Privacy Policy

The short version

AVOW processes camera frames on your device and does not record, save or upload them. Accounts are optional. If you sign in, account details, verified session summaries and planning preferences sync as described below. Previously saved Personal Focus history is preserved on your device; new Personal sessions save no performance records. For accounts you sign in to, a limited set of session identifiers records use of the shared free allowance, without uploading Personal Focus names, durations or progress. Native purchases use Apple and RevenueCat. Browser checkout, when offered, uses RevenueCat Billing and Stripe; sign in uses Clerk. Network services also receive the connection information needed to deliver their services. AVOW does not use advertising SDKs. Local camera processing does not mean the entire app collects no data.

Face Data / Camera and Face Processing

AVOW processes live camera frames on your device to determine presence during Verified Focus. Apple Vision detects face rectangles and confidence scores in the native detector. The MediaPipe detector for camera distraction checks runs on your device and produces face bounding boxes, confidence scores and temporary detection keypoints; AVOW uses the bounding box and confidence to determine presence and framing. AVOW does not identify people or create face embeddings, identity identifiers, recognition templates or biometric profiles.

Camera images, video frames, face rectangles, detection keypoints and confidence scores are processed only in temporary device memory. They are not written to files, photos, session history, backups or AVOW databases. Frame and detection objects are released or replaced as processing proceeds; camera capture and detector resources are stopped or released when the camera session closes. There is no persistent face-data retention period or stored face-data record to delete. Revoking camera permission prevents further capture.

AVOW does not transmit or share camera frames, face images, landmarks, keypoints, face geometry or biometric templates with AVOW servers, Apple, Google, RevenueCat, Clerk or any other third party. Detector model downloads may contact a content delivery network, but these requests do not contain camera or face data. All face analysis runs on the device.

Only derived presence or distraction states are used to control the focus timer. Verified session summaries, such as focused and away durations, may be saved locally and synced to your account as described under Optional accounts and cloud sync; they contain no images or face geometry. You can delete saved session history using the app history controls. An explicitly enabled Focus Mirror displays the camera locally and does not record or upload it. Personal Focus does not use presence verification.

Camera operation

While a Verified Focus session is running, AVOW analyzes the front camera feed in real time, entirely on your device, to detect whether a person is present. Frames are processed in memory and immediately discarded. AVOW does not record, store, screenshot, or upload any video or images. It does not identify who is in front of the camera, does not perform facial recognition, and does not create biometric templates; it only determines whether someone is present.

During every Verified Focus session, the same on device analysis checks whether a phone is visibly in your camera's view near your work area. A sustained detection pauses verified time and contributes to the distraction time total. You cannot turn off this verification rule; Tracking & sound controls only the optional warning. AVOW cannot read your phone's screen or detect phone use outside the camera's view.

All presence and distraction math (focus totals, timelines, streaks) is computed locally on your device from those yes/no signals.

Depending on your app version, detection model files (face and object models) are either bundled with the app or downloaded from a content delivery network the first time detection runs, like any app resource. Your camera data is never sent anywhere in either case; processing happens strictly on your device. There is no cloud camera processing and no secret monitoring: presence detection runs only during a Verified Focus session you started, with the session screen visible.

Focus Mirror

The optional Focus Mirror displays the same camera feed during Verified Focus. It does not create another camera stream or record, save, or upload the feed. Personal Focus does not access the camera. A separate desk check in, where supported, uses the rear camera only after you choose to scan.

Microphone and personal alarm recordings

AVOW uses the microphone only when you choose to record a personal alarm. Your recordings remain on your device unless you explicitly share them.

Microphone permission is requested only at the moment you tap record, never at install, onboarding, or session start. If you never record a personal alarm, AVOW never accesses the microphone at all.

Recordings (up to 30 seconds) are saved into AVOW's private storage on your phone. AVOW does not upload or analyze them; if you explicitly export or share audio, the destination you select receives it. You can rename or delete them at any time in the Alarm Library, and deleting the app removes them permanently.

Imported audio files

If you import an audio file as an alarm, AVOW copies that file into its private local storage. AVOW does not upload imported audio. If you explicitly share audio, the destination you select receives it. You are responsible for having the rights to audio you import. You can delete imported audio at any time in the Alarm Library.

Voice alarms (spoken by your device)

Voice alarm phrases are spoken by your device's own speech engine, on the device, at the moment the alarm plays. No audio is generated on or sent to any server.

Data stored on your device

Your session history (durations, focus percentages, departure counts, distraction time and counts, session timelines, optional session names), settings, streaks, onboarding state, free session counter, personal alarm recordings, and imported alarm audio are stored locally on your phone. Optional verified session sync is described below. Other local data stays on your device and is deleted when you delete the app. You can also delete individual sessions, your entire history, or individual alarm recordings inside the app at any time.

