Privacy Policy

Cascade ("we", "us") makes a focus and app blocking app for iPhone. We built it to collect as little as possible, and this policy describes exactly what we handle, where it goes, and how to get rid of it.

The short version

• Your blocking stays on your device. Choosing which apps to block and enforcing that block runs entirely on your iPhone through Apple's Screen Time (Family Controls) framework. Apple encrypts those app selections in a way that we cannot read, so we never receive or store the list of apps you block.
• There is no account to sign up for. No password, no email address, no phone number. Setup asks for a first name so the app has something to call you, and that name never leaves your iPhone. What we hold on our servers is filed under a randomly generated six character code.
• No ads and no tracking. We do not show ads, we do not collect your advertising identifier, and we do not track you across other companies' apps or websites.
• A few service providers help us run the app. Google Firebase stores your record and sends us crash reports and anonymous usage statistics. Meta receives two anonymous events so we can measure our own ads. Anthropic powers Ask Cascade. Each is described below.
• We do not sell your data, and we never will.

What we collect

Data that never leaves your device

The apps and categories you choose to block are stored as encrypted Apple tokens on your iPhone. The first name you enter during setup is kept on the device and used only to address you inside the app. Anything you type into the app, such as what you want to focus on or the person you are trying to become, stays on the device as well, unless you send it to Ask Cascade (see below). So do the nicknames you give your friends, your weekly letters and milestones, and the cached copy of your subscription status.

Your account record

The first time you run a focus session, Cascade generates a random six character code (for example K7M2QP) and creates a record for it on our servers, which run on Google Firebase. The code is not derived from your name, your device, your phone number or anything else about you.

That record holds the information the app needs to keep your progress in sync and to run the optional friends features:

• your focus time, streak, longest session and how often you use each mode
• your focus time for the current day, week and month, which your friends can see if you share it
• the date the record was created, and your time zone
• which mode is currently active, and the start and end time of a session while it is running
• whether your record is visible to friends, and the codes of the friends you have added
• focus sessions and routines you share with friends, and the invitations and nudges you send or receive
• notification tokens, used only to send you friend notifications and to update the Live Activity on your Lock Screen
• how you found Cascade, if you told us during setup

Session feedback

When you finish a session, Cascade may ask you a few short questions about how it went. The answers are chosen from preset options rather than typed in. These answers, along with meditation exit responses, break check ins and records of when a block was unlocked, are stored on our servers under your six character code. We use them to understand which parts of the app actually help people.

Ask Cascade

Ask Cascade is an optional assistant for Pro subscribers. When you use it, the messages you type and the assistant's replies from the same conversation are sent to our server and from there to Anthropic, which generates the reply. To give a useful answer, the request also includes information about how you use Cascade: your current mode, your routine settings, how many apps you have selected (never which apps), whether a session is running, your local time, time zone and language, and, if you have opened a weekly letter, that week's summary. If you have written your own identity statement, it is included too.

Your name and your six character code are not sent. Our server identifies the request only by a random ID created on your device, which it uses to enforce a daily message limit. We do not store your conversations. If you tap "Didn't help", the last few messages of that conversation are saved so we can improve the answers. Anthropic processes the requests under its commercial API terms and does not use them to train its models.

Please do not share personal information in Ask Cascade.

Crash reports and usage statistics

We use Firebase Crashlytics to receive crash reports and error logs, and Firebase Analytics to see how the app is used, for example which onboarding steps people complete, when a paywall is shown and when a session finishes. These reports include technical details such as your device model, iOS version and app version, and identifiers that Firebase and Apple generate for the app on your device (the Firebase installation ID and the identifier for vendor). They are not linked to your name, and we do not use them for advertising.

Ad measurement

When we run ads for Cascade, we use Meta's SDK to count two events: when the app is opened, and when a free trial starts. The trial event carries no price or plan. The SDK sends technical details such as device model, iOS version, language and IP address with each event, as Meta's SDK always does. We have turned off collection of your advertising identifier and automatic event logging, we do not ask for permission to track you, and Meta is told to treat these events with Limited Data Use.

