Privacy Policy
Effective October 23, 2026
The short version. Instead works on your phone. The apps you lock, the photos you take, your steps and your Screen Time stay on your phone. We don't show ads, we don't track you, and we don't sell or share your information. If you choose to sign in, we keep a backup of your progress so you can get it back on a new phone, and you can delete it from the app at any time.
This policy explains how Sulphanic LLC (“Sulphanic”, “we”, “us”) handles information in the Instead: Stop Scrolling app (“Instead” or “the app”) and on doitinstead.com. Sulphanic LLC is a limited liability company registered in New Jersey, USA, and is responsible for your information.
What stays on your phone
Most of what Instead does never leaves your device. We can't see any of the following:
- The apps you lock. You pick them with Apple's Screen Time tools. Apple gives Instead only anonymous tokens, so we can't see which apps you picked or how long you use them, and Screen Time data is never sent to us.
- Photos you take for an activity. When an activity asks for a photo (a tree, a flower, a pet, the sky), the photo is checked on your phone by Apple's on-device image recognition. It isn't uploaded and isn't saved to your photo library. Instead may hold a temporary copy while it checks; the system clears it.
- Steps and motion. Walking activities count steps with your phone's motion sensor. The count is used on the phone to tell whether the walk is done.
- Your answers and progress. Your quiz answers and plan, streak, Rays balance, activities done, how your apps lock and your language are stored on the phone.
- App usage events. Instead records simple events (for example, “an activity was finished”) on the phone to help us improve the app. They are not sent anywhere.
- Your location. Instead doesn't ask for your location. It estimates sunrise and sunset from your phone's time zone setting.
- Notifications. Reminders are scheduled on the phone.
If you sign in (optional)
You can use Instead without an account. If you sign in with Apple (or Google, where offered), we collect:
| What | Why |
|---|---|
| An account ID, and the ID Apple or Google gives us for you | To know it's you when you sign in again |
| Your email address, if the provider shares it (Apple can give us a private relay address instead) | To identify your account if you contact us |
| Your name, if you share it the first time you sign in with Apple | To identify your account if you contact us |
| Your progress: streak, Rays balance and history (including App Store transaction IDs for Rays you bought), activities done, your plan and quiz answers, how your apps lock, and your app language | To back up your progress and restore it on another phone |
The apps you lock, photos, steps, Screen Time and Health data, and usage events are never sent, even when you're signed in.
Purchases
Purchases (Instead Pro and Rays) are handled by Apple through the App Store. We never receive your payment details. Apple tells the app what you bought so it can unlock it; if you're signed in, the Rays history in your backup includes the transaction IDs.
Who processes information for us
We don't sell or share personal information, and we don't use it for advertising. We use a few service providers to run Instead, under their own privacy and security terms:
- Cloudflare hosts our server, the account database and this website.
- Apple provides Sign in with Apple, the App Store, purchases and the on-device features Instead relies on.
- Google provides Sign in with Google, where offered.
We may also disclose information if the law requires it, to protect people's safety, or as part of a sale or merger of our business, in which case this policy would continue to apply.
Server logs
When the app talks to our server (only when you're signed in) or you visit this website, Cloudflare processes technical information such as your IP address and the time of the request to deliver and secure the service. We use these logs only to keep the service running and safe, and they are kept for a short period, normally no more than 30 days.
How long we keep information
- Information on your phone stays until you delete the app.
- Your account and backup stay until you delete your account. You can delete your account in the app (Home → Save progress / Account → Delete account). This removes your account and backup from our database right away; copies in our database's automatic recovery backups are gone within 30 days.
- Signing out or deleting your account doesn't touch the progress on your phone.
Your choices and rights
You can use Instead without signing in, turn off camera, motion or notification access in your phone's Settings, and delete your account from the app. Depending on where you live (for example, the EU, the UK, California, New Jersey or other US states), you may have the right to access, correct, delete or get a copy of your personal information, and to object to or restrict how it's used. We don't sell or share personal information or use it for targeted advertising, and we don't make decisions with legal effects about you by automated means. To make a request, email privacy@doitinstead.com. We'll answer within the time the law requires and won't treat you differently for asking. If you're in the EU or UK, you can also complain to your local data protection authority.
Where the GDPR applies, we rely on the contract with you (to provide the app and your backup), our legitimate interests (to keep the service secure and working), and your consent where we ask for it (for example, camera access).
International transfers
We're based in the United States, and our providers may process information in the US and other countries. Where required, transfers are protected by the providers' standard contractual clauses or other lawful safeguards.
Security
Information sent between the app and our server is encrypted in transit. Your sign-in session is stored in your phone's secure keychain. No method of storage or transmission is perfectly secure, but we work to protect your information and keep as little of it as we can.
Children
Instead isn't directed to children under 13, and we don't knowingly collect personal information from them. If you believe a child under 13 has created an account, contact us and we'll delete it.
Changes to this policy
If we change this policy, we'll update the date at the top and, for significant changes, let you know in the app.
Contact
Sulphanic LLC, New Jersey, USA
Privacy: privacy@doitinstead.com
Support: support@doitinstead.com