Privacy Policy

1. About this policy

This Privacy Policy applies to the Heelen app for macOS (the “App”) and the website at heelen.app (the “Website”). In this policy, “Heelen,” “we,” “us,” and “our” refer to the developer and publisher of Heelen.

2. Information handled by the App

The App is designed to work locally and offline. It does not require an account and does not send your protected-app list, settings, or activity to Heelen.

The following information is stored locally on your Mac so the App can provide its features:

• The apps you choose to protect, including their names, bundle identifiers, and local file paths.
• Your relock timing and other App preferences, such as idle-lock behavior, keyboard shortcut, launch-at-login choice, and onboarding status.
• The macOS launch-at-login state managed through Apple’s system service.

While running, the App temporarily processes only the system signals needed to decide when to show or hide a protected app. These may include the active application, application process identifiers, basic window visibility and placement information, idle duration, screen sleep or lock events, user-switch events, and whether an authentication attempt succeeded or failed.

The App does not read or store the content of your apps, messages, emails, photos, documents, notifications, keystrokes, or mouse activity. It does not capture screenshots or window images.

3. Touch ID and password authentication

Heelen asks macOS to authenticate you through Apple’s Local Authentication system. Depending on your Mac and system settings, macOS may offer Touch ID or your Mac user account password. Heelen receives only the result of the authentication attempt. It never receives, records, or stores your fingerprint data or password.

4. App analytics, diagnostics, and tracking

The App does not include advertising, analytics, tracking technologies, or a third-party crash-reporting service. Heelen does not create a profile of how you use the App.

If you choose to share diagnostics with app developers through Apple’s system settings, Apple may make limited crash or diagnostic information available to us under Apple’s Privacy Policy. We use any such information only to diagnose problems and improve the App. If you contact us for support, we use the information you deliberately send only to respond to your request, investigate the issue, and maintain the App; your email provider may process that message under its own terms.

5. Information handled by the Website

The Website does not offer user accounts, contain advertising, or use analytics cookies or tracking pixels.

The unlock interaction on the home page is a visual demonstration. Any text entered into that demonstration is processed only in your browser and is not sent to or stored by Heelen. Do not enter a real password. The Website also uses temporary browser session storage to remember whether you minimized the “other app” card during the current tab session. That preference is removed when the session ends.

When you visit the Website, the hosting provider may automatically process standard technical information such as your IP address, browser and device type, requested pages, timestamps, referring sources, approximate location, and diagnostic or security logs. This information is used to deliver, protect, troubleshoot, and understand the general performance of the Website.

The Website host provides server-side, aggregate web analytics based on its content-delivery logs. These analytics may include page views, unique visitors based on IP addresses, popular pages, referring sources, approximate locations, bandwidth usage, and missing-page requests. This analytics service does not use client-side tracking code or analytics cookies. Heelen does not use advertising trackers or behavioral profiling and does not sell personal information.

6. App Store services

Apple processes Mac App Store downloads, purchases, payment information, receipts, refunds, and optional App Store diagnostics under Apple’s Privacy Policy and other applicable Apple terms. Heelen does not receive your full payment-card or Apple Account credentials.

7. Sharing and sale of information

Heelen does not sell or rent personal information. Because the App does not transmit your App data to us, there is no App data for us to share. Limited Website request information may be processed by our hosting provider as reasonably necessary to deliver, secure, troubleshoot, and provide aggregate analytics for the Website. Information may also be disclosed if required by law or necessary to protect the rights, safety, and integrity of Heelen, our users, or others.

8. Retention and deletion

App preferences remain on your Mac until you change them or remove the App’s local data. You can remove individual protected apps in Heelen Settings. To remove all Heelen preferences, uninstall the App and remove its local app data using macOS. Because Heelen does not operate an account or server-side App database, we generally have no remote App data to export or delete for you.

Website session storage ends with your browser session. Aggregate analytics and infrastructure logs are retained according to the hosting provider’s settings and operational or security practices. Support messages are kept only as long as reasonably necessary to answer your request, maintain support records, resolve disputes, or meet legal obligations.

9. Children’s privacy

Heelen is a general-audience utility and is not directed to children. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children through the App. If you believe a child has sent personal information to us through a support request, contact us so we can review and delete it where appropriate.

10. Security

We design Heelen to minimize data handling and use macOS system services for authentication. No method of storage or transmission can be guaranteed completely secure, but keeping App information local substantially limits what is sent over a network.

11. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy to reflect changes to Heelen, the Website, or applicable requirements. We will publish the revised policy here and change the effective date above. Material changes will be communicated in the App or on the Website when appropriate.