Privacy Policy
Effective date: October 23, 2026
hesitate (the "app") is an iPhone app that locks the apps you choose while you focus. The app works without an account or a server, and the developer cannot see your sessions. This policy explains what information the app keeps and where, what the ad provider receives, and how to delete your sessions.
At a glance
- There is no sign-up or login, and the developer runs no server.
- Your sessions are stored only on your iPhone and in your own iCloud. The developer cannot access them.
- Screen Time information, such as which apps you used and for how long, is not read by the app and never leaves your device.
- The only ad is one banner on the result screen (Google AdMob), and it is not personalized. Google receives some device information when the ad loads (Section 7).
1. Information the developer collects
The developer does not collect personal information directly.
- There are no accounts or sign-ups.
- The app does not receive anything that could identify you, such as your name, email address, or phone number.
- The developer runs no server and uses no usage statistics or analytics tools.
Information can still reach the developer in these two cases:
- If you send an email to ask a question, the developer receives your email address and the contents of your message. They are used only to reply and handle your question, and are not shared with anyone else.
- If you turn on "Share With App Developers" in the iPhone's Settings, Apple may give the developer crash reports and usage statistics that Apple has made anonymous. Apple runs this feature, and you can turn it off in Settings › Privacy & Security › Analytics & Improvements.
2. Your sessions
For each locked session, the app saves the following:
| Data | Session start and end times, the planned length, the focus time that counted, how the session ended (finished, or urgent unlock), the task name you typed, and the color you picked |
|---|---|
| Where it is stored | On your iPhone (the app's storage). If iCloud is on, a copy is also stored in a private area of your own iCloud account (the CloudKit private database), so your sessions stay in sync with your other devices signed in to the same Apple Account. |
| Who can see it | Only you. The developer cannot access the private area of your iCloud. The copy stored in iCloud is kept under Apple's iCloud terms and privacy policy. |
| How long it is kept | Until you delete it (Section 9) |
- Projects (the project names you create and the task names you put in them), the order of your task names, and your list of colors are stored on your iPhone. If iCloud is on, a copy is also stored in a private area of your own iCloud account (iCloud key-value storage), so they stay in sync with your other devices signed in to the same Apple Account. The developer cannot access this copy.
- App settings, such as the default session length, the last task name and color you used, the share card background color, your choice of apps to lock, and the information about a session in progress, are stored only on your iPhone and are not sent to iCloud either.
- The Home Screen widget and the Live Activity on the Lock Screen can show today's sessions and the time left. This only shows them on your device; nothing is sent out.
3. Screen Time information
The app uses Apple's Screen Time feature (Family Controls) only to lock apps on your own device.
- When you choose which apps to lock, the app uses the picker that Apple provides. All the app gets back is an encrypted token that points to the apps, categories, and websites you chose, and the app cannot tell which app a token stands for. The tokens are stored only on your iPhone.
- The app does not read which apps you used, when, or for how long (usage time).
- The screen that appears when you open a locked app shows that app's name. iOS passes the name over only at the moment it draws that screen, and the app does not save, record, or send it anywhere.
- Screen Time information never leaves your device and is not connected to ads.
4. Permissions
| Permission | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Screen Time (approved by you for your own device) | To lock the apps you chose during a session |
| Notifications | To tell you when a session has ended. The app uses only notifications scheduled on your iPhone (local notifications); the developer sends no notifications from outside. |
| Photos (add only) | To save a share card image to the Photos app |
- When you put a photo on the share card background, the app uses Apple's photo picker. Only the one photo you pick is passed to the app, it is used only while the card is being made, and it is not saved. This does not require access to your whole photo library.
- For iCloud sync, Apple tells your devices about changes made on another device with a notification that does not appear on screen (a silent push). This is an Apple iCloud feature, not something the developer sends.
- The app does not ask for permission to use your location, contacts, camera, or microphone, and it does not ask for App Tracking Transparency (ATT) permission.
5. Share cards and CSV export
- A share card image or a CSV file (Settings › Data › Export CSV) is made only when you tap to make it.
- You choose where it goes in the iOS share sheet. The app does not send it anywhere on its own. After you send it, the policy of the app or service that receives it applies.
6. Entrusting the processing of personal information
The developer does not entrust the processing of personal information to anyone else. The iCloud storage in Section 2 takes place in your own iCloud account, between you and Apple; it is not something the developer entrusts.
7. Ads and third-party processing (including transfers abroad)
To support the app, a banner ad appears on the result screen after a session ends. The ad is delivered by Google LLC's ad service (Google AdMob), and in the process Google collects and processes the following information.
| Recipient | Google LLC (1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA) and its affiliates. Privacy contact: https://support.google.com/policies/contact/general_privacy_form |
|---|---|
| Countries the data is transferred to | The United States and other countries where Google operates servers |
| Information received | Device model, operating system version, and app identifier; IP address and the approximate location (city level) inferred from it; device identifiers; ad impression and click records; diagnostic information (ad performance and errors) |
| Purpose | Serving ads, measuring ad performance, and preventing fraudulent clicks |
| Retention | Governed by Google's privacy policy. Google states that it anonymizes part of the IP address in ad server logs after 9 months and cookie information after 18 months. |
| When and how it is transferred | After the app opens, it communicates with Google to check consent status. When Google allows ad requests, the ad feature gets ready and requests ads on the result screen. Everything is sent over an encrypted network connection (HTTPS). |
| How to opt out, and what happens | The app has no setting to turn ads off. Deleting the app stops any further transfer. If you are offline and no ad appears, locking and your sessions all still work. |
- Ad requests do not include your sessions (task names, times, and so on) or Screen Time information.
