BeFree — Privacy Policy

Effective date: [SET AT PUBLISH] · Last updated: 6 June 2026

⚠️ Placeholders to replace before publishing: the effective date and the company/legal entity name + address. Host this at a public URL and put that URL in the Play Console listing. Have it reviewed by a lawyer alongside the other compliance items.

BeFree (“BeFree”, “we”, “us”) helps people reduce compulsive phone use with a supportive AI companion, optional on-device app/content blocking, and a library of real help. We built BeFree to reduce shame, and we treat your privacy the same way: we collect as little as possible, keep what we can on your device, never sell your data, and never use it for advertising.

This policy explains what we handle and why.

Our principles

• Local-first. Your day-to-day data (check-ins, streak, wins, chat history, blocking rules, any places you set) lives on your device by default.
• No ads. No selling. We never sell your data and never use it for advertising or profiling.
• Minimised. We only handle what a feature needs, and only while you use it.
• You’re in control. Permissions are requested transparently, are optional, and can be turned off any time. You can delete everything from inside the app.

What we handle, and why

Stays on your device (not sent to us)

• Check-ins, streak, wins, and what you’re working on — stored locally.
• AI companion chat history — your conversation transcripts are stored only on your device. They are not synced to our servers (see “AI companion” for how replies are generated).
• Blocking rules and places — the apps you choose to block, schedules, and any locations you create for place-based rules are stored on your device only. Location coordinates are never sent to or stored by us.

Only if you turn it on

• Cloud backup (optional). If you enable backup so your progress survives a new phone, we create an account and store your check-ins/streak/profile in our secure backend (Supabase). This requires an email address (or an anonymous account identifier). You can turn backup off and delete this at any time.
• AI companion replies. When you message your companion, the text of your message and recent conversation context is sent through our secure server to our AI provider (Anthropic) to generate a reply, then returned to you. This is used only to produce the response — it is not used for advertising, not sold, and not used to train models on your data. Transcripts remain on your device; we do not retain your chat history on our servers beyond what’s needed to process the request.
• Maps & address search (only when you use the place picker). If you add a place for a location-based rule, map tiles and any address you type are requested from OpenStreetMap. Only the text you search leaves your device for this; your saved coordinates stay local.

Handled by others, not by us

• Payments (BeFree Plus subscription). Subscriptions are processed by Google Play Billing (and, in future, the Apple App Store). We never receive or store your card or payment details — the app store handles all payment data under its own privacy policy. We only receive confirmation that an entitlement is active.

What we do NOT do

• We do not sell your data.
• We do not use your data for advertising.
• We do not access your screen content. The optional accessibility-based blocker only detects which app is in the foreground so it can show a calm “blocked” screen — it does not read, log, or transmit screen contents.
• We do not track your location on our servers. Location is used on-device only, for the place-based rules you create.

Permissions (Android)

Each is optional and used only for the stated feature; you can revoke any of them in your device settings:

• Accessibility — detect the foreground app to show your chosen block screen (no screen-content reading).
• Display over other apps — draw the calm block screen.
• Query installed apps — let you choose which apps to block.
• Location (incl. background) — only if you create place-based rules; coordinates stay on your device.
• VPN (on-device) + foreground service — the optional adult-content filter is a local filter; it only resolves whether a web address is on the block list and sends nothing off your device beyond normal DNS lookups to the family-safe resolver you choose.
• Notifications — opt-in reminders and companion check-ins.
• Device admin (optional, “strict mode”) — adds friction to uninstalling BeFree while a strict commitment is active; requests no other powers and never wipes or locks your device. Removable when strict mode ends.

Security

Data in transit is encrypted with TLS. Authentication tokens are stored in the device’s secure storage (Keystore/Keychain). Our backend uses row-level security so your backed-up data is accessible only to your account.

Your choices and rights

• Delete everything. In the app: Account → Danger zone → Delete account & data. This erases your on-device data and, if you used cloud backup, your account and backed-up data on our servers.
• Turn features off. Backup, notifications, blocking, location, and the content filter are all optional and reversible.
• Depending on where you live (e.g. UK/EU under UK GDPR / GDPR), you may have rights to access, correct, export, or erase your personal data, and to object to or restrict processing. Contact us to exercise these.

Sensitive topics & not medical advice

BeFree supports people working on compulsive behaviour. It is a support tool, not medical treatment, and does not provide medical or clinical advice. A crisis / helpline path is always available within the app. If you are in crisis, please use those resources or contact your local emergency services.

Children

BeFree is not directed at children. We do not knowingly collect data from children under 13 (or under 16 where required by local law). If you believe a child has provided us data, contact us and we will delete it.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as the app evolves. We’ll change the “Last updated” date and, for material changes, surface a notice in the app.

Contact

Questions or requests: info@befreeapp.net. [Company/legal entity name and address to be added before publishing.]