Veldar Privacy Policy

1. Who we are

Veldar is made and run by Chase Wiley ("we", "us"). We decide what is collected online and why. You can contact us about anything in this policy at hello@getveldar.com.

This policy covers the Veldar app, the online service behind it and this website.

2. What stays on your iPhone

Almost everything. Veldar keeps the following in its own private storage on your iPhone. We never receive it, unless you choose to send it to us yourself, for example in an email or in a screenshot you attach to TestFlight feedback.

• Your tasks and reminders: titles, notes, due dates, difficulty, time estimates, classes and reminder settings.
• Your work blocks, the time you log, and your focus timer sessions.
• Grades and grade notes, if you choose to enter them.
• What Veldar learns about how you work: how long things really take, your fastest hours, tasks you put off, which reminders you open or ignore, and how you move blocks around. Veldar works this out on your iPhone from your own tasks. No outside service is used to do it.
• Your settings, such as your free hours, bedtime, theme and which learning features are on.
• The first name you may give in the intro. It is used for greetings. (There is one exception, described at the end of section 3.)
• Your streak: the current and best day counts, the last day counted, the time zone it was counted in, and the hours of the day you usually open Veldar (used to time streak reminders).
• Your choices about calendar events, such as "Protect this time". For an event you set a rule on, Veldar saves your choice together with the event's title and its calendar's name.
• A copy of your Circle connections (names, roles and permissions), so you can always see who can see what.
• Small bits of housekeeping for Circle: the invite codes you made that have not expired yet, when your list was last shared, and the ID numbers of Circle items and alerts that Veldar has already handled.
• The result of the age question that Veldar asks before you can sign in (section 9). Veldar keeps only the outcome: a yes, or the time you answered that you were too young. It never keeps your birth month or year.
• If you are signed in, your sign-in session, which includes your email address and username. It is kept in the iPhone Keychain, marked to stay on this device only: it is not synced to iCloud Keychain and does not move to another iPhone.

Veldar does not use your location, contacts, photos, camera, microphone or health data. A small built-in toy can read the iPhone's tilt sensor while it is open. The reading is used live and is never saved or sent.

Backups: what Veldar stores on your iPhone may be included in your iPhone's own backups (for example iCloud Backup or a computer backup) if you use them. That is between you and Apple. We cannot see those backups.

Your controls: in You > Privacy & learning you can switch off each learning feature, switch off history, and use "Forget what I've learned", "Delete finished tasks and history", "Remove demo data" and "Reset the whole app". "Reset the whole app" also puts your settings back to their defaults, but it keeps your first name and the result of the age question, and it does not sign you out. None of these controls end a Circle connection or change the leaderboard, because those are stored online (see section 8).

Deleting the app removes what Veldar keeps on your iPhone, except that iOS can leave the sign-in session in the Keychain until Veldar is installed again (Veldar clears it the first time it starts). Deleting the app does not delete an online account. If you have an account, sign out or delete it first (see section 8).

3. What goes online, and only if you choose online features

Until you have answered the age question and asked for a sign-in code, Veldar makes no connection to our service. Online features need an account, which you create in You > Veldar account (Veldar also asks you to sign in when you open Circle or the leaderboard). This section lists what is stored online and who can see it. A table-by-table list is at the end of this page.

Your account

• Your email address. It is used to sign you in and for nothing else. It is held by our sign-in system. No part of the service shows an email address to another user, including the people in your Circle. Asking for a sign-in code for an address that has no account yet sets one up, even if the code is never typed in.
• A random user ID, and sign-in records. These can include when you signed in, your IP address and the kind of device.
• There is no password. Veldar emails you a one-time code to type in.
• Your birth month and year are not part of your account. Veldar asks for them on your iPhone before sign-in, checks them there, and does not save or send them.

Who can see this: only us and our service providers (section 6).

Your username

Your username is a public nickname you choose: 3 to 20 letters, numbers or underscores. We never ask for your real or legal name, so please don't use it. Your username is shown on the leaderboard if you join it, and to the people in your Circle as your name.

The leaderboard (off unless you turn it on)

If you turn on "Show me on the leaderboard", Veldar sends the date (in your time zone) of each day you open the app, together with your current streak count. The server uses that count only for the very first report, to carry over a streak you already had, and accepts at most 14 days of it. After that it counts one day at a time. We store your current streak, your best streak, the last day counted, and whether you are visible.

