Scana AppPrivacy Policy
Scana App turns photos of ID cards and paper documents into clean, real-size images and PDFs. Scanning happens on your phone, and your scans stay on your phone unless you choose to back them up to your own Google Drive. This policy explains what information the app can access, what it does with it, and what it does not do.
The short version
- Your scans are processed and stored on your device. We do not have servers that receive, store, or analyse them.
- Google Drive backup is optional and off by default. If you connect it, files go to a folder in your own Drive, and the app can only see files it created there.
- Scana App has no user accounts of its own, no advertising SDKs, and no analytics or tracking.
- Apart from Google Drive (only if you connect it), the only network request the app makes is to download a small configuration file (for example, to tell you an update is available).
1. Information we access
1.1 Camera and scans (on-device)
Scana App needs camera permission to photograph your ID cards and documents. Edge detection, cropping and perspective correction run on your device using the operating system's document scanner (Google ML Kit Document Scanner on Android, which is delivered through Google Play services; VisionKit on iOS). The resulting images are saved in the app's private storage on your phone, together with the layout options you chose and the name you gave the scan.
Your scans can contain sensitive personal information (for example, the details printed on an identity card). The app never reads, interprets or extracts that information — it only handles the picture. Scans are not uploaded anywhere unless you explicitly use the Google Drive backup or the Share feature described below.
1.2 Exports saved to your device
When you tap Save, the app writes the PNG, JPG or PDF you chose into the Downloads / Scana App folder on Android or the Files → On My iPhone → Scana App folder on iOS. If you have granted photo library permission, image exports are also added to your Photos. This permission is only ever used to add files; the app does not read or browse your existing photos.
1.3 Sharing
The Share button hands the exported file to your operating system's share sheet. Whatever app you pick (email, messaging, cloud storage and so on) then receives the file under that app's own privacy policy. Scana App does not see where you send it.
1.4 Google Drive backup (optional)
- the drive.file scope, which lets it create and manage only the files it uploads — it cannot see, read or change anything else in your Drive; and
- your account's email address, so the Backup screen can show which account is connected.
Backups are PDF copies of your scans, uploaded over an encrypted connection into a folder named "Scana App" in your own Google Drive. The sign-in tokens and your email address are kept in your device's secure storage (Android Keystore / iOS Keychain) and are never sent to us. You can turn automatic backup off, or disconnect Drive at any time from the Backup screen; disconnecting revokes the app's access and deletes the tokens from your device. Files already in your Drive remain yours and are under your control in Google Drive.
Google's handling of your Drive data is governed by the Google Privacy Policy (https://policies.google.com/privacy). Scana App's use of information received from Google APIs adheres to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements.
1.5 Notifications (optional)
If you allow notifications, the app shows a local "Saved" notification with Open and Share buttons after an export. These notifications are generated on your device; no push service or server is involved.
1.6 App preferences (stored on your device)
Scana App remembers, on your device only: your saved scans and their layout settings, your default scan options (page size, background, corners, border), the appearance theme, whether you have completed onboarding, whether backup reminders are muted, and which update or announcement messages you have already dismissed. This data lives in the app's private storage, is not synced anywhere, and is removed when you uninstall the app.
1.7 Remote configuration (one small download)
On launch, and while the app is open, Scana App reads a small configuration file from Firebase Realtime Database (a Google service). This file contains only settings written by us — for example the minimum supported app version, an "update available" message, a maintenance notice, an announcement, or feature switches. The app sends no personal data and no scan data in this request.
As with any internet request, Google's servers may temporarily process technical details such as your device's IP address and the time of the request in order to deliver the response. We do not receive, store, or use this information. Google's handling of such data is described in the Google Privacy Policy (https://policies.google.com/privacy) and the Firebase Privacy and Security page (https://firebase.google.com/support/privacy).
2. Information we do NOT collect
Scana App does not collect, store on our servers, or transmit to us:
- your scans, exported files, or the information printed on your documents;
- names, phone numbers, passwords, or any account information (the app has no accounts of its own; your Google email is stored only on your device if you connect Drive);
- location data;
- contacts, messages, or your existing photos and files;
- advertising identifiers (the app does not use an advertising ID);
- usage analytics, crash reports, or behavioural tracking.
3. How information is used
The only purposes for which Scana App accesses information are to capture and lay out your scans, to save or share the files you ask for, to back them up to your own Google Drive if you turn that on, to remember your settings on your device, and to show you service messages (updates, maintenance, announcements) from the remote configuration file.
4. Sharing and third parties
We do not sell, rent, or share any personal information. The third-party services the app can contact are:
- Firebase (Google) — the configuration download described in section 1.7. No scan data or personal information is sent.
- Google Drive — only if you connect it, to store your backups in your own account (section 1.4).
- Google Play services (Android) — provides the on-device document scanner module. Google states that this scanner processes images on the device.
- Any app you choose in the Share sheet receives the file you share with it.
5. Data retention and deletion
- Scans in the app: stay in the app's private storage until you delete them from My Scans or uninstall the app.
- Exported files: are ordinary files in your Downloads / Files / Photos and remain until you delete them there. Uninstalling the app does not remove them.
- Drive backups: remain in your Google Drive until you delete them there. Disconnecting Drive in the app does not delete files already uploaded.
- App preferences and Drive tokens: stay on your device until you disconnect Drive, clear the app's data, or uninstall the app.
- We hold no data about you on our servers, so there is nothing for us to retain or delete.
6. Permissions summary
- Camera — Capture ID cards and documents.
- Photos / Media (add only) — Optionally add exported images to your photo library. On Android, saving to Downloads uses the system MediaStore and needs no storage permission.
- Notifications — Optional "Saved" notification with Open / Share actions.
- Internet — Download the remote configuration file; upload backups to Google Drive if connected.
- Vibrate — Haptic feedback.
Camera, Photos and Notifications can be reviewed and changed at any time in Settings → Permissions inside the app or in your device settings.
7. Children
Scana App is a general-audience utility and is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone, including children.
8. Security
Your scans and preferences stay on your device and are protected by your device's own security (screen lock, encryption). Google Drive tokens are kept in the device's secure storage. All network connections — the configuration download and Drive uploads — use encrypted HTTPS/TLS. Because scans of identity documents are sensitive, we recommend keeping your device locked and, if you enable Drive backup, protecting your Google account with two-step verification.
9. Future changes to the app
If a future version of Scana App adds features that change how data is handled — for example optional advertising, in-app purchases, or additional cloud services — this policy will be updated before those features are released, and the app will ask for any additional permissions at that time.
10. Changes to this policy
We may update this policy from time to time. The effective date at the top will change, and material changes will be announced in the app. The current version is always available at the link published on the app's store listing.