Privacy Policy
This policy explains what Outside Studio ("we", "us") does with your information in the WaitAIMinute app for Android and iOS, the WaitAIMinute browser extension for Chrome, Firefox and Safari, and on this website. It is written to match what each product actually does: if one changes, this document changes first. Effective 2026-10-13.
The short version.
Mobile app. WaitAIMinute is a screen-time tool that runs on your phone. Which apps you choose to pause, how long you use them, your daily limits and your unlock windows are processed on your device and are never sent to us. There is no account. The only information that leaves your device is crash and diagnostic data (Sentry) and the technical information Expo's update service needs to deliver app updates.
Browser extension. Your prompt counts, limits and settings are kept in your browser and are never sent to us. The extension never stores or sends the text of your prompts. The only thing that leaves your browser is the optional feedback survey, and only when you choose to send it.
Sections 1 to 10 describe the mobile app. If you use the browser extension, see section 11.
1. Information processed on your device
This information is created by the app, stored in the app's private storage on your device, and is not transmitted to us or to anyone else.
| What | Why |
|---|---|
| Which apps (and, on iOS, which categories or web domains) you have chosen | So the app knows what to pause |
| Your daily time limit and per-app settings | To enforce the limit |
| Usage information — which app was in the foreground and for how long | To count the day's usage and draw your report |
| Your unlock windows (when you asked for extra time, and for how long) | So the pause returns when the window ends |
| A local activity log the app writes while it runs | So the app can rebuild today's totals after a restart, and so you can see what happened |
| Your onboarding answers and app preferences | So the app remembers them |
On Android, usage information comes from the system's Usage Access (UsageStatsManager), and the foreground app is detected through an Accessibility Service. On iOS, the app uses Apple's Screen Time / Family Controls framework; Apple gives the app opaque tokens for the apps you select, so on iOS we cannot tell which apps those tokens refer to even if we wanted to.
Deleting the app (or using the app's reset option) deletes this information. There is no server copy to delete, because there is no server copy.
2. Information that leaves your device
Only two things send data off your device.
2.1 Crash and diagnostic reports — Sentry
The app uses Sentry (Functional Software, Inc., USA) for crash reporting and error diagnostics.
| What is sent | Crash reports and error events; app version and build; device model and manufacturer; operating system and version; the app state and screen where the error happened; stack traces; the time of the event |
| What is not sent | We disable Sentry’s default personally-identifying payloads, we do not set a user identity, and we do not send your app selection, your usage totals, your limits, or the contents of your screen |
| Why | To find and fix crashes |
| Legal basis (EEA/UK) | Legitimate interests — keeping the app working and secure |
| Retention | Sentry retains events for the period configured on our project (currently 90 days), after which they are deleted |
We have also enabled Sentry's “Prevent Storing of IP Addresses” setting, so Sentry does not store the network address your report was sent from.
2.2 Update checks and launch analytics — Expo / EAS
The app is built and updated with Expo Application Services (EAS) (Expo, Inc., USA).
| What is sent | A random, per-install identifier (Expo’s "EAS client ID"), the app version and runtime version, the platform, and the operating system version |
| When | When the app checks for an update (on launch), and one "app launched" event per launch from Expo’s Insights SDK |
| Why | To deliver app updates, and to measure whether updates reach devices |
| What is not sent | Your app selection, your usage totals, your limits, your activity log — none of it is included |
| Retention | Expo retains this data under Expo’s own privacy policy, linked at the end of this page |
The EAS client ID is a random identifier generated on your device. It is not your name, email address, phone number, advertising ID or any hardware serial number, and we do not use it to advertise to you or to build a profile of you.
2.3 What we do not do
- No advertising, no ad SDKs, no advertising ID.
- No analytics of your in-app behaviour beyond the launch event described above.
- No selling, renting or sharing of personal data with data brokers, ever.
- No user accounts, no email collection, no contact upload, no location, no camera or microphone access.
- No tracking across other apps or websites.
- No reading of your screen content: the Accessibility Service on Android is limited to window-change events and the foreground package name, and the app never reads text, messages or keystrokes.
3. Permissions the app asks for, and what each is for
| Permission (Android) | What it is used for | If you refuse |
|---|---|---|
| Accessibility Service | To notice which app is in the foreground, so a paused app can be covered and its usage counted | The app cannot pause anything; everything else still works |
| Usage Access (PACKAGE_USAGE_STATS) | To read today's usage times for the apps you limit, and to draw your report | The report stays empty; limits cannot be measured |
| Display over other apps (SYSTEM_ALERT_WINDOW) | To draw the pause screen over an app whose limit is spent | The pause screen cannot be shown |
| Foreground service | To keep the pause screen ready while enforcement is on, with an ongoing notification | Enforcement stops when the system kills the app |
| Notifications | To show the service notification, and (on iOS) the "ask for time" notification | The ongoing notification is hidden on Android 13+; the app still works |
| Vibrate | Feedback when a pause screen appears | No vibration |
On iOS, the app requests Screen Time / Family Controls authorization, which Apple grants through its own system dialog, and notification permission. Apple's Screen Time data stays inside the Screen Time framework on your device; we receive only opaque tokens and durations, never app identities.
