Privacy policy.

Who we are

The Houseplant Expert operates thehouseplantexpert.com. For privacy questions, access or deletion requests, or complaints, email hello@thehouseplantexpert.com. We will respond to your request and explain any information needed to handle it.

Growing and making without an account

Plant Lab and Pottery Studio do not require an account. Growing settings and pot geometry are processed in your browser. STL files are generated on your device. The retired planner no longer accepts signups, sends reminders or exposes account functionality.

Historical planner recovery backups may contain account information from the former service. They are separate from the active editorial database and restricted to recovery access. Contact us about historical data. The operator must set a justified backup retention period and remove data when it is no longer needed.

Essential browser storage

We store your advertising and measurement preferences in localStorage under houseplant.privacy.v1. If you allow measurement, sessionStorage remembers whether an engaged visit has already been counted. These storage entries contain preferences or a simple flag, not your name or email.

Optional measurement

When you allow measurement, the site counts page views and interactions such as starting or completing a simulation, selecting a plant, changing a pot and downloading an STL. The application stores daily aggregate counts, permitted plant/design identifiers, outcomes and summed scores. It does not store your IP address, email, account ID, detailed browsing trail or free-text input in that measurement table. Do Not Track disables optional measurement.

Your browser necessarily sends a network address to the hosting server. Hosting access/error logs and infrastructure providers may process request information independently of the application’s aggregate counts. The hosting operator controls their retention and access. No external analytics provider is enabled by default; if one is configured later, this policy must describe its actual processing before activation.

Advertising

Google AdSense is configured for the production website only. Development and staging use labelled placeholders. Ad requests remain blocked until advertising is allowed and the deployment’s regional consent integration signals readiness. Our preference dialog is not a substitute for a Google-certified consent management platform where one is required.

If advertising is activated, Google and its partners may use cookies or other identifiers and process information about ad delivery and interaction. Their processing may occur outside Australia. See how Google uses information from partner sites and Google’s advertising controls. You can withdraw permission for future ad loading in our privacy settings; already transmitted requests cannot be recalled. Reload the page after changing ad permissions.

Links, media and correspondence

External botanical references, social sharing links and video links lead to third parties with their own privacy practices. Videos are not embedded automatically. If you email us, we receive your address and the information you choose to include, and use it to respond.

Access, correction and complaints

You can clear local browser storage yourself or contact us about information held by the operator. Do not send passwords or sensitive information with a request. Applicable privacy rights depend on your location and the operator’s legal obligations. In Australia, guidance and complaint information is available from the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.