Privacy policy

Clay Circuit Studios LLC (“we”, “us”) publishes this policy for Upcoming, its widgets and Messages extension, and the Upcoming pages on claycircuitstudios.com. It covers Upcoming 4.0 and identifies relevant differences in earlier versions. For information we receive through analytics, diagnostics, or support, we are responsible for the uses described here. Contact us at ben@claycircuitstudios.com.

You do not create an Upcoming account. Your countdown content is stored on your device and, when enabled, in your Apple iCloud account. We do not operate a separate server containing your countdowns. The app does use third-party analytics, crash reporting, optional photo search, and support services as explained below.

1. Countdowns, photos, and iCloud

Upcoming stores the information you create or import: countdown titles and dates, recurrence settings, notes, colours, chosen photos, reminders, and keepsakes. Widgets and the Messages extension can read relevant countdown data from shared storage on your device. A countdown shown in a widget may be visible to anyone who can view that screen.

If iCloud sync is enabled, countdown data and selected background photos can be stored in your private CloudKit database and synced between your devices by Apple. Sync is enabled by default on fresh installs; existing installs retain their previous setting. Your personal countdown content is not available to us through a developer database console. Apple operates iCloud under its own privacy policy.

When you share a countdown or join one, its content, thread messages, photos, reactions, and sharing profile name are available to its participants through CloudKit. Apple processes account and participant identifiers to manage invitations and access. Sharing one countdown does not share your entire list. People with access can save or forward content; withdrawing access cannot remove copies they already made.

Sharing a sticker, image, or exported countdown through Messages or another app sends the content you choose to that app and the recipients you select. Those services have their own privacy practices.

2. Device permissions and imported information

• Calendar: with permission, Upcoming reads device calendars so you can select events to import. It does not write to your calendar. Selected event details become countdown data.
• Contacts: with permission, Upcoming reads contact names and birthdays to offer birthday imports. Imported names, birthday dates, and an identifier used to avoid duplicate imports may be saved with the countdown. The app does not upload your entire address book to us. Imported countdown data can sync or be shared if you use those features.
• Photos and camera: the app uses images you select or capture for backgrounds and shared posts. Chosen images can sync to iCloud or be visible to participants when shared; they do not necessarily remain only on your device.
• Notifications: Upcoming schedules countdown reminders on your device. Apple push services also help deliver CloudKit change notifications so shared content can refresh. Upcoming does not use notifications for advertising.

You can decline these permissions and create countdowns manually. Change granted permissions in iOS or iPadOS Settings. Direct Google Calendar sign-in is not offered in Upcoming 4.0.

3. Usage analytics and crash diagnostics

We use Google Analytics for Firebase to understand which features are used and improve Upcoming. It collects an app-instance identifier, app opens, sessions, screen views, device and app information, and approximate region derived from an IP address. It does not use device GPS for this purpose. Our feature events include actions such as creating a countdown, opening an editor, selecting a reminder, or using sharing, along with counts and settings such as whether a countdown repeats or has an image.

The 4.0 app does not deliberately include countdown titles, dates, message text, photos, contact details, or photo-search terms in these analytics events. Some earlier versions sent countdown titles in create or edit events and recorded paywall and purchase activity. Google may also record Apple purchase events in versions that support purchases. We do not receive payment-card information.

Firebase Crashlytics collects crash traces, app and operating-system versions, device information, installation identifiers, and diagnostic logs. Analytics events may be attached as a sequence of actions preceding a crash. We use these reports to diagnose errors and maintain the app. We do not set an analytics user ID to your name, email, or Apple Account, but installation identifiers can distinguish app installations.

Analytics and crash collection start automatically in the current release; it does not include a separate in-app switch for them. See Your choices and deletion requests below. More details are available in Google’s Analytics data disclosures and Firebase privacy information.

4. Optional Unsplash photo search

Opening the Unsplash picker requests photos from Unsplash. Search text you enter is sent to Unsplash, and selecting a photo sends a download attribution request. Unsplash and its image servers receive technical request information, including your IP address and the requested image or search. We do not send your countdown content or personal photo library to Unsplash. You can use your own images or colours instead. See the Unsplash privacy policy.

