Privacy Policy

The short version

• Which apps you guard stays on your iPhone. Apple's Screen Time gives FocusGate only anonymous tokens, so we never learn which apps, categories or websites you chose, and we never read your app usage.
• Your tasks, routines and progress are stored with your account so they sync and survive a new phone.
• No ads, no tracking, no analytics tools. We don't sell or share your data for advertising.
• You can delete your account in the app, and your synced data goes with it.

Who is responsible

FocusGate is made by Lab43, an independent studio based in the United Kingdom. Lab43 is the controller of your personal data under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018. For anything about your data, email labfortythree@gmail.com.

Your account

To use FocusGate you create an account with Sign in with Apple, Google or an email address and password. We process:

• your email address (with Sign in with Apple this can be a private relay address that Apple creates);
• your name and the username shown in the app, if you give them or your sign-in provider shares them;
• a user ID that links your data to your account, and the sign-in method you used;
• your time zone, so your day, streaks and routines start and end at the right time.

Passwords are handled by our authentication provider and are never stored in plain text. We use this data to provide your account and the app (Article 6(1)(b) UK GDPR).

What you create in FocusGate

To plan your day and sync it, FocusGate stores with your account:

• tasks and routines: titles, notes, tags, priorities, dates, times, repeat rules and whether they're done;
• progress: completed tasks, points, levels, streaks and Focus Timer sessions;
• setup choices from the introduction, so you don't have to repeat it;
• whether protection is on and how many apps you chose (a number, never which apps), which the app uses for its progress rewards;
• feedback you send from the app, so we can read it, reply and improve FocusGate.

We process this to provide FocusGate to you (Article 6(1)(b) UK GDPR). Feedback is processed to answer you and to improve the app (Article 6(1)(b) and (f) UK GDPR).

What stays on your iPhone

• Your Screen Time choices. The apps, categories and websites you pick are kept as anonymous Apple tokens on your device. Only Apple's system can turn them back into app names, for example on the lock screen FocusGate shows over a blocked app.
• Lock decisions and their schedule, which FocusGate's extensions use to lock and open your apps, including while the app is closed.
• How many times the gate held, the goals you set on the You tab, and widget and Live Activity data.
• Reminders. Notifications are scheduled on your iPhone; FocusGate doesn't use a push server.
• Diagnostics. FocusGate keeps a short technical log on your device. It only leaves your iPhone if you choose to copy and send a support report.

Purchases

FocusGate Pro is sold through Apple's App Store. Apple handles payment and billing under its own privacy policy; we never see your payment details. The app checks your subscription status with Apple on your iPhone, and Apple gives us sales reports that don't identify you.

Who helps us run FocusGate

• Supabase hosts our database and handles sign-in and account emails. Your account data is stored on servers in the European Union, which the UK recognises as giving your data adequate protection. Supabase processes it on our behalf under a data processing agreement (Article 28 UK GDPR).
• Apple provides Sign in with Apple, the App Store, Screen Time, notifications and widgets (Apple Privacy Policy).
• Google, only if you sign in with Google (Google Privacy Policy).
• Vercel hosts this website (see below).

Our providers keep technical logs to run their services securely, such as IP addresses, times and sign-in events. We rely on our legitimate interest in a secure service for this (Article 6(1)(f) UK GDPR). We may also disclose data where the law requires it.

This website

focusgate.app is hosted by Vercel Inc., 440 N Barranca Avenue #4133, Covina, CA 91723, United States. To deliver the pages and keep them secure, Vercel's servers automatically process technical data your browser sends with every request: your IP address, the date and time, the page you requested, the referring page, and your browser and operating system. We have a legitimate interest in running this site reliably and securely (Article 6(1)(f) UK GDPR). Vercel processes this data on our behalf under a data processing agreement. Data may be processed in the United States.

This site sets no cookies and uses no analytics, advertising or tracking tools. Fonts and images are served from this site itself.

Transfers outside the UK

Some of our providers process data outside the UK. Where they do, the transfer is covered either by the UK's adequacy regulations (for example for the European Union, or the UK Extension to the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework for certified U.S. companies) or by the safeguards UK law requires, such as the International Data Transfer Addendum to the EU standard contractual clauses.

How long we keep it

• Account and app data for as long as you have an account. When you delete your account in the app (You › Settings › Account › Delete account), we delete your account and synced data from our database straight away. Copies in our provider's backups are overwritten as those backups expire.
• Feedback is deleted together with your account.
• Emails to us are deleted once the conversation is finished, unless we have to keep them by law.

Deleting the app from your iPhone doesn't delete your account, and deleting your account doesn't cancel a subscription. Subscriptions are managed in your Apple Account settings.

Your rights

You have the right to:

• be told how we use your data, which is what this policy is for;
• get a copy of the data we hold about you;
• have it corrected, or deleted;
• restrict how we process it;
• receive it in a portable format;
• object to processing based on our legitimate interests.

Many of these you can do yourself in the app: edit your profile, turn off protection, change notification settings, or delete your account. For anything else, email labfortythree@gmail.com. We'll reply within one month.

If you're unhappy with how we handle your data, please tell us first so we can put it right. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO): ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint. If you live in the European Union, you can complain to your local data protection authority instead.

Security

Data travels over encrypted connections, and our database's access rules keep each account's tasks, routines and progress to that account. No system is perfectly secure, but we work to keep your data safe and only collect what FocusGate needs.

Children

FocusGate is meant for people organising their own day. It isn't a parental control app and isn't directed at children. It isn't for anyone under 13; if you're under 18, please check with a parent or guardian before creating an account.

Changes

If FocusGate or our providers change, we'll update this policy and the date at the top. For important changes, we'll also let you know in the app.

See also our Terms of Use.