Privacy Policy

Effective October 13, 2026 · Last updated October 13, 2026

1. Who we are

Thing Compass (“Thing Compass,” “we,” “us”) is an iPhone app and website (thingcompass.com) operated by EunJin Yoo, a sole proprietor based in the Republic of Korea. For the purposes of data protection laws, EunJin Yoo is the controller (or “personal information processor”) responsible for the personal information described in this policy.

This policy explains what information is involved when you use the Thing Compass app, visit our website, or contact us.

2. Information in the app

When you use Thing Compass, you may add photos of your belongings, names, notes, tags, and the places you keep them, such as rooms, furniture, drawers and boxes (“your content”). Your content is stored:

• On your device, inside the app.
• In your private iCloud, if iCloud is turned on for your Apple Account, so it can sync across your devices. Apple stores this data under your Apple Account, governed by Apple’s Privacy Policy and your agreement with Apple.

We do not collect, receive, store or have access to your content. It is not transmitted to us or to any server we operate.

Device permissions. The app asks for permission before using these features, and you can change your choice at any time in your iPhone’s Settings:

• Camera: to take photos of your things.
• Photos: the app uses Apple’s photo picker, so it receives only the photos you choose.
• NFC: to write links to and read links from NFC stickers.

On-device processing. Removing the background from a photo is done entirely on your device using Apple’s built-in technology. Photos are not sent anywhere for this.

NFC stickers. The app writes a web link to a sticker, such as https://thingcompass.com/s/…. The link contains only a randomly generated code that points to a place in your app. It doesn’t contain your name, your items or other personal information. Anyone who scans the sticker with a phone can read this link, but without your device they can’t see what’s in your app.

3. Information we collect

We collect only the following:

• When you contact us. If you email us, we receive your email address, your name if it’s included, the content of your message, and any attachments you choose to send (such as screenshots).
• When you visit our website, or a sticker link opens it. Our hosting provider automatically processes standard technical information needed to deliver web pages and keep them secure: IP address, browser and device type, the page requested, the referring page, and the date and time. Our website does not use advertising or analytics cookies. Our hosting and domain providers may set strictly necessary security cookies to protect the site from abuse.
• Information from Apple. If you’ve chosen to share analytics with app developers in your iPhone settings, Apple may provide us with crash reports and aggregated usage statistics (for example, number of installs or sessions). These do not identify you to us. You can turn this off at any time in Settings › Privacy & Security › Analytics & Improvements › Share with App Developers.
• Purchases. Purchases are processed by Apple through the App Store. We don’t receive your name, payment details or Apple Account. Apple may provide us with aggregated sales reports.

4. Information we don’t collect

• We don’t require an account or sign-up.
• We don’t use advertising, and the app contains no advertising, tracking or analytics SDKs.
• We don’t track you across other companies’ apps or websites, and the app does not ask for tracking permission because it doesn’t track.
• We don’t collect precise or approximate location.
• We don’t collect contacts, health, financial or biometric information.
• We don’t sell personal information, and we don’t “share” it for cross-context behavioral advertising.
• We don’t use personal information for automated decision-making or profiling.

5. How we use information, and our legal bases

We don’t use personal information for purposes other than those listed above. If we ever need to, we’ll ask for your consent first where the law requires it.

6. Who we share information with

We don’t sell, rent or trade personal information. We share it only with service providers who process it on our behalf to run our email and website, under contracts that require them to protect it:

We may also disclose information if required by law, regulation or valid legal process; to protect the rights, safety or property of our users, ourselves or others; or in connection with a sale, merger or transfer of the app, in which case the recipient must continue to protect the information as described in this policy and we’ll notify you where required.

7. International transfers

We are based in the Republic of Korea, and our service providers operate globally. Information you send us may therefore be processed in the Republic of Korea, the United States and other countries where these providers have facilities. Where the law requires it, we rely on appropriate safeguards for these transfers, such as the providers’ standard contractual clauses or data processing terms.

If you don’t want your information transferred this way, please don’t email us or visit our website. You can still use the app fully, because your content never leaves your device and your iCloud.

8. How long we keep information

• Support emails: kept for up to 3 years after your request is resolved, to handle follow-up questions and to keep records of consumer complaints and disputes as required by Korean e-commerce law. They are then deleted. You can ask us to delete them sooner, unless we must keep them by law.
• Website technical logs: we don’t keep our own copies. They are retained by Vercel and Cloudflare for their standard, generally short, retention periods.
• Crash reports and statistics from Apple: kept only as long as they’re useful for fixing problems, and in any case for no more than 2 years.

When information is no longer needed, we delete it permanently. Electronic files are deleted in a way that can’t be recovered, and any printed records are shredded.

9. How we protect information

We use reasonable administrative, technical and physical measures to protect personal information, including:

• Limiting access to the operator only.
• Protecting our accounts with strong passwords and two-factor authentication.
• Using encrypted connections (HTTPS/TLS) for our website and email.
• Using reputable service providers with strong security programs.

Your content is protected by your device’s security and by Apple’s iCloud security. For stronger protection, you can turn on Advanced Data Protection for iCloud. No method of transmission or storage is completely secure. If a data breach affecting your personal information happens, we’ll notify you and the authorities as the law requires.

