InnerTide — Privacy Policy

Effective date: September 26, 2026

Last updated: September 30, 2026

InnerTide ("the app", "we", "us") is an iOS application that helps you notice how tension builds up across your days by comparing your own physiological signals to your personal baseline. This policy explains what data InnerTide uses, where it is processed, and the choices you have.

The short version: InnerTide processes all of your data on your device. We do not run servers, we have no accounts, there is no cloud sync, and no health data ever leaves your iPhone except the direct, encrypted request your device makes to the source you connect (Apple Health or Google Health).

1. Who is responsible

InnerTide is operated by Jeroen Jansen (sole developer), the Netherlands. For any privacy question or request you can contact:

Email: jeroen@heavyorange.com

For users in the European Economic Area, this makes the developer the "data controller" under the GDPR. Because processing happens entirely on your own device and no data is transmitted to the developer, the developer holds no copy of your data and cannot access, export, or delete it on your behalf — see section 7.

2. Data InnerTide uses

2.1 Apple Health (HealthKit)

If you grant permission, InnerTide reads the following from Apple Health:

• Heart rate variability (SDNN)
• Heart rate and resting heart rate
• Respiratory rate
• Blood oxygen saturation
• Wrist temperature / sleeping wrist temperature
• Sleep analysis
• Workouts
• Mindful minutes
• Date of birth (only to estimate your maximum heart rate, so a workout's effort can be judged relative to you)
• State of Mind entries (moods and feelings you log yourself in Apple Health or on your Apple Watch, used only as extra context for your daily view)
• Environmental and headphone audio exposure

InnerTide also writes to Apple Health, if you allow it:

• mindfulness sessions you complete in the app, and
• State of Mind entries for your check-ins. When you complete a check-in, the mood, feelings and life areas you chose are saved to Apple Health as a State of Mind entry, so they appear in the Health app. Other check-in answers (energy, sensory load, sleep experience and similar) are stored on that entry as app-specific metadata that the Health app does not display. InnerTide uses this copy to restore your check-ins if the app is reinstalled.

Both are optional and controlled by the Apple Health permission sheet. Data stored in Apple Health is managed by Apple Health, not by InnerTide: see section 7 for how to remove it.

HealthKit data is read on demand, used for on-device calculation, and the derived results are stored locally (see section 4). InnerTide does not use HealthKit data for advertising, and does not share it with any third party.

2.2 Google Health (Fitbit and compatible devices)

If you choose to connect Google Health, InnerTide uses OAuth 2.0 to request read-only access to the following scopes of the Google Health API:

InnerTide requests these scopes only to build and update your personal tension baseline and the daily/intraday view inside the app. Your Google Health data is fetched directly from Google's servers to your device over HTTPS and is never sent to any server operated by the developer or by a third party.

Limited Use disclosure. InnerTide's use of information received from Google APIs adheres to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements. Specifically, InnerTide:

• uses Google Health data only to provide and improve the in-app features described above;
• does not transfer Google Health data to others except as necessary to provide or improve those features, to comply with applicable law, or as part of a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets with user notice;
• does not use Google Health data for serving advertisements, including retargeting, personalized, or interest-based advertising;
• does not allow humans to read Google Health data unless we have your affirmative consent for specific data, it is necessary for security purposes (for example, investigating abuse), it is required to comply with applicable law, or the data has been aggregated and anonymized. In normal operation no human — including the developer — can read your data, because it stays on your device.

2.3 Location

If you grant "While Using the App" location permission, InnerTide uses your approximate location only to:

• retrieve current weather via Apple WeatherKit, and
• compute the position of the sun and moon,

which are used to tint the app's visuals and to give physical-load context. Your location is used transiently for these lookups and the last known coordinate is held in memory. It is not written to InnerTide's stored history, not attached to any health record, and not transmitted to the developer. Weather requests are handled by Apple's WeatherKit service under Apple's WeatherKit data policy.

