For parents and guardians

StoneTell Privacy Policy

Effective date: October 2, 2026

This policy explains what the StoneTell app and the stonetell.app website collect, where it goes, and how to delete it. It is written for parents and guardians — the people the app calls “grown-ups”.

In plain words

The short version

Rocks are identified on the iPhone. Nothing is sent anywhere to do that.
Finds stay on the device. Filed rocks, their photos and map pins are stored only on the iPhone. Map pins are never sent to us.
The app has no ads, no accounts, no chat and no tracking — no third-party analytics or trackers. We don’t sell or share personal information.
The app can send StoneTell only two things, and both need a grown-up first:
1. a photo Chip is unsure about, with Chip’s guesses — only if a grown-up has turned on “Second opinion from StoneTell”, which is off by default. Our server doesn’t keep the photo.
2. an email address a grown-up leaves to get a heads-up about an idea in “Coming to StoneTell”.
“Delete all my data” in Field Kit erases what StoneTell keeps on the device. For anything on our server, contact us.
The website sets no cookies. It counts visits with simple counters; section 12 lists them.

01What StoneTell is

StoneTell is an iPhone app for kids aged 8 to 12. It identifies rocks and minerals, keeps a Field Guide of the rocks a child finds, and offers simple “detective tests” that help tell similar rocks apart. The app is available in English and Simplified Chinese.

In the app, a small crystal character called Chip does the identifying. On this page, “Chip’s guesses” means the results the app works out on the device.

02What the app doesn’t do

No ads.
No accounts. Nobody signs up or logs in.
No chat or messaging.
No third-party analytics, tracking SDKs or other trackers.
No advertising identifier.
No selling or sharing of personal information.

03Identifying rocks happens on the device

A child can identify a rock in three ways:

by taking a photo with the camera;
by picking a photo with the system photo picker. StoneTell only sees the photos that are picked;
by doing a “scan”, where the app looks at several camera frames in a row. Scan frames are held in memory only and are never saved.

In every case, the rock is identified on the iPhone itself, using a model and a reference gallery that are built into the app. Nothing is sent anywhere for this.

04“Second opinion from StoneTell” (optional, off by default)

Sometimes Chip isn’t sure. The optional setting “Second opinion from StoneTell” lets the app ask StoneTell’s server for a second look when that happens.

It is off by default.
Only a grown-up can turn it on. The setting is in Field Kit, in the part for grown-ups. Turning it on first asks a question only a grown-up can answer (a “parental gate”).
Anyone can turn it off, at any time.

What is sent

When the setting is on — and only when Chip is unsure about a photo — the app sends these to StoneTell’s server (id.stonetell.app, hosted on Cloudflare):

the photo, as a JPEG (for a scan, one frame);
a numeric “fingerprint” of the photo: 512 numbers computed on the device;
Chip’s top guesses: mineral names with scores;
a coarse region code that picks the server route: global, eu or cn. The app currently always sends global. It is not a location;
the iPhone’s language and region setting (for example, en-US) and the app’s mode (explorer);
a random request number, used once.

What is never sent

a name;
an account (there are no accounts);
advertising or device identifiers;
GPS or any other location;
contacts.

Like any internet request, the request shows our server your network (IP) address and a technical description of the app and iOS version (the “User-Agent”). We don’t store these for second-opinion requests.

What the server does

The server compares the fingerprint with its own copy of the reference gallery. It can also ask an AI vision service to look at the photo and Chip’s guesses.

Status today: this AI step is not switched on. The server answers on its own, and nothing is forwarded to any AI service.

For the route the app uses, the services we plan to use are OpenAI, with Google Gemini as a backup. Before the AI step is switched on, we will update this page to name the service and its terms.

What the server keeps, and for how long

The server does not keep the photo or the fingerprint. It stores a record of the request with:

a random record ID;
the request number;
the region code;
Chip’s guesses;
the server’s own guesses, and the AI step’s result if there is one;
the time.

