Privacy Policy

Last updated: October 2026

Social Steps ("the app", "we", "us") is made by Bartio, a sole proprietorship based in the Netherlands, which is responsible for the data described here. This policy explains what information the app uses and how it is handled. In short: your step history and your app selection stay on your device. There is no account, no advertising and no tracking, and we never sell data. Two parts of the iPhone app use Apple's iCloud (CloudKit): the shared community step counter and invite codes. Both are described below.

1. Health data (steps)

With your explicit permission, Social Steps reads your step count from Apple Health (HealthKit) to calculate how much screen time you have earned. Your steps and your daily history are processed and stored locally on your device. The only exception is the number of new steps that is added to the community counter (section 2). You can revoke this permission at any time in Settings › Privacy & Security › Health.

2. Community step counter (iCloud)

The app shows how many steps all users have walked together, in total and today. To do this, it adds the number of new steps from your device to two shared counters in the public database of Apple's CloudKit (iCloud): an all-time counter and a counter for the current calendar day. Only numbers are sent: no times, location or other health data. This only happens when you are signed in to iCloud. Apple stores each counter record together with a random identifier that Apple creates for your iCloud account in this app; we cannot see your name, email address or Apple ID. The counters only hold running totals and are used only to show the totals in the app.

3. Invite codes (iCloud)

Your personal invite code is stored in CloudKit, so that a friend who enters it can be checked. If you enter a friend's code, the app stores that code, the date and a one-way hash (a scrambled value that cannot be turned back) of an app-specific identifier of your iCloud account (of your device in older versions) in CloudKit, so that a code can be used only once per person. These records are kept for as long as the invite programme exists.

4. App selection (Screen Time)

To block distracting apps, Social Steps uses Apple's Screen Time framework (Family Controls). When you choose which apps to limit, that selection is handled entirely by Apple using privacy-preserving tokens. We cannot see which apps you select, and this information never leaves your device.

5. Purchases

Social Steps offers an optional Premium subscription. Purchases are processed by Apple through the App Store. We do not receive or store your payment details. Apple's handling of purchase data is governed by Apple's own privacy policy.

6. Information stored on your device

The app stores your settings and a daily history (steps, earned and used minutes) locally on your device so the app can function. This data is not sent to us. Removing the app removes this data.

7. No tracking or analytics

Social Steps contains no third-party advertising, no analytics SDKs, and no tracking. We do not create user profiles and there is no account or login.

8. Your rights

You can ask us to access or delete the data described in sections 2 and 3 by emailing info@social-steps.com. Because we cannot see who you are in CloudKit, we may ask for your invite code to find the right records. You can also file a complaint with the Dutch Data Protection Authority (Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens).

9. Children

Social Steps is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect any personal data from children.

10. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. Material changes will be reflected on this page with a new "Last updated" date.

11. Contact

If you have any questions about this policy, contact us at info@social-steps.com.