Privacy Policy
Effective 19 October 2026. This policy explains what the Pause app and this website do with information about you, in plain language.
“Pause”, “we” and “us” mean the Pause team, the operator of the Pause app for iPhone and of this website. Questions or requests: .
The short version
- Pause works without an account. Your fasts, meals, drinks, check-ins, goals and notes are saved on your phone.
- When you ask your buddy a question, your message and recent conversation are sent to our server and an AI service to write a reply. Photos you choose for a food estimate are sent too.
- Sharing saved records or Apple Health summaries with your buddy is optional and off by default. You can turn it off any time.
- We do not sell your data, use it for advertising or track you across other apps or websites.
- You can export or delete your data in the app, under Settings. You can also ask us to delete it.
- Pause is a general wellness app, not medical advice.
Contents
1. What we collect
Stays on your phone
Everything you record in Pause is stored on your device: your fasting sessions and plan, meals (descriptions, calories, notes and any photos you attach), drinks, check-ins on mood, hunger and energy, weight entries, goals, personal details you choose to enter (such as age, height or activity level), reflections and insights, and your conversation history with your buddy. This information is not sent to us unless you use one of the features below.
Sent when you use an online feature
| Feature | What is sent |
|---|---|
| Asking your buddy a question | Your message and recent conversation, so the AI can reply. If you turn on Personalize replies, also the records you allowed: recent meals and their photos, fasts, goals, measurements, drinks and check-ins. Imported Apple Health summaries are included only if you also turn on the separate Apple Health switch. |
| Food photo estimate | The photo you choose, to produce an estimated description and calories. The result is an estimate, not a measurement. |
| Ideas and feedback you send | Only the text you type (and, for the in-app survey, your rating), with a private receipt so you can withdraw it. Health records, goals and chats are not attached. |
| Optional account and backup | If you use an account with backup, the records and media you select are stored on our servers so they can sync to your devices. |
| Voice dictation | When you tap the microphone, your phone’s speech recognition turns your voice into text. We prefer on-device recognition when your phone offers it. Otherwise Apple’s or Google’s speech service handles the audio under their own policies. We do not receive or store the audio, only the text you choose to send. |
Collected automatically
Our servers keep standard operational logs (such as request times, error details and IP address) to keep the service running and to prevent abuse.
Optional usage analytics
Only if you allow it, the app sends selected screen views, onboarding steps, companion selections and feature interactions to Mixpanel’s EU service. Events use a random identifier saved on this device. We do not attach your account identity, messages, photos, goals, fasting durations, meal details, weight or Apple Health records. We do not use advertising identifiers, automatic interaction capture or session recordings. We disable IP-based geolocation; Mixpanel still receives the IP address needed to deliver the network request.
Choose Not now at the optional prompt to decline, or change Settings → Usage analytics at any time. Turning it off stops new events, cancels pending requests where possible and removes the local analytics identifier. It does not erase events already received by Mixpanel. The choice is specific to this device, is separate from AI sharing, and is not synced with your account. Deleting app data also turns analytics off on that device.
2. How we use it
- To provide the app: the timer, your history, reminders and insights.
- To write your buddy’s replies and food estimates.
- To sync your records if you chose backup.
- To read and respond to ideas, feedback and support requests.
- To keep the service secure and fix problems.
We do not use your information for advertising, we do not sell it, and we do not build advertising profiles. We do not use your health or wellness information to make decisions about you, such as insurance, credit or employment.
3. Who we share it with
We share information only with service providers that help us run Pause, and only what each one needs:
- AI processing. Your messages, and photos you choose to send, are processed by an AI service (currently Google’s Gemini, accessed through Replit’s managed AI integration) to produce replies and estimates. We ask these providers to process the content only to provide the service.
- Hosting and storage. Our servers and database are hosted with Replit. Backup records and media, and ideas you send, are stored there.
- Apple and Google. The app stores, your phone’s notification service and speech recognition work under Apple’s or Google’s own terms.
We may also disclose information if the law requires it or to protect people’s safety or our rights. Typed messages and photos you send to the AI are processed even if optional record sharing is off. Changing a sharing setting does not recall requests already sent. Please don’t put anything in a message or photo that you don’t want processed.
4. Apple Health
If you connect Apple Health, Pause reads the sleep, activity, heart and body measurements you allow, to show them in the app and give you more relevant insights. Pause does not write to Apple Health.
- We do not use Apple Health information for advertising or marketing, and we do not sell it or share it with data brokers or similar parties.
- Imported Health summaries are included in AI replies only if you turn on the separate “Also share imported Apple Health summaries” switch in the chat’s privacy panel. It is off by default and you can turn it off at any time.
- Disconnecting inside Pause does not revoke iOS permissions. You can review and change them in the Health app under Sharing, then Apps.
5. Permissions on your phone
Pause asks for access only when a feature needs it, and works without it:
- Notifications: for fasting and routine reminders. Pause asks first in your buddy’s words, and your phone’s prompt appears only if you say yes.
- Camera and photos: to add a photo to a meal or request a food estimate.
- Microphone and speech recognition: to dictate a message. Used only while you dictate.
- Apple Health: as described above.
You can change any of these in your phone’s Settings.
6. How long we keep it
- On your phone: until you delete it in the app or uninstall Pause.
- Backup records and media: until you remove them or delete your account data.
- Ideas and feedback you send: until you withdraw them. Withdrawing clears the text; a minimal marker is kept so a delayed request can’t restore it.
- Operational logs: kept for a limited period for security and troubleshooting.
Some service providers may keep their own short-term logs, and removing something on our side does not erase copies they hold under their own policies.
7. Your choices and rights
- Export: Settings, then Data controls lets you export your records.
- Delete: Settings, then Data controls removes your history, profile, meals, conversations and any active fast from your phone, and withdraws ideas you sent from it. If you use an account, account controls delete your cloud records and your sign-in. If a removal needs an internet connection, the app says so rather than pretending it finished.
- Sharing: turn Personalize replies and the Apple Health switch off any time in the chat’s privacy panel.
- Permissions: change or withdraw them in your phone’s Settings.
- Requests: you can ask us to access, correct or delete information we hold about you by writing to . Depending on where you live (for example the EU or UK, California or other US states), you may have additional rights, including to object to or restrict processing and to complain to your data protection authority. We will respond within the time the law requires.
8. Children
Pause is not directed to children under 13 (or the higher age required where you live), and we do not knowingly collect their personal information. Fasting is not suitable for everyone, including children and teenagers, people who are pregnant or breastfeeding, and people with certain medical conditions or a history of disordered eating. Please talk to a health professional before you fast. If you believe a child has sent us information, contact us and we will delete it.
9. Security
Data is sent between the app and our servers over encrypted connections, and the records on your phone are protected by your device’s own security. No system is perfectly secure, so we can’t guarantee absolute security. Keep your phone locked and up to date.
10. This website
Optional website analytics uses the same Mixpanel EU service only after you allow it. It measures visits to the home and privacy pages, selected download/FAQ clicks and a broad source category (such as search or social), using a random identifier in browser local storage. Full referring URLs, URL query strings and form contents are not sent. Website and app identifiers are separate; a download click is not evidence of an app installation. There are no advertising trackers or session recordings.
You can decline without losing any website features. Open Analytics preferences to change your choice. Turning analytics off removes the browser identifier and stops new events; it does not erase events already received. Your preference applies to this browser. Fonts are loaded from Google Fonts, which receives your IP address to deliver them. Our hosting provider may keep standard server logs.
11. Changes to this policy
If we change this policy in a meaningful way, we will update the date at the top and, where the change affects how your information is used, tell you in the app before it applies.