Privacy policy.

Overview

OffLimits is a focus / self-control app that blocks apps and websites you choose. It is designed to keep your data on your device. This policy explains what information the app accesses, how it is used, and what we do not do.

Data the app accesses

OffLimits accesses the following information on your device to provide blocking, screen time, and optional diagnostic features. Data stays local unless you choose one of the sharing actions described below:

1. Foreground app package name — to detect when a blocked app is opened and show the block screen.
2. Browser address bar text / domain — in supported browsers, to detect when a blocked website is open and to count site usage for usage-based blocks.
3. App and site usage time — time spent in selected apps and on selected sites, stored for usage limits (daily or hourly) and related progress UI.
4. Overall phone usage — daily time spent in each app on your phone and how many times you unlocked it, read from Android’s usage statistics to show your screen time report.
5. Your block configuration — names, schedules, limits, extra-minute settings, selected apps/sites, replacement app choice, Hard lock settings, and preferences you set in the app.
6. Notification metadata (Notification Listener) — only the posting app’s package name, to hold back notifications from apps included in an active block until that block ends. Notification content is not stored and is not transmitted.
7. Block history — each time a blocked app or site is opened: the time, which block applied, and the app’s package name or the site’s domain. Used for the reports in the app, and deleted along with usage data according to the history setting you choose.
8. PINs (only if you set one for Lock) — stored only as a salted one-way hash, never as the PIN itself, so it can’t be read back.
9. Optional developer diagnostics — only while you enable capture: detected app package names and website hosts, screen-detection metadata, block names/IDs and decisions, usage counters and limits, segment timing, permission status, and device/build metadata such as model, Android version, app version, and timezone. Diagnostic reports do not include raw page text, typed address-bar text, full URL paths or query strings, screenshots, notification contents, or PINs.

The app does not require an account and does not ask for your name, contacts, photos, or location.

Where data is stored

The app stores its data locally on your device, including a local Room database, on-device preferences, and the diagnostic memory buffer. OffLimits does not automatically upload data to our servers, and has no internet permission. There is no cloud backup of block or usage data provided by the app, and Android’s own backup is turned off for it.

Diagnostic capture is off by default. Stopping capture stops new diagnostic records and removes the overlay, while keeping the captured report in memory for inspection and sharing. Clear capture, starting a new capture, or restarting the app process clears that memory buffer. Enabled captures also write diagnostic events to Android’s local logcat buffer; clearing the in-app capture does not erase logcat.

Data you choose to share

• Diagnostic reports: when you tap Share report, OffLimits writes the captured diagnostic report to its private cache and opens Android’s sharing interface. You choose the receiving app or recipient and whether to send or save it. The selected app receives temporary read access to that report. Reports can reveal app usage, visited website hosts, and the other diagnostic information listed in item 9; review the report before sharing.

OffLimits does not choose a diagnostic recipient or send reports automatically. The receiving app may save the report or transmit it off your device according to your actions and that app’s data practices. Clearing the diagnostic memory buffer does not delete exported cache files, Android logcat, or copies already shared with another app. Android may clear cached reports, or you can remove them by clearing the app’s cache/data or uninstalling it.

Uninstalling the app removes the app’s local data (subject to normal Android uninstall behavior).

What we do not do

• No advertising SDKs
• No analytics or crash-reporting SDKs that send usage off-device
• No sale of personal data
• No automatic third-party sharing of foreground app, browsing domain, or usage timing data; diagnostic reports are shared only through the action described above

(If a future version adds optional network features, this policy will be updated before those features ship.)

Permissions (summary)

Depending on Android version and the features you use, the system may show permission prompts for:

• Accessibility — foreground app / browser domain detection for blocking
• Usage access — measuring time for usage-based blocks and your screen time report
• Notification access — holding back notifications from blocked apps until active blocks end
• Post notifications — status and warning notifications from OffLimits
• Exact alarms — schedule start/end reliability
• Battery unrestricted / ignore battery optimizations — keep enforcement reliable in the background
• Device admin (only if you turn on Hard lock) — makes uninstalling OffLimits take an extra step while Hard lock is on. OffLimits uses no other device admin powers, reads no data through it, and removes it when Hard lock ends
• Boot completed — restore blocking after device restart
• Foreground service — keeps usage counting running while you have usage limits, with an ongoing notification showing time left

You can revoke these permissions in Android settings. Revoking Accessibility stops website blocking, and blocked apps are then only covered by periodic checks (when a schedule starts, and about every 15 minutes) rather than the moment you open them.

Children’s privacy

OffLimits is intended for adult self-use. It is not directed at children and is not a parental-control product for supervising another person’s device.

Contact

Privacy questions: [email protected]

Changes

We may update this policy when the app’s data practices change. The “Last updated” date at the top will change when we do. Continued use of a newer app version after an update constitutes acceptance of the revised policy for that version’s practices.