Last updated: 8 September 2026
Cinecase ("the app", "we") is a local-first movie/Blu-ray collection app. This policy explains what data the app handles, where it goes, and the choices you have. In plain terms: your collection lives on your device unless you choose Google Drive sync; optional Google sign-in for shared scan lookups does not send your collection to us. We do not store or sell your library.
Developer: Canadilian Soft
Contact: canadiliansoft@gmail.com
1. Cinecase metadata lookup service - When you search for a title or scan a disc, the app may contact Cinecase's lookup service to resolve public movie or barcode metadata while keeping third-party API keys off your device. For cached barcode matches, the service receives the barcode number. The service stores shared public barcode-to-movie mappings so the same disc can resolve faster for future users. To keep the service available and prevent abuse, the lookup service records a one-way hash of your IP address and a one-way hash of the search text for each title-search request, together with the date. The raw IP address and raw search text are not stored, these hashes are not linked to your Cinecase identity or collection, and they are used only to apply rate limits.
The app also checks short cast lists in the background after launch. For each eligible film or TV series, it sends its public TMDb ID and media type to the lookup service, which requests public cast credits from TMDb. These requests carry no Google identity, shelf names, notes, ratings, or collection backup. Public cast responses may be cached for reuse. Uncached requests use the same abuse limits as title search, including a hashed IP address and a hashed lookup key with the date. Assessment and retry records stay on your device.
If you turn on the Shared scan database toggle in Settings, accept the contextual Help make barcode scans faster prompt, or approve sharing a barcode correction, the app signs you in with Google only for identity. This identity-only sign-in does not request Google Drive scope. For first-time barcode resolution and user-approved corrections, the app may send a Google ID token to confirm the request is from the app and apply abuse limits; the service stores only an opaque Google user id for rate-limiting and consensus, not your email or collection. If you manually correct a barcode match and choose to share it, the service receives the barcode and public movie metadata for that correction. It does not receive your shelf contents, library names, notes, ratings, reviews, or loan details.
2. The Movie Database (TMDb) - When you search for a title or scan a disc, the app or Cinecase lookup service sends the search text and, for scans, the looked-up title/year to TMDb to fetch movie details and artwork. Artwork images, such as posters, load from TMDb's public image CDN. Cinecase may cache the selected poster on your device for faster/offline display as described above. See TMDb's privacy policy at themoviedb.org. This product uses the TMDb API but is not endorsed or certified by TMDb.
3. Barcode lookup (UPCitemdb / optional Barcode Lookup) - When you scan a disc, the app or Cinecase lookup service may send the barcode number to a barcode database to identify the product. No collection contents are attached to these requests.
4. Camera and photo selection - For barcode scanning, camera frames are processed on your device to read the barcode and are not stored or transmitted. If you explicitly choose Take photo or Choose photo for custom cover artwork, Cinecase stores the selected/captured image in its private app storage on that device. Custom-cover images are not sent to Cinecase's lookup service, TMDb, barcode providers, or product-event service. They are included in a JSON backup you explicitly export and in the Cinecase backup file stored in your own Google Drive if you enable sync, so they can be restored with the collection.
5. Google Sign-In and Google Drive - Google Sign-In is optional and can be used in two separate ways:
6. Google Play Billing (Android) / the App Store (iOS) - The optional one-time "Cinecase Pro" purchase is processed by Google or Apple. The app only records whether Pro is unlocked; we never receive your payment details.
7. First-party product events - Cinecase may send a small set of product events to understand whether core flows are working, such as scan started, scan succeeded, scan failed, import started, import completed, paywall viewed, purchase started, purchase completed, sync enabled, restore attempted, correction shared, or a support report being started. These events include only the event name plus coarse platform and app version metadata. They do not include movie titles, barcodes, TMDb IDs, poster paths, ratings, reviews, shelf names, notes, loan details, or collection contents. You can turn product diagnostics off in the app settings. If the device is temporarily offline, Cinecase may keep up to 100 of these same coarse events on the device and retry them when a connection becomes available. The pending queue contains no additional fields, drops its oldest entries when full, and is cleared immediately if you turn product diagnostics off.
We do not collect or store your movie collection. Cinecase has no email/password account, advertising, or third-party tracking. Optional Google sign-in creates an opaque Cinecase identity for shared-registry requests. The metadata lookup service handles the public barcode/search data needed to make lookups work; the hashed IP address, hashed search or cast-lookup key, and date used to rate-limit metadata lookups; and, for rate-limited first-time barcode resolution, either that hashed IP address or an opaque Google user id; and, for user-approved corrections, that opaque Google user id. Turning on the free shared-scan identity sign-in does not transmit your collection and does not grant Drive access. Cinecase may store the limited first-party product events described above. Your full collection is transmitted only to your own Google Drive if you enable sync. All such transmission uses encrypted (HTTPS) connections. Custom-cover photos and the on-device poster cache are not collected by Cinecase's developer services. Custom covers may leave the device only inside a user-created/shared JSON backup or the optional backup in the user's own Google Drive; cached posters are excluded from both.
Settings > Contact support prepares a bug report or question and hands it to your own email app. Cinecase does not send it and does not keep a copy: the message goes from your mail account to ours the same way any other email you write does, and you can edit or delete any part of it first.
To save a round trip, the message is prefilled with technical details: the app version, your platform and OS version, your locale and text size, which shelf theme and display mode you use, whether Pro is unlocked, your cloud-sync status, and a count of how many films and libraries you have. It may also include the first line of the last few errors the app recorded. Those error notes are kept only in memory, are never written to storage, and are discarded when the app closes unless you send them.
No movie titles, barcodes, ratings, reviews, or shelf contents are included in those technical details. Tap "What will be sent" in that screen to read the exact text before sending. If you attach a backup file yourself, that file contains your collection as described under "Sharing your collection" below.
If you start a report from a failure, using the Report this link that appears when a barcode lookup or a title search does not work, the message is prefilled with what failed: the barcode that was scanned, or the words you searched for, plus the error the app showed. That text sits in the editable part of the message, above the technical details, so you can change or delete it before sending.
Export and "share my shelf" features send a file (JSON, CSV, XML, PDF, or image) only when you choose to, through your device's standard share sheet, to the destination you pick. Once you have shared a file, what happens to it is up to you and whoever you sent it to: Cinecase cannot recall or expire a file that has already left your device.
Cinecase is not directed at children under 13 or the equivalent minimum age in your country, and we do not knowingly collect data from them.
We may update this policy as the app evolves. Material changes will be reflected by the "Last updated" date above and, where appropriate, noted in the app or store listing.
Questions about privacy? Email canadiliansoft@gmail.com.