Align ("Align," "we," "our," or "us") helps you use your phone more intentionally by combining Screen Time protections, habit sessions, and limited app unlocks.
This Privacy Policy explains what information Align processes, how it is used, and what choices you have.
1. What Align Processes
Align processes two categories of data: data stored locally on your device, and product analytics sent to a third-party service.
1a. Data stored on your device
- Onboarding information you enter or select, including: your self-assessment of unconscious phone pickup habits; areas of life you feel are affected by phone use (such as sleep, focus, or relationships); psychological triggers you identify (such as boredom, stress, or habit); personal values and priorities; your intended future relationship with your phone; and your self-reported daily screen time and preferred daily screen limit. All of this data is stored locally on your device and is never transmitted to any server.
- Protected app selections you make through Apple's Screen Time and Family Controls flow
- App usage summaries retrieved through Apple's Screen Time APIs, such as today's or yesterday's screen time totals
- Habit session data, including active, completed, paused, or cancelled sessions
- Unlock data, including energy balance, unlock history, and unlock-session timers
- Interruption and progress data, such as streaks, completed habits, skipped interruptions, and related in-app activity summaries
- Settings like notification preferences, haptics, and daily allowance settings
1b. Product analytics sent to PostHog
Align uses PostHog (posthog.com) to collect anonymous product analytics that help us understand how the app is used and improve it. This data is transmitted to PostHog's servers.
No directly identifying information such as name or email is passed to PostHog.
PostHog receives:
Onboarding data
- Your self-reported daily screen time (hours per day) collected during onboarding
- The names of apps you chose to protect (e.g., "Instagram", "TikTok")
In-app events
- Onboarding started and completed
- Screen Time permission requested, granted, or denied
- Notification permission requested, granted, or denied
- Protected apps selected
- Interruption shown, accepted, or declined — including which app was interrupted
- Task selected, completed, or cancelled
- Habit streaks started, increased, or lost — including streak count
- Focus sessions started and completed — including duration
- Unlock sessions started, completed, or expired — including duration
- Emergency unlocks used — including which app triggered it
- Daily screen limit reached
- Settings screen opened
- Paywall viewed, plan selected
- Purchase initiated, completed, or failed — including plan type
- App lifecycle events (app opened, app backgrounded) — collected automatically by PostHog
- Feature flag evaluations — sent automatically by PostHog when the app checks which features to enable for your device
Error data
- Errors that occur during emergency unlock, including error messages
PostHog also automatically collects standard device and session metadata such as device type, OS version, app version, locale, and a randomly generated anonymous user ID.
2. How Align Uses This Information
Align uses on-device data to:
- Set up and personalize your experience
- Protect the apps you choose
- Interrupt access to selected apps at the right moment
- Let you earn and spend intentional unlock time
- Support progress, streaks, habits, and related in-app summaries
- Send optional reminders and local notifications
- Keep the app working across launches and device restarts
Align uses PostHog analytics to:
- Understand which features are used and which are confusing
- Measure onboarding completion and purchase conversion
- Diagnose errors and crashes
- Prioritize product improvements
Legal basis for analytics processing (EU/GDPR): legitimate interest in improving the product.
3. Where Your Data Is Stored
Most app data is stored locally on your device and in Apple's shared App Group storage so the main app and iOS extensions can work together.
Product analytics described in Section 1b are transmitted to and stored on PostHog's servers. PostHog is a US-based company. See PostHog's privacy policy at https://posthog.com/privacy for details on how they handle this data.
Data transferred to the United States is protected under Standard Contractual Clauses as approved by the European Commission.
4. Third-Party Services
| Service | Purpose | Privacy Policy |
|---|---|---|
| PostHog | Product analytics | https://posthog.com/privacy |
| RevenueCat | Subscription management | https://www.revenuecat.com/privacy |
| Apple (Screen Time, Family Controls, Notifications) | Core app functionality | https://www.apple.com/legal/privacy |
Align does not use advertising SDKs or sell your data to third parties.
5. Screen Time and Apple System Features
If you grant permission, Align uses Apple's Screen Time, Family Controls, Managed Settings, Device Activity, and notification frameworks to:
- Let you choose apps or categories to protect
- Apply or remove app shields
- Detect when you try to open a protected app
- Measure aggregate screen time usage for product features like reminders and in-app summaries
Some of this functionality depends on Apple's privacy-preserving APIs. In some cases, Apple provides opaque tokens rather than full readable app details. Your use of Apple system features is also subject to Apple's own terms and privacy practices.
6. Notifications
If you allow notifications, Align may send local notifications related to:
- Protected-app interruptions
- Daily screen limit reminders
- Streak or progress reminders
- Weekly summary-style encouragement
- Trial expiration reminders
Notifications are optional. You can disable them in iOS Settings or inside the app.
7. Sharing of Information
Align shares limited data with the third-party services listed in Section 4 — specifically, analytics events with PostHog and subscription state with RevenueCat. This data is used only for the purposes described in this policy.
Align does not sell your personal information. Align does not sell personal information as defined under the CCPA. Align does not share your data with advertisers, data brokers, or third-party marketing platforms.
8. Your Choices
You can:
- Decline Screen Time authorization
- Decline notification permissions
- Change which apps you protect
- Update your daily screen limit or related settings
- Disable notifications
- Reset your habit sessions, streak data, and unlock history within the app
- Contact us to request deletion of subscription data held by RevenueCat (see Section 14)
- Uninstall the app
Some features will not work properly without the permissions they rely on.
EU residents have the right to access, rectification, erasure, restriction of processing, and data portability. We will respond within 30 days. California residents have the right to know, delete, and opt-out of sale of personal information. We will respond within 45 days.
9. Data Retention
Most Align data is stored locally on your device and is retained until you delete or reset it in the app, or your device clears local app storage. All on-device data is permanently deleted when the app is uninstalled.
PostHog retains analytics data for up to 1 year. Because PostHog analytics are collected under a randomly generated anonymous identifier with no link to your name, email, or any other identifying information, it is not possible to locate or delete a specific individual's analytics records. The "Delete My Data" button in the app resets your local anonymous identifier, ensuring no future analytics events are linked to your previous session. Purchase and subscription data held by RevenueCat is retained for up to 6 years after account closure, in accordance with RevenueCat's data retention policy.
10. Children's Privacy
Align is not intended for children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13.
If you believe a child has provided personal information through Align, contact us at the email below.
11. Health and Wellness Disclaimer
Align is a behavior and productivity tool. It is not a medical device and does not provide medical, psychiatric, psychological, or therapeutic advice.
12. Security
We aim to reduce unnecessary data collection and keep functionality on-device where practical. Data sent to PostHog and RevenueCat is transmitted over encrypted connections. However, no app, device, or storage system can be guaranteed to be completely secure.
13. Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. If we make material changes, we will update the "Last updated" date and may provide additional notice in the app or on our website.
14. Contact
If you have questions about this Privacy Policy, contact us at:
Alisher Abdulin
Alikhan Bokeikhan 15
Astana, 010000, Kazakhstan