Privacy Policy

The short version

Dots is a personal relationship memory tool. It runs on your iPhone, and everything you put into it stays on your device, with optional sync through your own iCloud account. We do not run servers that hold your relationship data. We do not see who is in your life or what you have written about them. We do not sell anything to anyone.

This policy explains what little we do collect, why, and how to control it.

Who we are

Dots is built and operated by Daniel Catinella, an individual developer based in New York, United States. In this policy, "Dots", "we", "us" and "our" refer to that developer. "You" means the person using the Dots app.

You can reach us about privacy questions at support@rememberdots.com.

What you put into Dots

When you use the app, you create:

• People and the details ("dots") you have noticed about them
• Dates to remember, follow-ups, gift ideas, and notes
• An optional self-profile in the You tab
• Optional photos imported from your Contacts

All of this content lives on your device in a local database (Apple's SwiftData). If you are signed in to iCloud and have iCloud Drive enabled, the same content syncs to your private iCloud container under your Apple ID. We do not have access to that container. Apple does not give us a way to read it.

If you sign out of iCloud, your data stays on the device. If you delete the app, your local copy is removed; your iCloud copy persists in your Apple account until you remove it via iOS Settings.

What Dots reads from your phone, only with permission

Contacts. When you choose "Import from Contacts", iOS shows you the system contact picker and you select one person at a time. We never read your full address book. The selected contact's name, phone number, email, photo, and birthday are copied into Dots so you can build a relationship memory around that person. Nothing is sent off your device.

Notifications. We use Apple's local notification system to remind you of birthdays, follow-ups, and dates you asked us to remember. These notifications are scheduled and fired locally by iOS. We do not run a push server, and we do not see when notifications fire.

You can revoke either permission at any time in iOS Settings.

What we collect about app usage

We use TelemetryDeck, a privacy-respecting analytics tool, to record a small set of anonymous events so we can tell whether features work and where the app is breaking. The events we send are:

• The app launched
• Onboarding was completed
• A person was created
• A person was imported from Contacts
• A dot was created (with the category, e.g. Personal or Professional)
• A follow-up was created

These events do not include your name, your contacts' names, the content of any dot, or any text you have typed into the app. They cannot be tied back to you. TelemetryDeck is GDPR-compliant and stores no personal data tied to your identity.

We do not use advertising identifiers. We do not run third-party SDKs that track you across apps or websites.

What we do not collect

For clarity, Dots does not:

• Require an account, email address, or password
• Operate a server that stores your relationship data
• Collect your location
• Read your full contact list
• Read your messages, calendar, or photos library
• Use your data to train AI models
• Sell or rent data to anyone, ever

AI features

Dots does not currently send any of your data to third-party AI services. If we add AI features in the future, they will be opt-in, you will see clear disclosure of what data is sent and to whom, and we will update this policy before turning anything on.

Sharing and disclosure

Because we do not collect your relationship data, there is nothing for us to share. We will only disclose information if required by law (for example, a valid court order directed at us about analytics events), and we will push back where the law allows.

Your rights and controls

Inside the app you can:

• Edit or delete any person, dot, follow-up, or date
• Export everything to a portable backup file from Settings
• Hide private dots from view
• Reset the app by deleting it from your device

If you live in the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom, or Switzerland, the GDPR gives you rights to access, correct, delete, port, and restrict processing of personal data we hold about you. Most of these are already handled by the controls above, since your relationship data lives in your own iCloud and is not held by us. For the analytics events we collect, contact us and we will respond within thirty days.

If you are a California resident, the CCPA and CPRA give you rights to know, delete, correct, and limit the use of personal information. Dots does not sell or share personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising. To exercise any right, contact us.

Younger users

Dots is intended for users aged sixteen and over. We do not knowingly collect any information from anyone under sixteen. If you believe someone under sixteen has used Dots, contact us and we will help.

Security

Your relationship data is protected by the security of your device (your passcode, Face ID, or Touch ID) and, if you sync, by the security of your iCloud account. We recommend keeping iOS up to date and turning on two-factor authentication on your Apple ID. Because we do not run servers that hold your data, the most important security boundary is the one Apple already gives you.

Third-party services we rely on

• Apple iCloud (CloudKit) for sync, governed by Apple's privacy policy
• Apple Push Notification Service for local notification scheduling
• TelemetryDeck for anonymous analytics

Changes to this policy

If we make a material change to how Dots handles data, we will update this policy and, where it matters, surface a notice in the app before the change takes effect. The effective date at the top will always reflect the most recent revision.