Privacy Policy

📋 1. Information You Provide

BetterStart only stores data that you explicitly enter. This includes:

• Tasks you add in the Launch module
• Counter names and tap counts in the Tally module
• Energy check-in entries in the Energy module
• Your settings preferences (theme, display options)
• Your Kids Mode password, if you enable parental controls (stored only on your device)

BetterStart does not automatically collect any data. No device identifiers, no usage analytics, no location data, no diagnostics. Nothing.

📱 2. Where Your Data Lives

All your data is stored solely on your device using local storage (AsyncStorage). It is never uploaded, synced, or transmitted to any server, cloud service, or third party.

We do not operate servers. We do not have a backend. There is nowhere for your data to go, even if we wanted it to (we don't).

🚫 3. Data Sharing

None. Zero. Never.

No third party receives any data from BetterStart. We do not sell, rent, trade, or share your information with anyone, for any reason. There are no analytics SDKs, no advertising networks, no social media trackers, and no third-party services embedded in the app.

📊 4. Analytics and Tracking

BetterStart contains no analytics or tracking of any kind. We do not use Firebase, Google Analytics, Mixpanel, Amplitude, or any other analytics tool. We have no idea how you use the app, how often you open it, or what features you prefer. That's by design.

🛑 5. Advertising

BetterStart contains no advertisements. There are no ad SDKs, no ad networks, and no sponsored content. You paid for the app. That's the whole business model.

🧠 6. AI and On-Device Processing

BetterStart includes an optional on-device AI feature that generates personalised micro-steps for your tasks. This is powered by a small language model (SmolLM2-360M) that runs entirely on your device. The model is downloaded once and operates offline — your tasks and prompts are never sent to any server.

The AI feature is opt-in and disabled by default. When enabled:

• All inference happens on your phone — no cloud API calls
• Your task text never leaves your device
• The model file is stored in your app's sandboxed directory
• A regex-based fallback always provides steps if the AI is unavailable or disabled

🛡️ 6a. AI Safety Guardrails

BetterStart applies comprehensive safety measures following the OWASP LLM Top 10 security framework:

• Input sanitisation: Task text is length-capped, stripped of special characters, and normalised (Unicode, zero-width characters, leet speak) before reaching the model
• Output filtering: 9 safety regex filters block shame words, harmful content, PII (emails, phone numbers, URLs), code injection, chat tokens, and placeholder text
• Rate limiting: Inference is limited to one request per second with a concurrent-request guard and a 15-second timeout
• Supply chain security: The model is downloaded from a single pinned HTTPS URL with file-size verification
• No external access: The AI cannot call APIs, access the internet, execute code, or modify app state — it produces plain text only
• Memory management: The model is automatically released from memory when the app goes to the background

⚠️ 6b. AI Accuracy and Limitations

The AI may produce inaccurate, irrelevant, or unhelpful micro-steps. Language models — even carefully filtered ones — can hallucinate, repeat themselves, or generate steps that don't match your task. This is a known limitation of on-device AI, especially small models optimised for speed over accuracy.

To mitigate this:

• A relevance check compares generated steps against the original task and rejects poor matches
• A "These don't feel right — try different steps" button lets you reject bad output with one tap
• A regex-based fallback covering 25 common task categories is always available and does not rely on AI
• The AI is entirely optional — you can disable it at any time in Settings and still use the full app

BetterStart's AI is designed to help you start tasks, not to give advice. It does not provide medical, financial, legal, or therapeutic guidance. If a generated step seems wrong or unhelpful, simply dismiss it.

BetterStart also includes smart insights and pattern recognition features. These are powered by pure rules running entirely on your device. No data is sent to any cloud AI service.

👶 7. Children's Privacy

BetterStart does not knowingly collect personal information from children under the age of 13. Since the app does not collect or transmit any data whatsoever, there is no mechanism through which children's data could be gathered or shared.

BetterStart includes a Kids Mode with password-protected parental controls. When enabled, Kids Mode disables all AI features (the on-device language model is deleted from the device) and falls back to curated, hand-written micro-steps. A parent or guardian sets a password to enable Kids Mode, and the same password is required to disable it. The password is stored only on the device and is never transmitted.

If you believe a child under 13 has somehow provided personal information through the app, please contact us at claudiu@adsdesign.ro and we will address your concern.

🗑️ 8. Deleting Your Data

You are in complete control of your data:

• In-app: Go to Settings > Clear All Data to delete everything at any time
• Uninstall: Removing the app from your device deletes all associated data

Since your data exists only on your device, deleting it is immediate and permanent. There are no backups on our end, no residual copies, and nothing to request deletion of.

🔐 9. Encrypted Backup & Restore

BetterStart includes an optional backup feature that lets you export your data as an encrypted file, protected by a password you choose. Encryption uses a SHA-256-based stream cipher via the expo-crypto library.

• Export: Creates an encrypted .json file containing your tasks, counters, energy check-ins, and settings
• Your password: The file is encrypted with a password only you know. We never see, store, or have access to your password
• Your choice where to save: The file is shared via your device's share sheet. You decide where it goes: Files app, iCloud Drive, Google Drive, email, AirDrop, or anywhere else
• Import: Restore from a backup file by providing your password

We never receive, transmit, or store your backup files. The entire process happens on your device. The encryption ensures that even if someone else gets the file, they cannot read it without your password.

🔑 10. App Permissions

BetterStart requests only the minimum permissions needed to function. Here's exactly what we ask for, and why:

• Internet access: Used to download the optional AI model file and to process in-app purchases through the App Store or Google Play. Your personal data is never sent over the network
• Vibration / Haptics: Powers the tactile feedback you feel when tapping buttons, spinning the roulette, or interacting with counters
• File access (Android 12 and below only): Needed to import and export encrypted backup files. On Android 13 and newer, the system's built-in file picker handles this without requiring a separate permission
• Check available storage (iOS): Lets the app check whether your device has enough free space before downloading the ~386 MB AI model, so it can warn you if space is low
• Save preferences locally: Stores your settings (theme, display options) on your device so they're remembered next time you open the app
• Notifications (optional): If you enable daily reminders in Settings, the app requests permission to send local notifications at the time you choose. Notifications are scheduled entirely on your device — no push server is involved

BetterStart does not request access to your camera, microphone, location, contacts, calendar, photos, or any other sensitive data. The app does not run in the background.

💳 11. Purchases and Payment

BetterStart is available as a one-time purchase through the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. All payment processing is handled entirely by Apple and Google. We never receive, process, or store your payment information, credit card details, or billing address.

For information about how your payment data is handled, please refer to:

• Apple's Privacy Policy
• Google's Privacy Policy

📝 12. Changes to This Policy

We may update this privacy policy from time to time. If we make changes, we will update the "Effective date" at the top of this page. We encourage you to review this policy periodically.

Given the nature of the app (fully offline, no data collection), significant changes are unlikely. But if our practices ever change, you'll know about it here first.

💬 Contact Us

If you have any questions about this privacy policy or the app, reach out:

Email: claudiu@adsdesign.ro

BetterStart is developed and maintained by BetterStart.