Privacy Policy

Sprout Ventures (“we”, “us”, “our”) operates the Sprout mobile application and the sprout-ventures.ch website. This Privacy Policy explains what data we collect, why we collect it, how we use it, and the choices you have. Our short version: your biological data is the most intimate data you'll ever generate. We never sell it. We never share it. We never use it for advertising.

1. What we collect

We collect only what's necessary to make the app work and improve your experience:

• Account data — email, name, profile picture (if you sign in with Apple or Google).
• Profile data — gender, age range, sleep goal, wake / bed times (collected during onboarding).
• Health & wellness data — your morning recovery check-ins, sleep schedule, habits checked, meal logs from the AI Nutrition Coach, and cycle data if you track it (period dates, cycle and period length, and the symptoms, mood and notes you log).
• Wearable data (only if you connect one) — nightly sleep sessions and stages, heart-rate variability, resting heart rate, active energy and workout summaries from Apple Health or a directly connected wearable. See section 6.
• App-blocker selection — the opaque tokens iOS provides for the apps you choose to block. We never see your app names or usage.
• Usage data — which features you use, for example opening a screen, switching the bedtime lock on or off, finishing an onboarding step or starting a purchase. We never record what you type, your health values, or which apps you lock or open. See section 5a.
• Bedtime lock history — for each night: when your lock was planned, when iOS actually started and ended it, how many times a locked app was opened (never which one), whether the lock was ended early, and roughly how long the apps in your lock were used in total during your night (never which app).

2. What we DON'T collect

• We don't track your location
• We don't read your contacts, calendar, or messages
• We don't see which apps you actually use (only the opaque iOS tokens for the apps you chose to block)
• We don't sell your data to anyone, ever
• We don't use your health, sleep or food data to target advertising. The free version shows ads served by Google (see 5e); Premium has none.

3. Where your data lives

Most personal data is stored locally on your device using iOS's encrypted storage. Data that needs to sync across devices (your account, your sleep schedule, your cycle data, premium subscription status, your bedtime lock history) and usage data are stored in Supabase — a GDPR-compliant database hosted in the EU. All data is encrypted in transit (TLS) and at rest.

Your cycle data — period dates, cycle and period length, and the symptoms, mood and notes you log — is synced to your Sprout account so it survives a new phone or a reinstall. It is never sold, never used for advertising, and is deleted with your account. If you ask the cycle coach a question, your current cycle phase and the symptoms you logged that day are sent along so it can answer (see section 4). Your app-blocker token set is stored only on your device in an iOS shared App Group container.

4. AI features & third-party processors

When you use Sprout's AI features (meal and fridge scans, recipe generation, video extraction, coach chat, voice input), relevant data is sent to:

• OpenAI (San Francisco, USA) — for recognising food in the photos you scan, for the coaches' answers, for transcribing voice input, and for parts of recipe generation. A coach question is sent with the context needed to answer it: your age range and sleep goal, your usual bed and wake times, a summary of last night's sleep, your food and habits for the day and, for the cycle coach, your cycle phase and the symptoms you logged that day. Your photos and questions are sent for that request only, never stored by OpenAI for training. Coach conversations are not stored on our servers. Reference: OpenAI API Data Usage Policies.
• Anthropic (San Francisco, USA) — for recipe generation and questions about a recipe. Same data-handling guarantees as OpenAI's API.
• AssemblyAI (San Francisco, USA) — for transcribing the audio of a recipe video when you give Sprout its link. Only that video's audio is sent.
• Supabase (EU region) — for account auth, profile sync, and meal log persistence.
• Apple (Cupertino, USA) — for premium subscription processing via In-App Purchase. Payment details are handled entirely by Apple and never touch our servers.

We never send the third parties more than they need for the task. Each AI request is stateless — there is no persistent profile of you held at OpenAI or Anthropic.

5. Apple Screen Time data

Sprout uses Apple's Family Controls / Screen Time API to power the App Blocker. The apps you choose to block are stored as opaque tokens — Sprout never sees the actual app names or how much time you spend in any individual app. The block windows run inside iOS's own DeviceActivityMonitor extension; we never have visibility into what runs on your device.