These records aren’t linked to a person: there is no account, and no network address is stored. They are deleted automatically — a daily job deletes records older than 30 days.

When the setting is off

That’s the default. Nothing about the photo leaves the device. When Chip is unsure, the child can use the detective tests in the app to work it out.

A tip for grown-ups: point the camera at the rock, not at people. A photo can show more than a rock.

05What’s stored on the device

These are stored only on the iPhone, inside StoneTell:

Filed rocks: each rock’s name, the date, its card number and the answers to its detective tests.
Photos: the photo of each filed rock, and a cut-out of the rock.
Map pins and place names, only if “Pin my finds” is on and location permission is given. The app saves the pin’s coordinates and a place name, such as “near Bend, Oregon”. Location is used only while the app is in use.
Usage counts: a small log of usage events, such as “identification completed” or “rock filed”. It stays on the device and is never sent anywhere.

Removing a rock from the Field Guide deletes its photo and cut-out too.

Place names are looked up through Apple’s map service, which receives the coordinates in order to name the place. The map tiles come from Apple Maps too. Pins are never sent to StoneTell.

Sharing needs a grown-up. A grown-up unlocks it first by answering the parental gate question. Then the iOS share sheet opens, and the grown-up chooses where the card goes.

The card shows:

the rock’s name, and its formula or family;
the card number and status;
the line “Found by a young geologist” — never a real name;
the month and year;
at most, the state, province or country where the rock was found (for example, “Oregon”) — never the town, the exact spot or coordinates.

To pass the card to the share sheet, the app creates a temporary image file on the device. “Delete all my data” removes it, and iOS also clears temporary files over time.

07“Coming to StoneTell” heads-ups

Field Kit includes “Coming to StoneTell”, a short list of ideas we’re exploring. After the parental gate, a grown-up can leave an email address to get one email if that idea gets built.

Sent to StoneTell’s server: the email address, which idea it’s for, and fixed tags naming the screen it came from (source ios_app, medium field_kit, and the idea).
Stored on the server: the email address, the idea, those tags and the time — and, as with any website, the network (IP) address the request came from and the app or browser description (User-Agent).
Used for: only sending that one email, and preventing duplicate sign-ups and abuse.
Kept: until you ask us to remove it. There is no automatic deletion yet.

On the device, the app remembers only which ideas got a confirmed heads-up — never the email address. “Delete all my data” clears that, but it does not remove an email address from our list. To have it removed, contact us.

08Apple services

Some features use services built into iOS. Apple handles this data under Apple’s privacy policy. Unless noted below, it happens on the device.

Apple Maps shows the map (the map tiles come from Apple) and turns pins into place names. To name a place, it receives the pin’s coordinates.
Chinese fonts: when the app is used in Chinese, it downloads Apple’s system Chinese fonts from Apple the first time they’re needed. No personal data is involved.
Spotlight: filed rocks appear in the device’s own search, with name, card number, date and status — but not where they were found.
Siri & Shortcuts: the app tells iOS when it’s used, so Siri can suggest “Identify a rock”.
Widgets show progress and the latest find’s name and picture — no places. This data is kept on the device, in a folder shared with the widget.
In-app tips (Apple’s TipKit) remember which tips have been shown, on the device.
Device backups: if the iPhone is backed up to iCloud or to a computer, the backup includes what StoneTell keeps on the device. Apple or you look after that backup; StoneTell can’t see it.

09Permissions

All permissions are optional. The app works without them.

Camera: to identify rocks.
Photos: StoneTell only sees the photos you pick. Saving a card to Photos from the share sheet uses the separate “add to Photos” permission.
Location (While Using the App): for map pins.

You can change these at any time in the iPhone’s Settings app.

10Deleting data

“Delete all my data” is in Field Kit. It asks the parental gate question first, then asks you to confirm twice.

