01Who we are
Fern is a shared photo time-capsule app operated by Bramble Labs Inc. This policy covers the Fern app, supporting services, usefern.app, beta participation, and support. Contact fern@mawa.dev for privacy questions and requests.
Fern is currently in prerelease. Features and availability can vary by build and platform. The separate Waitlist privacy notice explains launch emails and optional TestFlight interest in more detail.
02Information Fern handles
- Account and profile: your authentication identifier, email, display name, available avatar/profile details, sessions, and account status.
- Capsules and invitations: album names, descriptions, covers, start/reveal times, appearance, members, roles, invitation recipients and delivery state.
- Photos and interactions: uploaded images, processing versions, contribution records, comments, hearts and other supported interactions, and the activity necessary to show them to your group.
- Communication and device details: notification preferences, push-device tokens and installation identifiers, email delivery information, app/device technical context, and support correspondence.
- Operational data: upload state, request/security metadata, limited diagnostics, rate-limit identifiers, and records needed to protect accounts and recover the service.
Uploaded source images may contain embedded camera, capture-time, or location metadata. Fern keeps private source objects for processing and creates metadata-stripped display and thumbnail versions. Avoid uploading information you do not want the service to process.
03Who can see your photos
Capsules are for invited members. Contributed photos stay hidden from members, including the host, until the capsule’s reveal time. An optional selected cover is visible separately and is not a preview of hidden contributions.
After reveal, authorized members can view contributed photos, use supported comments/reactions, and save copies. Shared photo links remain member-only and expire; they do not make the capsule a public album. Photos saved, captured, or shared outside Fern cannot be recalled from other people or services.
The reveal rule is an application access-control feature, not end-to-end encryption against the operator. Fern and its infrastructure process readable media to provide uploads, display versions, and access to your group. Authorized operations personnel may handle information when necessary for support, security, or legal obligations.
04Why information is used
We use information to create accounts and capsules, invite members, accept and process uploads, enforce reveal times and membership, show photos and interactions, deliver requested notifications, respond to support, prevent abuse, and keep the service reliable.
Where a legal basis is required, this can include providing the service you request, your consent for optional features or communications, legitimate security/operational interests where permitted, and legal obligations. We do not sell your photos or use capsule content for advertising.
05Providers and other recipients
Fern uses Clerk for authentication and account identity; DigitalOcean for application hosting and private Spaces media storage; Neon for PostgreSQL; CloudAMQP for message delivery infrastructure; Resend for invitation, reveal, and launch emails; Pushy and the applicable device platform for push delivery; and Sentry for configured diagnostics. The website uses Vercel hosting and Web Analytics, with Cloudflare domain/DNS services.
These providers process information relevant to their roles. For example, an email provider receives a recipient and message content, which may include an invitation link; push services receive device tokens and notification data. Apple processes tester email and participation information for TestFlight invitations.
We may also share information with recipients you choose, authorized support personnel, professional advisers, or authorities where necessary and lawful, or as part of a business transfer with applicable protections. Providers may process data outside your country. Their locations and legal obligations can differ; contact us about the safeguards relevant to your request.
06Permissions and diagnostics
Camera and photo-library permissions support photos you choose to take, contribute, or save. Notification permissions support the updates you enable. You can change operating-system permissions and available in-app preferences. Turning off a permission stops future permission-dependent access; it does not automatically delete previously uploaded content.
Configured Sentry error reporting handles technical error, release, and operational context. The integration scrubs account identifiers, credentials, media locators, raw URLs and bodies; it does not enable session replay or screenshot attachments. Optional app metrics and logs depend on the available diagnostics choice and build configuration. Authentication and push providers can separately receive device/security metadata needed for their services.
07The website and waitlist
Vercel Web Analytics measures aggregate page visits, referrals, and broad device/region information without tracking cookies. Waitlist form fields and capsule content are not sent as website analytics. Hosting can separately process network addresses, requested URLs, browser details, and request times.
The waitlist records your email, selected platform, consent, optional beta interest, and subscription/invitation status. It does not create a Fern app account or guarantee beta access. Resend handles emails and preferences; Apple receives selected testers’ email addresses for invitations. Unsubscribe through a launch email or contact us. Launch-email preferences and beta access are separate.
Website previews contain example photos, not member content. Local demonstration selections stay in the page. Copy/share controls act only when you select them. The app keeps authentication state, settings, and caches needed for your use; signing out or uninstalling does not erase server records.
08Retention and deletion
We retain account and capsule information to provide the features you use. Operational, security, delivery, and support information is retained for its purpose and applicable legal obligations. Some relational and audit records are kept in minimized form to preserve integrity and prevent deleted accounts or content from reappearing after recovery.
During prerelease, contact fern@mawa.dev to request account deletion, data removal, or an export. Complete automated account cleanup is not yet available for every beta account. We will verify the request, explain the available process and any retained categories, and confirm the outcome; requesting deletion or uninstalling is not proof that every provider copy has already been erased.
Media, authentication, delivery, backups, and provider security records can have different cleanup lifecycles. Inactive push-device metadata may remain with Pushy for up to 18 months under its current retention arrangements. Copies saved to someone’s photo library, another app, or a recipient’s mailbox are outside Fern’s control.
Waitlist information is separate from app accounts. We retain limited consent, withdrawal, suppression, and beta-administration records to respect your choices. Unsubscribing stops launch emails but does not itself erase those records. Contact us for deletion requests affecting the waitlist or providers.
09Your choices and rights
You choose what to upload and whom to invite. Use supported content, membership, and notification controls to manage your experience. Have permission to share photos and information about others, including children.
Depending on your location, you may have rights of access, correction, deletion, portability, restriction, objection, withdrawal of consent, and complaint to a privacy authority. Contact us to exercise them. We may verify your account and explain lawful exceptions. Parents and guardians can contact us about a child’s information or use without required permission.
10Security and updates
We use authenticated access, membership/reveal checks, private media storage, limited-duration media links, and technical safeguards. No service can guarantee perfect security. Report suspected exposure privately and do not send passwords or unnecessary private photos in a support message.
We update this policy when practices change, show the effective date, and provide additional notice or obtain consent where required.