Forge is a habit-tracking app that requires a photo as proof of completing a habit, verified by AI. This policy explains what data Forge collects, why, how it's handled, and the choices you have. It applies to the Forge iOS app and its backend services.
Everything below is linked to your account unless noted otherwise.
| Data Type | What It Includes | Why We Collect It |
|---|---|---|
| Email address | The email you sign up with, or the private relay address provided by Sign in with Apple | To create and authenticate your account |
| Account identifier | A unique user ID issued when you sign up | To associate your habits, photos, and progress with your account |
| Proof photos | Photos you take with the in-app camera to verify a habit | Analyzed by an AI vision model to confirm the habit was actually done, and shown back to you as your visual history |
| Habit definitions & settings | Habit names, categories, schedules and weekdays, deadlines, completion windows, reminder times, and a free-text personal "why" note you can write for each habit | To build and run your habit stack |
| Daily progress | Per-habit completion status and dates, points, streaks, tiers, badges, and XP | To track completion and lifetime progress |
| Reflections & journal entries | An optional daily mood, a 1–5 star rating, a free-text note, and six free-text prompts (gratitude, highlight, win, intention, learning, challenge) — you can write anything you choose in these fields | To let you journal alongside your habits |
| Habit removal reasons | The reason you select or type when you delete a habit, and the habit's name | To understand why habits are dropped and improve the app |
| AI verification feedback | The thumbs-up / thumbs-down you can give on a verification result | To improve verification accuracy |
| Onboarding responses | Your answers to the setup questions (goals, past experience, motivation) and your "how did you hear about us" selection | Setup answers stay on your device; the "how did you hear" answer is sent anonymously to analytics (see below) |
| Subscription & trial status | Whether you're on a trial or subscribed, and when your trial started | To manage access to Pro features. Billing itself is handled by Apple — see Third-Party Services |
| Usage & analytics data | Anonymous product-usage events plus coarse device, OS, and region information (see Analytics) | To understand how the app is used and improve it — not linked to your identity |
We do not collect: your legal name, precise or coarse location, contacts, health/fitness data via HealthKit, advertising identifiers (IDFA), browsing/search history, or any payment card details (those are handled entirely by Apple).
Every habit-verification photo you take is:
Forge cannot read or browse your photo library — verification photos can only be taken with the in-app camera. Separately, if you explicitly choose to export a habit photo, Forge can save (add) that photo to your camera roll; it still cannot read or access any other photos on your device.
Habit "why" notes and daily reflections (mood, rating, note, and the six prompts) are free-text fields you control. Because you can type anything into them, please avoid entering sensitive personal information you would not want stored. This content is stored on Forge's backend, linked to your account, is visible only to you, and is never shared with other users, sold, or used for advertising. It is deleted when you delete the corresponding habit, use Clear All Data, or delete your account (see Data Retention & Deletion).
You can sign in with email or Sign in with Apple. Passwords are handled and hashed by our authentication provider (Supabase) — Forge never sees or stores your raw password. Your email address is used only to manage your account and is never sold or shared with advertisers.
Forge uses TelemetryDeck, a privacy-first analytics provider, to understand product usage in the aggregate. TelemetryDeck does not receive your email, account ID, habit content, photos, or reflections. It derives its own anonymous, non-reversible device signal and, by default, collects coarse metadata such as device model, OS version, and broad region.
The specific events Forge sends are:
habit_created — with the habit's type and verification modeverification_attempted / verification_passed / verification_failed — with the habit's type, and (for pass/fail) how long verification tookpurchase_started / purchase_completed / purchase_cancelled / purchase_restored — with the planpaywall_viewed — with what triggered itonboarding_attribution — your "how did you hear about us" answeronboarding_step_completed — which setup step was finishedNone of these events include information that identifies you personally.
| Service | Purpose | Data Shared |
|---|---|---|
| Supabase | Backend host — authentication, database, and photo storage | Your account, habit, entry, reflection, verification, habit-removal, and profile data, plus your proof photos. Supabase hosts this data on Amazon Web Services (AWS) infrastructure in Sydney, Australia (region ap-southeast-2). If you use Forge from outside Australia, your data is transferred to and stored there. |
| OpenAI | AI photo verification (GPT-4o Vision) | Only the proof photo being verified and the habit's verification prompt. No email, account ID, or name is sent. See retention details below. |
| Apple (StoreKit) | Subscription billing | Handled entirely by Apple — Forge receives only your subscription status, never your payment details |
| Apple (Sign in with Apple) | Optional authentication | An identity token / private relay email, passed to Supabase to create your session |
| TelemetryDeck | Anonymous usage analytics | Anonymous events plus coarse device/OS/region metadata only — no account identifiers |
OpenAI retention: Photos sent to OpenAI are processed to return a pass/fail result. Under OpenAI's current API policy, API inputs may be retained for a limited period (up to 30 days) for abuse and misuse monitoring and then deleted, unless a zero-retention agreement is in place. Forge does not have a zero-retention agreement with OpenAI, and OpenAI states it does not use data submitted through its API to train its models. Forge does not control OpenAI's retention timeline, and deleting your Forge account does not retroactively remove photos already processed by OpenAI.
To work quickly and offline, Forge keeps some data on your device: a cache of your habits and entry history, cached copies of recently viewed photos, your app preferences and setup answers, and your login session (stored securely in the iOS Keychain). Photos captured while offline are queued locally and uploaded when you reconnect. This on-device data is removed when you sign out or delete the app.
Your data is retained as long as your account is active. Forge gives you two in-app controls:
You can also request deletion by contacting gaosangthong+forgesupport@gmail.com.
Export: From inside the app you can export a text summary of your stats, share recap images, and save individual habit photos to your camera roll. If you would like a copy of your data in another form, contact us at the email above.
Depending on where you live (for example, under the EU/UK GDPR or the California CCPA/CPRA), you may have the right to access, correct, export, or delete your personal data, and to object to or restrict certain processing. Forge does not sell your personal data. You can exercise the core of these rights directly through the in-app Delete Account and Clear All Data controls, or by contacting us at gaosangthong+forgesupport@gmail.com. We will respond within the timeframe required by applicable law.
Forge is not directed at children and does not knowingly collect data from children under 13. Where local law sets a higher age of digital consent (for example, 13–16 in parts of the EU/UK), you must meet that age to use Forge. If we learn that we have collected data from a child below the applicable age, we will delete it.
If this policy changes, the updated version will be posted at this same URL with a new effective date.
Questions about this policy or your data: gaosangthong+forgesupport@gmail.com