Privacy Policy

Offscroll is a screen time intervention app that helps you manage the time you spend on selected apps. This privacy policy explains what information Offscroll collects, how it is used, and your rights regarding that information.

We designed Offscroll with privacy as a core principle. The vast majority of your data never leaves your device.

The following data is created and stored locally on your device. It is never transmitted to our servers or any third party:

• Onboarding profile: Your survey responses (preferred tone, focus area, peak scrolling time, age range) used to personalize the intervention messages you see.
• Session history: Records of when you encountered a pause screen and what you chose to do (close the app, extend your time, or use a breathing exercise).
• Budget preferences: Your chosen time budget per window and which apps or categories you selected to manage.
• Streak and progress data: Your consecutive-day streak, resolve rate, and estimated time saved.
• Letters to future self: Personal notes you write, shown back to you during reflections.
• Check-in responses:Your answers to the optional “How are you feeling?” prompt.

All of this data is stored using Apple’s SwiftData framework and UserDefaults, entirely within your device’s sandboxed storage.

Offscroll includes an optional community feature that uses Apple’s CloudKit public database. The following anonymous, aggregate data is shared:

• Daily heartbeat:A rotating, anonymous identifier (not your device ID) records that someone is actively using Offscroll today. This powers the “X people chose to stop this hour” count.
• Close event counts: When you close a managed app, an anonymous counter increments. No app names, no timestamps tied to you, no personal data.
• Community messages: If you choose to write an intervention message for others, the message text and your chosen tone are stored in the CloudKit public database, along with a stable anonymous identifier described below. No name, email, Apple ID, or contact information is attached.
• Reports: If you report a community message, a record is stored containing which message you reported, when, and the same stable anonymous identifier. This is what lets a message be removed automatically once three different people have reported it, and what prevents one person reporting the same message repeatedly to reach that threshold alone.

Two different identifiers, and the difference matters. The identifier used for heartbeats and close counts rotates daily, so those records cannot be connected to each other or to you.

The identifier attached to community messages and reports is different: it is a one-way hash derived from an Apple-provided per-vendor device value, and it does not rotate. It is not reversible, and it does not contain or reveal your device ID, Apple ID, name, or contact details. But because it is stable, all of the messages and reports sent from one device share the same value. That is deliberate — it is what makes duplicate-report abuse and repeat submission of harmful content possible to stop. If you would rather not have that identifier attached, do not submit or report community messages; every other feature of the app works without it.

Apple also attaches its own record-creator identifier to anything written to a public CloudKit database. This is part of CloudKit and not something the app can remove. It is visible only to us in Apple’s administrative console, never to other users.

Offscroll does not collect, store, or transmit any of the following:

• Your name, email address, or any account credentials (there are no accounts)
• Your location, contacts, photos, or calendar data
• The names or content of the apps you use
• Your browsing history or search queries
• Advertising identifiers or device fingerprints
• Any data sent to third-party analytics, advertising, or tracking services

Offscroll contains no third-party SDKs. There is no Firebase, no Mixpanel, no Google Analytics, no Meta SDK, no advertising framework of any kind.

Offscroll uses the following Apple frameworks and services:

• Screen Time / FamilyControls:Used to monitor your selected apps’ usage and present pause screens when your budget is exceeded. This data is managed entirely by Apple’s system and is never accessible to us.
• CloudKit:Apple’s cloud database, used only for the anonymous community features described above. Data is stored in Apple’s infrastructure under Apple’s privacy policies.

Your personal data (session history, profile, letters) is stored on-device using Apple’s encrypted storage. It is not backed up to iCloud via Offscroll (though your device’s standard iCloud backup may include app data per your device settings).

Anonymous community data stored in CloudKit is protected by Apple’s infrastructure security. We use no external servers, databases, or cloud services beyond Apple’s own.

You have full control over your data:

• View your data:Your session history, profile, and letters are all visible within the app (Settings > Session History, Settings > Your Profile).
• Delete all data:Use Settings > Reset All Data to permanently delete all local data, including your profile, session history, letters, streak, and preferences. This action is irreversible.
• Revoke Screen Time access:You can disable Offscroll’s Screen Time permission at any time in iOS Settings > Screen Time. Offscroll will stop monitoring immediately.

Since we do not collect personal information or maintain user accounts, there is no personal data for us to provide, correct, or delete on our end.

Offscroll is available to users of all ages. Users who indicate they are under 18 during onboarding receive a modified experience with gentler message escalation. Offscroll does not knowingly collect personal information from children. All data remains on-device as described above.

We may update this privacy policy from time to time. Changes will be posted on this page with an updated effective date. Continued use of Offscroll after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

If you have questions about this privacy policy or Offscroll’s data practices, contact us at support@offscrollapp.com.