Privacy Policy

1. Information we collect

We collect only what the app needs to function:

Account data

• Email address (used as your login identifier)
• Display name
• Password (stored only as a salted hash; we never see your plaintext password)
• A one-time verification code (OTP) sent to your email during sign-up and password reset

Context signals (collected on-device to time learning nudges)

• Location: approximate location, including in the background, to detect transitions between home, work, and commute contexts. Your device uses your location only to compute a non-identifying context label (e.g. “at-work”, “commuting”). Only that general label is sent to our servers. Precise GPS coordinates never leave your device and are not stored on our backend.
• Calendar metadata: read-only access to start/end times and busy status of your calendar events. We do not read event titles, attendees, notes, or attachments.
• Motion & activity: whether the device is stationary or in motion, to avoid interrupting you at bad moments.
• Device information: OS version, model, locale, and app version for compatibility and debugging.

Learning data

• Onboarding responses (department, skill level, goals, work locations, preferred nudge timing)
• Video watch progress, quiz answers, unit completion status
• Saved and liked learning units
• Nudge delivery and interaction history (opened, dismissed, ignored)

2. How we use your data

• Authenticate you and keep your session secure
• Personalize and time learning nudges to your context
• Track your learning progress across sessions and devices
• Debug crashes and improve the service (aggregated, not advertised)
• Communicate service messages such as password resets

We do not use your data for advertising, do not sell your data, and do not share it with data brokers.

3. Third parties

ChillSpark relies on a small set of third-party services:

• Open-Meteo (api.open-meteo.com): receives approximate latitude/longitude to return current weather. No account or identifier is sent.
• Google Places API: receives coarse location to resolve nearby place categories. No identifier is sent.
• MongoDB Atlas: our managed database provider, which stores the data listed above under a standard data processing agreement.
• Apple Push Notification service / Firebase Cloud Messaging delivers push notifications (the notification payload only, not your personal data).

We do not integrate third-party analytics, advertising, or social-login SDKs. ChillSpark does not use the iOS IDFA and does not display the App Tracking Transparency prompt.

4. Permissions on your device

The app asks for each permission individually at the moment it is first needed. You can revoke any permission at any time in your device settings; the core app will continue to function with reduced personalization.

• Location (background): for context-aware nudge timing
• Calendar (read-only): to avoid nudging during meetings
• Motion sensors: to detect stationary vs. active states
• Notifications: to deliver learning nudges

5. Data retention

We retain your account and learning data for as long as your account is active. If you delete your account (see next section), all personal data tied to your account is permanently removed from our production database within 30 days. Encrypted database backups are rotated on a 30-day cycle and are overwritten in normal course.

6. Your rights and how to delete your account

You can delete your ChillSpark account and all associated personal data from within the app:

1. Open ChillSpark on your device
2. Go to Settings
3. Tap Delete Account and confirm

Deletion is immediate and irreversible: it removes your user record, onboarding responses, learning progress, refresh tokens, and any interaction history. If you are unable to access the app, email support@ahlab.org from your registered address and we will delete your data within 30 days.

Depending on where you live, you may also have the right to access, correct, export, or restrict processing of your data. Contact us at the email above to exercise these rights.

7. Security

Data is transmitted over HTTPS. Passwords are hashed with bcrypt. Refresh tokens are hashed at rest and automatically expire. We restrict access to production data to authorized lab members.

8. Children

ChillSpark is not directed to children under 13 and we do not knowingly collect data from them. If you believe a child has created an account, please contact us and we will delete it.

9. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. Material changes will be notified in-app and the updated effective date will be shown above.

10. Contact

Centre for Holistic Inquiry into Lifelong Learning (CHILL), National University of Singapore. Email support@ahlab.org.