AnchorPrivacy policy
Last updated: 30 September 2026
This policy explains what the Anchor mobile app and this website collect, why, who processes it on our behalf, how long we keep it and the choices you have. "Anchor", "we" and "us" mean the operator of the Anchor app. We process personal data in line with India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 and, where they apply to you, other data-protection laws such as the GDPR.
1. The short version
- We collect what the app needs to plan your day: your account, profile, routine, goals, tasks, habits, alarms and the things you add to the life hub.
- How long you spend in other apps is counted on your phone and never uploaded. Anchor never reads what is on your screen, your messages or your notifications.
- AI features send only the text needed to answer you to an AI provider.
- We don't sell your data, show ads or use advertising trackers.
- You can ask us to delete your account and its data at any time.
2. What we collect
| Data | Why |
|---|---|
| Account: name, email, password (stored hashed by our authentication provider) | To sign you in and keep your data in sync across devices. |
| Profile: whether you study or work, job title, work mode and shift, work days, experience; or class, board, course, year and exams you are preparing for; when your energy peaks; theme | To pre-fill your routine and suggest goals that fit your life. |
| Routine and plan: fixed blocks such as sleep, office or class hours and commute; your goals, hours per week and progress | To find your free time and place goal sessions in it. |
| Tasks, habits and alarms: titles, notes, due dates, check-ins, streaks, alarm times and settings | To rank tasks, track habits and schedule reminders. |
| Life hub: bills (title, amount, due date), dates such as birthdays, errands, and class attendance if you add it | To remind you before they are due. We don't connect to your bank. |
| Focus and blocking: focus sessions (start, length, completed or not); the list of apps you chose to block; when you open a blocked app, which app it was and what you chose (went back, opened anyway, answered a quiz) | To grant XP, show your progress and insights such as "most urges come after office". |
| Learning: quiz answers and scores, mock-interview transcripts, AI coach conversations | To space out revision, score interviews and let the coach remember context. |
| Purchases: your plan, whether it's a trial and when it renews or expires | To unlock Anchor Plus. Payment details are handled by Google Play or the App Store; we never see your card. |
| Technical: a random device ID created by the app, app version, and standard request logs (IP address, time, error codes) kept briefly by our hosting provider | To keep your session tied to your device, prevent abuse and fix errors. |
We don't collect your contacts, photos, location, microphone or camera. If a future feature needs one of these (for example, making a quiz from a photo of your notes), the app will ask first and only use it for that feature.
3. What stays on your phone
- App usage time. On Android, Anchor reads usage statistics to show which apps take your time. These numbers stay on the phone.
- Blocking decisions. Which app is in front, and whether to show the pause screen, is decided on the phone so it works offline and when the app is closed.
- Screen Time selections (iPhone). Apple gives Anchor anonymous tokens for the apps you pick, not their names, and those tokens never leave your phone.
- Your sign-in tokens are kept in the phone's secure storage (Keychain or Android Keystore).
4. Device permissions
Anchor asks for each permission separately and explains it first. You can turn any of them off in your phone's settings; the feature that needs it stops working and the rest of the app carries on.
| Permission | What Anchor does with it |
|---|---|
| Accessibility service (Android) | Notices when an app you chose to block comes to the front, so the pause screen can appear over it. It reads the app's package name only. It does not read screen content, text you type, or anything inside other apps, and it performs no actions on your behalf. |
| Usage access (Android) | Counts time spent in apps, on the phone, for your insights. |
| Display over other apps (Android) | Draws the pause screen on top of a blocked app. |
| Screen Time / Family Controls (iPhone) | Lets you pick apps in Apple's picker and shields them during focus. Apple does not share which apps you picked. |
| Notifications, exact alarms, full-screen reminders | Rings alarms and task reminders on time, including over the lock screen. |
5. AI features
When you use the AI coach, generate a quiz, sort a brain dump or do a mock interview, we send the request to an AI provider to produce the answer. We send only what the feature needs: your message and relevant context such as task titles, goals and your week plan. We never send your app-usage time or the list of apps you block.
Depending on the feature and availability, the provider is one of: Anthropic (Claude), OpenAI, Google (Gemini) or DeepSeek. Some of these providers process data outside India, including in the United States and, for DeepSeek, China. We use their business APIs and choose settings that do not allow your data to be used for training where the provider offers that option. AI answers can be wrong; check anything important.
6. Who processes data for us
We use these service providers. Each processes data only to provide its service to us.
- Supabase: database and authentication (stores your account and app data).
- Cloudflare: hosting for our API and this website.
- RevenueCat, Google Play, Apple App Store: subscriptions and payments.
- AI providers listed in section 5.
We don't sell or rent personal data. We share it with others only if the law requires it, to protect people's safety, or as part of a merger or sale, in which case this policy continues to apply.
7. How long we keep it
- Account and app data: while your account exists. When you delete your account, we delete it within 30 days, and from backups within a further 30 days.
- AI coach messages: up to 90 days, so the coach keeps recent context, unless you delete your account sooner.
- Request logs at our hosting provider: up to 30 days.
- Purchase records: as long as tax and accounting law requires.
- Waitlist emails: until launch plus 6 months, or until you ask us to remove yours.
8. Your rights and choices
You can ask to access, correct or delete your personal data, withdraw consent, or nominate someone to exercise these rights for you. Email privacy@anchor.app from the address on your account and we'll reply within 30 days. You can correct most data yourself in the app.
Deleting your account: email privacy@anchor.app with the subject "Delete my Anchor account" from your account's email address. Uninstalling the app does not delete your account. If you have a subscription, cancel it in Google Play or the App Store too.
If you're not satisfied with our reply, you can contact our Grievance Officer (below) and, in India, the Data Protection Board of India. In the EU or UK you can contact your local data-protection authority.
9. Security
Data is encrypted in transit (HTTPS) and at rest by our providers. Database access is restricted per user by row-level security, so one account can't read another's data. Sign-in tokens are stored in the phone's secure storage. No system is perfectly secure; if a breach affects you, we'll tell you and the authorities as the law requires.
10. Children
Anchor is for people aged 13 and over. Where the law treats you as a child (under 18 in India), use Anchor only with the consent of a parent or guardian, who can contact us about your data. We don't knowingly collect data from children under 13, and we don't track or target ads at children.
11. This website and the waitlist
This website uses no cookies, analytics or third-party trackers, and loads its fonts from our own server. If you join the waitlist we store your email address, the optional "student / working professional" choice, which form you used, the country your request came from (from Cloudflare) and the date. We use it only to email you when Anchor launches. We don't store your IP address; it is hashed briefly to limit repeated sign-ups.
12. Changes and contact
If we change this policy in a way that matters, we'll tell you in the app or by email before it takes effect. The date at the top shows the latest version.
Contact and Grievance Officer: privacy@anchor.app. We acknowledge complaints within 24 hours and resolve them within 15 days.