Last updated: August 2026
We built SquadCheck with privacy in mind. Here's exactly what data we collect and why.
When you sign up, we store your email address and display name in Firebase. Your profile photo (if you choose to upload one) is stored in Firebase Storage. This data is necessary to identify your account.
Every check-in you submit — including timestamps, numeric values, text notes, and voice memo recordings — is stored in Firestore and linked to your user ID. This data powers your streaks, insights, and journal. Values from Apple Health challenges are encrypted before being stored, so the raw number never appears in plaintext in our database.
Access is enforced by our backend, not just hidden in the app: • Group challenges & chats — visible only to members of that group. • Public challenges — your group and your accepted friends can see the challenge and your check-ins for it. • Private (solo) challenges — only you can see your check-in content. Friends and other users cannot see private challenges or their check-ins. • Accountability partners — can see a challenge you add them to and are notified when you complete or miss a check-in, but they cannot see the check-in content. • Your profile name and photo are visible to other signed-in users so they can find and add you. You control visibility per challenge by marking it public or private when you create it.
SquadCheck only ever reads from Apple Health — it never writes to it. We read the metrics used by challenges you join (such as steps, exercise minutes, sleep, workouts, water, and body measurements) to auto-fill those check-ins, and we read your recent steps and sleep to draw your personal Insights charts. Insights data is read on your device and is never uploaded. When a Health check-in is saved, the metric value is encrypted before storage, and it follows the same visibility rules as any other check-in (see "Who Can See Your Activity"). Granting Health access is always optional and can be revoked anytime in the Health app under Apps & Devices.
Voice memo recordings are uploaded to Firebase Storage and linked to the check-in or journal entry they belong to. Only you can access your own recordings.
Messages sent in group chats are stored in Firestore and visible only to members of that group — our backend rules block anyone outside the group from reading them. Group membership and check-in status (completed or not) are also visible to group members.
With your permission, we store an APNs device token to send you reminder notifications before challenge deadlines. You can disable notifications at any time in iOS Settings → SquadCheck → Notifications.
When you add accountability partners to a solo challenge, they receive in-app notifications when you check in or miss a period. Partners can see that you completed or missed a check-in but cannot see the content of your check-in (e.g. text notes or photos) unless you are in a shared group.
Reactions (thumbs up/down) and quick-response comments on check-in messages are stored in Firestore and visible to all members of that challenge group. Your user ID is stored alongside your reaction so duplicate votes are prevented.
You earn streak shields into your profile by keeping streaks going. You can arm a shield on a challenge to protect it; if you miss a period there, the shield is automatically used. We record which periods were shielded in your challenge membership data so your history displays correctly and the period doesn't count as a missed check-in.
When you pause and resume a challenge, timestamps for each pause interval are stored in your challenge membership data. This lets the app accurately mark paused periods in your history and exclude them from strike calculations.
Access to your data is enforced on our backend with security rules, so the limits described here can't be bypassed by a modified app. Journal entries are end-to-end encrypted with a key stored only in your device's Keychain — not even we can read them. Apple Health values are encrypted before storage. Premium status and your friends list are managed only by our server and can't be altered by clients. All data is transmitted over encrypted connections.
We do not sell your personal data to any third party. Your data is only shared within SquadCheck to power the features you use (e.g. showing your check-in to group members or friends). We use Firebase (Google) as our backend infrastructure.
Your data is retained as long as your account exists. You can delete your account at any time from Profile → Settings → Delete Account. This permanently and irreversibly removes your profile, check-ins, voice memos, and all associated data.