Last updated: April 12, 2026
By using Spotted ("the app"), you agree to these terms. If you do not agree, please do not use the app.
Spotted is a free citizen science app for reporting spotted lanternfly sightings in Virginia. You can report sightings with approximate location, lifecycle stage, and outcome (`Squished It`, `Just Spotted`, or `Scraped It` for egg masses), optionally including a photo for AI-assisted species identification. The app displays community sightings on a map and includes gamification features such as XP, streaks, leaderboards, and badges.
When you submit a sighting report, you grant Spotted App a worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive, perpetual license to use, reproduce, modify, distribute, and sublicense the sighting data (species, location, timestamp, lifecycle stage, and sighting type) for the following purposes:
Sighting metadata is contributed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC) license, allowing scientific and governmental use while restricting commercial reuse by third parties.
Spotted does not store your photos. When you take a photo during a sighting report, it is held temporarily in memory for on-device preview and may be sent to the iNaturalist API for species identification. If you have linked your iNaturalist account and enabled cross-posting, the photo may be uploaded to iNaturalist with your observation — subject to iNaturalist's terms of service. Photos are never uploaded to or stored on Spotted's servers. You retain ownership of any photos you take.
You agree not to:
Spotted relies on user-submitted reports and AI-assisted species identification. We do not guarantee the accuracy of any sighting data, species identification, or impact estimates. The app is for informational and citizen science purposes only. Do not rely on it for professional pest management decisions.
Your privacy matters to us. Please review our Privacy Policy for details on what data we collect and how we use it.
By using the app, you consent to your anonymized sighting data being shared with government agencies (including VDACS, USDA APHIS, and county environmental departments) and academic researchers for the purpose of tracking and combating spotted lanternfly spread. No personally identifiable information is included in shared data.
The Spotted app, including its design, code, name, and branding, is the property of Spotted App and is protected by copyright. The community-contributed sighting dataset is licensed as described in Section 2.
The app is provided "as is" and "as available" without warranties of any kind, express or implied, including but not limited to warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or non-infringement. We do not warrant that the app will be uninterrupted, error-free, or that sighting data will be accurate or complete.
To the maximum extent permitted by law, Spotted App shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages arising from your use of or inability to use the app, including but not limited to loss of data, loss of profits, or reliance on app content.
You may stop using the app at any time. You can delete all your data from the Me tab within the app. We reserve the right to suspend or remove access for users who violate these terms.
We may update these terms from time to time. Changes will be posted on this page with an updated date. Continued use of the app after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated terms.
These terms are governed by the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia, without regard to conflict of law principles.
Questions about these terms? Email feedback@getspotted.org