Privacy Policy for Ties

Last updated: October 19, 2026

        TL;DR: Ties is a privacy-first app. Your contacts and notes stay
        on your device, encrypted, and are never sent to us or anyone else. We run no
        servers, show no ads and track nothing. Two kinds of technical data leave your
        device: after the app starts, Ties checks your purchase status with RevenueCat,
        and Google's on-device text recognition and AI libraries (ML Kit) send Google
        diagnostic data such as device model, app version and error codes. Neither
        contains any of your contacts, notes or text.
    

1. Overview

Ties is a personal relationship manager designed with privacy as the core principle. We believe your personal contacts and relationships are yours alone.

2. Data Storage

Local Only: All data is stored exclusively on your device
Encrypted: Your database is encrypted with AES-256 using SQLCipher
No Cloud: We do not operate any servers or cloud storage
No Transmission: Your data never leaves your device unless you explicitly create a backup
No Android cloud backup: Ties opts out of Android's cloud backup and device-to-device transfer, so no copy of your database or its backups goes to Google Drive or to a new phone automatically. To move to another phone, use your own export file (section 5)
What you enter: everything you type or attach in Ties, such as notes, memories, photos, the names, birthdays and notes you record about your contacts' children, and, optionally, your own first name, is your own local data. It is stored and handled like every other note and is never collected by us

3. Data Collection

We collect no personal data. Your contacts, interactions, notes and reminders are never transmitted to us or to anyone else.

❌ No analytics or crash reporting tools of our own
❌ No usage tracking
❌ No location data
❌ No advertising, no ad networks, no profiling

Two exceptions, neither of which includes your contacts, notes or text:

Purchase status: shortly after the app starts, Ties asks RevenueCat whether this installation has Pro, using an anonymous app user id and your store receipts. Until it answers (or while you are offline), Ties uses the status it last saw, stored on your device. If you buy or restore Pro, RevenueCat and Google handle the transaction. See sections 6 and 7.
Google diagnostics (ML Kit): reading text from screenshots and, on supported phones, summaries with Gemini Nano use Google's ML Kit libraries. ML Kit sends Google diagnostic and usage data: device information (manufacturer, model, OS version, available ML hardware), app package name and version, a per-installation or device identifier, performance metrics (such as latency), API configuration (such as image format and resolution), input and output size, feature version, event types and error codes. It does not send the images or text being processed. Google encrypts this data in transit and does not pass it to third parties (ML Kit data disclosure). Ties cannot switch this off.

About the advertising ID: our payment provider RevenueCat includes Google's advertising ID library, which it may use to attribute a purchase to the right account and to detect fraudulent transactions. Ties itself never reads this identifier, and it is never used for advertising, profiling or tracking you across apps. You can reset or delete it at any time in your Android settings under Privacy → Ads.

4. Permissions

The app requests these permissions for local functionality:

Contacts: To import contacts from your device (optional, only when you choose to import)
Notifications: To send you reminders to stay in touch. The daily check for due reminders, follow-ups and birthdays runs on your device. Follow-up notifications offer "Done" and "Tomorrow" buttons; they change only data stored on your device
Microphone: To dictate notes (optional, only while a voice note is open). Speech is turned into text on your device; no audio is saved or sent.

Ties does not request storage, photo or media permissions. Photos for memories are chosen with the system photo picker, and screenshots and backup files are shared or imported through system pickers, so Ties only sees the files you pick.

No permission is used to collect or transmit data.

4a. Voice notes, screenshots and summaries

Ties can turn a spoken note or a screenshot you share with it into a text note, and on supported devices summarize that text. All of this happens on your device:

Voice notes use your phone's on-device speech recognition. Audio is not recorded to a file and not sent anywhere.
Screenshots you share with Ties are read on your device (Google ML Kit text recognition) and deleted when you close the import screen. Only the text you confirm is saved, as a note.
Your first name (optional): if you enter it, it is used only for a greeting and to recognise your own messages in screenshots. It is stored locally and included in backups.
Summaries run on your device with a language model. Where your phone has one built in (Gemini Nano on supported Android devices), Ties uses it; that model is downloaded and updated by your phone's system. Otherwise Ties uses a Gemma model that Ties itself provides (delivered with the app through Google Play) and runs on your phone. Either way, your text is not sent to Google or to us.

The ML Kit libraries used for screenshots and Gemini Nano send Google the technical diagnostics described in section 3, never the screenshot or your text.

Photos in memories

You can attach photos to a memory. They are picked through the system photo picker, reduced in size, stripped of all EXIF metadata (including location) and stored only inside the encrypted database on your device. They are never uploaded. Photos are included in backups and exports (which are not encrypted, see section 5), which makes those files larger.

Ties keeps a count of how many free summaries you have used. This count stays on your device and is not part of any backup.

5. Backups

Backups are created on your device only. Ties does not upload them anywhere.

Automatic daily backups are stored in the app's private storage on your device
You can export your data manually as a JSON file. It includes your notes, memories with their photos (so it can be large), the children you recorded and your optional first name
An exported file leaves the app only if you choose to share or move it (for example to your own cloud storage). From that point the file is governed by whichever service you send it to
Exported files are not encrypted. The database on your device is, but an export is plain JSON so that you can read and restore it without Ties. Store it somewhere you trust
You can disable automatic backups at any time in Settings
Ties opts out of Android's cloud backup and device transfer (section 2), so these backups are not copied to Google Drive

6. Payment Processing

In-app purchases are processed by RevenueCat and Apple/Google:

We only receive anonymized purchase receipts to verify your Pro status
Your payment information is handled exclusively by Apple/Google
We do not store credit card or payment details

7. Third-Party Services

The app uses these services:

RevenueCat: in-app purchase management. Receives purchase receipts and an anonymous app user id, plus the advertising identifier described in section 3. It receives none of your contacts, notes or interactions.
Google ML Kit: on-device text recognition and access to Gemini Nano. Sends Google the diagnostic and usage data listed in section 3; never your screenshots, contacts, notes or text.
Apple App Store / Google Play Store: App distribution and payments

Google Play in-app review and sharing: at most once, after some weeks of use, Ties may ask Google Play to show its in-app review dialog. This is handled by the Play Store app on your device; Ties passes no data to it and does not learn what you answer. "Rate Ties" in Settings opens the Ties page on Google Play. "Share Ties" opens your system share sheet with a fixed text that contains only a short sentence and the app link, nothing about you or your contacts.

No advertising networks and no cross-app tracking are used, and Ties adds no analytics of its own.

8. Data Deletion

Since all data is stored locally on your device:

Uninstalling the app deletes all local data, including its backups
Any file you exported yourself can be deleted wherever you saved it
We have nothing to delete on our end (because we don't store anything)

Purchase records held by RevenueCat and Google are tied to your store account. Contact us at the address in section 11 if you have questions about them.

9. Children's Privacy

Ties is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect data from children.

You may record names, birthdays and a note about the children of your contacts. This is your own local data: it is stored and handled like every other note, stays on your device and is never collected by us. The age limit above concerns people who use Ties themselves.

10. Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy to reflect app changes. The "Last updated" date will be revised. Continued use of the app after changes constitutes acceptance.

11. Contact

Questions about this privacy policy?
Email: ties.personal@gmail.com