On the device, it deletes

every filed rock, with its photo, cut-out, pin and place name (card numbering starts again);
usage counts;
the record of which ideas got a heads-up;
copies of the Field Guide that were set aside during a repair (“Recovered Stores”);
temporary share images;
Spotlight entries;
Siri suggestions;
widget data;
the history of which tips were shown (it resets the next time the app starts).

Your settings stay as they are. Deleting the app also removes everything it stored on the device.

On our server

Second-opinion records can’t be tied to a person, and they are deleted automatically after 30 days.
Heads-up email addresses stay until you ask us to remove them. Contact us.

11Children’s privacy

StoneTell is designed for children aged 8 to 12. Laws such as the U.S. Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), and similar laws in other countries, protect children’s personal information. In StoneTell:

Children are never asked for personal information.
There are no accounts, no chat, no ads and no tracking.
The app can send StoneTell only two things:
1. a photo and Chip’s guesses, for the optional second opinion (the full list is in section 4). It is off by default, and only a grown-up can turn it on, behind the parental gate;
2. a grown-up’s email address for a heads-up, also behind the parental gate.
Parents and guardians can review and delete what’s on the device at any time (see section 10), and can contact us about anything on our server.

12Website (stonetell.app)

Hosting: the site and our servers (api.stonetell.app, id.stonetell.app) run on Cloudflare. Like any host, Cloudflare handles your network (IP) address, your browser’s description (User-Agent) and the pages you ask for, in order to deliver them and keep out attacks.
Email sign-up: if you leave your email address on this site, we collect it along with the version of the page you saw, campaign tags and the page that referred you, your network address and your browser’s description. We use the address only to send the one email you asked for; the rest shows us which page versions work and stops duplicate sign-ups. We keep it until you ask us to remove it.
Page events: the site records simple page events (page views and button taps) on our own server, with the page version, path, campaign tags or referring page, the time and your network address.
Visit counter: each page also sends a small ping to uponmoon.com, the developer’s own simple visit counter. It sends the site name, the page path, whether the page was opened or left, the page you came from, your browser’s language and, when you leave, how many seconds the page was open. Like any request, it shows the counter your network address and browser description. From those, the counter keeps only a country, the network provider, the type of device and a visitor code that changes every day — never the network address itself. The developer’s other websites use the same counter, so on a given day it can see that one visitor came to several of them.
Cloudflare Web Analytics: Cloudflare adds its own script to our pages to count visits and measure how fast pages load. Cloudflare says it uses no cookies or browser storage.
Fonts come from Google Fonts, so Google receives your network address when a page loads.
No cookies. This site and these counters set no cookies and save nothing in your browser’s storage.

13Changes to this policy

When our practices change, we will update this page and its effective date. We will also update it before the AI step of the second opinion is switched on.

14Contact us

For questions about this policy, or to have something removed from our server, email [email protected]. Our name and postal address are in the operator details at the end of this page.

写给家长和监护人

StoneTell 隐私政策

生效日期：2026年10月2日

本政策说明 StoneTell App 和 stonetell.app 网站会收集哪些信息、这些信息会去哪里，以及如何删除。它写给家长和监护人，也就是 App 里所说的“大人”。

摘要

要点速览

识别在 iPhone 上完成。识别石头时，不会向任何地方发送内容。
发现留在设备上。入册的石头、照片和地图图钉只保存在这台 iPhone 上。图钉绝不会发送给我们。
App 里没有广告、账号、聊天或跟踪——没有第三方统计或跟踪工具。我们不出售、也不共享个人信息。
App 只可能向 StoneTell 发送两类内容，而且都必须先经过大人：
1. 小砾拿不准的照片及小砾的推测——前提是大人打开了“StoneTell 第二意见”，这项设置默认关闭。服务器不保存照片。
2. 大人为“未来计划”里的某个想法登记上线提醒时留下的邮箱地址。
“删除我的全部数据”位于“野外装备”中，可以清除 StoneTell 保存在设备上的内容。服务器上的信息，请联系我们。
本网站不使用 Cookie。它用简单的计数器统计访问量，详见第 12 节。

