Blokkd Privacy Policy
Last updated: June 26, 2026
Blokkd ("we," "us," or "our") operates the Blokkd iOS application. This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect, how we use it, how we share it, and the choices available to you when you use Blokkd.
1. Introduction
Blokkd is a focus and productivity app that helps you stay on task by blocking non-essential apps during focus sessions, tracking your focus time, and connecting with friends through leaderboards.
This policy applies to:
- The Blokkd iOS app
- Our use of Firebase and other third-party services that support the app
We designed Blokkd with privacy in mind: friends see focus statistics, not your email or individual session history. App blocking happens on your device and is not uploaded to our servers.
2. Information We Collect
Account Information
When you create an account, we collect:
- Email address — used for sign-in, email verification, and password reset
- Password — stored and handled by Firebase Authentication; we do not store your password in plain text
- Email verification status — required before you can use the app
Your email address is stored in Firebase Authentication only. It is not stored in our Firestore database or shared with friends.
Profile Information
When you register and use the app, we store a profile associated with your account:
- Username (display name)
- Friend code — a unique 6-character code used to add friends
- Account creation date (join date)
- Username change history — including the date of your last username change
Focus and Usage Data
When you start and end focus sessions, we collect:
- Session data — start time, end time, duration, and status (running, completed, or interrupted)
- Boot-time integrity value — a technical value used to detect device reboots or clock changes and help maintain session integrity; this is not a device identifier
- Aggregate statistics — total focus time, total number of sessions, weekly focus time (organized by UTC week), current streak, longest streak, and last streak date
Individual session records are stored in your account and are not visible to friends. Friends only see aggregate statistics on your profile.
Social Data
If you use the friends feature, we collect:
- Friend relationships — including friendship status (requested, pending, or accepted), who initiated the request, and timestamps
- Denormalized friend information — when you send or receive a friend request, we temporarily store the other person's username, friend code, and friends count on the friendship record so the app can display pending requests without extra lookups
- Friend code lookups — when you enter someone's friend code, we look up their user ID, username, and friends count to process the request
Automatically Collected Information
The app and our service providers may automatically collect certain technical information, including:
- Firebase App Check tokens — used to verify that requests come from the genuine Blokkd app (App Attest on production devices)
- Analytics data — through Firebase Analytics, which may automatically collect information such as app interactions, device type, operating system version, and general usage patterns
- Crash and diagnostic data — through Firebase Crashlytics, which may collect crash reports, stack traces, and device state at the time of a crash
- Local cache data — Firestore stores a persistent offline cache on your device so the app works without a network connection
Support Communications
If you contact us for support, privacy requests, or account help, we may collect your email address, the contents of your message, and any information needed to respond to your request.
Information We Do Not Collect
Blokkd does not collect:
- Location data
- Contacts or address book data
- Photos, camera, or microphone data
- Advertising identifiers (IDFA) or cross-app tracking data
- Which specific apps you blocked during a session
- Screen Time usage reports or per-app usage statistics
- Payment or financial information (the app does not process payments)
3. How We Use Information
We use the information we collect to:
- Provide core features — create and manage your account, run focus sessions, apply on-device app blocking, and sync your data across devices
- Enable social features — process friend requests, display friend lists, and power friend-only leaderboards
- Calculate statistics — track focus time, weekly totals, streaks, and rankings
- Maintain session integrity — use technical checks (such as monotonic clocks and boot-time values) to reduce cheating or tampering with session timers
- Secure our services — enforce email verification, apply Firestore security rules, and use Firebase App Check to protect backend access
- Improve reliability — diagnose crashes and understand how the app is used through Firebase Analytics and Crashlytics
- Communicate with you — send email verification and password reset messages through Firebase Authentication
- Operate maintenance controls — read remote app status configuration (such as maintenance mode messages) when needed
- Respond to support, privacy, and account deletion requests
- Comply with legal obligations and enforce our rights
We do not use your information for targeted advertising.
4. Screen Time and App Blocking Permissions
Blokkd uses Apple’s Screen Time, Family Controls, and ManagedSettings frameworks to block non-essential apps during active focus sessions. When a focus session starts, Blokkd applies a system-level shield to broad app categories/non-essential apps using Apple’s Screen Time APIs. Certain essential iOS apps and system functions, such as Phone and Messages, may remain available because Apple does not allow third-party apps to block them.
What We Request
- Family Controls authorization — Blokkd requests individual Screen Time authorization so it can manage app shields on your device
- Permission description shown to you: "Blokkd needs access to Screen Time to block distracting apps during your focus sessions."
