Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

This Privacy Policy (“this Privacy Policy”) describes how user information is handled in TabiTimer App (the “App”).

Please review this Privacy Policy before using the App.

2. Overview of the Information We Handle

The information handled by the App falls into two broad categories.

• Information stored primarily on your device: your focus history, travel progress, app settings and similar data (see Section 3)
• Information stored on our servers when you sign in and use online features: your profile, online room participation data, chat messages, rankings and similar data (see Section 5)

In addition, Google automatically collects certain information in connection with the display of ads (Section 8), and you may provide information through the inquiry form (Section 9).

If you use the App as a guest without signing in, online features are unavailable and none of the server-side storage described above takes place (Section 4).

3. Information Stored Primarily on Your Device

The following information is stored on your device in order to provide the App’s features. Individual records such as your focus history are never transmitted to our servers in their original form.

• Timer session records, cumulative focus time and your focus calendar
• Distance travelled, route progress, route completion records and the route you currently have selected
• Information about a focus session that is paused or in progress
• App settings such as theme, volume, background music and ambient sound

Profile information such as your name, status message, bio, social media links and avatar is also stored on your device. If you are signed in, your profile information is stored on our servers as well (Section 5).

In addition, only when you use online features, certain values such as your total focus time are sent to our servers within the scope described in Section 5. Your focus history itself — the individual records of when, on which route and for how long you focused — is never sent.

You can delete the information stored on your device by deleting the App from your device.

Note: Data included in an operating system or device backup is subject to the specifications and settings of the backup service concerned.

4. Accounts and Guest Use

Sign in with Apple

To use the App’s online features, you need to create an account using Sign in with Apple.

• When you sign in, the App does not request, collect or store your name or email address.
• The only account information the App stores is the account identifier (user ID) issued by the authentication service (Firebase Authentication). During authentication, your authentication information is processed by Apple and by Firebase Authentication.
• This user ID is used as the key for managing your online feature data, such as your profile and rankings.

Guest Mode

You can also use the App as a guest without signing in. In guest mode, online features such as online rooms, chat and rankings are unavailable, and no user information — including your profile — is sent to the App’s servers.

Please note that ads are also displayed in guest mode (Section 8).

5. Information Stored on Our Servers When You Use Online Features

When you sign in and use online features, the following information is stored in Firebase (Cloud Firestore), a cloud service provided by Google LLC. As a rule, this data is stored in the Tokyo region (asia-northeast1).

Public profile

The name, status message, bio, avatar type and social media links you enter are stored. This information may be shown to other users (Section 6).

Online room participation data

When you join a room, the following is stored: your name, status message, avatar type, the route you are travelling, your focus status (such as focusing or paused), whether the App is currently open, and your virtual position along the route.

Note: This position is a virtual location on a fictional route, calculated from your focus time. It is not your actual location (Section 7).

Chat (preset messages)

Chat in rooms works by selecting and sending one of the preset messages provided in advance. What is stored on our servers is the identifier of the preset message you selected, the sender’s user ID, name and avatar type, and the time the message was sent. There is no free-text input field, and no text written by a user is stored on our servers.

Chat messages you send are retained for approximately 30 days and are then automatically deleted (Section 14).

Rankings

When you finish focusing, your total focus time for “today” and “this week” is stored together with your name and avatar type. Details of your focus sessions — such as dates and times, routes or individual records — are not sent.

Note: To prevent duplicate counting, a random identifier for the focus session and the time it was submitted are stored in an area that no one but you can view.

Blocking

A list of the users you have blocked is stored, consisting of each blocked user’s user ID together with their display name and avatar type at the time of blocking. Only you can view this information, and users are not notified that they have been blocked.

Reports

When you report another user, the user IDs of the reporter and the reported user, the reason you selected (chosen from a fixed list) and the time of the report are stored. In addition, a copy of the reported user’s profile at the time of the report (name, status message, bio and social media links) is stored, so that the operator can review its contents even if that user changes their profile afterwards.

The contents of a report can be viewed only by the user who submitted it and by the operator, and the reported user is not notified.