01StoneTell 是什么

StoneTell 是一款面向 8 至 12 岁孩子的 iPhone App。它可以识别岩石和矿物，把孩子找到的石头收进图鉴，还提供简单的“侦探测试”，帮助分辨相似的石头。App 提供英文和简体中文两种语言。

在 App 里负责识别石头的，是一个名叫“小砾”的小水晶角色。本页所说的“小砾的推测”，指的是 App 在设备上得出的识别结果。

02App 不做的事

没有广告。
没有账号，不需要注册或登录。
没有聊天或消息功能。
没有第三方统计、跟踪 SDK 或其他跟踪工具。
不使用广告标识符。
不出售、也不共享个人信息。

03在设备上识别石头

孩子可以通过三种方式识别石头：

用相机拍照；
通过系统的照片选择器选一张照片。StoneTell 只能看到被选中的照片；
“扫描”：App 连续查看多帧相机画面。扫描画面只保留在内存中，从不保存。

无论用哪种方式，识别都在 iPhone 本机上完成，使用的是 App 内置的模型和参考图库，不会为此发送任何内容。

04“StoneTell 第二意见”（可选，默认关闭）

小砾有时也会拿不准。“StoneTell 第二意见”是一项可选设置：打开后，遇到这种情况，App 会请 StoneTell 的服务器再帮忙看一看。

默认关闭。
只有大人能打开。这项设置位于“野外装备”中给大人使用的部分。打开前要先通过大人验证，也就是回答一个只有大人才答得出的问题。
任何人都可以随时关闭。

会发送什么

只有在这项设置打开、而且小砾对某张照片拿不准时，App 才会把以下内容发送到 StoneTell 的服务器（id.stonetell.app，托管在 Cloudflare 上）：

照片（JPEG 格式；如果是扫描，只发送其中一帧）；
照片的数字“指纹”：在设备上计算出的 512 个数字；
小砾的几个首选推测：矿物名称及其分数；
一个粗略的地区代码，用来选择服务器线路：global、eu 或 cn。App 目前始终发送 global。它不代表任何位置；
iPhone 的语言与地区设置（例如 en-US）和 App 的模式（explorer）；
一个随机生成、只使用一次的请求编号。

绝不发送什么

姓名；
账号（App 本来就没有账号）；
广告标识符或设备标识符；
GPS 或任何位置信息；
通讯录。

和任何联网请求一样，服务器会看到请求来自哪个网络（IP）地址，以及一段描述 App 和 iOS 版本的技术信息（User-Agent）。对于第二意见请求，我们不保存这些信息。

服务器会做什么

服务器会把“指纹”与它自己保存的那一份参考图库进行比对，也可以请 AI 视觉服务查看照片和小砾的推测。

目前的状态：这个 AI 步骤尚未启用。服务器独立给出结果，不会把任何内容转发给 AI 服务。

按照计划，App 所用的线路将以 OpenAI 为主要服务，并以 Google Gemini 作为备用。在启用 AI 步骤之前，我们会先更新本页，写明所用的服务及其条款。

服务器会保存什么、保存多久

服务器不保存照片，也不保存“指纹”。它只保存一条请求记录，内容包括：

一个随机的记录编号；
请求编号；
地区代码；
小砾的推测；
服务器自己的推测，以及 AI 步骤的结果（如果有）；
时间。

这些记录不与任何人关联：没有账号，也不保存网络地址。记录会自动删除——每天运行的清理任务会删除超过 30 天的记录。

设置关闭时

这是默认状态。与照片有关的任何内容都不会离开设备。小砾拿不准时，孩子可以用 App 里的侦探测试自己找出答案。

给大人的提醒：请让相机对准石头，而不是对准人。一张照片拍到的，可能不只是石头。

05保存在设备上的内容

以下内容只保存在这台 iPhone 上的 StoneTell 里：

入册的石头：每块石头的名称、日期、标本卡编号，以及侦探测试的答案。
照片：每块入册石头的照片，以及从照片里抠出的石头图像。
地图图钉和地名：只有在打开“标记我的发现”并允许定位时才会保存，包括图钉的坐标和地名（例如“西湖附近”）。App 只在使用期间获取位置。
使用次数统计：在设备上记录的少量使用事件，例如“完成一次识别”“一块石头入册”。这些记录只留在设备上，从不发送到任何地方。