5. Support requests

If you contact us, we receive the message and any contact details or attachments you provide. The in-app form sends its message, name, and email fields through Formspree; the name and email fields are optional. Formspree also processes technical request information to deliver submissions and prevent abuse. Email is handled by our email provider. We use this information to respond, investigate problems, and keep necessary support records, not to add you to a marketing list. See Formspree’s privacy policy. Please avoid sending passwords or information unrelated to your request.

6. Website visits and older shared links

Vercel hosts this website and processes IP addresses, browser and device information, requested URLs, and related logs to deliver pages, diagnose problems, and protect the service. We do not add advertising or analytics cookies or tracking scripts to these pages. External sites you open from here may have their own cookies and policies. See Vercel’s privacy policy.

Older countdown links can carry encoded countdown details. When those details appear after a #, the browser does not send that fragment in its web request. The older path-based form sends its encoded details as part of the requested URL, which may appear in hosting logs. Encoding is not encryption: anyone who receives either kind of link can read its contents.

7. How information is used and disclosed

We use information to provide the features you request, maintain and improve Upcoming, answer support requests, protect against abuse, and meet legal obligations. We do not sell personal information or share it for cross-company targeted advertising. Upcoming does not display third-party ads or deliberately link activity to other companies’ apps or websites for advertising.

Information goes to the participants or services you choose and the providers described above. Providers processing personal information on our behalf must protect it consistently with this policy and applicable law and use it for the services they provide to us. Apple and other services you use independently also have their own terms and privacy policies. We may disclose information we hold when legally required or necessary to protect people, enforce applicable terms, or address fraud or security incidents. If the business is transferred, information transferred with it remains subject to this policy unless you are notified of a lawful change.

8. Retention and security

Countdown data remains on your devices and in iCloud until you delete it, subject to Apple’s backup and deletion processes. Shared content can remain in the owner’s database or in recipients’ copies. We retain support messages only as long as needed to resolve the request, handle necessary follow-up, or meet legal obligations. Website logs and analytics records are retained according to their operational purpose, the relevant provider’s retention policies, and our service configuration; aggregated usage reports may remain longer than individual event records.

Google states that Crashlytics retains crash traces and associated identifiers for 90 days before beginning removal from live and backup systems. Deleting the app does not itself erase reports already sent to Google or support requests already sent to us. We use encrypted network connections for the services described here and limit access to information we receive. No storage or transmission method can guarantee absolute security.

9. Your choices and deletion requests

• Device access: change Calendar, Contacts, Photos, Camera, and notification permissions in your device settings. Revoking permission prevents future access but does not erase information you already imported.
• iCloud: change the sync setting in Upcoming, then quit and reopen the app. This controls syncing your own countdowns; it does not erase existing iCloud data or end shared countdown participation.
• Countdowns and sharing: delete countdowns you no longer want. Use the sharing controls to stop sharing a countdown you own or leave a shared countdown. Manage stored app data in your Apple Account’s iCloud storage settings as needed. Copies saved by recipients or included in backups may remain.
• Analytics and support: email ben@claycircuitstudios.com to request access, correction, deletion, or to object to processing. We will explain what information we can identify and what we can delete. Analytics identifiers are not matched to your email, so we may need additional information and may be unable to identify a particular installation. Emailing us does not remotely disable the SDKs in an installed app. Removing the app stops future collection by that installation.

Depending on your location and applicable law, you may have rights to a copy of your information, correction, deletion, portability, restriction, objection, or withdrawal of consent where processing relies on consent. You may also complain to your local data-protection authority. We may verify a request and retain information where law permits or requires it. We do not discriminate against you for exercising applicable privacy rights. There is no separate Upcoming account to delete.

10. International processing and children

We are based in the United States. Our providers may process information in the United States or other countries. Where applicable, transfers must use the protections required by data-protection law. This policy does not ask you to waive those protections.

Upcoming is a general-audience app and is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child has supplied personal information to us, contact us so we can investigate and delete information we control as appropriate.

11. Changes and contact

We will update this page and its effective date when this policy changes. Material changes will be communicated as required by law; we will seek consent when it is required. Privacy questions and requests can be sent to Clay Circuit Studios LLC at ben@claycircuitstudios.com.

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UPCOMING · CLAY CIRCUIT STUDIOS LLC