Privacy Policy for Bright Spots

Effective Date: July 27, 2025
Last Updated: July 27, 2025

Overview

Bright Spots is a personal journaling app that helps you capture and organize daily moments. We are committed to protecting your privacy and being transparent about how we handle your data.

Information We Collect

Personal Data You Provide

  • Journal Entries: Text notes, timestamps, and optional tags you create
  • Photos: Images you choose to attach to your journal entries
  • Social Features: When using friend-sharing features:
    • Contact information (email addresses or phone numbers) for friends you add
    • Display names for your friend connections
    • Device identifiers for sharing functionality

Automatically Collected Data

  • Device Information: Device name and unique identifiers (used only for friend-sharing features)
  • Usage Data: Basic app functionality data for core features (no third-party analytics)

How We Use Your Information

We use your information solely to:

  • Store and display your personal journal entries
  • Enable photo attachments to your entries
  • Facilitate sharing entries with friends you explicitly add
  • Sync your data across your devices via iCloud (when enabled)
  • Manage friend connections and sharing permissions

Data Storage and Security

Local Storage

  • Your personal journal entries are stored locally on your device using SwiftData
  • Photos are stored as encrypted data within the app's secure container

iCloud Integration

  • Personal Entries: Stored locally only (no cloud sync for personal entries)
  • Social Features: Friend connections and shared entries sync via Apple's CloudKit to enable sharing
  • CloudKit data is encrypted in transit and at rest by Apple

Device Security

  • All data benefits from iOS device-level encryption
  • Data is only accessible when your device is unlocked (if you use device passcode/biometrics)

Sharing and Disclosure

With Friends

  • You can explicitly choose to share specific journal entries with friends you've added
  • Shared entries include the content, timestamp, photos, and tags you select
  • You control which entries to share and can unshare entries at any time

With Third Parties

  • We do not share your data with third-party services
  • We do not use third-party analytics or tracking services
  • We do not sell or monetize your personal data

Legal Requirements

We may disclose information only if required by law, such as:

  • Valid court orders or legal process
  • Protecting the safety of users or the public
  • Enforcing our terms of service

Data Retention

  • Personal Entries: Retained until you delete them or uninstall the app
  • Photos: Stored until the associated entry is deleted
  • Friend Data: Retained until you remove friends or uninstall the app
  • Shared Entries: Visible to shared friends until you unshare or delete them

Your Rights and Controls

Access and Control

  • View all your data within the app
  • Edit or delete any journal entries or photos
  • Add or remove friends at any time
  • Choose which entries to share or unshare
  • Export your data using the built-in export feature

Account Deletion

  • Delete the app to remove all local data
  • Use the export feature before deletion to save your entries
  • iCloud data (friend connections) can be removed through iCloud settings

Children's Privacy

Bright Spots is not directed to children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If we become aware that we have collected such information, we will delete it promptly.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this privacy policy to reflect changes in our practices or for legal/regulatory reasons. We will notify users of material changes through the app or other appropriate means.

Data Processing Legal Basis

For users in the EU/UK, our legal basis for processing personal data is:

  • Legitimate Interest: Providing core journaling functionality
  • Consent: Social sharing features and friend connections
  • Contract Performance: Delivering the app services you've requested

Contact Information

If you have questions about this privacy policy or our data practices, please contact us at:

Email: privacy@brightspots.app
App Support: Through the app's settings menu

Technical Details

Data Types Stored

  • Text entries with timestamps
  • Image data (photos)
  • Category tags
  • Friend contact information
  • Device identifiers (for sharing only)

Encryption

  • iOS device-level encryption for all local data
  • Apple CloudKit encryption for synced social data
  • No additional third-party encryption services

Third-Party Services

  • Apple CloudKit: Used only for friend-sharing features
  • Apple Push Notifications: For friend request notifications (when enabled)
  • No other third-party services are integrated

This privacy policy is designed to be transparent about our minimal data collection and strong privacy protections. Bright Spots is built with privacy-by-design principles, keeping your personal moments secure and under your control.