Forge is built on a single principle: your data is yours. Almost everything you create in Forge — your goals, check-ins, photos, and notes — stays on your device and in your own private iCloud. We do not sell your data, we do not show advertising, and we never share your information with third-party advertisers or analytics companies.
The only data that ever leaves your device is anonymous, aggregate research data — never your photos, notes, or anything that identifies you. This policy explains, in plain terms, what we collect, why, and where it goes.
01 What We Collect
Forge handles three kinds of data: personal information that stays in your control, on your device and in your personal iCloud; anonymous usage data that describes what happens in the app but not who you are; and optional demographic data you may choose to share.
| Data | Purpose | Where it lives |
|---|---|---|
| Goal names, types, durations | Core app function — tracking your habits | Device & iCloud |
| Check-in dates | Streak calculation and the Wall of Proof | Device & iCloud |
| Check-in photos & notes | Building your personal habit album | Device & iCloud |
| Name (optional) | Personalised in-app greeting only | Device only |
| Goal outcome snapshot | Aggregate research — what happens in the app | Anonymous · always on |
| Age range & gender | Grouping aggregate trends by cohort — only if you opt in | Anonymous · opt-in |
| App version & country | Understanding which build and region trends come from | Anonymous · always on |
Your name, photos, and notes never leave your device for analytics. Your name is used only for the in-app greeting. Photos and notes are never transmitted anywhere except your own private iCloud, which only you can access.
02 What We Never Collect
- ✕Your email address or phone number
- ✕Your location or GPS data — we use only your country, derived from your device locale
- ✕Your contacts or address book
- ✕Your camera roll — photos are accessed only when you explicitly choose one
- ✕Any account, login, email, or persistent identifier that ties analytics to you
- ✕Anything sold or shared with advertisers or third parties
03 Anonymous Analytics
To understand how people build habits — which goals are most popular, where people tend to stop, and how often freezes and pauses are used — Forge sends anonymous, aggregate research data. It comes in two tiers, which are treated differently by design.
Usage data — always on.
When a goal ends, Forge sends a single snapshot describing what happened, never who you are: the goal’s type and category (a fixed list such as Fitness or Health — never a name you typed), its length, the outcome (completed, failed, or ended early), how far you progressed, and how many freezes and paused days were used — together with your app version and country. Because this describes events rather than people, contains no identifier, and includes nothing personal, it forms part of how the app works and is sent for all users.
Demographics — opt-in, off by default.
Your age range and gender are the only data that describe you rather than your activity, so they are never sent unless you choose to share them. This setting is off by default. If you enable it in Settings, your age range and gender are attached to the usage snapshot so that trends can be grouped by cohort; if you leave it off, the snapshot is still sent without them and they never leave your device. You may turn it off again at any time.
There is no identifier of any kind, in either tier. Snapshots carry no name, account, email, or device or user ID — not even a random one. Because nothing links one snapshot to another, your records cannot be assembled into a profile or traced back to you, by us or anyone else.
To guarantee anonymity in practice, Forge reports a statistic for a group only once that group contains enough people that no single individual can be singled out. Any group below that threshold is never displayed, so a result is always about a crowd, never about a person. Free text you enter — such as a custom goal name — and exact dates are never transmitted.
Analytics are stored in CloudKit’s public database — Apple’s own infrastructure, governed by Apple’s privacy standards. We do not operate our own server, we do not keep private copies or backups of analytics data, and your data never passes through third-party platforms such as Firebase, Mixpanel, or Amplitude.
04 iCloud Sync
Forge uses CloudKit to sync your habit data — goals, check-ins, photos, and notes — across your devices, and to ensure it survives if you reinstall the app. This data is stored in your personal iCloud account, which only you can access. We cannot see it, and we never copy or back it up. Apple’s iCloud privacy policy applies.
iCloud sync is tied to your Apple ID. If you sign out of iCloud, your data remains on your device but no longer syncs. This personal sync is entirely separate from the anonymous analytics described above.
05 Children’s Privacy
Forge is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from them. If you believe a child under 13 has provided us with information, please contact us and we will delete it immediately.
If a user indicates they are under 18, Forge transmits no analytics for that user whatsoever — no snapshot, no demographics, nothing leaves the device. We exclude minors from collection entirely, rather than collecting and filtering afterward.
06 Deleting Your Data
You can delete all your data at any time from Settings → Reset Everything. This removes every goal, check-in, photo, and profile detail from your device and from your iCloud.
Anonymous analytics snapshots that have already been sent cannot be recalled, because they contain no identifier — there is no way, for you, for us, or for anyone, to determine which snapshots were yours.
07 Your Rights
Depending on where you live, you may have rights to access, correct, or delete your personal data. Because Forge keeps your personal data on your own device and in your own iCloud, you already have direct control over it. The analytics carry no identifier of any kind, so even where they include opted-in demographics they cannot be linked back to you or singled out — there is nothing we could retrieve or erase on a per-person basis. You can stop demographic collection at any time in Settings.
For any data-related question, contact us at the address below and we will respond within 30 days.
08 Changes to This Policy
If we make meaningful changes to this policy, we will update the date at the top of this page and notify you within the app. If a change expands what analytics collect, we will ask for your consent again rather than assume it.