ads from Google AdMob to stay free.

• Non-personalised ads only, for everyone. Every ad request asks Google for non-personalised ads, wherever you are and whatever you choose in any consent message. These ads are chosen from things like the app's content and your general location, not your interests or history.

• What Google may still handle. To deliver ads, measure them, limit how often you see them and prevent fraud, Google may still process:

  • your IP address and approximate location;
  • device and app information;
  • device identifiers (for example the app-set ID on Android, the identifier for vendors on iPhone, and the Android advertising ID where your phone makes it available);
  • your interactions with ads and with the app.

  Google may associate this information with your device's identifiers.

  Google handles this as an independent company under its own policies. See "How Google uses information from sites or apps that use our services" at https://policies.google.com/technologies/partner-sites.

• No tracking. On iPhone we do not use the advertising identifier (IDFA), and the app does not track you across other companies' apps or websites. If that ever changes, iOS will ask your permission first.

• UK, EEA and Switzerland. Before ads load, the app shows Google's consent message (Google's User Messaging Platform). It asks whether Google may store or access information on your device for ads.

  • Whatever you choose, we only ever request non-personalised ads.
  • If you decline, Google may serve "limited ads" instead. These don't use personal data for personalisation, but Google may still use cookies or local storage on your device to detect invalid traffic and fraud.
  • If the consent message can't load (for example when you're offline), the app uses the choice you made last time. If you haven't made a choice yet, no ads are shown until you have.

• Changing your choice. You can change your choice at any time with the Ad privacy choices link shown under the ad on the main screen. Where local law requires it, a similar choice is offered elsewhere (for example in some US states).

• On Android, you can also reset or delete your advertising ID in your phone's settings.

• Reporting an ad. If you see an inappropriate ad, tell us at support@sparksheet.app.

Sponsor banners

Some regions may show a banner from a sponsor, such as an electrical wholesaler, a tool brand or a manufacturer.

• Every sponsor banner is labelled "Sponsored", with a "Why am I seeing this?" note.
• Sponsor banners are chosen only by your approximate region (as above) and the brand you looked up. They are not chosen from any profile of you.
• Sponsors never change which datasheet is shown or the order of results.
• Sponsors receive only aggregate totals: how many times their banner was shown and tapped, and regional usage totals. They receive no IP addresses, device IDs, photos, look-up histories or anything about an individual. We don't report figures that are too small to be anonymous.
• Sponsor banners do not add tracking. If you tap one, the sponsor's website handles your visit under its own privacy policy.

4. Who else handles information

We don't sell or rent personal information, and we don't share it with anyone else, except where the law requires us to (for example a valid court order).

5. International transfers

• We are currently based in Australia (and will be based in the UK from 2027), and our databases are hosted by Cloudflare in the United States. So information sent by the app goes to the United States, wherever you are.
• Cloudflare processes this information only on our instructions, under its Data Processing Addendum.
  • For information from the UK, EEA and Switzerland, that addendum includes the standard contractual clauses approved for international transfers, and the UK Addendum.
  • Cloudflare also participates in the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework, including its UK Extension.
  • You can ask us for more information about these safeguards.
• For Australian and New Zealand users, we take reasonable steps to make sure overseas recipients protect information to a comparable standard.
• Google makes its own transfer arrangements, described in its privacy policy.

6. Legal bases (UK)

Most of what we hold cannot identify you. Where it might count as personal information, we rely on these legal bases:

• Index look-ups, confirmations, problem reports, suggestions, regional totals and abuse limits: our legitimate interests in providing a working, secure datasheet finder and improving it. We have kept this to the minimum and removed identifiers. You can object at any time, and you can switch off anonymous reports in Settings.
• Photos you choose to send: your consent.
• Storing or accessing information on your device for ads (PECR / ePrivacy rules) and Google's ad processing: your consent, through Google's consent message. Without it, Google shows only limited ads.
• Information on your phone needed for features you use (History, settings): this is strictly necessary to provide what you asked for.

7. How long we keep things

Deletion happens automatically on our servers each day.

8. Security

• All connections to our servers use HTTPS.
• We hold no accounts, passwords, names, emails or device identifiers.
• Reports, suggestions and photos are not public. Only we can view them, using a private access key.
• Uploads are size-limited and checked, and we can switch off any upload feature instantly if there's a problem.

9. If something goes wrong (data breaches)

If we suspect a data breach, we will:

• act quickly to contain it;
• assess it promptly, and within 30 days at the latest;
• keep a record of it.

If a breach is likely to cause serious harm, or a risk to people's rights and freedoms, we will notify the regulator where the law requires us to:

• Australia: the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC), under the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme, as soon as practicable;
• UK: the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), within 72 hours of becoming aware of it;
• New Zealand: the Office of the Privacy Commissioner, as soon as practicable.

Where a breach is likely to put people at high risk, we will tell them without undue delay. Because we hold no contact details, we will do this:

• with a notice in the app;
• in the app's store update notes;
• on our website.

We will use the same channels to warn users quickly about any serious problem with datasheet results.

10. Your rights

Depending on where you live, you may have the right to:

• ask what personal information we hold about you and get a copy;
• ask us to correct it;
• ask us to delete it;
• object to, or ask us to restrict, how we use it;
• withdraw your consent at any time. Withdrawing doesn't affect what happened before.

To use any of these rights, email support@sparksheet.app. You don't need to explain why. We will respond within one month, or sooner where local law requires.

Because the data we keep has no name or identifier, we usually can't tell which records are yours. If you tell us roughly when you sent something and the part number, we will try to find it and delete it. In any case, it is deleted automatically on the schedule above.

For your ad choices, use the Ad privacy choices link under the ad on the main screen.

11. Complaints

Please contact us first at support@sparksheet.app if you have a concern about your privacy. We will:

• acknowledge your complaint within 30 days;
• look into it properly;
• tell you the outcome.

If you are not satisfied, you can complain to the privacy regulator where you live:

• Australia: Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC), www.oaic.gov.au
• United Kingdom: Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), ico.org.uk
• New Zealand: Office of the Privacy Commissioner, www.privacy.org.nz

12. Automated decisions

SparkSheet automatically matches part numbers to datasheets. It does not make decisions about you that have legal or similarly significant effects, and it does not profile you.

13. Children

SparkSheet is a tool for electricians and other trade professionals. It is not directed at children, and it is not intended for anyone under 16. We don't knowingly collect information from children. If you think a child has sent us something, contact us and we will delete it.

14. Changes to this policy

If we change this policy, we will update this page and the date at the top. For significant changes, for example a new type of data collected, we will tell you in the app before the change takes effect.

See also our Terms of Use: https://sparksheet.app/terms.