Irie Orchard · irieorchard.com

Privacy & security

This is a small, static field guide. It has no accounts, sets no cookies and sells nothing yet. Here is everything it does with information, in plain words.

At a glance

How the site is secured

Every page is served over HTTPS with a strict content security policy: the site only runs its own code, can only talk to the named weather, map, soil and nature services listed on this page and can't have its forms sent elsewhere. Anything you type is shown back as plain text, never run as code, and the site is tested for this on every update. Sync links are encrypted in your browser with a code only you see. Community stories, shared yards and plant suggestions go to a private review sheet and appear only after Sean approves them. To report a security problem, see security.txt.

Saved on your device only

Your garden list, plant notes, garden journal, badges, nature log, nursery batches and workspace checkmarks are stored in your own browser (local storage). They never leave your device. Clearing your browser data erases them, and Delete my yard in Your Yard › Settings removes your yard, notes, journal and the photos you took in Irie Orchard from this device.

Soil, rain and blooms near your yard

For a US yard, the dashboard asks the USDA Soil Data Access service what soil is mapped at your yard’s point, rounded to about 100 m. Rain and evaporation come from Open-Meteo, and “Blooming near you” from iNaturalist, using your yard’s point rounded to about 1 km. No name or other detail is sent, and results are kept only in this browser tab for a few hours.

Your own plants and catalog suggestions

Plants you add yourself stay in your yard on this device. Only if you tap “Suggest for the catalog” (or tick that box) does the site send the plant’s name, layer, type and zones, with your town and zone, to Sean’s private plant-suggestions review sheet. No name, email or exact location is sent, and nothing is published unless Sean adds the plant to the catalog himself.

Community yards and pins

Community yards are shown only after Sean approves them, with a name, a town and a growing zone, never contact details. If you tap “Share my yard”, the site sends your yard name, nickname, town, zone and the catalog plants in your yard (not plants you typed in yourself) to Sean’s private review sheet; nothing is public until he approves it. When you pin a yard, a copy of its name, town, zone and plant list is kept in your own yard on this device (and in your backups and Sync links). Pins are never sent to the site or to anyone else.

Sync to another device

"Sync my garden" moves your yard to another device without an account. Your garden is encrypted in your browser with a code only you see, then carried inside the link itself. The part of a link after # is never sent to any server, including this site, and nothing is stored online. Anyone with both the link and the code could open that snapshot, so send it only to yourself.

Anonymous page counts

On the public site, each page view adds 1 to a simple counter, and the page name is also sent to GoatCounter, a small cookie-free counting service, so Sean can see which pages people use. GoatCounter sees the page name, the page you came from and, like any website, your device's internet address; it sets no cookies, does no tracking across sites and sells nothing. The "Was this page helpful?" yes or no on plant pages is counted the same anonymous way and remembered only on this device so you aren't asked twice. See the counts or turn counting off for this device.

Live nature and weather data

Some pages ask Open-Meteo, iNaturalist and GBIF for weather, sightings and range maps, and Your Yard asks the weather alert, pest forecast, drought and Wikipedia services described above. When you open a place to explore (from Climate twins, Sister regions or Community yards), that place's map point, not yours, goes to Open-Meteo for its climate and to BigDataCloud to name its country and region. Those requests carry only plant names and a map point: the orchard in Avon Lake, or, once you set up a yard, your yard's location rounded to about 1 km. Nothing else about you is sent. The full list of lookup services is: Open-Meteo (weather, climate and soil temperature), the US National Weather Service and Environment Canada (alerts), USA-NPN (pest timing), the US Drought Monitor, USDA Soil Data Access (soil type), Zippopotam and BigDataCloud (place names), phzmapi (hardiness zone), iNaturalist and GBIF (sightings and range maps) and Wikipedia (plant summaries). Fonts are served from this site, not from Google. Like any website, these services see your device's internet address when your browser connects.

Problem reports

The “Something not working?” link sends only what you type, the page you were on, your device type (for example “iPhone iOS 18 · Safari”) and the site version to a private Google Form that only Sean can read. No name, email or location is attached, and nothing in it is ever published.

