GAUGE PRIVACY POLICY
Last updated: June 25, 2026
GAUGE is a private, on-device field journal for oil and gas production and reservoir engineers. There is no account, no login, and no cloud sync. Your wells, entries, readings, and photos live on your iPhone or iPad. The one important exception is that when you choose to run an AI feature, the relevant journal content is sent over an encrypted connection to our AI provider to generate the result. This policy explains exactly what stays on your device and what leaves it.
ON-DEVICE BY DEFAULT
Everything you enter into GAUGE is stored locally on your device. There is no GAUGE account, no sign-in, and no server that holds a copy of your journal. Your data is not synced to iCloud or any other cloud service.
- Your journal is kept in a local on-device database. Cloud sync is turned off.
- Stored locally: wells, entries and your free-text notes, severity and tags, readings, production tests, interventions and jobs, edit history, templates, saved reports, and saved filters.
- Photos are saved as image files inside the app's private container on your device.
- A few small preferences are stored on-device only, such as your unit system, onboarding state, an optional display name used for the home-screen greeting, and your AI usage counters. The display name is never sent to any server.
WHEN DATA LEAVES YOUR DEVICE: AI FEATURES
GAUGE's AI features are powered by Anthropic, a third-party AI provider, through the Anthropic API. When you run an AI feature, GAUGE sends the relevant journal content for that request to Anthropic over an encrypted (HTTPS) connection so the model can generate your result. This only happens when you trigger an AI action. Anthropic's handling of that data is governed by Anthropic's own terms and privacy practices.
- Depending on the feature, the content sent can include well details and per-entry information such as the date, entry type, severity, your full note text, readings, production-test figures, job type and outcome, and tags.
- For the Ask Your Wells feature, your typed question is also sent.
- For run-ticket import (OCR), the photo you capture is sent so the model can read the numbers. Any text visible in that photo is transmitted.
- If you never use an AI feature, no journal content is sent to Anthropic.
PHOTOS AND CAMERA
GAUGE uses the system camera and photo picker so you can attach photos to your journal. Photos are re-encoded and saved in the app's private container on your device, and this re-encoding removes embedded location and EXIF metadata. Photos stay on your device unless one of the following applies:
- You use run-ticket import, which sends that one photo to our AI provider as described above.
- A photo is included inside an encrypted backup you create.
- You explicitly share or export a photo yourself.
Regular entry photos are never automatically uploaded anywhere.
BACKUPS AND EXPORTS
Backups and exports are always initiated by you, and GAUGE never chooses a destination for them. When you create or share a file, your device presents the standard share options and you decide where it goes.
- Full backups are encrypted using a key derived from a passphrase you choose. Without your passphrase a backup cannot be read, so keep it safe.
- Plain exports such as CSV, Markdown, and PDF are not encrypted and contain readable notes and figures. Be careful where you send them.
- GAUGE does not transmit your backups or exports to the developer or any GAUGE server.
PURCHASES
GAUGE Pro is sold as an in-app purchase handled entirely by Apple and the App Store. Pro status is verified on your device from your App Store entitlements. GAUGE does not receive or store your payment details, and no purchase information is sent to the developer's servers.
NO ANALYTICS, NO TRACKING, NO ADS
GAUGE includes no analytics, no crash-reporting tools, and no advertising or tracking frameworks. There is no advertising identifier and no tracking across apps or websites. GAUGE bundles no third-party SDKs. The only server GAUGE actively contacts is the AI provider, and only when you use an AI feature.
CHILDREN
GAUGE is a professional tool intended for adults working in the oil and gas industry. It is not directed to children and does not knowingly collect information from children.
YOUR DATA, YOUR CONTROL
Because everything lives on your device and there is no account, you are in full control of your data at all times. You can edit or delete any well, entry, photo, report, or backup directly in the app. Deleting GAUGE removes its on-device database and photos from your device. You can also use Reset All Data in Settings to erase everything.
CHANGES TO THIS POLICY
We may update this policy from time to time. Material changes will be reflected by updating the date at the top of this page.
CONTACT
Questions about this policy or your data? Email pradeep.aneesh@gmail.com
GAUGE is developed by Steppe Summit Studio.