2.4 Motion and fitness

If you grant Motion permission, InnerTide reads the device's motion activity (for example "walking", "running", "stationary") to determine whether an elevated heart rate coincides with physical exertion. This is processed on device and is not transmitted anywhere.

2.5 Bluetooth heart rate

If you pair a Bluetooth heart-rate device (for example a Fitbit broadcasting over the standard Heart Rate Service), InnerTide receives live heart-rate readings directly from that device over Bluetooth for the duration of a session. These readings are processed on device.

2.6 What InnerTide does NOT collect

• No account, name, email address, or phone number.
• No analytics, telemetry, crash reporting, advertising, or tracking SDKs of any kind.
• No contact list, photos, camera, or microphone access.
• No device identifiers for tracking across apps or websites.

3. How your data is used

All processing is statistical and happens on your device:

• building a rolling ~90-day personal baseline for each signal;
• computing daily and intraday status from how today compares to that baseline;
• detecting recurring patterns and generating the plain-language text you see in the app;
• scheduling optional local notifications.

InnerTide does not make automated decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects. The app is a personal-insight tool and is not a medical device; it does not diagnose, treat, or prevent any condition.

4. Where your data is stored

• Derived results and history (scores, baselines, daily records and check-ins) are stored in a local database on your device using Apple's SwiftData / Core Data, protected by iOS file-protection (encrypted at rest while the device is locked).
• Google Health OAuth tokens are stored in the iOS Keychain, marked "this device only" so they are not included in device backups and do not sync to other devices.
• Nothing is stored on a server operated by the developer, because there is no such server. InnerTide does not sync your data to iCloud or any other cloud service.

Data may be included in your own encrypted device backups (iCloud or Finder) if you have those enabled, under Apple's control and encryption — this is how your history moves to a new iPhone. The OAuth tokens described above are excluded from backups.

5. Data sharing

InnerTide does not sell, rent, or share your data. There are no third-party recipients. The only outbound network connections InnerTide makes are:

6. Data retention

• Local history is retained on your device until you delete it. InnerTide automatically prunes some intermediate records that fall outside its working window (roughly 90 days) as part of normal operation.
• OAuth tokens are retained until you disconnect Google Health or delete the app.

7. Your choices and rights

• Disconnect Google Health: Settings → Linked sources → "Disconnect Google Health". This deletes the stored tokens from your device and asks Google to revoke InnerTide's access. You can also review or revoke access at any time at myaccount.google.com/permissions.
• Revoke Apple Health / Location / Motion access: iOS Settings → Privacy & Security, or iOS Settings → InnerTide.
• Delete all InnerTide data: delete the app from your device. Because all data is local, removing the app removes the database and all stored history. Entries InnerTide wrote to Apple Health (mindfulness sessions and State of Mind entries) are part of your Apple Health data and are not removed when you delete the app. Delete them in the Health app (Browse → the relevant category → Show All Data), or under Health → Sharing → Apps → InnerTide → Delete All Data from "InnerTide". Deleting a check-in inside InnerTide also removes its State of Mind entry. (If an in-app "erase all data" control is added, it will be described here.)
• GDPR rights: you have the right of access, rectification, erasure, restriction, portability, and objection. Since your data never leaves your device and the developer holds no copy, you exercise these rights directly through the controls above. If you believe your rights have been infringed you may lodge a complaint with the Dutch Data Protection Authority (Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens).

8. Children

InnerTide is not directed to children under 16 and does not knowingly process their data.

9. Security

InnerTide relies on iOS platform security: data encrypted at rest under device file protection, secrets in the Keychain, and TLS for every network request (App Transport Security enforced, no exceptions).

10. Changes to this policy

If this policy changes materially, the "Last updated" date will change and, where appropriate, the app will surface a notice. Continued use after an update constitutes acceptance of the revised policy.

11. Contact

jeroen@heavyorange.com