从图鉴中移除一块石头时，它的照片和抠图也会一并删除。

地名是通过苹果的地图服务查询的：为了给地点命名，苹果会收到图钉的坐标。地图图块也来自苹果地图。图钉绝不会发送给 StoneTell。

分享需要大人参与。先由大人通过大人验证、解锁分享，然后 iOS 的分享面板会打开，由大人决定把卡片发到哪里。

卡片上显示：

石头的名称，以及它的化学式或矿物家族；
标本卡编号和状态；
“由一位小小地质学家发现”这句话——绝不显示真实姓名；
年份和月份；
最多显示发现地所在的州、省或国家（例如“浙江省”）——绝不显示城镇、具体地点或坐标。

为了把卡片交给分享面板，App 会在设备上生成一个临时图片文件。“删除我的全部数据”会删除这个文件，iOS 也会随时间清理临时文件。

07“未来计划”与上线提醒

“野外装备”里有一个“未来计划”列表，列出我们正在探索的一些想法。通过大人验证后，大人可以留下邮箱地址：如果这个想法真的做出来了，我们会发一封邮件通知，只发这一封。

发送到 StoneTell 服务器的内容：邮箱地址、对应的想法，以及标明来源界面的固定标签（来源 ios_app、媒介 field_kit，以及这个想法）。
服务器保存的内容：邮箱地址、想法、上述标签和时间；另外，和任何网站一样，还会保存请求来源的网络（IP）地址，以及 App 或浏览器的描述信息（User-Agent）。
用途：只用于发送这一封邮件，以及防止重复登记和滥用。
保存期限：一直保存，直到你要求我们删除；目前还没有自动删除。

在设备上，App 只记住哪些想法已经成功登记了上线提醒，从不保存邮箱地址。“删除我的全部数据”会清除这些记录，但不会把邮箱地址从我们的名单中删除。如需删除，请联系我们。

08苹果服务

部分功能使用了 iOS 内置的服务。这些数据由苹果公司按照《Apple 隐私政策》处理；除非下面另有说明，处理都在设备上进行。

苹果地图：显示地图（地图图块来自苹果），并把图钉转换成地名。为了给地点命名，它会收到图钉的坐标。
中文字体：在中文界面下，App 第一次需要时会从苹果下载系统中文字体。这个过程不涉及个人信息。
聚焦搜索（Spotlight）：入册的石头会出现在设备自带的搜索中，显示名称、标本卡编号、日期和状态，但不包括发现地点。
Siri 与快捷指令：App 会告诉 iOS 自己何时被使用，这样 Siri 就能建议“识别石头”。
小组件：显示收集进度，以及最新发现的名称和图片，不显示地点。这些数据保存在设备上一个与小组件共享的文件夹里。
App 内提示（TipKit）：在设备上记录哪些提示已经显示过。
设备备份：如果 iPhone 备份到 iCloud 或电脑，备份中会包含 StoneTell 保存在设备上的内容。这些备份由苹果或你自己保管，StoneTell 看不到。

09权限

所有权限都是可选的；不授予这些权限，App 也能正常使用。

相机：用于识别石头。
照片：StoneTell 只能看到你选中的照片。从分享面板把标本卡存到“照片”时，使用的是另一项只允许添加照片的权限。
定位（使用 App 期间）：用于地图图钉。

