PRIVACY POLICY — VINDICA

Vindica is a screen-time app. It is designed to be local-first: the details of how you use your phone stay on your phone. This policy explains exactly what data exists, where it lives, and what leaves your device — and only when you choose.

Contact: contact@vindica.info

THE SHORT VERSION

The details of your screen time — which apps you use, which apps you block, where you are — never leave your phone.
If you opt in to Comrades (accounts + friends), we store your username, name, friend list, and weekly scroll totals on our servers so your friends can see them. That's the point of the feature, and it only exists after you sign in.
We collect anonymous usage analytics that are not connected to you.
We don't run ads, we don't track you across other apps or websites, and we never sell data.

WHAT STAYS ON YOUR PHONE

All of the following is stored only on your device (or in your device's secure Keychain) and is never transmitted to us or anyone else:

Your app selections and block lists. Apple's Screen Time technology gives apps like Vindica opaque tokens rather than app names — even on your device, Vindica largely can't see which apps you picked, and nothing about them is ever uploaded.
Your detailed screen-time usage. Short Stop limits, usage thresholds, and doomscrolling detection are all evaluated on-device by Apple's DeviceActivity framework.
Your location. Location-based Conditional Blocks use geofences evaluated entirely on your phone. Your location is never sent anywhere.
Your passcode (stored in the device Keychain) and recovery codes.
Your emergency-unblock reasons. The reason you type before a 10-minute unblock is shown back to you in your local logbook and is not uploaded.
Your blocks, schedules, settings, and trial state.

Deleting the app deletes all of this.

COMRADES (OPTIONAL — ONLY IF YOU CREATE AN ACCOUNT)

Comrades is a social accountability feature. It does nothing and collects nothing until you sign in with Apple and choose a username. If you do, the following is stored on our servers (see "Where it's processed" below):

Account data

A unique user ID created at sign-in (via Sign in with Apple).
The name your Apple account shares at first sign-in (used so friends can find you).
Your chosen username.
A push-notification token for your device, so friends' blocks and alerts can reach you.

Data shared with your friends

Your scroll minutes per day for the trailing 7 days (a single total per day — not which apps, not when, not what you did).
The number of blocks you currently have active (a count only).
Whether your subscription has lapsed and for how many days.
A doomscrolling alert when Vindica flags a moment of weakness (including when a 10-minute emergency unblock lapses) — friends get a notification and a short window in which they may send you a block.
When you skip a friend's block, that friend is told.
Short messages attached to blocks you send (up to 60 characters). These are transmitted and stored so they can be shown to the recipient.

Your friend connections — friend requests and friendships — are stored so the feature can work.

What is never uploaded, even with Comrades on: which apps you use or block, your app selections, detailed usage timelines, your location, and your typed unblock reasons. Only the aggregates listed above leave your phone.

Where it's processed: Comrades runs on Google Firebase (Authentication, Firestore, Cloud Functions, and Cloud Messaging), so this data is processed and stored on Google Cloud servers. Google acts as our processor and doesn't use this data for its own purposes.

Deleting your Comrades account: Settings → Comrades → Delete account. This removes you from all friends' lists and erases your server-side data — friendships, requests, username, stats, and push token — and deletes the account itself. Your blocks on your phone are untouched.

ANONYMOUS ANALYTICS

We use TelemetryDeck, a privacy-first analytics service, to understand things like how many people finish onboarding or use an emergency unblock. These signals include the app version, an install-date cohort, and whether the install is subscribed — they are anonymized by TelemetryDeck, are not connected to your name, account, or identity, and are never used to track you across apps. TelemetryDeck processes data in the EU.

FREE STICKER REQUESTS

If you request a free sticker, you type a name and mailing address. That's used to post you the sticker and nothing else — no marketing lists, no sharing. It's transmitted and stored via Apple's iCloud (CloudKit) until the sticker is sent.

PURCHASES

Subscriptions are handled entirely by Apple through the App Store. We never see your payment details. Vindica stores your subscription status on-device; if you use Comrades, whether your access has lapsed is shared with friends as described above.

NOTIFICATIONS

Local notifications (trial reminders, nudges) are scheduled on your device. If you use Comrades, push notifications are delivered via Apple's push service and Google's Firebase Cloud Messaging.

DATA RETENTION

On-device data: yours, until you delete the app or the data.
Comrades data: kept while your account exists; erased when you delete your account.
Scroll stats: only the trailing 7 days ever exist — older days delete themselves.
Sticker addresses: kept only as long as needed to send your sticker.
Anonymous analytics: retained by TelemetryDeck in aggregate form.

YOUR RIGHTS

You can access and delete everything yourself: your Comrades data via in-app account deletion, and on-device data by deleting the app. For anything else — including questions, corrections, or deletion requests under the Australian Privacy Act, GDPR, or similar laws — email us and we'll sort it out.

CHILDREN

Vindica is not directed at children under 13, and Comrades accounts are not intended for them.

CHANGES

If this policy changes materially, we'll update the effective date above and note it in the app. Continued use after a change means you accept the updated policy.

CONTACT

Questions? Reach us at contact@vindica.info