PorchLink Privacy Policy

Effective date: August 2, 2026  ·  Last updated: August 2, 2026

PorchLink helps families and caregivers stay gently aware of a loved one's daily routine — using the everyday devices already in their home. This policy explains what information PorchLink collects, how we use it, who we share it with, and the choices and rights you have. We built PorchLink to be privacy-first, and we designed it to collect as little as possible to do its job.

1. Who we are

PorchLink ("PorchLink," "we," "us," or "our") provides the PorchLink mobile application and related services. If you have any questions about this policy or your data, contact us at knock@helloporchlink.com.

2. Information we collect

Information you provide

• Account information: your email address and a password when you create an account.
• Profile information: your name or nickname, an optional profile photo, an age range, an approximate home location, and preferences you set (such as your role and who is in your circle).

Activity and presence information

PorchLink uses your phone's Bluetooth to detect nearby smart devices you have chosen to associate with your account (for example, a phone, watch, TV, toothbrush, or scale). From these signals PorchLink infers simple, human-friendly moments of daily routine — such as "at home," "watched TV," or "brushed teeth" — and how long they lasted. PorchLink records these inferred activity sessions and daily summaries. It does not read the contents of your devices or the data on them.

Nearby-device counts

To gauge general social presence (for example, whether other people's phones are around), PorchLink may record anonymous counts of nearby Bluetooth devices. These counts do not identify the other devices or the people near you.

Location information

With your permission, PorchLink stores an approximate home location and uses geofencing and significant-location-change signals — not continuous GPS tracking — so it can pause background scanning when you leave home and resume when you return. Your real-time location is not shared with anyone, including people in your circle.

Health and fitness information (optional)

If you choose to connect Health Connect (on Android) or Apple Health (on iOS), PorchLink reads only behavioral signals — such as workouts/exercise sessions, sleep timing, and step counts — to enrich your routine summaries (for example, "was active today," "went for a walk," or "restful night"). PorchLink does not read vital signs such as heart rate, blood pressure, or oxygen levels, and does not use fall detection. This connection is optional, requires your explicit permission, and can be turned off at any time in Health Connect or your device settings. If you also allow background access, PorchLink can read this behavioral data while the app is closed, so your routine summaries stay up to date without you opening the app.

Device and technical information

• Device profiles and identifiers: names and identifiers of the devices you associate with your account, and basic details like your phone's battery level, used to improve detection accuracy.
• Push notification tokens: if you enable notifications, a push token so we can deliver alerts and reminders.
• Diagnostic information: limited technical logs used to keep the app running reliably.

3. How we use information

• To provide the core service: detecting routine activity and presence and turning it into simple summaries.
• To share activity and presence with the people you have connected with in your circle.
• To send notifications and reminders you have enabled.
• To optimize battery usage and detection reliability.
• To secure the service, prevent abuse, and troubleshoot problems.
• To understand and improve how PorchLink works, using aggregated or de-identified information wherever possible.

4. What we do not do

• We do not use cameras or microphones, and we never record audio, video, or images.
• We do not collect vital signs such as heart rate, blood pressure, or oxygen levels.
• We do not sell your personal information.
• We do not use your information for third-party advertising or ad profiling.
• We do not share your real-time location or track where you go.
• We do not provide medical, clinical, or emergency services.

5. How information is shared

With your circle

PorchLink is designed to share your routine activity and presence with the specific people you connect with — your "circle." A connection is only created when you and the other person deliberately link accounts (for example, by exchanging a pairing code). You control your sharing: you can turn off activity sharing so that connected people see only that you were recently present, without the underlying activity details, and you can remove people from your circle at any time.

With service providers

We use trusted service providers to operate PorchLink, including cloud hosting and database services (Supabase) and push-notification delivery (Apple Push Notification service and Firebase Cloud Messaging). These providers process data on our behalf under agreements that limit their use of it. Data is stored on servers located in the United States.

For legal reasons

We may disclose information if required by law, or to protect the rights, safety, and security of our users, the public, or PorchLink.

6. Research and product improvement

PorchLink may use activity information to research and improve routine-awareness features and to support approved research programs. Wherever possible, this work uses aggregated or de-identified information, and any research conducted with identifiable data is done consistent with the consent you provide and applicable ethical review.

7. How long we keep information

We keep your account and profile information for as long as your account is active. Activity information is retained for limited periods and then automatically removed:

• Presence events: 365 days
• Nearby-device counts: 365 days
• Daily activity summaries: 12 months
• Caregiver alerts: 30 days
• Notification history: 30 days
• "Heart tap" interactions: 7 days

When you delete your account, we remove your data as described in Section 9.

8. Security

We protect your information with industry-standard measures, including encryption of data in transit and at rest, per-user access controls that keep your data isolated to you and the circle you approve, and encryption of the session stored on your device. No system is perfectly secure, but we work to safeguard your information and to limit what we collect in the first place.

9. Your choices and rights

• Permissions: you can grant or revoke Bluetooth, location, motion, notification, and health permissions at any time in Health Connect or your device settings. Some features will not work without the permissions they rely on.
• Sharing controls: you can turn activity sharing on or off and add or remove people from your circle.
• Access and export: you can export your activity history from within the app (Profile → Export My Data).
• Deletion: you can permanently delete your account and associated data at any time (see below).

Depending on where you live, you may have additional rights (such as access, correction, or deletion). To exercise them, contact us at knock@helloporchlink.com.

10. Deleting your account and data

You can permanently delete your PorchLink account and all associated data at any time, either in the app (Profile → Delete My Account) or by request. Full instructions and details of what is deleted and any retention period are on our Account Deletion page.

11. Children's privacy

PorchLink is intended for adults and is not directed to children under 13 (or the minimum age required in your country). We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has provided us information, contact us and we will delete it.

12. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. When we make material changes, we will update the "Last updated" date above and, where appropriate, notify you in the app. Your continued use of PorchLink after an update means you accept the revised policy.

13. Contact us

Questions, requests, or concerns about your privacy? Email us at knock@helloporchlink.com.