Privacy Policy

Draft, not yet final. It takes effect when Pocket Plastics launches.

Pocket Plastics is a free app for medical students, with no accounts of its own, no ads from us and no analytics tools in the app. This policy explains what happens to your information when you use the app or its website.

What we collect

Nothing about you. We don't ask for your name, your email or anything else about you, and the app sends us nothing about you or how you use it. We do count how many times each pack is downloaded each day, as totals with nothing about who downloaded it.

What stays on your device

• The packs you download.
• A copy of the procedure list, so the shelf works offline.
• A note that you agreed to this policy and the Terms of Use.
• Your notes and your surgery diary.
• Any book PDFs you import, and the page numbers you give the app for them.

These stay in the app's own storage. We can't see them. Imported books aren't uploaded, synced or included in your device's backup.

If iCloud is on, your notes and diary also sync through your own private iCloud account, so they follow you across your devices. Apple stores them under its own privacy terms, and we can't read them. Please don't enter anything that could identify a patient.

Downloading packs

The app downloads the procedure list and your packs from a file host. Like any web server, the host receives your IP address and basic request details so it can send the files. We don't use that information, and we don't combine it with anything else. The only thing we keep is the daily download total for each pack.

Streamed clips

Some clips play directly from PubMed Central, the US National Library of Medicine's archive of journal articles. When a step with one of these clips opens, the app reads one picture from the clip to show in its frame, and the clip itself loads when you tap it. Like any web server, PubMed Central receives your IP address and basic request details so it can send them.

YouTube

Pocket Plastics uses YouTube API Services to play some clips. A YouTube clip loads only when you tap it.

When it loads, YouTube's player runs inside the app. YouTube and Google may then collect information directly from your device, including by placing or reading cookies and similar technology, and YouTube may show content of its own, including ads. That information goes to Google and doesn't come to us. Google handles it under the Google Privacy Policy.

YouTube clips are also covered by YouTube's Terms of Service. If you'd rather not use YouTube, don't tap a YouTube clip. The rest of the app works without them.

The website

Our website, pocketplastics.app, uses Cloudflare Web Analytics to count page views and visits. Cloudflare says Web Analytics doesn't collect or use visitors' personal data.

The procedure library on the website is for members of the Plastic Surgery Student Network (PSSN). PSSN's site sends you there after you sign in to PSSN, and the library then sets one cookie that says you came from PSSN as a member or a mentor, so you don't have to sign in again for 30 days. It holds no name or email. We never see your PSSN sign-in.

Sharing

We have no information about you, so we have none to share or sell. The app holds no advertising, analytics or tracking tools of ours. The only other parties that receive anything are the file host, PubMed Central, YouTube and, on the website, Cloudflare Web Analytics, as described above.

Apple may give us totals, such as how many people downloaded the app, that don't identify you.

Keeping and deleting

We hold nothing about you, so there's nothing for us to delete.

To delete a pack, use Remove download. To delete an imported book, open it and use Remove this PDF. To delete your notes and diary, including their iCloud copy, use Delete all my data in the app. To withdraw your agreement, delete the app.

If you write to us, we keep your message only as long as it takes to answer it, and then we delete it. You can ask us to delete it sooner.

Children

Pocket Plastics is for medical students. It isn't directed at children under 13, and we don't knowingly collect information from them.

Changes

If this policy changes, we'll post the new version here with its date.

Contact

Questions or complaints about privacy are welcome. Contact details are on the Support page.