Focus and personal display choices

Personal Focus is an unrestricted timer sandbox. New sessions keep animation state only temporarily and save no durations, performance history, collection progress, achievements, stamps, streaks, proof or social statistics. Personal performance is not sent to account sync or analytics. Minimal session access and purchase receipts remain necessary to enforce the shared allowance and payments. Previously saved records are preserved. Theme, avatar, Space and Passport display preferences can sync when you sign in. Proof images and Passport pages are exported only when you choose to share them.

Optional accounts and cloud sync

You can start sessions without an account. An account is required for community features and certain optional purchases. Clerk, our authentication provider, processes your sign in information, including your email address, to create and secure the account. We store the profile you enter: a handle and display name, plus visibility and leaderboard choices. Region, school and company affiliations come from the verification flows below; you can remove them at any time.

With an account, AVOW syncs verified session identifiers, mode, start and end times, focused, away, distracted and monitored time, outcome, selected Space and an optional task identifier. Detailed timelines and session names stay on the device. Camera frames, video and personal alarm recordings are not part of account sync.

AVOW also syncs your tasks and planning choices: task titles, durations, completion state, planned times, weekly schedules and manual or verified completion requirements. Selected themes, avatars, Spaces and Passport display preferences can sync. A linked task title may describe your work even though the session name itself is not uploaded. Device permission grants, app blocking selection tokens and desk recognition receipts stay on the device; a synced plan must be enabled separately on each supported device.

Community features and leaderboards

Friends, teams, groups, and leaderboards are optional. Your aggregate stats are visible to accepted friends and to fellow members of teams and groups you join. Public leaderboards are strictly optional: you appear only if you turn on leaderboard participation, and you can turn it off at any time. You can block other users; blocked users cannot see you in search, friends, or boards, and you cannot see them.

Viewing a board never joins you to it or changes your profile. Regional, school, and company boards show coarse region names and verified affiliations at most, never addresses or coordinates, and identifiable ranking rows appear only once a board has at least 5 opted in participants.

Location verification (optional)

Regional leaderboards are joined only through explicit location verification. If you choose to verify, AVOW asks for location permission and reads your device location once, at that moment. The coordinates are sent over an encrypted connection to our server, which resolves them into a coarse region: your country, plus your state or province and county or city where available. Only those region names are stored, together with the verification date. Your precise coordinates are not stored anywhere; they are used to resolve the region and immediately discarded.

AVOW never tracks your location in the background, never requests always on location access, and never uses your location for advertising or profiling. You can remove your verified region at any time in Account, which deletes the stored region names. To keep regions honest, you can update your region at most once every 7 days.

School and company verification (optional)

School leaderboards use a curated school directory and email verification. To join a school community, you enter an email address at that school's domain; Clerk, our authentication provider, sends a code to that address and keeps the verified email with your account. We store the membership itself (the school, the dates, and the email domain that proved it) plus a cryptographic hash of the verified address, which prevents one school inbox from verifying more than one AVOW account. The address itself is never written into our community records. School verification expires after 365 days; verifying again extends it.

Company communities work in one of two ways: an admin of that company's AVOW community approves your request to join, or you claim membership with a work email at a domain registered for that company, using the same code flow as schools. Either way, AVOW verifies only that you control a matching email address or that an admin approved you; AVOW does not verify employment and never contacts employers. After leaving a company community there is a 7 day wait before you can rejoin it.

If your school or company is missing from the directory, you can submit a request with its name, website, and context. Requests are reviewed before anything becomes public; submitting one stores those details with your account and never creates a public leaderboard by itself.

Reports and moderation

If you report another user, we store the report: who filed it, the reported handle at the time, the reason, and an optional note. Reports are used only for safety review. Reports that reference an account may be kept for moderation purposes even after that account is deleted.

Account deletion

You can delete your account inside the app at any time (Account, then Delete account). This immediately and permanently removes your cloud data: profile, synced session aggregates, synced planning and preferences, stats, friendships, blocks, invites, and team and group memberships. Reports you filed are removed as well; reports other users filed that reference you may be retained as described above. Your local data on the phone is not affected by account deletion, and you can keep using AVOW without an account afterwards.

AVOW in your browser

AVOW runs on a computer in a supported browser. For verified Computer Work, you choose to share the entire screen and allow the webcam. The browser checks that you are present, no phone is in view, and readable work is visible. If either source is lost, verified credit pauses. A phone is not required for a browser session.

Webcam and shared screen images are analyzed on your computer for temporary verification signals; AVOW does not record or upload the images. Session access, verification state and earned totals are checked and saved by the AVOW service. Computer Work monitoring runs only during a session you start.

