Privacy Policy

Bara ("we," "our," or "the app") is a step-tracking challenge app for iOS and Android. This policy explains what data we collect, how we use it, and your rights. We believe in collecting only what's necessary to make the app work.

Bara reads your daily step count with your explicit permission — from Apple HealthKit on iOS and from Android Health Connect on Android. We request read-only access — we do not write to or modify your health data in any way. Your step count is synced to our server solely to display your daily progress and power step races and head-to-head challenges.

To keep your races current even when the app is closed, Bara may also read your step count in the background: on iOS via periodic background app refresh, and on Android via Health Connect's background-read permission, which you grant separately and can revoke at any time. Background reads collect the same single data type — your daily step count — and nothing else.

Authentication is via Sign in with Apple or Google Sign-In on iOS, and Google Sign-In on Android. When you sign in, the provider gives us an opaque user identifier and, if you choose to share it, an email address. With Apple's "Hide My Email," we receive only Apple's relay address — we never see your real email. We do not access your Apple ID or Google password. The two providers are independent identities; an Apple account and a Google account are not automatically linked, even if they use the same email address.

All data we collect is used to operate the app: to show your daily step count and goal progress, to run weekly challenges and display head-to-head results, to let friends find and challenge you, and to send you notifications about challenge activity when you've opted in. Aside from the advertising described in the "Advertising" section below, we do not use your data for advertising, analytics profiling, or any purpose unrelated to the app's core functionality.

Your step count, display name, and profile photo (if you add one) are visible to friends you've accepted in the app and to participants in races you join. This is necessary for the challenge feature — if you're in a head-to-head challenge, your opponent can see your step progress for that week. We do not sell or rent your personal data, and outside of the advertising partner described in the "Advertising" section below, we do not share your personal data with any third parties for their own use. We do not use third-party analytics SDKs.

The iOS app shows clearly labeled ads (small banners and opt-in "watch an ad for a reward" offers) served by Google AdMob. On iOS we ask for App Tracking Transparency permission first; if you allow it, AdMob may use your device's advertising identifier to show more relevant ads and to measure ad performance across apps. If you decline, ads are non-personalized and every reward flow works exactly the same. AdMob may collect device identifiers (such as the advertising identifier), ad interaction data, and diagnostic data to serve and measure ads, as described in Google's advertising policy. When you choose to watch a rewarded ad, we also pass your Bara account identifier to Google so the reward can be securely credited to the correct account. The Android app currently shows no ads.

Your data is stored on our server infrastructure. We use HTTPS for all data in transit. Session tokens are used for authentication and are refreshed regularly. Locally on your device, the app caches session credentials, health-authorization state, notification preferences, and your display name and step goal using the device's local storage (iOS and Android).

You can sign out at any time from the Settings tab, which clears your local session data and unregisters your device from push notifications. To request complete deletion of your account and all data from our servers, email support@barastep.com. We will process deletion requests within 30 days.

Bara is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child under 13 has provided us with personal information, please contact us and we will delete it.

If we make material changes to this policy, we will update this page with a new effective date. Continued use of Bara after changes take effect constitutes acceptance of the updated policy. Questions or concerns? Reach us at support@barastep.com.