About Prefectures
Prefectures is an app by Matthew Cheok for collecting illustrated badges from the prefectures you visit in Japan. This policy covers the app, this website, and support correspondence.
Location and visit detection
With your permission, Prefectures uses your device’s location to identify the prefecture you are visiting and make its badge available to collect. If you enable background detection and allow the required location access, detection can also run while the app is in the background, including through monitored geographic regions.
Location checks are processed on your device. Your collection records a prefecture identifier, visit date, collection date, and whether the visit was added manually or detected through location. Those collection records do not include precise coordinates or a route history.
You can turn location detection and background detection off in the app’s Settings, and change location permission in your device’s Settings. You can also add visits manually.
Your collection and iCloud
Your visits and collected badges are stored on your device. When iCloud is available, they sync through Apple’s CloudKit service to your iCloud account so your collection is available across your devices.
App preferences, reminder history, and pending badge discoveries remain on the device and are not included in the app’s CloudKit sync tables. Apple processes iCloud information under Apple’s Privacy Policy.
Badge reminders
If you allow notifications, Prefectures can send local notifications about badges available to collect. Reminder preferences and discovery information help avoid repeated reminders. You can change badge reminders in the app’s Settings and notification permission in your device’s Settings.
Advertising and analytics
Prefectures does not include advertising or third-party analytics services, and does not sell your personal information or use it for advertising tracking.
Support and this website
When you submit the support form, we receive your name, reply email, issue type, device details, and message. We use that information to respond to your request and resolve the issue. Please avoid sending sensitive information that is not needed for support.
Our support form is hosted by Tally. Information you submit is stored by Tally and made available to us to respond to your request. If form email notifications are enabled, a copy may also be delivered to our support inbox. Tally may process technical information to deliver and secure its form. See Tally’s Privacy Policy.
The surrounding website does not include our own analytics scripts or advertising trackers. The embedded form is provided by Tally and is subject to its privacy practices. When the website is hosted publicly, its hosting provider may process technical request information, such as an IP address, to deliver and secure the pages.
Keeping and deleting information
Collection records are kept until you remove them. Use the badge’s removal action in the app to remove a collected visit. Changes sync to your other devices when iCloud sync is available. Deleting the app alone does not necessarily delete data already stored in iCloud or device backups.
Signing out of iCloud clears the app’s local visits, including changes that have not synced; this does not itself erase existing iCloud records. Apple manages retention of iCloud data and backups.
Support submissions stored in Tally and any support correspondence are retained as needed to respond to and follow up on your request. You can ask us to delete your support submission and correspondence. For help removing app data, contact us; we cannot directly access or erase your personal iCloud collection on your behalf.
Questions and requests
Contact Matthew Cheok for privacy questions, requests concerning support correspondence, or help with your data.
Contact us about privacyChanges to this policy
We will update this page when the app’s data practices change and revise the date above.