你可以随时在 iPhone 的“设置” App 中更改这些权限。

10删除数据

“删除我的全部数据”位于“野外装备”中。它会先进行大人验证，再请你确认两次。

在设备上会删除

每一块入册的石头，连同它的照片、抠图、图钉和地名（标本卡编号会从头开始）；
使用次数统计；
上线提醒的登记记录；
修复图鉴时被放到一边的图鉴副本（“Recovered Stores”）；
分享时生成的临时图片；
聚焦搜索（Spotlight）中的条目；
Siri 建议；
小组件数据；
提示的显示记录（下次启动 App 时重置）。

你的设置会保持不变。删除 App 也会清除它在设备上保存的全部内容。

在我们的服务器上

第二意见记录无法与任何人关联，会在 30 天后自动删除。
上线提醒的邮箱地址会一直保存，直到你要求删除。请联系我们。

11儿童隐私

StoneTell 专为 8 至 12 岁的孩子设计。美国《儿童在线隐私保护法》（COPPA）以及其他国家和地区的类似法律，都对儿童的个人信息提供保护。在 StoneTell 中：

从不要求孩子提供个人信息。
没有账号、聊天、广告或跟踪。
App 只可能向 StoneTell 发送两类内容：
1. 可选的第二意见所需的照片和小砾的推测（完整清单见第 4 节）。这项设置默认关闭，只有大人通过大人验证后才能打开；
2. 大人为上线提醒留下的邮箱地址，同样需要先通过大人验证。
家长和监护人可以随时查看和删除设备上的内容（见第 10 节），服务器上的任何信息也都可以联系我们处理。

12网站（stonetell.app）

托管：本网站和我们的服务器（api.stonetell.app、id.stonetell.app）运行在 Cloudflare 上。和任何托管服务一样，Cloudflare 会处理你的网络（IP）地址、浏览器的描述信息（User-Agent）和你请求的页面，以便传送页面、抵御攻击。
邮箱登记：如果你在本网站留下邮箱地址，我们会收集这个地址，以及你看到的页面版本、推广活动标签和来源页面、网络地址和浏览器的描述信息。邮箱地址只用于发送你要的那一封邮件；其余信息用于了解哪个页面版本更有效，以及防止重复登记。邮箱地址会一直保存，直到你要求我们删除。
页面事件：网站会在我们自己的服务器上记录简单的页面事件（页面浏览和按钮点击），包括页面版本、路径、推广活动标签或来源页面、时间和网络地址。
访问计数器：每个页面还会向 uponmoon.com 发送一个很小的请求——这是开发者自己的简单访问计数器。发送的内容包括：网站名称、页面路径、页面是被打开还是被离开、你从哪个页面来、浏览器的语言，以及离开时页面打开了多少秒。和任何联网请求一样，计数器会看到你的网络地址和浏览器描述信息；由此它只保存国家、网络运营商、设备类型，以及一个每天更换的访客代码，从不保存网络地址本身。开发者的其他网站也使用同一个计数器，所以在同一天里，它能看出同一位访客访问过其中的几个网站。
Cloudflare Web Analytics：Cloudflare 会在我们的页面中加入它自己的脚本，用来统计访问量、衡量页面加载速度。Cloudflare 表示，这个脚本不使用 Cookie，也不使用浏览器存储。
字体来自 Google Fonts，因此页面加载时，Google 会收到你的网络地址。
不使用 Cookie。本网站和上述计数器都不设置 Cookie，也不在浏览器存储中保存任何内容。

13政策更新

当我们的做法发生变化时，我们会更新本页和页首的生效日期。在启用第二意见的 AI 步骤之前，我们也会先更新本页。

14联系我们

如有任何疑问，或希望删除我们服务器上的信息，请发送邮件至 [email protected]。运营者名称和通信地址见本页末尾的运营者信息。

Operator details · 运营者信息

Who runs StoneTell · 运营者

Operator · 运营者: 陈泽峰
Postal address · 通信地址: 北京市丰台区云岗西路28号院山语城3区32号楼1单元401
Email · 邮箱: [email protected]
Effective date · 生效日期: October 2, 2026