Native Past

Introduction

Native Past ("the app," "we," "us," "our") is published by Olivia Renee Studio LLC. This Privacy Policy explains what information the app does — and does not — collect, and how it is handled. We built Native Past to work without an account and to keep the personal information involved to an absolute minimum.

Native Past is an educational app for learning the histories and languages of Native American nations. It also includes an optional records search over public-domain United States National Archives records, and a private, on-device workspace for your own family documents and family tree. You do not need to sign in or provide any personal details to use the app.

Information Collection and Use

• We do not require an account and do not ask for your name, email address, or other identifying information to use Native Past.
• The app itself contains no third-party analytics, tracking, or crash-reporting tools.
• The only feature that involves a third party collecting data is advertising for non-subscribers (see Advertising).

Learning Progress

Your lesson progress, reading progress, and preferences are stored locally on your device. This information is not transmitted to us.

Records Search

Native Past can search public-domain historical records (such as the Dawes Rolls and related National Archives collections). When you run a search, the text you enter (for example a name, roll number, or card number) is sent to our records-search service so it can return matching public records. These requests are sent with a shared application key — not an account or a personal identifier — and the app does not send your name, contacts, or a device identifier with them. They pass through Cloudflare, which protects the service, to our server, which is hosted by DigitalOcean in the United States. Cloudflare and our server use the request's IP address to deliver results and for rate-limiting and security. Like most web servers, ours keeps an access log of requests, including the search terms, for about two weeks for security and troubleshooting. We use it only for aggregate counts (for example, the number of searches in a week) and never to identify who searched for what. Search results link out to the National Archives' own website (catalog.archives.gov), which is governed by its own privacy policy. Native Past is an independent research aid and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the National Archives.

When it starts, the app also checks our website, nativepast.com, for content updates. That request carries no personal information beyond the technical details any internet request includes, such as your IP address and basic device and app information, and we count these requests only in aggregate.

Family Documents & Family Tree

The Research tab lets you import your own documents (photos, image files, and PDFs), read them with on-device text recognition (Apple Vision on iOS, Google ML Kit on Android), and build a private family tree. All of this — your documents, the recognized text, extracted names, suggested links, your notes, and your tree — is stored only on your device and is never uploaded to Native Past's servers. Because this content lives in your app's storage, it may be included in the backups your device makes (for example Apple iCloud/Finder backups, or Google backups). Those backups are controlled by you and your device's operating system, not by us.

Our Website

This policy covers the Native Past apps for iOS and Android. The nativepast.com website has its own notice, Website Privacy & Cookies, which explains the site's hosting, its records search, and its use of Cloudflare Web Analytics: only with consent for visitors in the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, the United Kingdom and Switzerland, and with an opt-out for everyone else.

Analytics & Crash Reporting

The Native Past apps do not use Firebase, Google Analytics, or any other third-party analytics or crash-reporting service. We do not build advertising or behavioral profiles about you. (The nativepast.com website's own analytics are described in its notice; see Our Website.)

Data Storage

Your learning progress, your subscription status, and your family-research data are stored locally on your device using the platform's standard storage, with secure keychain/keystore storage for any credentials. We do not keep a server-side copy of this information.

Data Sharing

We do not sell your personal information, and we share information only as needed to provide the features you use:

• Google AdMob — to show ads to non-subscribers (see Advertising).
• Apple App Store / Google Play — to process subscription purchases (see Subscriptions).
• Our records-search service — to return public records for the searches you choose to run (see Records Search).
• Cloudflare and DigitalOcean — to deliver and protect the records search (see Records Search).

Subscriptions

Native Past offers an optional Pro subscription ($0.99/month or $5.99/year) that removes all ads. All payment processing is handled entirely by Apple (App Store) or Google (Google Play). We do not collect, store, or have access to your payment information. You can manage or cancel a subscription in your Apple ID or Google Play account settings. Subscriptions renew automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. See the Native Past page for current pricing.

Data Security

Your information is protected by platform app sandboxing, device encryption, and secure keychain/keystore storage for any credentials. Because your learning and family-research data stays on your device, it is protected by your device's own security (passcode/biometrics and encryption).

Data Retention

Data stored in the app stays on your device until you delete it or the app. Our records server's access log is kept for about two weeks. Cloudflare and DigitalOcean keep request data for limited periods under their own policies, and Google keeps advertising data under its policies. Where Cloudflare or DigitalOcean transfer personal data from the EEA, the UK or Switzerland to the United States, they rely on the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework, its UK Extension and the Swiss-U.S. Data Privacy Framework, with Standard Contractual Clauses as the fallback.

Your Rights

Because we do not maintain accounts and do not store your personal data on our servers, there is generally no personal data for us to access, correct, or delete on your behalf — you can remove all locally stored data at any time by deleting the app. For advertising, you control data collection through the prompts described below and can opt out of ads entirely by subscribing to Pro.

• EU / UK / Switzerland (GDPR): Where required, Native Past asks for your consent before any ads are loaded, and you can review or withdraw that consent at any time in the app's Settings → "Privacy options (ad consent)."
• California (CCPA): We do not sell your personal information.
• Complaints: If you are in the EU, the UK, or Switzerland, you can also complain to your local data-protection authority.

Advertising

For users who are not Pro subscribers, Native Past shows ads through Google AdMob. To serve and measure ads, AdMob may collect device identifiers and advertising data.

• App Tracking Transparency (iOS): Before any tracking, iOS shows the system "Allow Tracking" prompt, which you may decline. You can change this later in Settings > Privacy & Security > Tracking.
• EU / UK / Switzerland consent: Where required, Native Past shows a Google-certified consent prompt before ads are loaded; you can change your choice anytime in Settings → "Privacy options."
• Pro removes all ads and the associated ad-data collection.

Google's handling of advertising data is governed by Google's Privacy Policy and "How Google uses information from sites or apps that use our services."

Children's Privacy

Native Past is intended for a general audience and is not directed to children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child has provided personal information, please contact us and we will take appropriate steps to address it.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Any changes will be posted on this page with an updated "Last Updated" date. Your continued use of the app after a change indicates acceptance of the updated policy.

Consent

By using Native Past, you consent to this Privacy Policy.