Optional system focus controls

If you enable Live Activities on a supported iPhone, the current task or session title and timer can appear on your lock screen and Dynamic Island, where someone nearby may see them. You can turn Live Activities off in Focus controls. Optional task reminders may also show the task title in a notification. These displays do not verify work in the background and do not record or upload camera frames or video.

If you grant Screen Time permission and choose an app blocking profile, Apple provides opaque app, category and website selection tokens. AVOW stores those tokens and the block schedule locally in its private shared app storage so the system extension can enforce the schedule. Raw selection tokens do not enter AVOW cloud sync, analytics or social statistics. Blocking does not inspect app content or browsing history and does not grant verified time. You can stop a block or revoke permission in Focus controls or system Settings.

Desk check in and scheduled prompts

Where available in your app version and device, an optional desk check in uses the rear camera only while the check in view is open and after you choose to scan. Apple Vision classifies frames in memory on your device. Frames are discarded and are not uploaded or retained. AVOW keeps only a temporary acknowledgement receipt on the device. Recognising a desk acknowledges a prompt; it does not prove work or create a verified accomplishment.

Scheduled notifications and authorised system alarms can show a task title. Apple controls alarm permission and the system Stop action. Stopping an alarm does not itself complete a task or remove a separately enabled app shield. Protected sessions use the selected apps and explicit completion condition; expiry, cancellation and emergency exit do not award completed work. These capabilities depend on device support, permissions and app version. Browser sessions do not provide iPhone system alarms or app shields.

Purchases

Native purchases are processed by Apple through your Apple ID. Browser purchases, when offered, are processed by RevenueCat Billing and Stripe. AVOW uses RevenueCat to receive purchase information and subscription status. Native subscription customers initially use an anonymous app identifier. Browser purchases use the signed-in account’s opaque billing identifier from the beginning. If individual session purchases are available and you choose to buy one, AVOW links an opaque billing identifier to the AVOW account you signed in to so your unused balance survives reinstalling the app. Our server stores transaction identifiers, purchase and refund events, and session redemption status to prevent duplicate credit and recover your balance. RevenueCat receives the opaque billing identifier. Browser checkout may ask you directly for an email for payment receipts; AVOW does not automatically send your AVOW email to checkout. AVOW does not receive your payment card details. After account deletion, minimal transaction and refund identifiers remain to prevent the same purchase from being credited again; the deleted account profile is not retained with them.

Optional product analytics

When available, optional product analytics helps AVOW understand onboarding, Verified Focus setup, reliability and purchase outcomes. It is off until you choose Help improve AVOW. Before signing in, events you opted to share remain on this device. Only a signed in consenting account can send the limited events to AVOW and PostHog. Personal Focus activity, camera frames, screen content, OCR text, notes and browsing URLs are never included.

Events use a pseudonymous identifier rather than your email or name, with categorical outcomes and app version. Confirmed App Store lifecycle events may include the purchased plan, amount and currency. Internal, reviewer, development and sandbox use is excluded from customer reporting. Queued events expire after seven days; provider retention is governed by the configured reporting service. Turning this off stops new collection and removes pending delivery. Account deletion requests erasure of linked reporting data from the provider; that process may complete asynchronously.

Data we collect

Account and community data includes your sign in details processed by Clerk, your profile, optional verified affiliations, session summaries, tasks, schedules and preferences described above. Apple, RevenueCat and, for browser checkout when offered, Stripe process purchase information, subscription status and app or account identifiers. Support messages include the contact information and details you choose to send.

Requests to AVOW, authentication, purchase services and model file delivery services necessarily include network information such as an IP address and service request metadata. These providers process information to deliver, secure and operate their services. AVOW does not sell your camera data or use advertising SDKs. Optional region verification transmits coordinates briefly to resolve a region; only the coarse region is retained, as described above.

Children

AVOW is a focus and study tool. Account, community and purchase features process the information described in this policy. Parents or guardians with questions about a child's account or a deletion request can contact support@avowfocus.com. App Store age ratings and parental controls do not replace the permissions needed to use those services.

Your choices

You can revoke camera access at any time in iOS Settings. Verified Focus requires camera permission; Personal Focus remains available without it. Microphone access is optional and only needed to record personal alarms; you can revoke it and keep using everything else. Location access is optional and used only at the moment you choose to verify your region; you can revoke it in iOS Settings and keep using everything else, and you can remove a verified region, school, or company inside the app at any time. You can delete your history and recordings in the app, or remove all local data by deleting the app. If you created an account, you can delete it inside the app at any time, which removes your cloud data as described above.

Changes to this policy

If we change this policy, the updated version will be posted at this address and inside the app with a new effective date. Material changes will be highlighted in the app.

Contact

Questions about privacy: support@avowfocus.com