SkimGuard

Privacy Policy

Effective: August 5, 2026

SkimGuard, Inc. ("we", "us", "our") operates the SkimGuard mobile application, the SkimGuard business and partner services, and the SkimGuard MCP server and API at mcp.skimguard.io. This Privacy Policy explains what we collect, how we use it, where and how long we store it, who we share it with, and how to contact us. It covers the consumer app, the in-car apps, and the MCP server (see Section 8).

The SkimGuard consumer app is free — no ads, no subscription, and signing in is optional.

1. Information We Collect

Account Information

An account is optional. You can use SkimGuard without signing in, in which case we assign an anonymous identifier so the app can function. If you choose to create an account, we collect your email address and authentication credentials; if you sign in with Google or Apple, we receive your name and email from the identity provider.

Location Data

SkimGuard uses your device's GPS to record where Bluetooth scans are performed. Location data is required for scan functionality and is used to:

  • Tag scan results with geographic coordinates
  • Show nearby verified locations on the SafeMap
  • Alert you when near a location with known safety data (if enabled)

Background location is opt-in. If you turn on background drive detection, your location is checked periodically (approximately every 15 minutes) using low-accuracy GPS so a scan can run when you park. This is off by default and toggle-gated — you can disable it at any time in the app's Settings.

When you launch SkimGuard on Android Auto, your current GPS coordinates are sent to our servers to look up the most recent safety verification for that location. No scan is performed on the head unit. If you do not use Android Auto, this collection does not occur.

Scan Data

When you perform a scan, we collect information about nearby Bluetooth devices — Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) and Bluetooth Classic only— including signal strength, manufacturer identifiers, and advertised services, to detect potential skimming devices. SkimGuard does not use NFC: NFC scanning was removed from the product entirely, and the app requests no NFC permission. No data from payment cards is ever collected.

Device Information

We collect device model, operating system version, app version, and a device identifier for analytics and troubleshooting purposes.

2. How We Use Your Information

  • Provide and improve the skimmer detection service
  • Generate anonymized safety ratings for locations
  • Send push notifications about scan results and safety alerts
  • Manage your account and process business-account subscriptions
  • Aggregate usage analytics to improve the product
  • Comply with legal obligations

3. No Advertising or Third-Party Tracking

SkimGuard contains no advertising SDKs and does not track you across apps or websites for advertising. On iOS we do not present the App Tracking Transparency (ATT) prompt, our privacy manifest declares NSPrivacyTracking as false, and the app ships a complete Apple privacy manifest. We do not sell your personal information.

4. Residential-Scan Privacy

If a scan resolves to a residential or bare street address, that scan stays in your own history only. It is never published to the public SafeMap, the Nearby view, the /here sticker page, or the in-car surfaces. Apartments, condominiums, and short-term / vacation rentals are treated as residential and withheld the same way; genuine hotels and motels remain visible as public places. A scan at someone's home must never become a public map pin.

5. In-Car Apps

The SkimGuard apps built into Android Automotive OS (AAOS) and Automotive Grade Linux (AGL) head units use no Firebase or Google-services SDK and collect no on-device Bluetooth scan data. (Apple CarPlay and Android Auto project the phone app; the Android Auto GPS lookup described in Section 1 is the only server call made from that surface.)

6. Data Sharing

We do not sell your personal information. We may share data with:

  • Service providers: Firebase (hosting, authentication, database), Google Cloud Platform (Cloud Run, Firestore, BigQuery, and the Google Places API used to resolve locations), and Stripe (business-account payments)
  • Law enforcement: When required by law or to protect public safety
  • Data licensing partners: Anonymized, aggregated location risk data only — never individual scan results or personal information

7. Data Retention

Scan data is retained indefinitely to maintain location safety ratings. Account data is deleted within 30 days of account deletion. You can request account deletion from the app's Settings or at skimguard.io/deleteme. Retention of the MCP server and authorization-server data is described in Section 8.

8. The SkimGuard MCP Server & API

We operate a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server at mcp.skimguard.io that lets AI assistants query SkimGuard's public safety data. The public tier is free and unauthenticated — it answers questions such as "does this location have recent card-skimmer detections?" with no account or credential.

What the server logs. For any request to the MCP server we may log request metadata, including your IP address, the requested operation, response status, and timestamps, for security, abuse-prevention, and operational purposes. To enforce rate limits we keep short-lived counters keyed to the caller's IP address; these are automatically deleted within minutes.

Paid tiers and OAuth. Business, partner, and data-licensing tiers authenticate either with an API key or, from hosted assistants, via OAuth 2.1 through our authorization server at auth.skimguard.io. Your login is handled by Firebase Authentication; the authorization server adds only the OAuth protocol layer. For those flows we store, and delete on these schedules:

  • Authorization codes — single-use, deleted within ~1 minute.
  • Pending authorization requests — ~10 minutes.
  • Refresh tokens — up to 90 days (rotated; a reused token revokes the family).
  • Registered OAuth client details (dynamic client registration) — retained while the client registration is active.
  • A short cache of a client's published metadata — ~24 hours.
  • Access tokens — short-lived (1 hour) signed tokens that are not stored on our servers.

Permissions (scopes) are derived from your SkimGuard entitlements, never from what a client asks for. The business, partner, and data-licensing tools return only the data associated with your own account — never another customer's.

9. Security

We use industry-standard security measures including encrypted data transmission (TLS), encrypted storage, and Firebase App Check to prevent unauthorized access. API keys for enrolled business devices are stored using platform secure storage (iOS Keychain, Android Keystore).

10. Children's Privacy

SkimGuard is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13.

11. Your Rights

Depending on your jurisdiction, you may have the right to access, correct, delete, or port your personal data. To exercise these rights, contact us at privacy@skimguard.io.

12. Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy from time to time. Material changes will be communicated through the app or via email.

13. Contact

SkimGuard, Inc.
Email: privacy@skimguard.io
Website: skimguard.io