Privacy Policy
Last updated October 2, 2026
Stool Scout is built to know as little about you as possible. Here's exactly what happens to your data.
Photos
When you tap Analyze, your photo is shrunk on your device and sent to our server, which passes it to Anthropic's Claude API for analysis. We don't store the photo, write it to disk or log it. It exists only in memory for the few seconds the analysis takes. Anthropic processes it under its commercial terms, which do not allow using API data to train models. To stop the same photo being scored twice, we keep a one-way fingerprint (a SHA-256 hash) of it for 30 days. The photo can't be rebuilt from that fingerprint.
Your check log
The detailed result of each check (type, colour, estimated weight, any warning signs) and your answers to the quick questions (floating, straining, foods, water) are saved only in your browser on this device. We never receive them. Clearing your browser data, or tapping "Delete my check log", erases them. One exception: if you haven't joined yet, the type and estimated weight of a check are held for up to 30 minutes so you can save it to the leaderboard, then deleted. Colour, warning signs and your answers are never included.
If you join the leaderboard
Joining is optional. If you pick a handle, we store:
- your handle, avatar, time zone and whether you appear on the global board;
- per check: the Bristol type, estimated weight, points and time. Colour, warning signs, your answers and photos are never stored on the server;
- your running totals (points, weight, streaks, personal records), your squads and the props you give;
- a hash of your device's secret key;
- your birth year (required, to confirm you're old enough and to understand our audience in aggregate);
- your email, only if you add one. It's used to send you a sign-in code if you lose your device, and it's never shown to other users;
- whether you agreed to partner offers (off unless you switch it on);
- if you add pets: their name, species and optional breed, and the same score/weight/points data for their checks;
- if you use Gut Detective: the foods, drinks and feelings you log (for example "coffee", "bloated", pain level), anything you type in "Something else?", and whether Flare mode is on, plus the extra Flare check answers (had to rush, pain, blood seen, accident). This stays private to your account, is never shown on a leaderboard or the feed, and is used only to show you your own patterns and to fill in your doctor visit summary. You can delete any entry at any time;
- if you use Little Scouts: each child's name or nickname, age band (for example "toddler, 1–3 years"), feeding type for babies, and the diaper and potty entries you log (time, wet or dirty, colour, texture, anything you tick, and Scout's one-line read of a photo). Children don't get accounts. This stays private to your account: it is never shown on a leaderboard, the feed or to anyone else, and it is not part of the anonymous usage counts. Entries older than 90 days are deleted automatically, and you can delete a child, one entry or everything at any time;
- if you turn on the Throne Map: a rough location (about 1 km), city and country for each drop, and the public toilets you claim in Throne Quest;
- your usual time of day for checks (worked out from when you log), used only for the optional "almost time" nudge.
Beta sign-ups
If you join the app beta at /beta, we store your email, which phone you use and when you signed up. We use it only to send your beta invite and launch news. It is never shared.
Throne Map (optional, off by default)
If you turn on the Throne Map in Me, each drop saves a rough location (rounded to about 1 km) plus the city and country it's in. We look up the city and country from that rough point using OpenStreetMap. Your map is private: nobody else sees it. Your city and country are used only to put you on your city's and country's weekly leaderboards. Turning the map off stops saving new places; deleting your account deletes them all.
If you ask for a bathroom you run to be Scout-approved, we keep the business name and the email or phone number you leave so we can check. Only Stool Scout admins see them, and they're used for nothing else.
Throne Quest (same switch as the Throne Map)
With the Throne Map on, each drop also sends your precise location once so we can find the nearest public toilet (from OpenStreetMap) and let you claim it. We don't keep that precise point. We keep: the toilets you've claimed (these are public places), how many days you've logged at each, and a rough location (about 1 km) with a time, for 7 days, so we can ignore impossible jumps (like two claims an ocean apart an hour apart). If the map service is slow, the claim spot is held for up to 3 days until it can be matched, then deleted. Other scouts can see who holds the crown at a public toilet (your handle, unless you're hidden from the global board), never your location. Deleting your account deletes all of it.
Your drop history
To build your monthly Wrapped, we keep a private list of your checks (Bristol type, estimated weight, points, time and the spot if you checked in). Colours, warning signs and your answers are still never stored on the server.
Buddies, reactions and invites
If you start a Buddy Streak, your buddy sees whether you logged a drop that day (not what it was). Reactions on the feed are visible to everyone who can see that drop. If you join from a friend's invite link, we note who invited you so you both get your Nuggets.
Partner offers
If, and only if, you switch on "Offers from Stool Scout partners", we may email you offers from companies we work with, and we may share your email address and birth year with those partners for that purpose. We never share or sell your health information: no photos, Bristol types, colours, weights, warning signs, answers or check history, yours, your pet's or your children's. You can switch this off at any time in Me → Settings, and we'll stop.
Location
Throne alerts (off by default). If you switch them on in the app, your phone watches up to 18 nearby throne locations using the operating system's built-in geofencing, which needs "Always" location permission. When you walk into one, the app shows a notification on your phone. This happens on your device: your background location is not sent to us, stored or shared. Turn it off any time in Me → Settings.
"Thrones near you" uses your device's location only when you ask for it (or, if you've allowed it before, when you open the app) to find spots within a few kilometres and check you in. Your location is sent to our server for that search and is not stored. When you make a spot with "Pin it to where I am now", that spot's coordinates are saved and shown to others as part of the spot.
Checks you post to the feed are visible to other users: publicly if you're on the global board, or only to your squads if you've turned that off. Use a handle that doesn't identify you if you'd rather stay anonymous.
Deleting everything
Me → Settings → "Delete my account" permanently removes your profile, email, pets, Little Scouts (every child and their log), your Gut Detective log, feed posts, props and leaderboard entries from our database. "Delete my check log" removes the log on your device.
Other things we don't do
- No ads, no tracking pixels, no analytics cookies.
- The app and site send anonymous, first-party counts (like "map opened 3 times today") and crash reports (what broke, which screen, app version, device model or "browser"). No account, device ID, IP address, photo or log entry is attached, nothing is shared with a third party, and you can switch it off in Settings.
- We don't sell your data, and we never share health data. Your email and birth year go to partners only if you opt in (see above).
- Our host (Vercel) and database provider (Upstash) process requests to run the service. Your IP address is used briefly to enforce the daily check limit.
Health information
Stool Scout is a wellness app, not a medical device, and gives no diagnosis. Results are AI estimates from a photo.
Contact
Questions or deletion requests: [add your contact email before launch].