PhoneLimit respects your privacy. This policy explains what data the app collects, why, and how it is protected.
1. About the App
PhoneLimit is a digital wellbeing app for Android that tracks screen time and helps you manage your app usage habits. It is published on the Google Play Store under the package name app.phonelimit.
2. Data We Collect
- App usage statistics (which app is used and for how long)
- Daily / weekly screen time summaries
- The app time limits you set
- Family mode pattern lock (stored as a SHA-256 hash, never as plain text)
- Backup PIN (stored as a SHA-256 hash)
- Streak calendar data (your daily goal completion history)
- Firebase Authentication: email address and secure authentication (for the friends and family mode features)
- Firestore: friendship connections, invite codes, and profile info shared with your friends: display name, weekly average screen time, category breakdown (social / entertainment / finance / other), streak, and, if you enable app sharing, your most-used apps
- Firebase Analytics: anonymous app usage events (which screens are viewed, and whether a subscription was started), plus the campaign your install came from if you arrived through one of our links
- Firebase Crashlytics: crash and error reports: the stack trace, your device model and Android version, and whether family mode and Pro were active, so we can find what broke. No usage data and no personal information is attached.
- Pro subscription status is managed by Google Play
- Payment details are never seen or stored by PhoneLimit
- Subscription status is only cached locally on your device
3. How We Use Your Data
- Tracking screen time and showing statistics
- Running the app blocking feature
- Friend leaderboard and social features
- Family mode access control
- Verifying subscription status
- Diagnosing crashes and errors so we can fix them
4. Third-Party Services
PhoneLimit uses the following Google services, each governed by its own privacy policy:
5. Data Security
- All network traffic is encrypted with HTTPS; plain HTTP is not allowed
- Sensitive local data (pattern lock, PIN) is stored hashed with SHA-256
- Android DataStore is excluded from backups (
allowBackup="false") - The release build is obfuscated with ProGuard/R8
6. Permissions and Why We Need Them
Required to measure how much time you spend in each app. The detailed data is processed on your device; only aggregated summaries (weekly average, category breakdown, most-used apps) are shared if you use the friends feature.
Needed to show a block screen over an app when its time limit is reached.
Needed so time tracking runs reliably in the background and notifications can be sent.
Keeps the tracking service from being throttled by battery limits, for accurate measurement.
7. Children's Privacy
PhoneLimit is not directed at children under 13. The Family Mode feature is designed for parents to manage their child's device; no personal data about children is collected in this process.
8. Your Rights Over Your Data
- Account deletion: you can request permanent deletion of your Firebase account and Firestore data at any time. See Account & Data Deletion
- Local data deletion: all local data is automatically removed when you uninstall the app
- Data access: contact us to find out what data is held about you
9. Changes to This Policy
When this policy is updated, the new version is published on this page. You will be notified in the app for significant changes.
10. Contact
For questions and requests:
- Email: notbuiltin@gmail.com
- This page: notbuiltin.github.io/phonelimit/privacy.html