Subscriptions

Subscriptions are purchased and billed by Apple through the App Store. Apple tells your device whether a subscription is active. We never see your card number, your billing address or your Apple ID.

What we do not collect

• Your email address, phone number or contacts
• Your name (it stays on your device)
• Your date of birth (see Age below)
• The specific apps or categories you block
• Your browsing history, your notifications, or anything inside other apps
• Your payment details
• Your advertising identifier (IDFA)
• Your location

How we use what we collect

We use it to run the app you asked for: keeping your focus time and streaks in sync, showing your friends the stats you chose to share, sending friend notifications, keeping Live Activities up to date, answering you in Ask Cascade, fixing crashes, measuring our own ads and deciding which features to improve. We do not build advertising profiles and we do not sell anything to data brokers.

Who we share it with

• Google Firebase stores your account record, runs our server functions, and provides crash reporting, usage statistics, remote configuration and App Check, which makes sure requests come from a genuine copy of Cascade. Data is stored on Google Cloud servers in us-central1, in the United States.
• Anthropic generates Ask Cascade replies, as described above.
• Meta receives the two ad measurement events described above.
• Apple processes subscription payments. To show app icons and names inside Cascade, the app also looks them up through Apple's public App Store search, without any information about you.

We do not share your information with anyone else, and we would only disclose it if we were legally compelled to.

How long we keep it

We keep your account record and your session feedback for as long as you keep using Cascade. Crash reports and usage statistics are kept according to Firebase's retention settings. Anthropic keeps Ask Cascade requests for a limited period under its own policy. Ask Cascade feedback you send with "Didn't help" is kept until we no longer need it to improve the answers.

Deleting your account

You can delete everything from inside the app, under Settings › Delete My Account. When you confirm, we delete your account record, every session feedback entry linked to your code, and your code from the friend lists of anyone who added you. We also clear the code and your Ask Cascade memory from your device, including from iCloud Keychain, so reinstalling the app gives you a fresh start.

Some things are not yet removed automatically: shared focus sessions and routines you hosted, and Ask Cascade feedback. If you want those removed, email us and we will delete them.

Two more things worth knowing. Deleting your account does not cancel your subscription, because Apple owns that relationship. Billing continues until you cancel it yourself, and the confirmation screen links you straight to Apple's subscription settings. Deleted records may also sit in Firebase's routine backups for a short period before those backups roll over.

Your rights

If you are in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom or Switzerland, you have the right to access the data we hold about you, to correct it, to have it deleted, to restrict or object to how we use it, and to receive a copy in a portable form. You also have the right to complain to your national data protection authority.

Our lawful basis for the account record and Ask Cascade is performing the contract you entered into by using the app. Our lawful basis for crash reports, usage statistics and ad measurement is our legitimate interest in keeping the app working and understanding how it is found and used. Our lawful basis for the friends features and for session feedback is your consent, which you can withdraw at any time by turning those features off or deleting your account.

You can delete your data yourself under Settings › Delete My Account. For any of the other rights above, write to us and include your six character code, which you will find in the app under Settings.

Data we hold is processed in the United States. Where that involves a transfer out of the EEA or the UK, it is covered by the standard contractual clauses approved by the European Commission.

California residents

Under the CCPA you have the right to know what personal information we collect, to have it deleted, and not to be treated differently for exercising either right. The full list of what we collect is set out above. We have not sold personal information in the past twelve months. Deletion you can carry out yourself under Settings › Delete My Account. For anything else, email us with your six character code.

Age

Cascade is intended for people aged 13 and over, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone younger.

When you first open the app we ask which age range you fall into, alongside a question about how many hours a day you spend on your phone. The two answers are combined on the spot to work out how much of your life that screen time adds up to. Your age range is not stored and not sent to us.

If you want a young person's record removed, you can do it from the device itself under Settings › Delete My Account.

Changes to this policy

We will update this page as the app changes, and we will revise the effective date at the top. If a change materially affects how we handle your data, we will tell you in the app before it takes effect.

Contact

Questions, requests or complaints: support@thecascadeapp.com