To show you whether the lock helps your sleep, Sprout keeps a history of your lock: when it started and ended, how many times a locked app was opened during it, and when it was ended early. iOS only tells Sprout that a locked app was opened — never which app. This history is stored with your account and deleted with it.

During your night window (from your lock time to your wake time), Sprout also asks iOS to report when the apps in your lock have been used for 5, 15, 30, 60 or 120 minutes in total. iOS tells Sprout only that this group of apps passed that amount of time — never which app, and nothing outside the night window. Sprout uses it to show you whether the nights your apps stayed closed were better nights. This runs whether your lock is on or off, and stops when you remove the apps from your lock. It is part of your lock history: stored with your account, never shared or sold, deleted with your account, and kept on your phone only when Share usage data is off.

5a. Usage data

To learn which parts of Sprout help people and which don't, the app records which features you use — for example opening a screen, switching the bedtime lock on or off, ticking a habit, finishing an onboarding step, or starting a purchase — with the time and your app version and language. It never records what you type, food names, coach conversations, health values, or which apps you lock or use.

• It is sent only to our own database (Supabase, EU) — no analytics company, no advertising network. It is never sold, shared, or used for advertising.
• Before you sign in, events carry only a random ID created on your phone; once you sign in, they are linked to your account.
• It is deleted when you delete your account.
• You can turn it off at any time in Settings → Privacy → Share usage data. When it's off, nothing is sent and your lock history stays on your phone.

Once in a while Sprout may ask you one optional question in the app (for example which feature you'd miss most). Your answer is stored the same way.

5b. Lock buddy (optional)

If you choose a lock buddy, a friend decides when you may unlock your apps early. Only if you use it, Sprout:

• stores the link between your account and your buddy's account, and each unlock request: which kind of block, how long, the reason you picked, the answer and when;
• shows your buddy your first name, how long you asked for and your reason — in a notification and in their app;
• stores your phone's push token so these notifications can be delivered (through Apple Push Notification service).

Your buddy only becomes your buddy after accepting your invite, and either of you can end it at any time — the other person gets a notification. Links, requests and push tokens are deleted when either account is deleted. Nothing about your sleep, your health data or which apps you lock is shared with your buddy.

5c. Friends (optional)

With Friends you can see how your friends' blockers are going this week, and they see yours. Only once you use Friends (make your friend code or add a friend), Sprout:

• stores your personal friend code and the friendships you make;
• stores one short summary per night: whether your blocker ran and stayed on, how many minutes it protected and how often a blocked app was opened;
• stores how many minutes your daytime blocks (rhythm blocks and your focus window) ran each day, which count as screen-free time;
• only if you switch them on under "What friends see", one number per day for each of these: your sleep score; your activity as a percentage of your own move goal; whether your food stayed within your daily target, and how far you are toward your goal weight as a percentage. These numbers are worked out on your phone. Your weight in kilos, your calories, your bedtimes and your health records are never sent for this. Switching a category off deletes its numbers from our server;
• shows your friends your first name, profile photo, nights kept this week, time protected, daytime blocks and streak, plus the weekly results of any category you switched on (for goals, a chart of your percentage toward your goal over the last four weeks);
• stores your phone's push token and time zone, so Friends notifications (a friend joined, a friend passed you, Monday's crown) reach you in the daytime. You can switch them off in Friends at any time.

You can switch off "Show my numbers" at any time: your friends then see you without any numbers and no more summaries are sent. Removing a friend ends the friendship and stops them adding you again with your code. Beyond the numbers you switch on above, your sleep data and health data are never shared, and which apps you lock never is. Health data from Apple Health is never used for advertising. Everything here is deleted when your account is deleted.

5d. Invite friends (optional)

If you use a friend's code, or friends use yours, Sprout stores who invited whom and when the code was used. To give the inviter their free week, the invited friend's app also reports whether a free trial or subscription started (yes or no) and how many nights the blocker was kept since joining (a number). You see each other's first name and profile photo. Free weeks are Apple offers: Apple handles them and any payment — Sprout never sees payment details. This is deleted when either account is deleted.

