Privacy policy

Your putts stay on your phone.

Effective 12 October 2026

Plumb Bob doesn't collect, store or share personal data. The camera reads the putt in front of you on your iPhone, and your rounds and stats are saved only on your iPhone. There are no accounts, ads or tracking. From version 1.0.2 the app sends anonymous usage counts (which steps happen, never your putts or where you are) so we can see what works.

Who we are

This policy covers the Plumb Bob: Golf Green Reader iPhone app and this website, plumbbob.app. Questions: hello@plumbbob.app.

Camera and LiDAR

Plumb Bob asks for camera access to scan the green, track a rolled ball for green speed, and draw the read in augmented reality. iPhones with LiDAR also provide depth data. This data is:

• processed in real time, on your iPhone, to model the green and compute the read;
• never uploaded, transmitted or shared;
• not saved to your photo library or kept after the read.

You can turn camera access off at any time in the iOS Settings app. Plumb Bob can't read a green without it.

Location

When you start a round, Plumb Bob can use your location, only while the app is open, to suggest golf courses near you. It sends your approximate position to Apple Maps to search for nearby courses, under Apple's privacy policy. We never receive your location, and Plumb Bob doesn't store it. Location is optional: you can decline and type the course name instead.

Photos

Plumb Bob never reads your photo library. If you share a round's recap card and choose Save Image, the card is added to Photos. That's the only time Plumb Bob asks for access, and it can only add.

Motion

Augmented reality tracking and the level use the phone's motion sensors to know which way is straight down. This stays on your iPhone and isn't stored.

What's saved on your iPhone

Your settings (such as green speed), your read history, and your rounds and scorecards are saved in the app's own storage on your iPhone so your stats work. They're never sent to us. Deleting the app deletes them.

Widgets, the Lock Screen and Siri

The widgets show your green speed and recent putting scores, and the Lock Screen shows the round you're playing. The app hands these to iOS on your iPhone; they're never sent to us. Siri and Shortcuts answers ("What's the green speed?") are worked out on your iPhone from the same data.

Anonymous usage counts

From version 1.0.2, the app tells us which steps happen, so we can see where people get stuck and what to improve: for example "finished the intro", "read a putt", "saw the subscription screen", "started a round". These counts go to TelemetryDeck, an analytics service built for privacy, based in the EU.

• They never include your putts, reads, rounds, courses, location, photos, name or email.
• TelemetryDeck receives an identifier that is hashed on your iPhone before it's sent, so it can tell repeat visits apart without knowing who you are or linking them to you. It doesn't store IP addresses.
• Each signal carries basic technical context, such as the app version, iOS version, device model, language and region.
• Nothing is used for advertising or shared with anyone else, and nothing tracks you across other apps or websites.

The first time you open the app, it also sends plumbbob.app one message saying a new copy was opened, with only the App Store country, iPhone or iPad, the app version and whether it came from the App Store or TestFlight. It carries no identifier.

What we don't do

• We don't collect personal data of any kind: not your name, email, location, contacts or photos.
• There are no accounts and no sign-in.
• There's no tracking and no advertising identifier, and no ads.
• The only third-party code in the app is TelemetryDeck's, for the anonymous counts above.
• We don't sell or share data.

Subscriptions

Plumb Bob Pro is sold through the App Store. Apple processes all payments; we never see your card, your Apple ID or your name. Apple tells the app only whether your subscription is active. Apple also notifies us when a subscription starts, renews, ends or is refunded, with the plan, the price, the App Store country and a transaction number that doesn't identify you; we use this only to count subscriptions.

Network access

Reads work without a connection. The app goes online to check or buy a subscription (through Apple), to look up nearby courses (through Apple Maps) when you ask it to, and to send the anonymous usage counts described above.

Emailing us

If you email us, we receive your email address and what you write. We use it only to reply, never for marketing, and we'll delete the conversation if you ask.

Children

Plumb Bob doesn't collect personal data from anyone, including children under 13. The anonymous usage counts above aren't personal data and aren't linked to anyone.

This website

plumbbob.app uses no cookies, analytics or tracking scripts, and serves its own fonts. Our host, Cloudflare, may keep standard server logs such as IP addresses for security and reliability.

Changes

If we change how Plumb Bob handles data, we'll update this page and the effective date above before the change takes effect.