Closer — Privacy Policy

Closer is a small app for keeping the people you care about close. It is designed so that Closer itself never sends your personal data anywhere: it has no server, no account, and does not even request network access on Android.

What Closer stores

Closer keeps the following on your device only:

• the names of friends you add
• notes you write about catch-ups and conversations
• the dates of catch-ups you record
• links you draw between friends (“these two know each other”)
• profile photos you choose for friends
• your arrangement of friends on the graph
• app preferences (appearance, reminder settings)

All of this lives in Closer’s private app storage on your phone. Closer never uploads, syncs, or transmits it anywhere. Closer has no server. There is no account and no sign-in.

Device backups

Like any app’s data, Closer’s local data can be included in your phone’s own backup service — iCloud Backup on iPhone, Google’s device backup on Android — if you have device backups turned on. Those backups are made and encrypted by your phone’s operating system, not by Closer, and restoring one is how your Closer data survives a lost or replaced phone. If you prefer that nothing ever leave the device, you can exclude Closer (or disable backups) in your system settings.

Photos

When you pick a profile photo, Closer copies a small version of it into its own private storage on your device. Closer only accesses the specific photos you pick, through the system photo picker. Photos are never uploaded.

Notifications

If you turn on gentle reminders, they are scheduled locally on your device from your own catch-up dates. Closer sends no notification data anywhere. A reminder’s text includes the friend’s name (“It’s been a while since you caught up with Sarah.”); on Android the name is hidden on the lock screen until you unlock, and on iPhone your system “Show Previews” setting controls this.

What Closer does not do

• No analytics or tracking of any kind
• No advertising
• No cloud service of its own — no upload, no sync, no server
• No selling or sharing of data (there is nothing to sell or share)
• No access to your contacts, calendar, location, camera, or microphone

Data deletion

Your data belongs to you. Deleting a friend removes their record, catch-up history, links, and stored photo from the device. Uninstalling Closer removes all data the app stores.

Supporting Closer

The optional “Support Closer” item in Settings is a voluntary tip. Nothing in the app is unlocked by it. On Android it opens a payment page hosted by Stripe in your browser — Closer sends none of your data there, and Stripe’s own privacy policy applies to what you enter on that page. On iPhone it uses Apple’s standard in-app purchase, handled entirely by the App Store; Closer never sees your payment details.

Changes

If this policy changes, the updated version will be published at the same address with a new “last updated” date. The policy will always reflect what the app actually does.

Contact

Questions about privacy in Closer: hearthlightstudio2@gmail.com