Privacy Policy

What changed in this version: in-app data deletion, the device time-zone offset shared by linked child devices, and the Pro and Family purchases.

TimePaws is a screen-time awareness app for individuals and families. We built it to collect as little data as possible. This policy explains exactly what the app collects, where it goes, and what your choices are. No ads, no data brokers, no selling of personal information. Ever.

Data that stays on your device

To do its job, TimePaws uses Android's Usage Access permission to measure how long the apps you chose are in the foreground. This usage data, your settings (limits, goals, chosen animal and its name, reminder style and mood, language), your streak history and your session statistics are stored on your phone only. They are never transmitted unless you link a device to a family as described below. Uninstalling the app deletes them.

Data shared when you use family linking (optional)

Family linking is off by default. If a parent creates a family group and a child device joins it with the family code, the following is stored in our cloud database (Google Firebase, hosted in the United States) so the parent dashboard, alerts and weekly summaries can work:

• Family code: a random 6-character identifier for your family group.
• Parent email address: provided by the parent when creating the group, used to identify the family account.
• Child device label: a first name or nickname entered at join time (for example "Emma") so parents can tell devices apart. A real name is not required.
• Alert events: when a linked child device passes a limit, the app name, minutes used, the type of alert and a timestamp. Deleted automatically after 30 days.
• Daily screen-time summaries: for each day, the total minutes of tracked-app use, minutes per tracked app, number of separate sessions, the daily limit that was set, and a 24-slot histogram of which hours that time fell in. These are totals only: no start or end time of any session, no order in which apps were opened, and no content of any kind. Deleted automatically after 90 days.
• Device status: when the child device last reported, so the dashboard can tell "no screen time" apart from "device offline."
• Time zone: the family's time zone (for example "America/Denver"), used to send the weekly summary at a reasonable local hour, and the child device's offset from UTC (for example "UTC−6"), used only to warn the parent when a child's device is set to a different time zone.
• Push-notification tokens: technical identifiers issued by Google Firebase Cloud Messaging, required to deliver notifications to the parent's device.
• Anonymous user ID: the app signs in anonymously (no email or password) to Firebase; this random ID ties a device to its family group.

Uploading happens only when a device is linked as a child and family sharing is switched on for it. A parent device never uploads its own screen time, and an unlinked device never uploads anything.

This data is visible only to the linked family group and to us as the service operator. Messages, photos, browsing content, searches, contacts and location are never collected. TimePaws measures time, not content.

Children's privacy

TimePaws is designed for families, including children, and we follow the Google Play Families policy:

• Child devices join a family only by entering a code that a parent created and shared. The parent is in control of linking.
• We collect no more from a child's device than described above: the device label, alert events, daily summaries, device status and time-zone offset.
• The child's device always shows on its home screen whether it is sharing screen time with a family.
• Devices set up as a child's never see purchase prompts or marketing. Purchases happen on the parent's device.
• We show no advertising to anyone, including children.

Purchases

The one-time Pro and Family purchases are processed entirely by Google Play Billing. We never see or store your payment details. For Family, the purchase status is recorded on your family group so the unlock reaches your linked devices.

What we don't do

• No advertising, and no advertising SDKs in the app.
• No sale, rental or sharing of personal data with data brokers or marketers.
• No third-party analytics SDKs in the app.
• No collection of contacts, messages, photos, browsing content or precise location.

This website sets no cookies and uses no analytics or tracking scripts. Like any web server, our host keeps standard access logs (such as IP address and pages requested) for security and operations.

Service providers

We use Google Firebase (Google LLC) for the optional family features: anonymous authentication, the Firestore database, Cloud Functions and Cloud Messaging. Google processes this data on our behalf under its Firebase data-processing terms. Data is stored in the United States (us-central1). Google Play (Google LLC) processes purchases. This website is hosted by DreamHost.

Data retention and deletion

• On-device data: deleted when you uninstall the app.
• Alert events: deleted automatically after 30 days.
• Daily screen-time summaries: deleted automatically after 90 days.
• Delete from the app: Settings > Delete my data. On a parent's phone this deletes the family group, every linked child's shared screen time and the anonymous account, then resets the app. Alerts already delivered expire within 30 days. A child device's shared data is deleted when the parent removes that device from the family dashboard.
• Delete by email: write to privacy@tera-quark.com with your family code. We complete the deletion within 30 days.

Security

Cloud data is protected by Firebase security rules that restrict access to members of the same family group, and is transmitted over encrypted connections (TLS). No system is perfectly secure, but we deliberately minimize what exists to be breached.

Your rights

Depending on where you live, you may have rights to access, correct, delete or receive a copy of your personal data. Contact us at the address below and we will respond within 30 days.

Changes to this policy

If we make material changes, we will update this page and the effective date above, and note the change in the app's release notes. We will never quietly expand data collection.

Contact us

TeraQuark Industries LLC, Pocatello, Idaho, United States
Privacy: privacy@tera-quark.com
Support: support@tera-quark.com