Privacy Policy

Data we collect

• Account data: email address, display name and authentication details.
• Fitness data you log: workouts, meals, water intake, body metrics, sleep and mood entries, goals and progress.
• Health data from your devices: see the section below — data you choose to share from Apple Health or Google Health Connect, with your permission.
• Connected services: data you choose to sync (e.g. Strava) with your permission.
• Billing data: subscription status and transaction records. Card details are handled by our payment provider (Paddle) and are never stored by us. If you subscribe inside our iPhone or Android app, the purchase is processed by Apple or Google and confirmed to us through RevenueCat.
• Photos you send to features: meal photos used by the calorie scanner are sent to an AI model to estimate nutrition, and are not used to train that model.
• Technical data: device, browser and usage information needed to run and secure the service.

Health data from your devices

If you connect Apple Health or Google Health Connect, VORTEX can read health data saved by your watch, ring, smart scale or other health apps. Before any connection is made, our consent screen explains each type of data and asks you to choose exactly what to share and to give permission — your phone then shows its own permission screen, where you can allow or refuse each type separately. Nothing reaches VORTEX until both steps are agreed.

• Workouts: type, time, distance and heart rate — used for your Stats, your streak and to tick off planned sessions.
• Steps & calories burned: daily totals — used for your dashboard and Stats page.
• Weight, body fat & muscle: smart-scale readings — used for your Body page, your BMI number and your goals.
• Food & nutrition: meals logged in other apps that save to your health data (such as MyFitnessPal or Cronometer) — added to your Food diary.
• Sleep: nights of sleep from your watch, ring or sleep app — shown in the Sleep & mood card on your Stats page.

We only ever sync the types you ticked on our consent screen, and only recent history (workouts, steps and calories from the last 14 days, body measurements from the last 30 days, food from the last 7 days, sleep from the last 14 nights). You can change your choices at any time with the "Sharing choices" button, or remove permissions in your phone's health settings — disconnecting clears your choices and stops the sync. This data is stored in your account so it follows you across your devices. The separate Mood choice on the consent screen applies only to mood check-ins you enter in VORTEX; neither Apple Health nor Health Connect is asked for mood access. On the phone app, unticking Mood stops new mood check-ins being saved there. Earlier entries remain in your account unless you request their deletion.

How and why we use it

We process your data to:

• Provide the app, your account and your training features (contract).
• Process subscriptions and payments (contract).
• Keep the service secure and prevent abuse (legitimate interests).
• Send service and, where you consent, marketing communications (consent / legitimate interests).
• Comply with legal and tax obligations (legal obligation).

Sharing and processors

We share data only with service providers that help us run the app: cloud hosting and database infrastructure, live video and email delivery providers, our payment provider (Paddle, which acts as Merchant of Record), Apple, Google and RevenueCat for purchases made inside our mobile apps, an AI model provider used for the calorie scanner and support replies, and any services you explicitly connect such as Strava. These providers process data under contract on our behalf. We do not sell your personal data, and we do not use your data for advertising or tracking across other apps and websites.

Workout videos you post as private are seen only by you, our moderators, and the followers you choose for each video. You can remove a follower's access at any time.

If you choose to fill in your profile's About section — the country you live in, a short description and a video about you — it is shown to other signed-in members on your profile. Your full date of birth is only shown to other members if you explicitly choose that option: otherwise they see your age, your birth year, or nothing at all. All of it is optional, you decide what to share and you are responsible for the information you add, and you can change or remove it at any time in Account. Your videos on your profile follow each video's own privacy setting.

You can also choose to appear in the Members Directory. Only members who switch this on are listed, and only signed-in members can see it. The directory shows your name, flag, country you live in, the age, birth year or full date of birth you chose to show, and your About text. You can switch it off at any time.

To prevent referral-code abuse, when you use a friend's referral code we check that your email address is verified and not a temporary inbox, and we store a random device identifier (kept in your browser) with the referral so the same device can't redeem more than one code. It is used only for this check and is not used for advertising.

You can add a Spotify link (a playlist, song, album or artist) to your About section. Other signed-in members can play it on your profile through Spotify's own player, which is provided by Spotify and covered by Spotify's privacy policy. VORTEX does not connect to your Spotify account or read your listening history. You can remove the link at any time.

AI assistant connections

You can choose to connect a third-party AI assistant to your VORTEX account — for example Claude (provided by Anthropic), ChatGPT (provided by OpenAI) or Gemini (provided by Google). Only you can approve this, on a consent screen. Once connected, the assistant can read your workout and food diary history, nutrition targets and saved workout and meal plans. It can log workouts and save workout or meal plans to your account when you ask it to. That data passes through, and may be stored by, the assistant's provider (Anthropic, OpenAI, Google or whoever provides the assistant you connect) under its own privacy policy, which we do not control. We share only what the assistant requests within the access you approved, and never your payment details or password. Any replies, suggestions or workouts the assistant produces are generated by that company's AI and are not advice from us. You can disconnect an assistant at any time, and you can ask us about this data using the contact details below.

International transfers

Some providers may process data outside the UK/EEA. Where they do, we rely on appropriate safeguards such as UK adequacy regulations or Standard Contractual Clauses.

Retention

We keep your data for as long as your account is active. If you delete your account we remove or anonymise your personal data, except where we must retain records (e.g. transaction and tax records) for legally required periods.

Your rights

Under UK GDPR you have the right to:

• Access a copy of your data;
• Rectify inaccurate data;
• Erase your data ("right to be forgotten");
• Restrict or object to processing;
• Data portability;
• Withdraw consent at any time.

To exercise any right, email trainwithrico9@gmail.com. You also have the right to complain to the UK Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk.

Security

We use industry-standard measures including encryption in transit, access controls and row-level security on our database. No system is 100% secure, but we work to protect your information.

Children

The app is not intended for children under 16. We do not knowingly collect data from children under 16.

Changes

We may update this policy from time to time. Material changes will be notified in the app or by email.