What your phone may ask permission for

Irie Orchard asks only when you tap the button that needs it, and your phone or browser shows its own prompt. You can say no and keep using everything else. Location: only for “Use my location”; the point is rounded, used once to find your place, and not kept. Camera: only for “Take a photo” in the journal or Field tools; photos stay on your device, saved smaller and without their GPS location. Notifications: only on iPhone, for the number on the app icon; no messages are ever sent. Motion and compass: only for the compass and level; readings stay on your device. You can see what is allowed under Your yard › Settings › Permissions on this device, and change it in your browser’s site settings.

"How was this page?"

The five faces at the bottom of some pages send your choice, any note you type, the page, your device type and the site version to the same private form. Email addresses and phone numbers in a note are blanked before sending. Each device answers once per page. Sean uses the scores, as counts and trends only, to decide what to fix next; nothing is published.

Your yard (any ZIP or town)

If you set up a yard, your location, plants, map and checkmarks are saved only in this browser on this device. They are never sent to the orchard. Your ZIP, postal code or town is sent to free public services (Zippopotam.us, phzmapi.org, Open-Meteo and iNaturalist) only to look up your place, hardiness zone, weather and nearby wild plants. Delete it any time under Your Yard → Settings.

Field tools and your phone's sensors

The compass, slope meter and sun tracker read your phone's motion sensors and camera only while you're using them, on your device. Nothing from the camera is recorded or sent. Plant photos (including photos added to garden journal entries) and an aerial photo you add to the yard designer are saved in this browser only; they are never uploaded and aren't in backup files, and plant photos are re-saved without their GPS location. “Use my location” rounds your position to about a kilometer, then asks BigDataCloud's free lookup for the town and postal code; the position itself is never saved.

Weather alerts, pest dates, soil warmth, drought and plant summaries

To show official weather alerts, Your Yard sends your yard's map point, rounded to about 1 km, to the US National Weather Service (US yards) or Environment Canada (Canadian yards). The same rounded point goes to the USA National Phenology Network for pest dates (lower 48 US states), to Open-Meteo for soil temperature, and to the US Drought Monitor's map service (US yards). Plant pages ask Wikipedia for a short summary using only the plant's Latin name; your yard isn't sent. No names, accounts or cookies are involved, and results are kept only for this browser session.

Phone extras

“Keep screen on” in Field tools only stops your screen from dimming while that page is open. If you turn on the number on the app icon, iPhone asks to allow notifications; that permission is used only to show the count, and Irie Orchard never sends notifications. Share buttons hand your list to your phone's own share sheet, and you choose where it goes. Siri and Shortcuts links are ordinary links to pages of this site.

Files you save

The field notebook, plan image and backup file are made inside your browser and saved straight to your device. They're never uploaded. The "Share my dates" image is drawn in your browser too; it is only shared if you choose where to send it. The notebook contains no scripts and loads nothing from the internet. Restoring a backup reads the file on your device and checks it before using it.

Community stories

If you share a story, it goes to a private Google Form owned by the orchard. Nothing is public until Sean reads and approves it. Only the display name, place, zone, plant, title, story and photo link you typed are published, never contact details, and you're asked to leave out your street address, email and phone. Your display name is remembered on this device to save typing next time. Photos in stories load from the link the grower provided, with no referrer sent. To change or remove a story, use the contact email at the bottom of any page.

Reviews

The "Leave a review" link and the occasional "Enjoying Irie Orchard?" note open Trustpilot, a separate review site with its own privacy policy. Nothing is sent from this site. The note appears at most once (or again after "Maybe later"), never if you turned off counting of your own visits, and remembers your choice only on this device.

When you email

The "I'm interested" and contact buttons open your own email app. Your message goes straight to the orchard's inbox and is used only to reply and keep the plant interest list. It is never sold or shared. Ask any time to be taken off the list or to have your messages deleted: use the Contact Sean button (it opens your email app with the orchard's address) and it is done within a week. The same address works for anything you sent through a form on this site. Kids: ask a grown-up before sending a form or an email; the site itself never asks for your name or age.

Photos

Photos are of the orchard only, and location data is removed before they're published.

Future sales

If online sales start, payment will be handled entirely by the payment company's own secure checkout. Card details will never pass through or be stored by this site.

Questions

Use the contact email at the bottom of any page. Security reports: see security.txt.

Last updated November 2026.

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