This Privacy Policy explains what the VitaLink GuarDog Android app ("GuarDog") collects, how it is used, and the choices available to you. GuarDog is part of the VitaLink family and is operated by ET Naturals, doing business as VitaLink ("VitaLink," "we," or "us").
Information We Collect
Account information
GuarDog uses your mobile phone number to create and identify your account. Google Firebase Authentication sends the verification code and processes the sign-in. Standard messaging rates may apply. We do not use passwords or read your text messages.
QR codes and web links
The camera view is processed on your device to recognize a QR code. Camera frames are not uploaded or saved by VitaLink. When a code contains a web link, GuarDog sends that link to our Cloudflare-hosted checking service. The service follows redirects in isolation and may send the final destination to Google Web Risk to check for known threats. Destination websites receive a request from the checking service, not your phone, and do not receive your browser cookies from GuarDog.
To speed up repeated checks, a result may be cached for up to three hours. The cached result can contain the destination and redirect addresses and is automatically removed when the cache expires. Long-term usage statistics use one-way hashes rather than readable links.
Scan history
Your visible scan history is stored only on your phone. It is not synchronized to a VitaLink account. You can clear it in GuarDog or remove it by uninstalling the app.
Subscription and access information
Google Play processes subscriptions and payment details. VitaLink receives a purchase token and subscription status so we can verify access. We do not receive your payment-card number. If you use a Family plan or owner-granted access, the phone numbers used to grant that access are stored with the associated access record.
Security and service data
Firebase App Check and Google Play Integrity provide device and app-integrity signals. Our service records limited operational data such as a hashed account identifier, hashed URL, verdict, reputation signals, redirect count, timing, and errors. These identifiers are pseudonymous: they are not readable phone numbers or links, but they may still be associated with an account or event by our systems.
How We Use Information
- Authenticate your account and restore access on returning visits.
- Check QR-code destinations and explain possible risks.
- Verify trial, subscription, Family-plan, or owner-granted access.
- Prevent fraud, abuse, duplicate purchase assignment, and attacks on the service.
- Diagnose failures and improve reliability.
Service Providers
- Google Firebase for phone authentication, app-integrity checks, and account/access records.
- Cloudflare for the isolated checking service, temporary result cache, rate limits, and service analytics.
- Google Web Risk for known threat-reputation checks on web destinations.
- Google Play for subscription billing and purchase status.
These providers process information under their own terms and privacy policies. We share only the information needed to provide the relevant function.
What We Do Not Do
- We do not sell personal information.
- We do not use scan data for advertising.
- We do not read your contacts, photos, location, or messages.
- We do not silently open a scanned web link on your phone.
Retention
Account identity, trial, access, and subscription records are kept while needed to provide the service and meet legal, security, fraud-prevention, and accounting obligations. Cached scan results expire within three hours. On-device history remains until you clear it or uninstall. Pseudonymous security and service statistics may be retained for fraud prevention, reliability, and aggregate analysis.
Your Choices and Deletion
You can delete your GuarDog account from the Account screen. You can also request deletion without the app through our GuarDog account-deletion page. In-app deletion removes the Firebase sign-in account and requests deletion of the account's entitlement, purchase association, and trial state. For removal of a phone number stored in a Family-plan or owner-granted access list, use the external request process so we can verify and remove the associated record.
Deleting a GuarDog account does not cancel a Google Play subscription. Manage or cancel that subscription separately in Google Play.
Children
GuarDog is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13.
Security and International Processing
We use administrative and technical safeguards appropriate to the information we process. No internet service can guarantee absolute security. Our service providers may process information in the United States and other locations where they operate.
Changes
We may update this policy as GuarDog changes. The effective date at the top identifies the current version.
Contact
Privacy questions and requests may be sent to myvitalink@outlook.com.