Privacy Policy for Brave Steps

Last updated: 2026-10-13

Brave Steps ("the app") is a self-help tracker for exposure practice. This policy explains how the app handles your information. The short version: your information never leaves your phone.

What the app stores

When you use Brave Steps you may enter:

• The steps on your ladder and how anxious you expect each one to make you.
• Your practice sessions: which step, when it started, how long it lasted, your goal, the anxiety ratings you entered, and any one-line notes you choose to write before or after a practice (what the worry said would happen, and what happened).
• Your settings, such as your practice goal and how often the app checks in.
• Your daily reminder settings, if you use them: on or off, the time, the days, and whether discreet mode is on.
• Any tips and gentler versions (for a harder day) you write for a step.
• Your answer to "Do you have children at school?" (yes, no, or not answered). It only decides whether the app suggests school run steps.
• Any suggested step sets you chose to hide.
• Your language choice.
• Whether you have seen the welcome screens.

All of this is saved only in the app's private storage on your device.

What we collect

Nothing. The developer does not collect, receive, store, sell or share any personal or usage data.

• There are no accounts or sign-in.
• There is no analytics, crash reporting or advertising software in the app.
• The app does not send your information anywhere. It makes no network connections of its own. The only time anything opens outside the app is when you tap a link or a helpline button (see below).
• There are no in-app purchases in this version.
• The app does not request access to your contacts, location, camera, microphone or files. It asks to show notifications only if you turn on the daily reminder.

Daily reminder (optional)

The app can show one gentle reminder a day, at a time and on the days you choose. It is off unless you turn it on, in About or when the app offers it once after a practice.

• Reminders are scheduled by the app on your phone, using your phone's own notification system. No push service, server or account is involved, nothing is sent over the internet, and the developer never learns whether you use reminders or what they say.
• Discreet mode is on by default: the reminder only says "A gentle moment for you". If you turn discreet mode off, the reminder names your next step, which anyone who can see your screen could read.
• On Android 13 and later, and on iPhone, your phone asks whether Brave Steps may show notifications. If you say no, nothing else happens and the app works as before. You can change this at any time in your phone's settings.
• If you have already practised on a day, there is no reminder that day.

Links to other websites

The About screen contains a link to the NHS website, and the "This feels like too much" screen contains a link to Find A Helpline (findahelpline.com). If you tap one, it opens in your web browser, and that website's own privacy policy applies. The same screen has buttons that open your phone's dialler with a helpline number (Samaritans, NHS 111 or 999) filled in; you choose whether to call. The app does not tell any website or service anything about you.

Keeping and deleting your data

Your data stays on your device until you delete it. It is not included in your phone's cloud backups (the app opts out of Android backup), so it is never copied to Google Drive. Uninstalling the app, or clearing the app's storage in your phone's settings, permanently deletes everything. Because neither we nor a backup service have a copy, it cannot be recovered, and a new phone starts with an empty ladder.

Screen privacy

On Android, the app hides its content in the recent apps screen, so your steps and ratings are not shown when you switch apps. This also means screenshots and screen recordings of the app are blocked.

Supporter unlock (when enabled)

This version does not include any purchases. A later version may offer an optional, one-time Supporter unlock. If it does, this section applies:

• The purchase is made through Google Play, which acts as the payment processor under Google's own privacy policy. We never see your name, email address or payment details.
• To show the price and to check whether you own the unlock, the app asks Google Play when you open the supporter screen, when you tap Buy or Restore, and once when the app starts. The app receives only the product, whether it is owned, and the price.
• The app stores a simple yes or no flag on your device to remember the unlock. Your practice data is never part of this and is never sent to Google Play or anyone else.

Children

Brave Steps is not directed at children under 13 and does not knowingly collect information from anyone, including children.

Not medical advice

Brave Steps is a self-help tool. It is not a medical device and does not diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any medical condition, and it is not a replacement for professional care or support from a trained person.

Changes to this policy

If this policy changes, the updated version will be posted at this address with a new "Last updated" date.

Contact

Questions about this policy: kashapps720@gmail.com