On device: Wikipedia cache, app preferences, and (by default) saved explorations live in local storage on the device you used the app on.
In the cloud: Firebase Authentication holds the anonymous app ID for every install, and your account identity if you sign in. Our server keeps the AI usage counters. If you sign in with an account, your saved explorations sync to Cloud Firestore under your own user ID and are not readable by other users.
AI features: When you trigger AI-assisted features (the AI chat, exploration summaries, or adjacent-topic suggestions), we send the following to our Firebase Cloud Function, which forwards it to Google's Gemini model: the question or message you type in the AI chat, prior messages in that conversation, the title and extract of the Wikipedia topic in context, and the titles of related articles and of the topics you recently visited (used to rank suggestions). The response is returned to your device. We do not store your messages or the AI's answers. Our server logs keep limited request details for up to 30 days to diagnose errors: topic titles, the starting topic of an exploration, and interest descriptions and keywords derived from your chat; when an AI response fails to process, that raw response is logged too. As with any web service, the request logs also record your IP address and device user agent. These logs are not linked to your account or app ID. Google's handling is governed by Google's Firebase / Gemini terms.
Wikipedia: Browsing topics calls the public Wikipedia API directly. Wikipedia's own privacy policy applies to those requests.
We use Firebase Analytics (Google LLC) to log product-usage events that help us understand which features are used. The events we explicitly log are:
app_open — the app was opened.seed_selected — a starting topic was chosen. The selected topic name (e.g. "Physics") is sent as a parameter so we can see which seeds are popular.exploration_summary_shown — the end-of-exploration summary screen was displayed. Counts of nodes and edges explored are sent.share_initiated — the user opened the share sheet. A count of nodes explored is sent.rating_prompt_dispatched — the in-app rating prompt was shown. A count of completed explorations is sent.language_changed — the app's display language was switched. The new language code is sent.We also set one user property, app_language, recording the current display language so we can read locale-level usage in aggregate.
We log only the initial seed topic. Topics you click on inside an exploration are not sent to Firebase Analytics. The user-typed or user-read text we send to Firebase Analytics is limited to: the seed topic name and the language code you switch to. We do not send the article text you read, your exploration graph, the contents of any other Wikipedia page you view, or anything else you type, to Firebase Analytics. (The AI chat is separate — see "AI features" above for what it sends to Google Gemini.)
Firebase Analytics may also automatically log standard events such as first_open, session_start, and screen_view, and collect an app installation ID, device and OS metadata, app version, and approximate (country-level) location. We do not call setUserId, so Analytics events are not linked to your Firebase Authentication account. The Android build disables Advertising ID collection at the manifest level. Data is transmitted over HTTPS and processed by Google as our analytics provider under Google's Firebase Data Processing terms. We do not use it for advertising or marketing.
Local data: Uninstalling the app, or clearing its storage in your device's settings, removes all local cache, preferences, and explorations.
Saved explorations: Clear All on the All Explorations screen deletes every saved exploration — on this device and, if you are signed in, in the cloud.
Cloud data (signed-in users): To delete your account and all cloud-stored data, email studio.peach.go+knowledgeorbit@gmail.com from the address associated with your account. Account deletion covers your Firebase Authentication record (UID, email, display name), all Firestore documents stored under your user ID, and the AI usage counters keyed to it. Local data on your device is not affected by account deletion — uninstall the app or clear its storage to remove it.
KnowledgeOrbit is not directed at children under 13 (or the equivalent minimum age in your jurisdiction). We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has provided personal information, contact us and we will delete it.
If this policy changes, we will update the "Last updated" date at the top of this page. Continued use of the app after changes constitutes acceptance.
Questions, deletion requests, or anything else: studio.peach.go+knowledgeorbit@gmail.com