Privacy Policy — Malinois

What the app accesses

• Camera — to capture a photo or short video clip as evidence when your armed device is tampered with. While the device is charging, the camera session may be held ready so that capture is immediate rather than losing the first seconds to starting the camera. Whenever a camera session is live the app shows an on-screen recording indicator that cannot be disabled. Nothing is recorded or stored while the camera is merely held ready — images are written only when a tripwire fires.
  
  If you turn on the optional Vision tripwire, the camera is also used to detect, not only to record: while the camera is held ready, the app compares successive frames in memory, a few times a second, to notice movement in the camera’s view. Those frames are never written to storage, never leave the device, and are discarded as soon as they are compared. As with every other tripwire, an image is saved only once something trips. This tripwire is off unless you switch it on.
• Microphone — only if you turn on the Sound tripwire or Record audio in clips; both are off by default, and the app asks for microphone access at that moment, not at launch. It listens for sudden sounds nearby as a tamper tripwire, and records audio in an evidence clip. (Clips recorded with the camera set to “Both” have no sound: recording from both cameras at once leaves no room for the microphone. The app says so in Settings and again before arming.)
• Motion sensors (accelerometer/gyroscope) — to detect the device being moved or picked up. This is on-device sensor access and requires no permission prompt.
• Notifications — so your other Apple devices can be alerted when a tamper is recorded.

The app does not access your location, photo library, contacts, calendars, health data, or any other personal information.

What the app records, and when

The app only records anything while you have armed it. When a tamper is detected on your armed device, it saves:

• a photo or short video/audio clip captured by the device’s own cameras and microphone, and
• event metadata (timestamp, which sensor triggered, and a device label you optionally set).

Where that information goes

• On your device. Evidence is stored locally, encrypted at rest using iOS Data Protection.
• In your own private iCloud (optional). If you are signed into iCloud, evidence is also saved to your private iCloud database (Apple CloudKit private database) so it survives the device being switched off. This is your personal iCloud storage, governed by Apple’s Privacy Policy. The developer cannot access it. You can turn off cross-device alerts and cloud use in the app’s settings.
• To your other devices (optional). If enabled, a “tamper detected” alert — and, when the app is disarmed, a “disarmed” alert — is delivered to your other Apple devices signed into the same iCloud account, via Apple’s push infrastructure.

There is no developer-operated server, database, or analytics endpoint. The developer receives no copy of your evidence, metadata, or usage.

Data the developer collects

None. The app contains no analytics, no advertising, no tracking, and no third-party SDKs. No data is collected by or transmitted to the developer, and nothing is used to track you across apps or websites.

Verifying this

You do not have to take the above on trust. The app’s source code is published at github.com/john-comptonemail-com/malinois, where the absence of any server, analytics endpoint, or third-party SDK can be checked directly.

Data retention and deletion

• Evidence is retained locally up to the app’s storage limits, after which the oldest items are pruned automatically. You can review and manage events in the app’s Event Log.
• Deleting the app removes all locally stored evidence and settings.
• Evidence in your private iCloud is yours to manage and delete through your iCloud storage.

Recording other people — your responsibility

Because the app records whoever interacts with your device when it is armed, captured evidence may include images or audio of other individuals. You are responsible for using the app lawfully in your jurisdiction, including any laws that govern recording other people. Use it to protect your own device — not to surveil others.

Children

The app is not directed to children and does not knowingly collect information from children.

Changes to this policy

If this policy changes, the updated version will be posted at this URL with a new effective date.

Contact

Questions about this policy: support@comptonemail.com.