• Other people who use Veldar's online features see your username, your days in a row and your rank. They never see your name, email, tasks or grades.
• Turning it off removes you from the board straight away. Your streak numbers stay stored, hidden, until you delete your account.
• Signing out does not remove you from the board. Turn the switch off first.
• The board can keep showing your streak for up to two days after the last day you opened Veldar.

Circle: a parent, counselor, tutor or other helper

Invites and connections. When you make an invite code, we store the code, the kind of helper you picked (parent, counselor, tutor, teacher, academic coach, mentor or someone you trust), the permissions you chose, when it expires and, once someone uses it, when that happened and which account used it. A code works for 48 hours and can be used once. A helper enters the code and types a name for themselves (up to 40 characters). We then store a connection request: that typed name, the role, the permissions, its status (waiting, active, declined or removed) and dates. Nothing is shared until you accept. The helper sees your username, even before you answer. You see the name they typed. Neither of you sees the other's email address. How you pass the code on (copying it, sending it in a message, or showing the QR code) is up to you.

Your list. Once you accept someone who has any of the permissions View tasks, See when things are finished, Important alerts or View grades, your phone uploads a copy of your list. It refreshes a few seconds after you change something, and when you open the app. The copy holds up to 250 items: your open tasks and reminders, plus items finished in the last 14 days. Demo data is never uploaded. For each item we store:

• the title,
• an ID number that your phone makes up for the item,
• whether it is a reminder,
• the due date,
• whether it is not started, in progress or finished, and when it was finished,
• the minutes you logged,
• your time estimate (tasks only),
• the class name,
• whether it is a test or similar assessment,
• the name of the person who added it, if it was not you,
• your grade for it, but only while at least one person holds the View grades permission.

Not uploaded: your notes, calendar events, location, what Veldar has learned and your first name (see the one exception at the end of this section). You cannot hide single items from a helper who can view tasks. What a helper sees is decided by their permissions.

How long the copy stays. The copy is replaced each time your phone uploads. If you stop opening Veldar, the last copy stays on our service for your helpers to see, within their permissions, until you remove them, turn their permissions off or delete your account. Signing out or deleting the app does not remove it. More detail is in section 7.

What each helper sees. Only what you allow. The service checks the connection and the permissions every time a helper looks, so a change takes effect on their next request. A helper who does not have View tasks cannot read your list, but a helper who has Important alerts still gets alerts that name your tasks. A helper's copy is held in Veldar's memory on their phone and is not saved to storage. Even so, a helper can remember, screenshot or copy what they have seen. Removing access cannot make them forget it.

Alerts. If you give a helper Important alerts, our service writes a short alert that names a task when a task (not a reminder) is due within about a day, or was due in the last 12 hours, and has not been started. For example: "Calculus Homework is due in about 5 hours and hasn't been started." The alert is built from the last copy of your list that your phone uploaded. The helper sees it in the Circle tab, and as a banner when Veldar is open. If the helper's Veldar finds a new alert while it is in the background and notifications are allowed, the helper's iPhone can show it as a notification that names you by your username and shows the task's title. This version of Veldar cannot send notifications while it is closed, so alerts appear when the helper opens or refreshes Veldar.

Things helpers send you. A helper with the right permission can send you a task, a reminder or a suggested time. We store its title, an optional note (up to 1,000 characters), a due date, an estimate and a suggested start. For a suggested time we also store which of your tasks it is about. It waits on our service until your phone picks it up and you answer. Each item shows who sent it.

Your control. In the Circle tab, tap a person to switch any permission on or off, or choose "Remove [name]'s access". The service acts at once. The person is refused on their next request, anything waiting for them is deleted, and your uploaded list is deleted if nobody is left who can see it. One gap: if the last helper who could see your list deletes their own account, their connection disappears but your uploaded list is not removed until you delete your account or ask us to delete it (section 7).

We do not check who anyone is. A role such as "Parent" is a label chosen when the invite is made. Only accept people you know.

Technical information

Requests to our service carry the app's project key, a label that says they came from the Veldar iPhone app and, once you are signed in, your sign-in token. Like any app, Veldar's connections also include standard technical details, such as the app version and your iPhone's system version. Our hosting provider receives your IP address and the time of each request, and keeps technical logs for security and troubleshooting. We do not use them to build profiles or for advertising.

What is not uploaded

Your calendar events, notes, location, what Veldar has learned, and your first name stay on your iPhone. There is one exception. If you enter an invite code as a helper, the "Your name" box can start filled with your first name. You can change it, and the person you are asking will see what you send.

