Privacy Policy

Last updated: October 2026

1. Data Controller

Marvin Blome
Sonninstraße 15
20097 Hamburg
Email: marvin.blome@gmail.com

2. Overview

InnerPulse is an app for self-reflection and mood tracking. Your data stays on your devices, optionally synced with end-to-end encryption. We have no access to it.

3. What data is collected?

InnerPulse only collects data that you actively enter into the app:

• Mood scores (1-10) with date and time
• Free-text journal entries
• Assigned influence factors (e.g., sleep, exercise, social contacts)
• Questionnaire responses and results (PHQ-4, PHQ-9, K10, GAD-7)
• Reminder settings (time, weekdays)

We collect no technical identifiers, IP addresses, device IDs, or other technical data. With the optional device sync, Apple processes the metadata listed in section 5. For this, the app creates a random device ID that travels only encrypted within the sync.

4. Where is data stored?

On your device. InnerPulse uses Apple's SwiftData framework for local data storage. We run no servers of our own and transmit no data to cloud services or third parties, except for the optional device sync (section 5).

5. Device sync (optional)

With the optional device sync you keep InnerPulse in step across your own devices, such as iPhone and iPad. The following applies:

• Which data: entries (mood, note, feelings, factors, intensities, time zone), questionnaire answers and results, factors, categories and display settings. With the separate switch “Sync photos and files”, also photos and files up to 25 MB including previews. This is health data within the meaning of Art. 9 GDPR.
• Not transferred: reminders, app lock, the Apple Health and weather settings, and files over 25 MB. InnerPulse does not store videos at all.
• Voluntary: Device sync is off by default. You turn it on separately on each device. The app works fully without sync.
• Encryption and key: Before anything is stored in iCloud, the app encrypts every record on the device with AES-GCM and a 256-bit key, and every file with its own key derived from it. It stores the key in your iCloud Keychain, which Apple encrypts end to end even without Advanced Data Protection (Apple overview). Neither we nor Apple can read the contents.
• Roles: We receive no sync data and have no access to it. Apple provides the iCloud storage; for users in the European Economic Area (EEA), Apple Distribution International Ltd., Ireland, is responsible. Apple's iCloud terms and Apple's Privacy Policy apply.
• Metadata processed by Apple: the association with your iCloud account, the time and number of encrypted records, their size padded in steps, the connection data technically required for access such as the IP address, and a device token for silent notifications without content that inform your other devices about changes.
• Third countries: Apple may also store iCloud data outside the EU. According to its privacy policy, Apple bases transfers from the EEA on standard contractual clauses. Encryption keeps the contents unreadable for Apple.
• Legal basis: your explicit consent under Art. 9(2)(a) in conjunction with Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR. You give it in the app in the prompt “Turn on device sync?” by tapping “Turn On”. You can withdraw it at any time by turning sync off and choosing “Delete iCloud copy”. Withdrawal does not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before it.
• Storage period and deletion: The iCloud copy remains until you remove it in the app with “Delete iCloud copy”; the app then also removes the key from the keychain. Turning sync off and uninstalling the app do not delete the iCloud copy, and neither does turning off “Sync photos and files”. If you delete an entry or questionnaire, only an encrypted deletion marker without content remains in iCloud until you delete the iCloud copy; it lets your other devices apply the deletion. Sync deletes removed attachments from iCloud.
• Risk: If you lose all your devices and access to your iCloud Keychain, the iCloud copy cannot be restored, not even by Apple.

6. Data sharing

There is no data sharing with third parties. Neither mood data, journal entries, nor questionnaire results leave your device unless you turn on the optional device sync (section 5). Even then, they go only end-to-end encrypted to your own iCloud, and we receive none of them.

7. Tracking & Analytics

InnerPulse uses no Google Analytics, Firebase, crash reporting, or comparable services. No ads, no ad SDKs, no trackers, no fingerprinting.

8. Apple-specific notes

For download and operation via the App Store, Apple processes data under its own privacy policy. If you create an iCloud backup, data stored in InnerPulse may be part of that backup.

9. Your rights (GDPR Art. 15-21)

You have the right to:

• Access (Art. 15 GDPR)
• Rectification (Art. 16 GDPR)
• Erasure (Art. 17 GDPR)
• Restriction of processing (Art. 18 GDPR)
• Data portability (Art. 20 GDPR)
• Objection (Art. 21 GDPR)

Since your data lives on your devices, you have full control: edit or delete entries directly in the app, use CSV export, delete the iCloud copy if device sync is on, or uninstall the app. We cannot provide access to or delete sync data ourselves, because we have no access to it. You do this in the app (export, delete, “Delete iCloud copy”) or with Apple.

10. Legal basis

Processing is based on Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR (consent) and Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR (contract performance). Processing in the app happens locally on your device, without us receiving any data. The optional device sync is based on your explicit consent under Art. 9(2)(a) GDPR (section 5).

11. Data security

Your data is protected by your Apple device's security: device encryption (Data Protection), Face ID / Touch ID / passcode protection, and app sandbox isolation. With the optional device sync, the app encrypts every record on the device before transfer (AES-GCM, 256-bit). When syncing photos and files, the app encrypts each file with its own key derived from the sync key (AES-GCM) and pads it to steps of 128 KB. Deleted entries and questionnaires leave only encrypted deletion markers without content in iCloud.

12. Contact

For privacy questions: Marvin Blome, marvin.blome@gmail.com. Right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority per Art. 77 GDPR.