You can revoke any of these at any time in your device settings. Revoking a permission disables the feature that depends on it, and the app tells you when something is not working.
4. Legal bases, if you are in the EEA or the UK
- Crash and diagnostic data: legitimate interests (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR) in keeping the app stable and secure.
- Update delivery: performance of a contract with you (Art. 6(1)(b)) — you asked for the app, and updates are part of it.
- On-device processing: does not involve us as a controller, because the data never reaches us.
5. Your rights
Depending on where you live, you may have the right to access, correct, delete, restrict or object to our processing of your personal data, and to lodge a complaint with your local supervisory authority. Because we hold almost nothing about you, the practical steps are:
- Delete everything on the device: open the app's settings and use Reset this device, or uninstall the app. This removes your selection, limits, usage history and the local activity log.
- Delete crash reports: email hr@outside.studio with the approximate date and your device model, and we will locate and delete the reports we hold.
- Ask what we hold:the same address. In practice the answer is “crash reports and an update identifier”.
We respond within 30 days. We do not sell personal information and we do not share it for cross-context behavioural advertising, so there is nothing to opt out of beyond the deletion requests above.
6. Children
The app is not directed to children. It is intended for adults (18 and over), and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children. On Android the app requires permissions that are not available to child accounts; on iOS it requires Screen Time authorization from the device owner. If you believe a child has used the app and sent us data, contact us and we will delete it.
7. Security
Data on your device is stored in the app's private storage (and, on iOS, an app-group container shared only with the app's own extensions). Data in transit to Sentry and Expo is encrypted with HTTPS/TLS. No system is perfectly secure, but the design limits what there is to lose: the sensitive part — your app selection, your usage and your limits — does not leave the device.
8. International transfers
Sentry and Expo are based in the United States, so the limited data described in section 2 is transferred to and processed in the United States. The browser extension's survey responses (section 11) are also processed in the United States, on Google Cloud. Both providers offer standard contractual clauses for international transfers; contact us if you need the details.
9. Changes to this policy
If a change to the app changes what leaves your device, we will update this policy before that version ships, and change the “last updated” date at the top of this page. Material changes will also be described in the app's release notes on Google Play and the App Store.
10. Contact
Outside Studio · Kathmandu, Nepal
hr@outside.studio
11. Browser extension (Chrome, Firefox, Safari)
This section covers the WaitAIMinute browser extension. Sections 6 (Children), 9 (Changes) and 10 (Contact) also apply to it.
11.1 Information kept in your browser
This information is stored in the extension's own browser storage. It is not transmitted to us or to anyone else.
| What | Why |
|---|---|
| For each prompt you send on a supported AI site: the time, the site, and whether it was text or included an attachment (not the content itself) | To count usage, draw your stats and keep your streak |
| Daily totals per site, and the daily limit in force that day | To enforce your limit |
| Your settings (daily limit, reminders, breathing pauses, sensitive-info warnings) and whether you have answered the current survey | So the extension behaves the way you set it |
Settings and the survey record use your browser's synced extension storage, so if you have browser sync turned on, your browser vendor (Google, Mozilla or Apple) syncs them between your devices under its own privacy policy. Usage history stays on the device.
To warn you before you share sensitive information (such as an email address or card number) with an AI tool, the extension checks the text of your prompt inside the page as you type. That check runs entirely in your browser. Prompt text is never stored or sent anywhere.
Uninstalling the extension deletes all of this information. There is no server copy to delete, because there is no server copy.
11.2 Information that leaves your browser: the feedback survey
The extension's About tab links to a short, optional feedback survey. It is the only feature of the extension that sends data to us.
| What is sent | The answers you type, and a random identifier created by the extension on your device, used only so each install is counted once. It is sent only when you press "Send feedback". On Firefox, you are asked for permission first. |
| What is not sent | Your usage, limits, streaks or settings, your browsing history, the sites you visit, or the text of your prompts. No account or email address is needed. |
| Where it goes | Our API, hosted on Google Cloud (Google LLC) in the United States, and our database |
| Why | To learn how the extension is working for people and what to improve |
| Legal basis (EEA/UK) | Consent: you choose whether to send the survey |
| Retention | We keep survey responses for as long as they help us improve WaitAIMinute, and review what we hold at least once a year. You can ask us to delete yours at any time (see 11.5). |
Loading the survey questions sends nothing about you. As with any request to a website, our hosting provider receives your IP address and browser type with each request and keeps them in short-lived server logs. We do not link them to your answers.
11.3 Permissions the extension asks for
| Permission | What it is used for |
|---|---|
| Storage | To keep your usage, settings and survey record in your browser |
| Access to supported AI sites (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, Grok, DeepSeek, Copilot) | To notice when you send a prompt there and show the pause, reminders and warnings |
11.4 What the extension does not do
- No advertising, analytics or tracking code.
- No selling, renting or sharing of your data with anyone.
- No storing or sending of your prompts or your conversations with AI tools.
- No account is required to use the extension or send feedback.
11.5 Your choices
- Delete what is in your browser: uninstall the extension.
- Delete survey answers: email hr@outside.studio with roughly when you sent the survey. Responses are anonymous, so this helps us find yours. We respond within 30 days.