Privacy Policy — Houston Pollen and Mold
Last updated:
This privacy policy describes how the Houston Pollen and Mold app handles your information.
What we collect
The app has no account system and no sign-up, and it does not ask you for your name, email, phone number, or contacts. It does not use your device’s location (see Location below). Most of what the app keeps — your settings and anything you log in the symptom tracker — stays on your device; the one exception is alerts, which send a push token and your alert preferences to our server (see Notifications).
Houston Pollen and Mold is ad-supported. To show and measure ads, our ad provider (Google AdMob) collects an advertising identifier and device / usage information — see Advertising below for the detail and your choices.
What we store on your device
The app saves a few things locally on your device, using standard iOS / Android storage:
- Your appearance choice (light or dark)
- Your alert preferences (see Notifications below)
- If you use the in-app Congestion & Sneezing tracker, the days you mark
This information — including anything you log in the symptom tracker — stays on your device. It is not sent to us or anyone else, and it is removed when you uninstall the app. The one exception is alerts: if you enable them, your alert preferences and a push token are sent to our server so we can deliver notifications (see Notifications).
Notifications
Alerts are opt-in and stay off until you enable them in the app. When you turn them on, the app can notify you about Houston pollen and mold conditions — for example, when levels are high or when new counts are published.
When you enable alerts, the app sends your device’s push token and your alert threshold preferences to our own server (hosted on Cloudflare) so we can send you the right notifications. We store these solely to deliver your alerts; the registration is automatically deleted after about 120 days of inactivity, or immediately when you turn alerts off.
Delivery itself uses the operating system’s push services — Apple Push Notification service (APNs) on iOS and Firebase Cloud Messaging (FCM) on Android. The notifications carry only pollen and mold information and include no personal details about you. You can turn alerts off at any time in the app or in your device’s notification settings.
Firebase is a Google service; see Google’s Privacy Policy for how FCM handles delivery.
Location
The app shows pollen and mold data for the Houston metro area only. It does not request or use your device’s GPS or location, and it does not track where you are.
Network requests
When you open the app or refresh, it fetches the latest Houston-area pollen and mold counts over HTTPS from our own server (hosted on Cloudflare). Our server receives the standard information any web request includes — such as your IP address and device user-agent — to return the response; the app does not send any account or device location information.
Our server retrieves the underlying counts from the City of Houston Health Department (see Data source below) on its own, so your device never connects to that source directly and the Houston Health Department does not receive your IP address or device information.
Advertising
Houston Pollen and Mold is ad-supported, and we use Google AdMob to display ads in the app.
- To serve and measure ads, AdMob may collect a mobile advertising identifier (Apple’s IDFA or Google’s Advertising ID), along with device and usage information, approximate location, and ad-interaction data.
- Ads may be personalized, which can involve tracking you across other apps and websites. On iOS, that tracking happens only if you allow it through Apple’s App Tracking Transparency (ATT) prompt; if you decline, you’ll see non-personalized ads. On Android, you can opt out of ad personalization or reset your Advertising ID in your device settings.
- AdMob is a Google service. The data it collects is handled under Google’s Privacy Policy and Google’s advertising terms; we don’t control what Google collects beyond the options we configure.
- You can change ad tracking / personalization at any time in your device settings (iOS: Settings → Privacy & Security → Tracking and Apple Advertising; Android: Settings → Google → Ads).
Note: AdMob may use approximate, IP-based location for ad targeting. That is separate from device GPS location, which this app does not use.
Children
Houston Pollen and Mold is a general-audience app, not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children, and we apply age-appropriate ad settings where required.
Data source
Pollen and mold counts come from the City of Houston Health Department (https://www.houstonhealth.org/services/pollen-mold). The app displays the figures as published and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the City of Houston, the Houston Health Department, or any government agency.
Changes to this policy
If we change this policy, we’ll update the “Last updated” date above and, where appropriate, note the change in the app.
Data collection summary
A short summary for the App Store / Google Play data-safety disclosures (see Advertising above for detail):
| Category | What applies |
|---|---|
| Personal info (name, email, etc.) | None — the app has no accounts |
| Device location (GPS) | None — the app does not use device location |
| Identifiers | Advertising identifier (IDFA / Advertising ID), used by Google AdMob to serve and measure ads. Plus, if you opt in to alerts, a push token and your alert preferences — stored on our server to deliver notifications and deleted after ~120 days of inactivity. |
| App activity | Ad interactions may be collected by AdMob |
| Approximate location | May be used by AdMob (IP-based) to serve ads |
| Diagnostics / crash logs | AdMob may collect limited diagnostic data for ad delivery |
| Contacts / messages / photos | None |
| Health / symptom data | Optional Congestion & Sneezing tracker — stored on your device only; never collected, transmitted, or shared |
| Tracking across apps | Yes — for advertising (on iOS, only if you allow it via the ATT prompt) |
| Data sold to third parties | We don’t sell your data. Personalized advertising may count as “sharing” under laws such as CCPA / CPRA — opt out via ATT (iOS) or your device ad settings (Android). |
| Data encrypted in transit | Yes (HTTPS) |
| Network access required | Yes — to load ads, fetch Houston pollen/mold data, and (if you enable alerts) register for notifications |
Your choices and rights
You can turn alerts off at any time (which deletes the push token and preferences stored for them), opt out of personalized ads (see Advertising), and clear your on-device data — including the Congestion & Sneezing tracker — by clearing it in the app or uninstalling. Depending on where you live, you may also have rights to access or delete personal data (for example under California’s CCPA / CPRA, or for EEA / UK users); contact us and we’ll help.
Contact
Questions about this policy, or a privacy or data request? Email support@babydogam.com. Houston Pollen and Mold is operated by BabyDog Asset Management.