How Blocking Works
- When you start a focus session on a physical device, Blokkd applies shields to non-essential apps or broad app categories using Apple's ManagedSettings framework. Some essential Apple/system apps may remain unblocked due to iOS limitations.
- Blocking is performed entirely on your device. Our servers are not told which apps are installed, which apps you use, or which apps were blocked
- When you end a session, shields are removed locally — including when you are offline
- If you revoke Screen Time permission in iOS Settings, active sessions may be marked as interrupted and shields are cleared
What We Do Not Do
- We do not read your Screen Time usage history
- We do not store lists of blocked apps or app bundle identifiers on our servers
- We do not use a Device Activity Monitor extension or background usage monitoring
- We do not access your contacts to suggest friends
You can revoke Screen Time access at any time through Settings → Screen Time on your iPhone.
5. Friends and Leaderboards
How Friends Work
- You connect with others using a 6-character friend code — there is no username search and no access to your phone contacts
- You can copy or share your friend code through the system share sheet; only the code itself is shared
- You may have up to 50 accepted friends
- Friend requests must be accepted before either person can see the other's full profile statistics
What Friends Can See
Once a friendship is accepted, your friend can access your profile statistics, including:
- Username
- Friend code
- Friends count
- Total focus time (all-time)
- Weekly focus time
- Current streak and related streak data
- Account join date
- Other aggregate profile fields stored on your user profile
Your friends cannot see:
- Your email address
- Your password
- Individual focus session records (start/end times per session)
Pending Friend Requests
Before a request is accepted, limited information (username, friend code, and friends count) is stored on the friendship record so the app can display pending requests.
Friend Code Lookup
Any signed-in Blokkd user who enters a valid friend code can look up the associated username and friends count before sending a friend request. This is necessary to confirm they are adding the right person.
Leaderboards
Leaderboards are friends-only — they include you and your accepted friends, not the general public. Leaderboards display:
- Username (shown as "You" for your own entry)
- Focus time (weekly or all-time, depending on the tab selected)
- Current streak
- Rank among friends
Leaderboards do not display your email, friend code, individual sessions, or longest streak.
6. How We Share Information
We share information only in the following circumstances:
With Your Friends
As described in Section 5, accepted friends can see your aggregate focus statistics and profile information. You control who becomes your friend by accepting or declining requests.
With Service Providers
We use Google Firebase and related Google Cloud services to host our backend, authenticate users, store data, and improve app reliability. These providers process data on our behalf according to their own privacy policies and our instructions through their platform terms.
For Legal Reasons
We may disclose information if required by law, regulation, legal process, or governmental request, or when we believe disclosure is necessary to protect the rights, safety, or security of Blokkd, our users, or others.
What We Do Not Do
- We do not sell your personal information
- We do not share your personal information with third parties for their own cross-context behavioral advertising
- We do not provide your data to advertising networks
7. Third-Party Services
Blokkd relies on the following third-party services:
Service: Firebase Authentication
Provider: Google
Purpose: Account sign-up, sign-in, email verification, password reset
Service: Cloud Firestore
Provider: Google
Purpose: Store profiles, sessions, friendships, and app configuration
Service: Firebase App Check
Provider: Google
Purpose: Verify requests come from the authentic app
Service: Firebase Analytics
Provider: Google
Purpose: Understand app usage and improve the product
Service: Firebase Crashlytics
Provider: Google
Purpose: Collect crash reports and diagnose stability issues
Service: Apple Family Controls / ManagedSettings
Provider: Apple
Purpose: On-device Screen Time authorization and app blocking
Data processed by Google services may be stored and processed in the United States and other countries where Google operates data centers.
For more information about how Google handles data:
- Firebase Privacy and Security: https://firebase.google.com/support/privacy
- Google Privacy Policy: https://policies.google.com/privacy
Apple's Screen Time APIs operate on your device. Apple may process authorization data according to its own privacy policy: Apple Privacy Policy: https://www.apple.com/legal/privacy/.
The following Firebase products are included in our project dependencies but are not actively used by the current version of the app: Firebase Cloud Messaging (push notifications), Firebase Storage, and Firebase Realtime Database.
8. Data Retention
We retain your information as follows:
Account and profile data: Retained while your account is active.
Friend relationships: Retained while your account is active or until you or a friend removes the connection.
Focus session records: Automatically deleted after 30 days from the session end date.
Friend code lookup records: Retained while your account is active.
Local Firestore cache: May remain on your device until you uninstall the app or the cache is cleared by the system.
