Privacy Policy
QR & Barcode Scanner · com.overmax.qrcodescanner · OverMax S.A. · Last updated: 19 October 2026
This policy explains how QR & Barcode Scanner
(package com.overmax.qrcodescanner), published on Google Play by
OverMax, accesses, collects, uses and shares information. It applies to
this app only.
What this app does
QR & Barcode Scanner reads QR codes and barcodes with your camera or from an image in your gallery, and can replace your home screen so the scanner is one swipe away. For product barcodes it can show the product's details. It also includes a search screen with public news headlines and a weather screen. It is free and paid for by advertising.
Information we collect
We do not collect, store or upload your personal data to our own servers. We do not have servers.
We do not collect or upload the codes you scan, and we do not sell personal data or build advertising profiles of our own.
The app works with the following information, all of it on your device:
- The camera image, only while the scanner is open and only if you grant the camera permission. Each frame is analysed on your device to find a code and is then discarded. No photo or video is recorded, saved or uploaded.
- Images you choose from your gallery, only when you tap "Upload from gallery". The app receives only the image you pick, through Android's photo picker, reads the code in it on your device and does not keep or upload the image.
- Your scan history: the text of each code you scan, its format and the time. It is saved in the app's private storage so you can open it again from Menu → History, and it never leaves your device. You can delete single entries or clear it all at any time.
- Your scanner settings (beep, vibrate and auto copy to clipboard), saved in the app's private storage. If you turn on auto copy, the scanned text is placed on your clipboard.
- The list of apps you have installed, so it can draw your home screen and the app drawer. This list never leaves your device.
- Your home screen layout (icon order, folders, hidden icons, widgets, recently opened apps), saved in the app's private storage.
- Your approximate location, to show the weather on the home screen. Without the location permission it comes from the city of your internet connection (see Weather); with it, from your phone's approximate location. It is never stored on any server of ours.
- What you type in the search bar, only while you are typing. It is sent to Google's public suggestion service so it can offer suggestions, and it is never stored by us. We do not keep a history of your searches.
We also use Google Firebase Analytics and Firebase Crashlytics to count anonymous usage events (for example, that the scanner was opened, that a code of a certain type such as "website" or "product" was read, or that the app crashed) and to receive crash reports with device model and Android version. These events never include the content of the codes you scan, which app you opened, which website you visited, or what you searched for.
Product lookups
When you scan a product barcode (EAN, UPC or ISBN), the app sends only the barcode number — the same number printed on the package — to public product and book databases to show the product's name, brand, photo and details: Open Food Facts and its sister projects (Open Beauty Facts, Open Pet Food Facts, Open Products Facts), UPCitemdb, Google Books and Open Library. The number is also searched on Google through Serper, together with your phone's country and language so the results are local, to show which stores and websites list the product and at what price. To read the product's description and current price, the app then opens the pages of the first few stores found, the same way a browser would, so those sites receive an ordinary web request from your phone (including its IP address). No identifier of you or your device is sent with any of these requests. Product photos are loaded from the site that hosts them. Results are cached on your device so the same code is not looked up twice. QR codes and other codes are never sent anywhere.
If you tap Search the Web, Open Link or another action on a result, the scanned text is handed to the browser or app you choose (for example, a Google search in your browser), and that service's own privacy policy applies.