- The app does not ask for ATT permission, so the advertising identifier (IDFA) is not provided. The app also asks Google to turn off personalization when it requests an ad, and turns off the advertising identifier that apps from the same developer share. As a result, ads are shown as non-personalized ads that are not based on your activity in other apps or on the web.
- Google is obliged to protect this information under its own privacy policy and applicable law.
- The developer does not receive or store this information, so there is no data on the developer's side to delete. You can ask to see or delete the information Google holds through the Google privacy contact above, and you are welcome to ask for help at the email address in Section 12.
- How Google handles ad data: https://policies.google.com/technologies/ads
- Google's privacy policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy
In the United Kingdom, the European Economic Area (EEA), and Switzerland, a Google User Messaging Platform consent form is shown when Google determines that consent is required. It appears after onboarding and outside a focus session. The Google SDK stores your choices on your device. When Google requires a way to change them, you can change or withdraw consent in Settings › About › Ad Privacy Choices; this entry appears only when required. The app requests ads only when Google allows ad requests, and it continues to request no personalized ads regardless of your choices.
8. Behavioral information and personalized ads
- The app does not show personalized ads, and it does not collect your app or web usage history (behavioral information) for personalized ads. The information Google receives while loading an ad is described in Section 7.
- To limit this further at the device level, turn off "Allow Apps to Request to Track" in your iPhone's Settings › Privacy & Security › Tracking, and turn off "Personalized Ads" in Settings › Privacy & Security › Apple Advertising.
- The app is not primarily directed at children.
- Ad requests are limited to content suitable for all audiences (rating G, the strictest ad content rating in Google's ad service).
9. Viewing, exporting, and deleting your sessions
The developer does not hold your sessions, so you can view, export, and delete them yourself.
- View: Tap the "Today … ›" row on Home to open History.
- Export: In Settings › Data › Export CSV, you can get all your sessions as a file.
- Delete one session: In History, pick a date, tap the session in the list below, then tap "Delete This Session". If iCloud sync is on, it is also deleted from iCloud and from your other devices signed in to the same account.
- Delete the app: Deleting the app erases the sessions, settings, and choice of apps to lock on your iPhone, and removes any lock. The copy stored in iCloud remains, so if you install the app again, your sessions, projects, task name order, and list of colors come back.
- Delete the iCloud copy: On your iPhone, go to Settings › [your name] › iCloud › Manage Storage (or Manage Account Storage), choose hesitate, and delete its data.
- Turn off iCloud sync: In Settings › [your name] › iCloud, in the list of apps using iCloud, turn off hesitate. After that, sessions are stored only on this iPhone.
10. Remedies for privacy violations
These are the Korean agencies that handle privacy complaints and consultations. If you need advice or want to report a privacy violation, you can contact them:
- Personal Information Infringement Report Center (KISA): https://privacy.kisa.or.kr (dial 118 in Korea, no area code)
- Personal Information Dispute Mediation Committee: https://www.kopico.go.kr (1833-6972)
- Supreme Prosecutors' Office: https://www.spo.go.kr (dial 1301 in Korea, no area code)
- National Police Agency: https://ecrm.police.go.kr (dial 182 in Korea, no area code)
Where Taiwan’s Personal Data Protection Act or Hong Kong’s Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance applies, you may exercise the rights provided by that law. In Taiwan, these include inquiry, access, copies, supplementation, correction, stopping collection, processing or use, and deletion; in Hong Kong, they include access and correction. For personal information the developer holds, such as inquiry emails, contact the person in Section 12. For focus records the developer does not hold, use Section 9; for information Google processes, use Section 7. Sending an inquiry email is voluntary. You can use the app without sending one, but cannot receive a reply to an inquiry you do not send.
Sources: Taiwan PDPA, Articles 3 and 8, Hong Kong PCPD collection statement.
11. Changes to this policy
If this policy changes, we will say so on this page and update the effective date.
- October 23, 2026 — Added the UK, EEA, and Switzerland consent form, on-device choice storage, privacy options, and continued non-personalized requests in Section 7; updated transfer timing. Added information about rights for users in Taiwan and Hong Kong in Section 10.
- October 13, 2026 — Section 2: added where projects, task name order, and the list of colors are stored (your iPhone and your own iCloud).
- October 1, 2026 — Section 8: added the limit on ad content rating (suitable for all audiences).
- September 26, 2026 — First effective date.
12. Contact
Privacy officer: BoHyeon Seo (developer)
Email: wormworks@proton.me
If you see an inappropriate ad or one that does not suit your age, please tell us at the same address. Sending a screenshot of the ad helps when we report it to Google.