Privacy Policy

Yearbirder does not collect, transmit, or store any personal data.

Effective date: September 17, 2026

Overview

Yearbirder is a desktop application for exploring your personal eBird sightings and bird photos. All your data stays on your own device. We do not operate any servers, collect any telemetry, or receive any information about you or your use of the app.

Data you provide

  • Your eBird data file is loaded directly from your device and is never uploaded or transmitted anywhere by Yearbirder.
  • Your media catalog is stored as a local file on your device.
  • Your eBird API key is stored locally in the app's preferences on your device and is transmitted only to the eBird API when you use Community features.

Third-party services

When you use Community features (Regional Taxonomy, Notable Community Sightings, All Community Sightings, Hotspot Map, Community Sightings Explorer), Yearbirder contacts the eBird API at ebird.org directly from your device using your personal API key. This communication is between your device and eBird, operated by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Yearbirder has no involvement in or visibility into that transaction. Please refer to Cornell's privacy policy for details on how they handle API requests.

Map tiles displayed in Yearbirder — both the street maps and the satellite layer — are fetched directly by your device from Esri's ArcGIS Online servers as you pan and zoom maps. Please refer to Esri's privacy statement for details.

When you choose Check for Updates, Yearbirder asks GitHub which release is the most recent. That request carries no information about you or your data, and it happens only when you ask for it. Please refer to GitHub's privacy statement for details.

Analytics and advertising

Yearbirder contains no analytics, no advertising, and no tracking of any kind.

Contact

If you have questions about this privacy policy, please open an issue on the Yearbirder GitHub page.