Privacy

Who I am

The Buddy System publishes TeaBuddy, CoffeeBuddy, TransformationBuddy, T minus 90, BookBuddy and SwipeBuddy. You can reach me at [email protected] about anything on this page, including a request to delete your data.

The iPhone and iPad apps

They do not collect anything. There is no account, no sign-up, no email field, no analytics SDK, no crash reporter, no advertising identifier, and no network call that carries your content. Everything you write is stored on your device.

If you turn on iCloud sync, your journal syncs through your own iCloud account under Apple's privacy terms. It goes to Apple, not to me, and I have no way to read it.

Three features talk to the internet, and only when you use them:

• BookBuddy's book search sends the title or author you type to the Open Library API to fetch book details and covers. It sends nothing else.
• Packet and bag scanning in TeaBuddy and CoffeeBuddy runs entirely on your device using Apple's on-device text recognition. The photo never leaves your phone.
• TransformationBuddy's barcode scanner sends the barcode number you scan to the Open Food Facts database to look up that product's nutrition facts. It sends only the barcode: no photo, no journal data, nothing about you. Scanning a nutrition label instead is read entirely on your device, and the app's built-in food search works offline.

Apple Health

TransformationBuddy can connect to Apple Health if you turn it on in the app's Settings. When it is on, the app reads your weight, waist, steps, sleep, water and workouts to pre-fill your daily check-in, and writes the weight, waist, water and food you log so they appear in the Health app. You choose exactly which types to share on the Health permission sheet, and you can change or revoke that any time in the Health app under Sharing. Health data is read and written on your device only. It is never sent anywhere, never used for advertising or any other purpose, and never stored in iCloud by the app.

SwipeBuddy and Screen Time

SwipeBuddy limits short-video apps using Apple's Screen Time (the Family Controls framework). It still collects nothing, but it handles more sensitive information than the other apps, so here's exactly what happens to it:

• The apps and websites you pick come from Apple's own picker. Apple hands SwipeBuddy only opaque tokens, so the app never learns which apps or sites you chose. It uses them to tell iOS what to block.
• Your usage numbers (time per app, pickups, notifications) are drawn by Apple's Screen Time report view inside the app. Apple doesn't give those numbers to SwipeBuddy, and they never leave your phone.
• SwipeBuddy's own daily log powers Insights and the year in review. iOS tells the app each time you pass a few minutes of use, so the log holds an estimate of your daily use and when in the day it happened, when you hit your limit, your emergency unlocks, and the reason and note you give for each one. It's stored only on your device, isn't included in iCloud sync, and is deleted with the app.
• The Safari extension, if you turn it on, runs only on youtube.com, instagram.com and facebook.com. It looks at the page's address and layout to hide Shorts and Reels, and asks the SwipeBuddy app on your phone which sites to change. It reads no other pages, records nothing, and sends nothing anywhere.
• Year in review images are made on your phone. They're only shared if you share them yourself.
• SwipeBuddy Pro is bought through the App Store. Apple tells the app whether Pro is active and nothing else. I never learn who you are.

Apple's rules for Screen Time apps are strict, and SwipeBuddy follows all of them: this data is only ever used to give you the limits you asked for. It is never used for advertising, never shared, and never sold.

Notifications and widgets

Some of the apps can remind you: TeaBuddy's steep timer, CoffeeBuddy's brew timer and rest-day reminders, TransformationBuddy's daily reminder, T minus 90's sidekick nudges, BookBuddy's reading reminders, and SwipeBuddy's "10 minutes left" heads-up and emergency unlock prompt. Every one of them is scheduled on your device from data that's already there. I run no push server, and nothing about a reminder leaves your phone. (If you turn on iCloud sync, Apple sends its own silent background signals to keep your devices in step. That's part of iCloud, not something I operate or can see.) T minus 90's home-screen and lock-screen widgets read the same on-device data, shared only between the app and its own widget.

Deleting your data on iPhone

Delete entries inside the app, or delete the app to remove everything stored on the device. Deleting SwipeBuddy also removes its Screen Time access and lifts any blocks it set. If you turned on iCloud sync, also remove the app's data in Settings → your name → iCloud → Manage Account Storage. I can't delete it for you, because I never had a copy.

The web apps

Your journal

Everything you enter into a web app (sessions, brews, entries, weights, photos, notes) is written to your browser's local storage on the device you're using. It is not uploaded, I keep no copy of it, and I cannot read it. It does not sync between your devices.

Two consequences worth understanding before you rely on it:

• If you clear your browser's site data, use private browsing, or switch to another browser or computer, your journal will not be there. Use each app's Export JSON button to keep your own backups.
• Anyone with access to your unlocked device and browser profile can read it. I can't add a lock I'd have to hold a key for.

Your account

To sell a subscription I need to know who has one, so I store:

• Your email address, to send sign-in links and receipts, and to match you to your subscription.
• Which plans are active on it: the app IDs you can open, and the subscription's status and renewal date.
• A Stripe customer ID, an opaque reference so the billing portal knows which account to open.
• Sign-in tokens and session identifiers, which are short-lived random strings. Sign-in links expire after 20 minutes and can be used once; sessions expire after 60 days.

That's the whole list. I do not store your name, address, card, IP-based location, or a profile of what you do inside the apps.

Payments

Payments are processed by Stripe. Your card details are entered on Stripe's own checkout page and never touch my servers. Stripe is the data controller for your payment information; I receive only the customer ID, the subscription status, and the email you gave them.

Cookies

One cookie, called bs_session. It holds a random session identifier, is HttpOnly, Secure and SameSite=Lax, and exists solely to keep you signed in. It is strictly necessary for a service you asked for, which is why there is no cookie banner on this site. There are no analytics, advertising, or third-party cookies anywhere on this domain.

Logs

My host, Cloudflare, keeps standard, short-lived request logs (IP address, timestamp, URL, user agent) for security and abuse prevention, as any web host does. I don't build profiles from them and I don't export them anywhere.

Who I share it with

Three processors, each doing one job:

• Cloudflare: hosting and the storage that holds your email and entitlements.
• Stripe: payments, subscriptions and invoices.
• Resend: sending sign-in emails. It receives your email address and the link.

I do not sell personal data, share it with advertisers, or use it to train anything.

How long I keep it

Your account record lives as long as your subscription plus 12 months, so that resubscribing is painless and so I can answer billing questions. After that it's deleted. Stripe keeps invoice records for as long as tax law requires them to. Ask me to delete your account sooner and I will, usually within a few days.

Your rights

Depending on where you live you may have the right to access, correct, export, or delete your personal data, to object to processing, or to complain to a regulator. Since the data I hold is one email address and a list of plan IDs, most of these come down to a single email to [email protected]. I'll respond within 30 days.

Your journal content isn't included in an export request for the simple reason that I don't have it. It's in your browser, and the app's own export button gives you the complete file immediately.

Children

These apps aren't directed at children under 13, and I don't knowingly collect data from them.

Changes

If I change this policy in a way that affects what I collect, I'll update the date above and email active subscribers before it takes effect.