Privacy policy
Last updated: September 24, 2026
Fermata helps you plan what to do at the places you go, and blocks distracting apps while you focus. It's built so that your places, tasks and history stay on your iPhone. This policy explains what that means in practice, and the few things that do leave your phone.
The short version
- Your places, tasks, focus history and blocked apps are stored only on your iPhone. We can't see them.
- Fermata never keeps a location history, and your location is never sent to us.
- If you create an account, we store what's needed for invites and friends: your email, username, name, optional photo, your friends and your streak count.
- If you join the waitlist on our website, we store your email address.
- No ads, no selling your data, no tracking across apps or websites.
What stays on your iPhone
These are stored only on your device:
- Places you save: name, emoji, colour, location and arrival radius.
- Tasks, notes and due dates.
- History: tasks you completed and focus sessions (where, when, how long).
- Block groups: your choice of apps, categories and websites. Apple's Screen Time gives Fermata anonymous tokens for these, so even the app can't tell which apps they are.
- Settings, and the diagnostics log if you open it.
Deleting the app, or Settings → Delete all local data, removes them. Backups of your iPhone (iCloud or a computer) may include them, under Apple's terms.
Location
If you allow it, Fermata uses iPhone's location services to notice when you arrive at or leave a saved place. That powers arrival reminders, automatic focus and "until I leave" sessions.
- iPhone tells Fermata about those moments. Fermata doesn't record where you are in between and doesn't keep a location history.
- Your location is never sent to us.
- You can change or turn off location access at any time in iPhone Settings. Everything else keeps working.
Screen Time (app blocking)
Blocking uses Apple's Screen Time frameworks. Fermata only applies the blocks you set up, and only during focus sessions. Apple doesn't give Fermata your app usage, screen time or browsing history, and Fermata doesn't collect them.
Maps, search and notifications
Place search and maps are provided by Apple Maps: your search text and the map area are sent to Apple to show results, under Apple's privacy policy. Arrival and focus notifications are created on your iPhone, not sent through our servers.
Usage data (optional, off by default)
Settings → Share usage data is off unless you turn it on. Today, nothing is sent even when it's on. If we start sending anonymous feature counts (for example "started a 30-minute focus"), we'll name the provider here first. Those counts will never include place names, task titles, locations, notes, photos or the apps you block, and won't be used to track you.
Accounts and friends
Accounts are optional for places, tasks and focus, and needed for invites and friends. Account data is stored with our backend provider, Supabase.
- Your account: your email address (or Apple's private relay address if you use Sign in with Apple and hide your email), your username, display name and optional profile photo, who invited you, the invites you've used and sent, and your current streak count.
- What friends see: your name, username, photo and streak count. While you're focusing, they also see when the session started, when it ends, and the emoji of the place. They never see the place's name or location, your tasks or your history.
- Friends and cheers: who you're friends with, pending friend requests, and the cheers you send and receive.
- Your profile photo is stored so friends and your invite page can show it; anyone with its exact address could view it.
- Sign-in codes are emailed to you through our email provider, Resend.
- Deleting your account (Settings → Account → Delete account) removes all of the above from our servers straight away. Your places, tasks and history on your iPhone stay.
Waitlist and website
If you join the waitlist at usefermata.com, we keep your email address, your share code, who referred you (if anyone), how many people joined with your link, and the campaign link you came from (if any). We use them only to hold your place in line and to email you your invite and launch news. It's stored with Supabase.
To stop spam, we briefly keep a scrambled (salted and hashed) form of your network address. It's deleted after a day and never linked to your email.
The website is hosted by Cloudflare, which processes your IP address to deliver the page. The site sets no cookies and uses no analytics. Your browser remembers your share code locally, so you can see your place in line when you come back.
Who processes data for us
| Provider | What for |
|---|---|
| Apple | Maps and search, Sign in with Apple, Screen Time, notifications |
| Supabase | Accounts, friends and the waitlist |
| Resend | Sending sign-in codes and invite emails |
| Cloudflare | Hosting the website |
We don't sell or share your data with anyone else, and we don't use it for advertising.
How long we keep data
- Account data: until you delete your account.
- Waitlist entries: until you're invited and the waitlist closes, or until you ask us to remove you.
- Spam-protection network hashes: one day.
Your choices and rights
You can see and change your account details in the app, and delete your account at any time. To get a copy of your data, correct it, or have your waitlist entry removed, email us at hello@usefermata.com. Depending on where you live, you may have further rights, including complaining to your data protection authority.
Children
Fermata is intended for people aged 18 and over.
Contact
Questions about privacy: hello@usefermata.com.
Changes
We'll post updates here and change the date above. Significant changes will also be announced in the app.