6. Information Visible to Other Users

When you use online features, the following information may be shown to other users.

• Users in the same room can see your name, status message, avatar, the route you are travelling, your focus status, your virtual position along the route, and the chat messages (preset messages) you send.
• If you place among the top entries in a ranking, your name, avatar and total focus time are shown to signed-in users.
• Users who open your profile from your avatar on the map or from a ranking can see your public profile, including your bio and social media links.

Your block list and the contents of your reports are never shown to other users.

7. Location Information

The App does not collect your actual location using your device’s GPS or location services.

The current position shown on the map is a virtual location calculated from the elapsed timer time and your progress along the route you selected. The progress shared with other users in online rooms is likewise only this virtual location.

The App uses MapKit (Apple Maps), provided by Apple Inc., to display maps. Loading the map involves communication with Apple, but the App does not collect or transmit your actual location.

8. Advertising

The App uses Google AdMob and the Google Mobile Ads SDK, provided by Google LLC, to display ads.

Information the SDK collects automatically

The Google Mobile Ads SDK may automatically collect the following information for purposes such as delivering ads, measuring their performance, preventing fraudulent use, and maintaining and improving the service.

• IP address and the approximate region inferred from the IP address
• Device identifiers (including the advertising identifier)
• Information about the display of ads and interactions with them
• Information about your activity within the App
• Crash logs
• Diagnostic and performance information

The information actually handled may differ depending on factors such as the version of the Google Mobile Ads SDK, the ad settings, your consent status and your device settings.

Managing consent for advertising

Consent relating to advertising is obtained and managed using the consent management solution provided by Google (the Google User Messaging Platform).

• Users in the European Economic Area (EEA), the United Kingdom and Switzerland may be shown a screen asking for their consent regarding advertising.
• Users in certain U.S. states may be shown information about opting out under their state’s privacy laws.
• Where applicable, you can review and change your consent choices from “Privacy Settings”, shown within the App’s Settings screen.

App Tracking Transparency (ATT) and the advertising identifier (IDFA)

Before the advertising identifier (IDFA) is used, a prompt based on Apple’s App Tracking Transparency (ATT) framework on iOS may be displayed. The advertising identifier is used for purposes such as personalising ads only if you allow tracking.

• You can continue to use all features of the App even if you do not allow tracking.
• Ads may still be displayed if you do not allow tracking, but in that case the advertising identifier is not used in ad requests.
• Apple’s ad attribution framework (SKAdNetwork) may be used to measure ad performance.

For details on how each service handles information, please refer to the following.

• Google Privacy Policy
• How Google uses data in advertising
• Google Mobile Ads SDK data disclosure

9. Information Collected Through Inquiries

The Google Form used to receive inquiries and requests may collect the following information that you enter.

• The content of your inquiry or question
• Information about a problem and the steps to reproduce it
• Device name
• OS version
• App version
• Routes or preset chat messages you would like to see
• A name or nickname, if you choose to enter one
• An email address, if you enter one because you would like a reply

Note: Your name, nickname and email address are optional. Please enter an email address only if you would like to receive a reply.

10. Purposes of Use

Information handled within the App and information obtained through inquiries is used for the following purposes.

• To provide the App’s features
• To save timer records and route progress
• To provide online features such as online rooms, chat and rankings
• To maintain the user environment, including responding to reports
• To respond to inquiries
• To confirm and investigate problems
• To maintain, improve and enhance the quality of the service
• To consider new features, routes and preset chat messages
• To deliver and display ads and measure their performance
• To prevent fraudulent use and ensure security

Except where required by law, we do not use information beyond the scope of the purposes described above.

11. Third-Party Services

The App and the associated inquiry channel use the following third-party services.

Apple (Sign in with Apple and MapKit)

The App uses Sign in with Apple, provided by Apple Inc., for account authentication, and MapKit to display maps. For information on how Apple handles information, please refer to Apple’s Privacy Policy.

Google Firebase

The App uses Firebase, provided by Google LLC, for account management (Firebase Authentication), storage of online feature data (Cloud Firestore), processing of account deletion (Cloud Functions) and prevention of unauthorised requests (Firebase App Check).