4. What we do not do

• We show no ads and we do not use an advertising ID.
• We do not track you. Veldar does not follow you across other apps or websites, and it does not ask for tracking permission. Because we do not track, there is nothing for a "Do Not Track" setting to change.
• We do not sell your information or share it for marketing.
• The app has no third-party analytics, advertising or crash-reporting code. It uses only Apple's own software and plain connections to our service.
• We collect no payment details. The beta is free.
• This website sets no cookies, has no analytics and has no forms. Like any website, the company that hosts it may keep ordinary server logs, such as your IP address and the pages requested. If you email us, we receive your email address and what you write. We use it to reply, and keep it for as long as we need it for that.
• We do not read your tasks out of curiosity. Because we run the service, we can technically reach what is stored on it, including a shared list. We only do that to run, secure and fix the service, to deal with a report of abuse, or if the law requires it.

5. Permissions Veldar asks for

Notifications. Veldar asks to send alerts, sounds and badges so it can deliver reminders and work-block nudges, streak reminders (at most three, and only on a day when opening Veldar would still save your streak), and Circle alerts for helpers. Veldar creates all of these on your iPhone itself. It does not use remote push notifications. A task notification can show the task's title, your time estimate and the time of your next work block. A reminder shows its title and, if you wrote one, its note. On a helper's iPhone, a Circle alert shows the student's username and the task's title. Your iPhone's settings decide whether a notification appears on the Lock Screen. Veldar asks during the intro or when you tap "Allow notifications" in You > Reminders. You can change this at any time in the iPhone's Settings.

Calendar. Veldar asks for access to your calendar events so it can plan work around them. iOS names this level "full access" because that is the level it offers for reading events. Veldar only reads. It never creates, changes or deletes an event. It reads each event's title, times and calendar name, and whether the event repeats or has a location (to leave travel time), but it does not keep the address. Events are not uploaded and are never part of what a helper sees. You choose which calendars to use in You > Calendars.

Live Activities. When you start a focus block, Veldar can show a timer on the Lock Screen and in the Dynamic Island. It shows the task's title, class and a first step, if there is one. It runs on your iPhone only and is not updated from a server. You can turn Live Activities off for Veldar in the iPhone's Settings.

Nothing else. Veldar does not ask for location, contacts, photos, camera, microphone, health data, Bluetooth or tracking permission. For an invite QR code, the helper scans it with the iPhone's own Camera app. Veldar itself never uses the camera.

6. Service providers

We use these companies to run Veldar. They handle information only to provide their service to us.

• Supabase hosts our database and sign-in system. Your online information is stored on Supabase's servers in the United States (the “East US, North Virginia” region). That can be a different country from the one you live in.
• Apple (iCloud Mail) sends the one-time sign-in code from hello@getveldar.com. It receives your email address and the message that holds the code. We may change this provider. If we do, we will update this page.
• Apple delivers the beta through TestFlight and runs your iPhone's notifications, calendar and backups, under Apple's own privacy policy. If you installed Veldar through TestFlight, Apple may tell us basic things such as the email you were invited with, your device and iOS version, and any feedback or crash reports you choose to send.
• A website host serves this website and may keep ordinary server logs of visits.

We do not give your information to anyone else, except when the law requires it or when it is needed to protect someone's safety.

7. How long we keep information

Our clean-up runs at most once a day, and only when someone uses the leaderboard, makes or enters an invite code, or loads their connections. If the service is quiet, removal can lag behind these times by more than a day. If the hosting service keeps backups, deleted information can remain in them for a short time until they are replaced. We do not make separate copies of this information ourselves.

8. Your choices and rights

In the app:

• Delete your account: You tab > Veldar account > Delete my account, then confirm with "Delete account". This removes your account, username, leaderboard standing, Circle connections and anything else stored online for you, apart from the ordinary logs and backups described in section 7. It cannot be undone. Your tasks, history and settings on your iPhone stay. The button appears once you have chosen a username. If you signed in but have not chosen one yet, choose one first, or email us and we will delete the account.
• Leave the leaderboard: switch off "Show me on the leaderboard" (in You > Veldar account, or on the leaderboard screen).
• Change who can see what: Circle tab, tap a person.
• Sign out: You > Veldar account > Sign out. This does not end your Circle connections or hide you from the leaderboard. Remove people and switch the leaderboard off first, or delete your account.
• Notifications and calendar: change them any time in the iPhone's Settings.
• Local data: You > Privacy & learning.

