legal
privacy policy
pigeon is a study app. it records timelapses of your study sessions, tracks how long you focused, and shows that work to the people you choose to share it with. this page explains exactly what that means for your data, in the order you probably want to know it.
1. who we are
pigeon (“pigeon”, “we”, “us”) is an independent app operated by Max Chen, a sole proprietor based in Ontario, Canada. That person is the data controller for the information described in this policy. If you need our full postal address for a formal data request or a complaint to a regulator, email us and we will give it to you.
If you have a question about anything here, email maxl18chen@gmail.com or use the support form. We answer privacy requests within 30 days.
2. what we collect
We only collect what the app needs to work. There is no advertising network in pigeon, and we do not buy or sell data about you.
account information
When you make an account we store your email address, a display name, and the date you joined. You can also add a username, a short bio, and a profile picture. If you sign in with Google instead of a password, Google tells us your name, email address, and profile picture. Nothing else, and never your Google password.
Passwords are handled by our authentication provider and stored only as a salted hash. Nobody at pigeon can read your password.
your study sessions
For each session you record and post, we store:
- the timelapse video and its thumbnail image
- the caption and study description you write
- the subject you picked and how the subject changed during the session
- how long the session lasted, and whether it was recorded in landscape
- the date and time it was created
The timelapse is a recording made by your device’s camera while you study. Point it at your desk, not at anything you would not want to post. You choose when to record and whether to publish.
focus and activity data
This is the part people are most surprised by, so we want to be direct about it. While a session is running, the app measures how much of it you spent off task and how many times you left the app. We store those two numbers alongside the session, and we use them to show your focus breakdown. We do not record your screen, we do not log which other apps you opened, and we do not read anything inside them.
We also keep running totals on your profile: your lifetime study minutes, your current streak, whether you are studying right now, what subject you are on, and when you were last seen.
social activity
If you use the social features we store your friends list, friend requests you have sent or received, the study groups you create or join (including the group name, description, and member list), group invitations, which posts you have liked, and the comments you write.
support and complaint messages
When you send us something through the support form we store the category you picked, the email address you gave us, your summary and description of the issue, any reference code you quote, and your account id if you were signed in at the time. We also record the address of the page you sent it from and your browser’s user agent string, because bug reports are much easier to act on with them. We use this to reply to you, to fix what you reported, and to act on reports of abuse. Nothing else.
You can attach up to four screenshots or short clips (PNG, JPG or MP4, 10 MB each) to a support message. They are uploaded to private storage that is not readable from the website and not reachable by a public link; only we can open them, and only to deal with your message. They are deleted on the same schedule as the message itself. Please do not attach anything you would not want us to see, and be aware that a screenshot often contains more of your screen than you intended.
launch notifications
The app is not released yet. If you leave your email address on the home page to hear about the launch, we store that address, the fact it came from the website, the page that referred you, and your browser’s user agent string. We will send you one message, when the app is released. It is not a newsletter, we will not use it to market anything else, and it is not linked to any account. Reply to that message, or write to us at the address in section 13, and we will take you off the list.
technical information
Our hosting providers process standard server logs when you load the website or the app talks to our database: IP address, browser or device type, and which pages or endpoints were requested. These logs are used for security, debugging, and abuse prevention.
The website does not use advertising or analytics cookies, and we do not track you across other sites. We store four things in your browser: your sign-in session, your light or dark theme preference, and two timestamps that stop the support form and the launch-notification form being submitted over and over. Three pages of the website (the home page, the nest, and support) load our database library from jsDelivr, a public code network, which means your IP address is visible to jsDelivr when those pages load.
3. what is public and what is not
Assume a posted session is public. The pigeon feed is open: posted timelapses, their captions, subjects, durations, author names, avatars, like counts, and comments can be read by anyone using the app or the website, including people who are not signed in. Post ids are shareable links.
Your email address is never shown to other users. Your account can be marked private, which limits who can follow your activity, but marking an account private after the fact does not retract a session you already published. If you want a post gone, delete the post.
4. how we use your data
- to create and secure your account and sign you in
- to record, store, and display your study sessions
- to calculate your streaks, totals, and focus breakdowns
- to run the social features: feed, friends, groups, likes, and comments
- to answer your support messages and act on reports of abuse
- to find and fix bugs, and to protect the service from spam and misuse
- to meet legal obligations when we are required to
Where the GDPR applies, our legal bases are: performance of a contract with you (running your account and the app), our legitimate interests (security, abuse prevention, and improving the product), your consent (camera access and optional profile details), and legal obligation.
We do not use your study recordings to train machine learning models.
6. where your data lives
Our database and file storage are hosted in Canada (ca-central-1). Website hosting is distributed globally. If you are in the UK, EEA, or Switzerland, this means your data is transferred outside your region; those transfers rely on the UK and EU adequacy decisions for Canada, or on standard contractual clauses where adequacy does not apply.
7. how long we keep it
- Your account and profile
- Until you delete your account.
- Sessions, comments, and likes
- Until you delete them, or until you delete your account.
- Support and complaint messages
- Up to 24 months after the issue is closed, so we can spot repeat problems.
- Launch notification emails
- Until the launch message has gone out, or until you ask to be removed, whichever comes first.
- Server and security logs
- Typically 30 to 90 days, depending on the provider.
- Records we must keep by law
- For as long as the relevant law requires.
8. your rights and choices
Wherever you live, you can ask us to:
- show you a copy of the data we hold about you
- correct anything that is wrong
- delete your account and its contents
- export your data in a portable format
- restrict or object to a particular use of your data
- withdraw consent you previously gave, such as camera access
You can revoke camera access at any time in your device settings; the app will stop being able to record, but your account and past sessions stay as they are.
To make a request, email maxl18chen@gmail.com or use the support form and choose “privacy or data request”. We will not charge you or treat you differently for asking. If you are unhappy with our response, you can complain to a regulator: the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, or your local data protection authority if you are in the EEA or UK.
9. deleting your account
You can delete your account from the iOS app, or by emailing maxl18chen@gmail.com from the address on the account. Deletion removes your profile, your sessions and their video files, your comments, your likes, and your group memberships.
Deletion takes effect immediately and finishes working through backups within 30 days. Two things survive it: messages you sent us about a safety report, and anything we are legally required to retain. Copies other people already downloaded or screenshotted are outside our control.
10. children and students under 13
pigeon is not intended for children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect their personal information. Where the GDPR applies, you must be at least 16, or have permission from a parent or guardian if your country sets a lower age.
If you are a parent or guardian and you believe your child has made an account, email maxl18chen@gmail.com and we will remove the account and its contents.
11. security
Traffic is encrypted in transit with TLS, and data is encrypted at rest by our hosting providers. Access to the database is restricted by row-level security rules so that accounts can only reach the records they are allowed to. Passwords are stored only as salted hashes.
No service is perfectly secure, and we will not pretend otherwise. If we discover a breach that affects you, we will tell you and the relevant regulator as required by law. If you think you have found a vulnerability, please report it to maxl18chen@gmail.com before disclosing it publicly.
12. changes to this policy
When we change this policy we update the date at the top. If a change materially affects how we handle your data, we will tell you in the app or by email before it takes effect. Continuing to use pigeon after that means you accept the updated policy.
13. contact us
- Privacy, data requests and security reports
- maxl18chen@gmail.com
- Everything else
- the support page