Privacy Policy

Who we are

StepFrame is a walking-powered photo journal for iPhone. Questions about this policy or your personal data can be sent to support@stepframe.app.

Data we process

• Account: a Firebase account identifier. You may optionally link it to Sign in with Apple. StepFrame does not store your Apple name or email in its own database.
• Movement: step count, distance, duration, and integrity signals used to verify a StepFrame walk. When walking-history sync is enabled, completed walks may be stored as daily aggregate steps, distance, walk count, and earned Frames. Detailed session times remain on your device.
• Photos and posts: a photo you choose to share, its prompt, posting time, the public handle you choose, optional city-level location, reactions, reports, and blocks. Camera metadata, including GPS metadata, is removed before storage.
• Local data: detailed walk sessions, the route of each walk, any heart rate read from Apple Health, and your local photo archive are stored on your device. None of these are uploaded to StepFrame.
• Usage: if you opt in, anonymous product-interaction events, an app instance identifier, device model, OS version, and approximate region inferred from IP address. These events never carry your step count, distance, location, or photos.

Why we use it

We use this data to verify Frame eligibility, maintain your journal and streak, publish photos you choose to share, rank the Discover feed, prevent abuse, provide account recovery across devices, and operate the service. Optional usage statistics help us understand whether the app works and where people stop—not to profile you or target advertising.

Permissions

Motion access counts movement and is what verifies a walk. Location is used while a walk is in progress: it keeps the walk measurable when your phone is in your pocket, adds an optional city to a shared photo, and draws the route of the walk on your device. Route recording is on by default and can be turned off in Settings, which also lowers location accuracy and battery use. Health access writes a finished walk to Apple Health as a workout and reads only heart rate. Camera access captures a Frame. Photo Library access is used only when you ask to save a copy. Notifications are optional reminders. You can decline optional permissions or revoke them in iOS Settings.

Service providers and transfers

StepFrame uses Apple services and Google Firebase for authentication, analytics, database, file storage, remote configuration, and server functions. Firebase data is hosted in the European Union (Frankfurt, Germany) where applicable. These providers process data to operate the service under their respective privacy and security terms.

StepFrame does not sell personal data, show third-party ads, or track you across other companies’ apps and websites.

Sharing, moderation, and safety

A Frame is public only when you choose to share it. Shared posts may display your chosen public handle, photo, prompt, approximate city, posting time, and reactions. Uploaded photos are screened for unsafe content before publication. Reports and blocks are processed to enforce our Community Guidelines and protect users.

StepFrame can also compose a walk into an image you share elsewhere, with the photo, the prompt, the walk’s figures and, if you choose, a drawing of the route. That image is produced on your device and shared only by you. The route on it has its first and last 200 metres removed, so it does not show where the walk began or ended.

Retention and deletion

Account data, synced movement summaries, and shared posts are retained while your account is active. You can disable walking-history sync in Settings. Delete my account permanently removes your account, posts, uploaded photos, synced movement history, and local StepFrame archive. Safety reports may be retained when necessary to investigate abuse, enforce community rules, resolve disputes, or meet legal obligations.

Your choices and rights

You can disable analytics and movement-history sync, revoke system permissions, download a copy of your data, or delete your account in Settings. Download my data produces a JSON file containing account details, daily movement totals, earned Frames, posts, reactions, and circles, with a link to each uploaded photo.

Depending on where you live, you may have rights to access, correct, delete, restrict, object to, or receive a portable copy of your personal data, and to complain to a data protection authority. Contact support@stepframe.app to exercise these rights.

Children and changes

StepFrame is not directed to children under 13. If local law requires a higher minimum age for consent to data processing, that higher age applies. We may update this policy as the service changes and will publish the effective date on this page.