By email, at hello@getveldar.com, you can ask for a copy of the information we hold about you, ask us to correct it, or ask us to delete it, for example if you can't find or use the in-app button, or if you asked for a sign-in code but never finished signing in. We may ask you to reply from the email address on the account so we know it is yours. We aim to reply within 30 days. It costs nothing.

9. Children

Veldar can be used without an account at any age. Without an account, nothing leaves the phone.

Online accounts are only for people who are 13 or older. Before you can sign in, Veldar asks for your birth month and year. It checks the answer on your iPhone and keeps only the result. Your birth month and year are not saved or sent anywhere. If the answer says you are under 13, Veldar asks for no email address, sends nothing, and keeps sign-in closed on that iPhone for 24 hours. Once the check is passed, Veldar does not ask again on that iPhone. This is a simple question you answer yourself. Veldar cannot prove how old anyone is, so please answer truthfully. By creating an account you confirm that you are 13 or older.

In some countries the age at which you can agree to an online service on your own is higher than 13 (it can be up to 16). If that applies where you live, you need a parent's or guardian's permission.

We do not knowingly collect personal information online from anyone under 13, and no child under 13 may create an account. If we learn that an account belongs to a child under 13, we will delete the account and everything stored for it. If you think a child under 13 has an account, please email hello@getveldar.com.

Veldar is built for students, and many are under 18. In Circle the student stays in charge. Nothing is shared until the student accepts, and the student can change or remove access at any time. A parent or guardian cannot see a student's items unless the student invites them and accepts them. Veldar does not check how someone is related to a student.

Veldar is not run by a school. A school, teacher or counselor receives nothing from Veldar unless the student connects them in Circle.

10. Security

• All connections to our service use HTTPS. The app refuses a server address that is not secure.
• There are no passwords to steal. Sign-in uses a one-time code sent to your email. Your sign-in session is kept in the iPhone Keychain, marked to stay on this device only.
• The online database cannot be reached directly. Every request goes through a small set of functions that check who is asking and what they may see. Access is checked again on every request.
• Invite codes are random, expire after 48 hours and can be used once. Guessing codes is limited and locks the guesser out for a while.
• Usernames are filtered for impersonation and offensive words. Names are not reviewed one by one, so please report any you see (section 14).

No system is perfectly secure. If a breach affects you, we will tell you and the authorities as the law requires. Please keep your iPhone locked with a passcode. It protects what Veldar keeps on the phone.

11. Changes to this policy

When we change this policy, we will post the new version at https://getveldar.com and change the date at the top. For important changes we will also tell you in the app or in the TestFlight notes.

12. If you are in the European Economic Area or the United Kingdom

• We are the controller of the information in section 3.
• Why we use it, and on what legal basis: to give you the account, leaderboard and Circle you asked for (contract); because you chose to, for example joining the leaderboard, sharing with someone in Circle, entering grades, or allowing notifications and calendar access (consent, which you can withdraw by switching it off or deleting your account); and to keep the service safe, stop abuse and fix problems (our legitimate interests).
• Your email address is needed to make an account. Everything else online is optional, and you can stop at any time.
• You have the right to access your information, correct it, delete it, restrict or object to its use, receive it in a portable form, and withdraw consent. Email hello@getveldar.com.
• You can complain to your local data protection authority. In the UK that is the Information Commissioner's Office.
• Your online information is handled by Supabase and may be stored outside the EEA and the UK, for example in the United States. Where the law requires safeguards for such a transfer, we use the safeguards our providers offer, such as standard contractual clauses.
• We make no decisions about you by automated means that have legal or similarly significant effects. Veldar's planning suggestions run on your phone and are only suggestions.

13. If you live in California

California law gives you the right to know what personal information we collect and why, to get a copy, to correct it, to delete it, and to be treated the same whether or not you use these rights.

In the past 12 months, and only from people who used online features, we collected: identifiers (email address, user ID, username), app activity (streak days), technical information (IP address and the time of requests, kept in logs), and content you chose to share (task and reminder details, grades, and the name you type in a Circle request). We use it only to run, secure and fix Veldar as described in section 3. We do not sell it, including for anyone under 16. We do not share it for advertising across other companies' apps or sites.

To use these rights, email hello@getveldar.com. We honor these requests from anyone, wherever they live. You may use an authorized agent. We may ask you to confirm it is your account.

14. Contact

For privacy questions, deletion requests, and reports of an abusive username or misuse of Circle, email us. Please do not send tasks, grades or other private details in your first message. Tell us what happened and we will ask for anything else we need.

Appendix: what is stored online, table by table

This is the full list of what our online service stores, for people who want the detail.