Privacy Policy for 15minutes

Last updated: 30 July 2026

The short version

15minutes works without an account. You do not sign up, and you do not give us your name or your email address to use the app.

The app measures how long you spend in the apps you choose, so it can block them once your time budget runs out. That screen time information never leaves your device. We cannot see which apps you picked, how long you used them, or how often you were blocked. None of it is uploaded anywhere, and there is no server of ours for it to be uploaded to.

The only data that leaves your device is what is needed to sell and validate a subscription. That is handled by Apple or Google and by our subscription provider, Adapty. Details are in section 4.

We do not run advertising, we do not use analytics SDKs, we do not build profiles of you, and we do not track you across other companies‘ apps or websites. We do not sell or share your data with data brokers.

1. Who is responsible

The controller responsible for the processing described here is:

This policy covers the 15minutes mobile app for iOS and Android, and nothing else.

2. Information that stays on your device

The app stores the following in its own private storage on your device. It is not transmitted to us or to anyone else, and it is not backed up to any server of ours.

• Your app selection. On iOS this is stored by the operating system as opaque tokens that the app itself cannot read: 15minutes only learns how many apps and categories you selected, never which ones. On Android the app stores the package names of the apps you chose.
• Your settings. Your time budget, your pause length, and your work and sleep schedules.
• A local history log. For each of the last 60 days: roughly how many seconds were spent in the selected apps, how many times the budget ran out, and whether protection was switched on. This is what draws the weekly strip in the app.
• Housekeeping values. The date you first opened the app (which is what the free trial counts from), whether you have finished onboarding, whether the trial reminder has already been scheduled, and your position in the fact deck.

All of this is deleted when you delete the app.

3. Screen time measurement

To do its job, the app needs to know how long the apps you selected have been in the foreground.

• On iOS this uses Apple’s Screen Time frameworks (Family Controls, Device Activity and Managed Settings). You grant permission in a system dialog. Apple deliberately designs these frameworks so that usage information is processed on the device and is not readable by us. The app receives only threshold events, which is why the numbers it shows are approximate.
• On Android this uses the system usage-access permission (PACKAGE_USAGE_STATS), which you grant on a dedicated settings screen, together with a foreground service that checks which app is in front. The app also requests permission to list installed apps (QUERY_ALL_PACKAGES) purely so it can show you a picker, and permission to draw over other apps so the block screen can appear.

This information is used only on your device, only to enforce the limits you set. It is never transmitted, and we have no access to it.

4. Subscriptions and purchases

15minutes is offered with a free trial and a paid subscription. Two other companies are involved when you subscribe.

4.1 Apple and Google

The purchase itself is made through the App Store or Google Play. Payment is processed entirely by Apple or Google under their own privacy policies. We never receive your payment details, card number, or billing address.

4.2 Adapty

We use Adapty Tech Inc. („Adapty“) to manage subscriptions: to check whether your subscription is valid, to unlock paid features, and to see aggregate revenue figures. Adapty acts as a processor on our behalf under a data processing agreement. When you open the app or make a purchase, the following may be processed:

• A device identifier, such as Apple’s Identifier for Vendor or the Android advertising identifier, used to recognise the same installation across launches so a purchase stays associated with it.
• An identifier assigned to your profile by Adapty.
• Purchase and subscription history, including which product was bought, the store transaction, the price and currency, renewal and expiry dates, and whether a trial was used.
• Basic technical information sent with those requests, such as your IP address, device model, operating system version, app version, store country and language.

We do not send Adapty your name, your email address, your phone number, or any other contact details, because the app never asks you for them.

The legal basis is Article 6(1)(b) GDPR, performance of the contract, since without this we cannot tell whether you are entitled to the paid features. For the aggregate revenue figures the basis is Article 6(1)(f) GDPR, our legitimate interest in understanding whether the product is viable.

Adapty is based in the United States, so this involves a transfer outside the EEA. It is covered by the Standard Contractual Clauses adopted by the European Commission. Adapty’s own notice for end users is published at https://adapty.io/end-users-privacy/.

4.3 What this means for the App Store privacy label

Consistent with the above, our App Store label declares purchase history and identifiers, used for app functionality and for analysing whether the product sells. It declares no tracking.

5. No advertising and no tracking

The app contains no advertising SDKs, no analytics SDKs, and no attribution or marketing SDKs. We do not ask for permission to track you, and we do not link anything collected in this app with data from other companies‘ apps or websites. Because we never present Apple’s tracking permission prompt, the iOS advertising identifier (IDFA) is not available to the app and is not used. We do not sell personal data and we do not share it with data brokers.

6. Notifications

The app can send you a reminder before your free trial ends. Notifications are scheduled locally by your device’s operating system. There is no push notification service, no device token is sent anywhere, and we cannot see whether you opened a notification.

7. Diagnostics

The app has a diagnostics screen showing the current state of the blocking machinery, for troubleshooting. This text is generated and kept on your device. It is never uploaded automatically. It reaches us only if you deliberately copy it and send it to us.

8. If you contact us

If you email us for support, we process your email address and whatever you write, in order to answer you. The legal basis is Article 6(1)(f) GDPR, our legitimate interest in responding to enquiries, and Article 6(1)(b) GDPR where your message concerns the subscription. We keep support correspondence for as long as needed to deal with it and to comply with our record-keeping obligations.

9. How long data is kept

• On-device data, including the 60-day history log, is deleted when you delete the app. The history log also discards entries older than 60 days by itself.
• Subscription records held by Adapty are kept for as long as we use the service to manage your entitlement, and afterwards only where we are required to retain records for tax or accounting purposes.
• Purchase records held by Apple or Google are subject to their own retention policies.

10. Your rights

Under the GDPR you have the right to request access to your personal data, its correction or erasure, restriction of processing, and portability, and the right to object to processing based on our legitimate interests. Where processing rests on consent, you may withdraw it at any time without affecting processing that already took place.

In practice:

• To erase everything held on your device, delete the app.
• For subscription data, email us at 15m@nikoala.de. Because the app is account-free, we have no way to look you up by name or email, so please include the store transaction identifier from your purchase receipt so we can identify the right record.
• To manage or cancel the subscription itself, use the subscription settings in the App Store or Google Play.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with a data protection supervisory authority, in particular in the country where you live or work.

11. Children

15minutes is not directed at children and we do not knowingly collect data from children. The app uses Apple’s Family Controls framework, which is also used by parental control apps; that does not change what is described above, and in particular does not give us any usage data.

12. Security

Data on your device is held in the app’s private storage, protected by the operating system’s sandbox and, on iOS, shared with the app’s own extensions through a private app group. Data sent to Adapty travels over encrypted HTTPS connections.

13. Changes to this policy

If we change how the app handles data, we will update this page and change the date at the top. Where the change is significant, we will point it out in the app or in the release notes.

14. Contact

Questions about this policy or about your data: 15m@nikoala.de.