🔒 PRIVACY POLICY 🔒

📄 The Short Version

💻 The Long Version (Because Lawyers Exist)

1. Information We Collect

We collect nothing directly. The app has no accounts, no logins, no first-party analytics, no tracking pixels, no cookies, no backend, no servers (this isn't a website from 1997... well, actually this website IS from 1997, but the app isn't).

The exception: ads in the free version. The free version of Slow Social shows ads served by Google AdMob. AdMob is operated by Google and, like every ad network, collects some basic data to serve ads and measure performance. We (the developer) never see this data — it goes directly from your device to Google. See Section 5 for the specifics.

If you upgrade to T1 Premium, the AdMob SDK is removed entirely. No ads, no ad-related data collection, no third-party SDKs. Just you and your phone, the way modems intended.

2. App Detection (LSApplicationQueriesSchemes)

Slow Social uses iOS's canOpenURL API to detect which social media apps are installed on your device. This is how the app knows which icons to show you.

Important facts about this detection:

• The detection result exists only in memory for the duration of the app session
• No list of your installed apps is ever saved to disk
• No list of your installed apps is ever transmitted anywhere
• No list of your installed apps is ever shared with anyone
• When you close the app, the detection result is gone forever
• We couldn't send this data even if we wanted to — the app has no network code, no server, no API, no backend, no database, no cloud, no nothing

3. Audio

The app plays modem sounds. Locally. On your phone. The sounds do not contain hidden data. They are just sounds. Terrible, wonderful sounds.

4. In-App Purchases

The app offers one optional in-app purchase ("T1 Premium Line"). This is processed entirely through Apple's StoreKit framework. We do not receive or store any payment information. Apple handles all of that. Take it up with them.

5. Third-Party Services

Slow Social uses one third-party service: Google AdMob, used only in the free version of the app to serve ads.

What AdMob may collect (this list is what AdMob's SDK does — we, the developer, never see any of it):

• Advertising identifier (IDFA) — NOT collected. Slow Social requests non-personalized ads only (the npa=1 flag on every request), never reads the IDFA, and never shows Apple's App Tracking Transparency prompt because there is no tracking to ask about.
• IP address (used for fraud prevention and approximate geo-location)
• Device type, OS version, app version, and language
• Ad interactions (which ads were shown, which were tapped)

This data goes directly from your device to Google's servers. We have no servers. We could not intercept this data even if we wanted to (we don't).

For Google's full data practices, see Google's Privacy Policy and How Google Uses Information from Partner Sites.

To opt out entirely: upgrade to T1 Premium and the AdMob SDK is removed from the experience — no ads, no ad requests, nothing. Or use "Manage privacy choices" (EEA/UK) to withdraw consent.

Beyond AdMob, the app uses zero other third-party services. No first-party analytics (Firebase, Amplitude, Mixpanel — none of them). No crash reporting. No social SDKs. Just AdMob and StoreKit. That's it.

6. Children's Privacy

We do not knowingly collect information from children under 13. The app is rated 4+ and contains no objectionable content unless you consider modem sounds objectionable (which is fair). The free version's AdMob integration is configured to request only non-personalized ads for everyone, everywhere — no tracking, no interest profiles, regardless of age.

7. On-Device Storage

Slow Social stores some data locally on your device to power its features. None of this data is ever transmitted anywhere. Here's what lives on your phone:

To be extremely clear: all of this data stays on your device. There is no server. There is no cloud. There is no sync. The widget data is shared between the main app and widget extension via an App Group container — that's two processes on YOUR phone talking to each other. Nobody else is invited to this conversation.

8. Data Retention

All data listed above lives on your device until you delete the app. When you delete Slow Social, it all goes with it. We retain exactly zero bytes of your data on our end, because there is no "our end." We don't have servers. We have a laptop and a dream.

10. Changes to This Policy

If we ever change this policy, we'll bump the date at the top. Any meaningful change will be reflected here before it goes into effect. The fundamental position — that the developer collects nothing directly, and that any third-party data collection happens only via the AdMob SDK in the free version — is not expected to change. If it does, we'll tell you.

11. Contact

Slow Social is published by Embay, LLC, a limited liability company registered in Florida, United States. For the purposes of the EU and UK GDPR, Embay, LLC is the data controller. We have not appointed a Data Protection Officer — given that we collect basically nothing, we are not required to. We obtain no data about you from third-party sources, providing personal data is never required to use the app, and we carry out no automated decision-making or profiling within the meaning of Article 22 GDPR.

If you have questions about this privacy policy (we're impressed, honestly), you can reach us at: