The short version
UrgeShield is built local-first: your streak, savings, chat history, and preferences live on your device, not on a server we run. There's no account, no ads, no analytics or tracking SDKs, and we never sell or share your data with data brokers.
What we collect and why
Recovery data (streak dates, savings entries and goals, notes) is stored locally on your device using Apple's SwiftData framework, and automatically syncs across your own devices through your personal iCloud account when iCloud is enabled. That sync uses Apple's CloudKit and stays inside your own private iCloud database the whole time — it's never a server UrgeShield runs or can see into. You can also export a full backup file from Settings at any time.
Chat messages with August are stored locally on your device and never leave it. In this version, August runs entirely on a built-in, offline responder — there is no connected AI service. A future update may add an optional AI-powered mode using Claude (Anthropic's AI model); if that ships, this policy will be updated first, and turning it on would share your message text and recent conversation history with Anthropic — either directly or through UrgeShield's own backend proxy — along with a small amount of context that lets August respond specifically to your situation: your current streak length, whether you've set up an accountability partner, your name if you've set one, your conversation style and reply-length preferences, your primary focus, and your total money saved this streak. We would not store your chat content or that context on any server we control.
Accountability partner details (name and phone number) are stored locally on your device only. They're used to pre-fill a text message that you choose to send through your phone's own Messages app — UrgeShield itself never transmits this information anywhere.
Your name and companion preferences (conversation style, reply length, primary focus) are stored locally on your device and used to personalize how August talks to you. They stay on your device.
Location is requested only if you use "Find Support" to search for nearby treatment resources. Your location is sent to Google's Places API for that one search and isn't stored by UrgeShield afterward.
Voice input, if you use the microphone button in Chat, is processed using Apple's Speech framework to convert what you say into text — depending on your device and settings, that conversion may happen on-device or through Apple's speech-recognition servers. UrgeShield itself doesn't record, store, or transmit the audio; once transcribed, the text becomes a normal chat message and is handled the way described above.
Crisis detection stays on-device
The keyword check that watches for crisis language in your messages to August runs entirely on your device. Nothing about a message is sent anywhere just to perform that check, and it works even if you have no internet connection.
Third parties this app talks to
Google, for the Find Support location search. Apple, for speech-to-text, the Screen Time / Family Controls framework that powers Shield, iCloud sync of your recovery data across your own devices, and StoreKit for subscription purchases. If a future update adds an optional AI-powered mode for August, Anthropic would be added here — this policy will be updated first. Each of these has its own privacy policy governing how they handle the specific request UrgeShield sends them.
Your control over your data
You can export a full backup of your data as a JSON file at any time from Settings, and import it back on another device. Deleting the app removes everything stored locally, since UrgeShield doesn't keep a server-side copy of your recovery data.
Age
UrgeShield isn't intended for use by anyone under 16.
Changes to this policy
If this policy changes in a way that affects how your data is handled, we'll update the "last updated" date above and, where practical, note it in the app.
Contact
Questions about this policy can be sent to admin@urgeshield.com.