Permissions and why
| Permission | Why the app needs it |
|---|---|
CAMERA | To scan QR codes and barcodes. The image is analysed on your device and is never saved or sent anywhere. Without it you can still scan from your gallery. |
VIBRATE | A short vibration when a code is read. It can be turned off in the app's menu. |
ACCESS_COARSE_LOCATION | Optional. Only for the temperature on the clock widget and the weather screen. Without it the app uses the city of your IP address. |
SET_WALLPAPER | To apply the wallpaper you pick on the wallpaper screen. |
REQUEST_DELETE_PACKAGES | To open your phone's own uninstall dialog when you choose "Uninstall" on an icon. You always confirm in that dialog. |
INTERNET, ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE | To load ads, product details, the news headlines and the weather. |
SET_ALARM | To open your phone's own clock app when you tap the time on the home screen. |
AD_ID | Used by Google AdMob to serve and measure ads (see Advertising). |
Package visibility (a <queries> declaration) | To list the apps you can open, as any home screen app does. We do not use QUERY_ALL_PACKAGES. |
Advertising
The app shows ads from Google AdMob. AdMob may collect and process data as described in Google's privacy policy, including a device advertising identifier, in order to serve and measure ads:
Some of those ads are served by Meta Audience Network, which competes with Google to fill the ad spaces through Google AdMob. When it takes part, Meta receives your device's advertising identifier, basic device information (such as model and Android version), your IP address and how you interact with the ad, in order to serve and measure it. It does not receive the content of your scans, your scan history, which apps you have or open, or what you search for.
In the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom and Switzerland we ask for your consent before personalised ads are served, using Google's certified consent tool. You can change that choice at any time from Menu → Ad privacy settings inside the app.
Measuring our ad campaigns (Meta)
The app includes the Meta (Facebook) SDK to measure app installs and how our advertising campaigns on Facebook and Instagram perform. When it is active, it sends Meta your device's advertising identifier, basic device information (such as model and Android version), your IP address and a few app events: that the app was opened, that it was set as your home screen, and that the first code was scanned (only that it happened, never what the code contained).
It does not send the content of your scans, your scan history, which apps you have or open, or what you search for. In the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom and Switzerland it is only used after you give consent in the same consent tool used for ads. Meta processes this information under its own policy:
Weather
To show the temperature on the home screen, the app needs to know roughly where you are.
- Without the location permission, the app asks a public IP geolocation service for the city of your internet connection: ipwho.is, and if it does not answer, GeoJS or ipapi.co. Like any website you visit, these services see your IP address. The city is kept on your device for 24 hours.
- With the location permission, the app uses your phone's approximate location instead.
In both cases the app sends approximate coordinates — rounded to one decimal, a grid of about 11 km — to Open-Meteo to get the current temperature, the forecast and the air quality index. We do not send any identifier with those requests, and your location is never stored on any server of ours.
Wallpapers
The wallpaper screen shows photos from Unsplash. The app asks Unsplash for photos of the category you open, and when you apply a photo it tells Unsplash that the photo was downloaded, as Unsplash requires. We do not send any identifier with those requests. The wallpaper is set by your phone; we do not keep a copy.
News and search
The search screen shows public news headlines from the United States. To build that list, the app reads the public RSS feeds of the publishers themselves (New York Post, ABC News, CBS News, Fox News, NBC News, NPR, CNET and Variety). Those publishers see the request the way any browser or feed reader would. Opening a headline opens the publisher's own page in a browser tab, where that publisher's privacy policy applies.
When you search the web, your search is opened with the search engine you chose in Launcher Settings (Google by default; Bing, DuckDuckGo and Yahoo are also available), and that search engine's privacy policy applies. While you type in the search bar, what you have typed is sent to Google's public suggestion service, and the site icon shown next to each headline is loaded from Google's public favicon service. We do not send an identifier with either request.
Children
The app is not directed to children under 13 and we do not knowingly collect data from them.
Your choices
- You can stop using the app as your home screen at any time from Menu → Revert Home Screen inside the app, or from your phone's Settings.
- You can delete single scans or clear your whole scan history from Menu → History.
- You can revoke the camera and location permissions from your phone's Settings at any time.
- You can turn off the beep, the vibration and auto copy from the app's menu.
- You can change your personalised-ads consent from Menu → Ad privacy settings (shown in the regions where it applies).
- You can reset or delete your advertising identifier from your phone's Settings (Google → Ads on most phones). Ad networks and Meta then stop linking new activity to the previous identifier.
- Uninstalling the app removes everything it saved on your device, including your scan history. Because we hold no data on any server of ours, there is nothing left for us to delete.
Changes to this policy
If we change how the app handles information, we will update this page and the date at the top of it.
Contact
Questions about this policy or about your data: [email protected] — OverMax S.A.