Privacy Policy

The short version

Presence is a gentle safety check-in app for people who live alone. It watches for everyday signs that you are active on your phone, and if things go unusually quiet for a long time it lets the trusted contacts you have chosen know they should check in on you.

Presence works by looking at how you use your phone — not what you do on it. We never see your messages, your photos, the specific apps you use, or your location.

What Presence collects on your device

To understand your everyday rhythm, Presence notices simple events on your phone, such as: when you unlock it, when the screen turns on or off, when you start and stop charging, and how many different apps you have opened in a day (a count only — not which ones).

From these events your phone works out a private “activity pattern” for you. This pattern is calculated and stored on your device.

What leaves your device — and what never does

So that we can tell when you have gone quiet for too long, your phone sends us a small amount of information: the type of each event (for example “unlocked”), the time it happened, your phone platform (iOS or Android), and the daily count of apps used. We also store your account email and name, and a notification token so we can deliver alerts.

Presence never collects or sends the content of your messages or calls, the names of the apps you use, your photos, your microphone or camera, or your location.

Trusted contacts

You choose who your trusted contacts are and invite them yourself. We store their email address (and phone number, if you provide one) so we can reach them.

If an alert is triggered, a trusted contact receives a calm message with your first name and a short reason (for example, that you have been inactive or unreachable for a while) asking them to check in on you. They can also see your current status in their app. They never see your detailed phone-usage data.

How we use your information

We use your information only to: detect when your activity is unusually low, check in with you, notify your chosen trusted contacts when needed, and operate and secure the safety service. We do not sell your data, and we do not use it for advertising.

Your consent

Because Presence monitors signs of your activity, we rely on your consent as the legal basis for this processing under Singapore's Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA). You give consent when you accept this policy, and you can withdraw it at any time (see “Your rights” below). Withdrawing consent stops monitoring and deletes your data.

Where your data is stored

Your account and activity data are stored in Singapore (on Supabase, in the ap-southeast-1 region).

Service providers and international transfers

To deliver alerts and notifications we rely on a small number of trusted service providers (“sub-processors”). Because some operate outside Singapore, sending an alert involves an international transfer of the relevant contact details and message:

• Google Firebase Cloud Messaging — push notifications (United States). Receives your device notification token and the alert content.
• Twilio — SMS alerts (United States). Receives the trusted contact's phone number and the alert message.
• Resend — email alerts and invitations (United States). Receives the trusted contact's email address and the message.

We share only the minimum needed to deliver each message, require these providers to protect your data under data-processing agreements, and do not permit them to use it for their own purposes.

How long we keep your data

We keep your account and the information needed to run the service for as long as your account is active. Raw activity events are automatically deleted after 90 days; only the summary state needed to keep watching over you is kept longer. If you withdraw consent or delete your account, your personal data is deleted.

How we protect your information

Your sign-in session is stored in your device's secure keychain/keystore. Data sent to our servers travels over an encrypted connection, and access to it is restricted by per-user security rules. No system is perfectly secure, but we take reasonable steps to protect your information.

Your rights

Under the PDPA you can: access the personal data we hold about you, ask us to correct it, withdraw your consent, and have your data deleted.

You can withdraw consent and permanently delete your account and data at any time in the app (Settings → “Withdraw consent & delete my data”). For access or correction requests, contact us at [email protected] and we will respond within 30 days.

Children

Presence is intended for adults and is not directed at children. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children.

Changes to this policy

If we make material changes to this policy, we will update the version and ask you to review and accept it again before you continue using Presence.

Contact us

For any privacy questions or requests, contact us at [email protected].