Google AdMob

The App uses Google AdMob, the Google Mobile Ads SDK and the Google User Messaging Platform to display ads. See Section 8 for details.

Google Forms

Inquiries and requests are received through Google Forms, provided by Google LLC.

• Filling in the form is optional.
• Please enter an email address only if you would like to receive a reply.
• Information you submit may be processed or stored on Google’s servers.

For details on how each service handles information, please refer to the following.

• Apple Privacy Policy
• Privacy and Security in Firebase
• Google Privacy Policy

12. Provision to Third Parties

The operator does not provide the user information it obtains to third parties, except in the following cases.

• Where the user has given their consent
• Where the third-party services described in this Privacy Policy are used
• Where information is shown to other users as part of how online features work, within the scope described in Section 6
• Where disclosure is required by law
• Where disclosure is necessary to protect a person’s life, physical safety or property and it is difficult to obtain that person’s consent

The operator does not sell user information to third parties. The handling of information in connection with the delivery of ads follows your consent status and applicable laws and regulations (Section 8).

13. Management of Information

We make efforts to prevent the leakage, loss, damage and unauthorised access of the information we obtain, and we handle it appropriately within the scope necessary to achieve the purposes of use.

Communication with our servers uses a mechanism that verifies that requests come from a legitimate instance of the App (Firebase App Check), which helps prevent unauthorised access by third parties.

14. Retention Periods and Deletion

Data on your device

The focus history, travel progress, profile information and settings stored on your device are retained until you delete the App from your device.

Deleting the App from your device does not delete your account or your online feature data on our servers. To delete data held on our servers, you need to delete your account as described in Section 15.

Data on our servers

Your public profile, block list and reports are retained until you delete your account. The following data is automatically deleted after a certain period, even if you do not delete your account.

• Online room participation data is deleted when you leave the room. Even if it cannot be deleted — for example because of network conditions — it stops being shown to other users after a certain period, and any remaining data is deleted automatically.
• Chat messages you send are retained for approximately 30 days from the time they are sent and are then deleted automatically.
• Ranking data is shown only for the current and the immediately preceding ranking period, and is deleted automatically within roughly 10 days after that period ends. The records used to prevent duplicate counting (Section 5) are retained for approximately 30 days and are then deleted automatically.

Inquiry data

Information obtained through inquiries and requests is retained for as long as necessary to respond to the inquiry, re-investigate problems and improve the service, and is deleted appropriately once it is no longer needed.

If you would like information you submitted through an inquiry to be deleted, please contact us using the channel listed in “19. Contact”.

Note: If no name or email address was entered and we cannot identify the submission concerned, we may be unable to accommodate a deletion request.

The retention periods and deletion methods for information obtained by third-party services such as Google and Apple follow the privacy policies of those services.

15. Deleting Your Account

You can delete your account at any time from “Delete Account” in the App’s “Settings” screen. Deletion requires verifying your identity with Apple.

Deleting your account deletes the following.

• The account itself (including the removal of the Sign in with Apple connection)
• Your public profile
• Your online room participation data
• The chat messages you have sent
• Ranking-related data
• Your list of blocked users
• Reports you have submitted and reports submitted about you

Deleted data cannot be restored afterwards. Please note that the focus history, travel progress and app settings on your device are not deleted, and you can continue to use the App as a guest after deleting your account.

16. Your Rights

If you would like the information you have submitted to be disclosed, corrected, suspended from use or deleted, you can contact us through the inquiry channel.

After confirming that the request comes from you, we will respond within the scope of applicable laws and regulations and to a reasonable extent.

17. Use by Minors

If you are a minor, please obtain the consent of a parent or guardian where necessary before using the App or the inquiry form.

18. Changes to This Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy may be revised to the extent necessary in response to changes in laws and regulations, the App’s features or the third-party services it uses.

If we make a significant change, we will provide notice on this page, within the App or by other appropriate means.

19. Contact

For inquiries about this Privacy Policy or about how user information is handled, please contact us through the page below.

TabiTimer App — Contact and Requests