Analytics and crash data: Retained according to Google's data retention settings for Firebase.
When you delete your account, we delete your remote data as described in Section 9. Some locally cached data may persist on your device until removed.
9. Account Deletion and Your Choices
Delete Your Account
You can permanently delete your account from the Profile screen in the app. Account deletion:
- Requires you to re-enter your password for security
- Cannot be performed while a focus session is active
- Permanently deletes your Firebase Authentication account
- Permanently deletes your user profile, all focus sessions, all friendships (on both your side and your friends' sides), and your friend code lookup entry
- Signs you out of the app
Account deletion is irreversible.
Log Out
Logging out signs you out of your Firebase account on the device but does not delete your data. Your profile, sessions, and friendships remain stored until you delete your account.
Other Choices
- Change your username — available once every 30 days from the Profile screen
- Remove a friend — available at any time from the Friends tab
- Revoke Screen Time permission — available in iOS Settings at any time
- Decline friend requests — you are not required to accept any friend request
Data Export
Blokkd does not currently offer a self-service data export feature. If you would like a copy of your data, contact us at the email address in Section 15.
Local Data After Deletion
Deleting your account removes your data from our servers. Data cached locally on your device (such as the Firestore offline cache) may remain until you uninstall the app or clear app data.
10. Security
We take reasonable measures to protect your information, including:
- Authentication security — passwords are handled by Firebase Authentication and are not stored in plain text by Blokkd
- Email verification — verified email is required before accessing app data
- Firestore security rules — server-side rules restrict who can read and write data; individual sessions are readable only by the account owner, and full profiles are readable only by accepted friends
- Firebase App Check — helps prevent unauthorized clients from accessing our backend
- Encryption in transit — data is transmitted over TLS/HTTPS
- Encryption at rest — data stored in Google Cloud Firestore is encrypted at rest by Google
- Session integrity checks — technical measures help detect tampering with session timers
- Re-authentication for deletion — account deletion requires your password to confirm your identity
No method of transmission or storage is completely secure. While we work to protect your information, we cannot guarantee absolute security.
11. Children's Privacy
Blokkd is not directed at children under the age of 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13.
If you are a parent or guardian and believe your child under 13 has provided us with personal information, please contact us at blokkd.app@gmail.com. If we learn that we have collected personal information from a child under 13, we will take steps to delete that information.
The app does not include parental controls or age verification during registration. Users are responsible for ensuring they meet the minimum age requirements for using online services in their jurisdiction.
12. California Privacy Notice
This section provides additional information for California residents under the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA).
Categories of Personal Information Collected
In the past 12 months, we have collected the following categories of personal information:
Identifiers: Email address, Firebase user ID, username, friend code. Collected: Yes.
Internet or network activity: Focus session data, app interactions, crash logs. Collected: Yes.
Inferences: Streaks, rankings, aggregate focus statistics. Collected: Yes.
Sensitive personal information: Blokkd does not collect sensitive personal information such as precise location, government ID numbers, financial account information, health information, biometric information, or racial/ethnic information. Account login credentials are processed by Firebase Authentication; Blokkd does not store passwords in plain text.
Sources
We collect personal information directly from you when you create an account and use the app, and automatically through Firebase SDKs and app functionality.
Business Purposes
We use personal information for the purposes described in Section 3, including providing the service, securing our platform, and improving reliability.
Sale and Sharing
- We do not sell your personal information.
- We do not share your personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising.
Your California Rights
California residents have the right to:
- Know what personal information we collect, use, and disclose
- Delete personal information we hold about you (available through in-app account deletion or by contacting us)
- Correct inaccurate personal information (username changes are available in-app once every 30 days)
- Non-discrimination — we will not discriminate against you for exercising your privacy rights
How to Exercise Your Rights
To exercise your rights, delete your account in the app or email us at blokkd.app@gmail.com. We may need to verify your identity before processing your request.
We do not offer financial incentives in exchange for the collection of personal information.
13. International Users
Blokkd is currently intended for users in the United States. If you access the app from outside the United States, your information may be transferred to, stored in, and processed in the United States and other countries where our service providers operate.
14. Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we will revise the "Last updated" date at the top of this document.
If we make material changes, we may notify you through the app, by email, or by other appropriate means. Your continued use of Blokkd after the effective date of an updated policy constitutes your acceptance of the changes.
We encourage you to review this policy periodically.
15. Contact Us
If you have questions about this Privacy Policy, your data, or your privacy rights, contact us:
Blokkd
Email: blokkd.app@gmail.com
We will respond to privacy-related requests within a reasonable timeframe.