10. Your rights and choices

Depending on where you live, you may have the right to:

• know about, access and get a copy of personal information we hold about you;
• correct inaccurate information;
• delete your information;
• restrict or object to certain processing, or ask us to suspend processing;
• receive your information in a portable format;
• withdraw consent at any time, without affecting processing that happened before;
• appeal our decision about your request; and
• complain to a data protection authority.

Your content in the app is under your control. You can export it from the app’s Settings, and delete it by deleting items or places in the app, which removes them from your device and your iCloud. Deleting the app removes the data stored on your device. To remove data stored in iCloud, open Settings › [your name] › iCloud › Manage Account Storage on your iPhone.

To make a request about information we hold, email contact@thingcompass.com. We may ask you to verify your identity, usually by replying from the email address you used to contact us. You can use an authorized agent or legal representative, and we may ask for proof that they’re authorized. We’ll respond within the time required by law, generally within 30 days (45 days for U.S. requests, and 10 days for requests under Korean law), and we’ll tell you if we need more time. We won’t discriminate against you for exercising your rights.

11. Notice for U.S. residents

This section applies to residents of California and other U.S. states with consumer privacy laws, and supplements the rest of this policy.

• Categories collected in the last 12 months: identifiers (email address, IP address); internet or other electronic network activity (website logs); and any information you choose to include in emails. Sources: you directly, your browser or device, and Apple.
• Purposes: as described in section 5.
• Disclosures for a business purpose: to the service providers in section 6.
• Sale and sharing: we have not sold or shared personal information, including of consumers under 16, for cross-context behavioral advertising, and we don’t plan to.
• Sensitive personal information: we don’t collect or use it.
• Your rights: to know, access, correct and delete, and to opt out of sale, sharing and targeted advertising (which we don’t do). To make a request, see section 10. If we deny your request, you can appeal by replying to our decision with “Appeal” in the subject line, and we’ll respond within the time required by law. If your appeal is denied, you can contact your state attorney general.
• Do Not Track and Global Privacy Control: because we don’t track you or sell or share personal information, there is nothing to opt out of. We treat a Global Privacy Control signal as a valid opt-out request.
• Retention: as described in section 8.

12. Notice for people in the EEA, UK and Switzerland

We process personal information under the legal bases in section 5. You have the rights listed in section 10, including the right to lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority, for example the authority in the country where you live or work. In the UK, this is the Information Commissioner’s Office (ico.org.uk). We’d appreciate the chance to address your concern first, so please contact us.

Providing personal information to us is voluntary. If you don’t email us, we simply can’t reply to you. It doesn’t affect your use of the app.

13. Notice for people in the Republic of Korea

This section sets out additional information required by the Personal Information Protection Act.

• Items collected and purposes: as described in sections 3 and 5. We collect only the minimum necessary.
• Retention and destruction: as described in section 8, including retention of consumer complaint and dispute records for 3 years under the Act on the Consumer Protection in Electronic Commerce.
• Provision to third parties: we don’t provide personal information to third parties except as described in section 6 or where required by law.
• Entrustment of processing: we entrust processing to Microsoft Corporation (email hosting) Vercel Inc. (website hosting) and Cloudflare, Inc. (domain name service and security), as described in section 6. We oversee them to ensure they handle information safely.
• Overseas transfer: as described in section 7.
• Automatic collection devices (cookies): our website doesn’t use advertising or analytics cookies. Strictly necessary security cookies may be set by our hosting or domain providers. You can block cookies in your browser settings, though parts of the site may not work properly.
• Your rights: you, or your legal representative or authorized agent, may request access, correction, deletion or suspension of processing, and may withdraw consent, by contacting the Privacy Officer below. We will act without delay.
• Children under 14: we don’t knowingly collect personal information from children under 14.
• Privacy Officer: EunJin Yoo, Operator · contact@thingcompass.com
• Remedies: for help with a privacy violation, you may contact:
  • Personal Information Dispute Mediation Committee: www.kopico.go.kr, 1833-6972
  • Personal Information Infringement Report Center (KISA): privacy.kisa.or.kr, 118
  • Supreme Prosecutors’ Office, Cybercrime Investigation: www.spo.go.kr, 1301
  • Korean National Police Agency, Cyber Bureau: ecrm.police.go.kr, 182

14. Children

Thing Compass is not directed to children under 13 (or under the age of digital consent where you live, such as 14 in Korea or up to 16 in parts of Europe), and we don’t knowingly collect their personal information. If you believe a child has sent us personal information, please contact us and we’ll delete it.

15. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. When we do, we’ll change the “Last updated” date above and post the updated policy on this page. For significant changes, we’ll give notice at least 7 days in advance (30 days if the change materially affects your rights) on this website or in the app, and ask for your consent where the law requires it.

16. Contact us

For questions or requests about privacy, contact our Privacy Officer:

EunJin Yoo, operating as Thing Compass
Address: 244 Surisan-ro, Gunpo-si, Gyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea
Email: contact@thingcompass.com