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Privacy Policy

Effective date: June 10, 2026

Instead Of ("Instead", "we", "our", or "us") is a mobile application that helps you replace unwanted habits with healthier alternatives. This policy explains what data we collect, why, and how we protect it.

1. Data We Collect

Account Information

When you sign up via Apple, Google, or email, we store your email address, display name, and a generated username. We never see or store your Apple or Google password.

Habit & Behavioral Data

To provide the core service, we collect data you enter about:

  • Habits you want to change and their healthier alternatives
  • Swap logs, daily check-ins, mood ratings, and notes
  • Slip logs, including optional trigger tags and intensity
  • Estimated costs and frequency of habits

Health Data (Optional)

If you grant permission, we read the following from Apple HealthKit:

  • Steps, active calories burned
  • Heart rate, resting heart rate
  • Sleep duration
  • Body weight

Health data you authorize is synced from HealthKit to your account in our database, so your health trends are saved and available when you sign in. It is never sold, shared with advertisers, or used for marketing. We do not write to HealthKit. You can disconnect HealthKit at any time in your device settings, and deleting your account deletes all health records we hold.

Financial Data (Optional)

If you choose to connect your bank account via Plaid, we receive:

  • Transaction amounts, dates, merchant names, and categories
  • Institution name

We never see your bank login credentials — those are handled entirely by Plaid. We use transaction data solely to identify spending related to your habits and calculate savings. Bank connection tokens are stored server-side in our database, which is encrypted at rest. You can disconnect your bank at any time, and deleting your account asks Plaid to revoke the connection.

Community Data

If you participate in groups, challenges, or the community feed, we store your posts, comments, reactions, group memberships, and challenge progress. Content you post in public groups is visible to other users.

Device & Technical Data

We collect your push notification token (to send notifications you opt into) and device platform (iOS/Android).

Usage Analytics

We collect first-party product analytics so we can understand which features are used and improve the app. Each event records: the action taken (for example, opening the app, completing onboarding, logging a swap, or checking in), your account ID when you are signed in, a randomly generated per-install identifier, your device platform, and the app version. This data is stored in our own database, is used only for product analytics, and is never used for advertising or sold. Events linked to your account are deleted when you delete your account.

2. Third-Party Services

ServicePurposeData Shared
SupabaseDatabase, authentication, server functionsAll app data (hosted infrastructure)
PlaidBank account connectionUser ID; Plaid handles credentials directly
RevenueCatSubscription managementUser ID, purchase/entitlement status
ExpoPush notificationsPush token, notification content
Apple / GoogleAuthenticationSign-in tokens (standard OAuth)

We do not use third-party analytics, advertising, or tracking SDKs. The usage analytics described above are collected by us directly and stored in our own database. We do not sell your data to anyone.

3. How We Use Your Data

  • Provide the service: Track habits, calculate savings, display health trends, power community features
  • Send notifications: Reminders, milestone alerts, and weekly summaries you opt into
  • Improve the app: Product analytics events (described above) help us understand which features are used and inform feature decisions

We do not use your data for advertising, profiling, or sale to third parties.

4. Data Storage & Security

  • All data is transmitted over HTTPS/TLS
  • Our database, including financial connection tokens, is encrypted at rest
  • Row-level security policies ensure you can only access your own data
  • Passwords are hashed and never stored in plain text
  • Our database is hosted on Supabase (AWS infrastructure)

5. Your Rights & Controls

Access & Export

You can view all your data within the app. To request a full data export, contact us at the address below.

Deletion

You can delete your account from the Profile screen (Profile > Account > Delete Account). Deletion runs on our servers and permanently removes your sign-in account and all data linked to it: your profile, habits, swaps, check-ins, slips, health records, bank connections and transactions, posts, comments, reactions, group memberships, partnerships and encouragements, badges and progress, push notification tokens, and analytics events linked to your account. Groups and challenges you created are also deleted. If you connected a bank, we ask Plaid to revoke the connection. Deletion is immediate and irreversible, and frees your email address for future use.

Disconnect Services

  • HealthKit: Revoke in iOS Settings > Privacy & Security > Health
  • Bank connection: Disconnect in the app's Bank Connection screen
  • Notifications: Disable in the app's Notification Settings or iOS Settings

6. Children's Privacy

Instead is not intended for children under 13. We do not knowingly collect data from children. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us and we will delete it.

7. Data Retention

We retain your data for as long as your account is active. If you delete your account, all associated data is permanently deleted from our live database immediately. Residual copies may persist in our hosting provider's encrypted backups for a limited period before being purged automatically.

8. Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy from time to time. If we make material changes, we will notify you via the app or email. The effective date at the top of this page indicates when the policy was last revised.

9. Contact Us

If you have questions about this privacy policy or your data, contact us at:

Email: support@insteadof.app

Website: insteadof.app

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