[dancsi]

As for the last point, you are right, they are purposefully sending encrypted/encoded(?) data to your phone, which is then sent to their server. The raw spectrum will only be returned from the server if you have an even more expensive "researcher" account...

[xkcd-sucks]

One might assume their business model involves collecting lots of data + using it to build their own in-house models for sale to corporations, or just selling it raw?