5e. Ads in the free version

The free version of Sprout shows a few small ads, served by Google AdMob (Google Ireland Limited for users in Europe and Switzerland, Google LLC elsewhere). Sprout Premium shows none.

To show an ad, Google receives technical information from your device: a device advertising identifier where you have allowed it, your IP address and approximate region, device and app details, and the ad slot that was requested. Google uses this to serve, measure and, with your consent, personalise ads. Sprout never passes your sleep, health, cycle, food or lock data to Google for advertising.

In the EEA, the UK and Switzerland, the app asks for your consent before any ad is requested, through Google's consent message. You can decline, choose non-personalised ads, and change your choices later under Settings → Ad privacy settings. On iOS the system also asks whether Sprout may use your advertising identifier; saying no keeps ads non-personalised. How Google handles this data is described in Google's advertising policy.

6. Wearables & Apple Health

Sprout can read data from a wearable to personalise your sleep score, daily Energy score, coaching suggestions, nutrition targets and cycle insights. This is optional and off until you connect a source in Settings.

• Apple Health — with your permission Sprout reads sleep analysis (including stages where your device provides them), resting heart rate, heart-rate variability and active energy. Reading happens on your device; nights are mirrored to your account in Supabase (EU) so your scores follow you across devices.
• Direct connections — you can link WHOOP, Google Health (Fitbit, Pixel Watch) or Garmin through each provider's official sign-in (OAuth). Sprout then receives the same categories of data from that provider's API: sleep sessions and stages, heart-rate variability, resting heart rate, recovery/strain, active energy and workout summaries. Access is read-only. The access tokens are stored encrypted on our servers (Supabase, EU) and never on your phone or shared with anyone.

We use wearable data only inside the app, for you. It is never sold, shared with third parties, used for advertising, or sent to our AI providers beyond the summary figures needed for a coaching answer you request (for example your sleep score or HRV trend — never raw samples). Google Health data is used in line with the Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements.

Disconnecting: tap Disconnect in Settings at any time. We revoke our access at the provider and delete the nights and daily records that source provided. You can also remove Sprout in the provider's own settings (Apple Health → Sharing, WHOOP, Google Account or Garmin Connect). Deleting your Sprout account deletes all wearable data with it.

7. Camera & photos

Sprout's Recovery Fuel feature uses your camera to scan meals, ingredients, or your fridge so the app can identify food items and score them for recovery. Photos are sent only for the single scan you initiate — they are processed by our AI providers (OpenAI for ingredient detection, Anthropic for nutrition reasoning) and are not stored on Sprout's servers. We never read your photo library outside of the explicit scan flow you trigger.

8. Microphone

Sprout's "type-it" voice input records a short audio clip when you tap the microphone button to describe a meal or craving, or to ask a coach a question. The clip is transcribed by OpenAI and discarded immediately after transcription — we never keep audio files. The microphone is never accessed in the background or without an explicit tap on the mic button.

9. Your rights (GDPR / CCPA)

You have the right to:

• Access a copy of all data we hold about you
• Correct inaccurate data
• Delete your account and all associated data (Settings → Delete Account, or email us)
• Export your data in a portable format
• Object to any processing you consider unjustified

Email contact@sproutventures.ch and we'll respond within 30 days.

10. Data retention

We keep your account data for as long as your account is active. When you delete your account, we delete all associated personal data, including your usage data and lock history, within 30 days from our active databases. Aggregated, anonymised figures (for example "how many nights the lock ran last month", with no personal identifiers) may be retained for product improvement.

11. Children

Sprout is not intended for users under 17. We do not knowingly collect data from children. If you believe a child has signed up, please contact us and we will delete the account immediately.

12. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy occasionally. Material changes will be communicated via the app and email. Continuing to use Sprout after a change constitutes acceptance.

13. Contact

Sprout Ventures
Switzerland
Email: contact@sproutventures.ch