This privacy policy governs your use of the Android application DetoxDroid (the “Application”, package identifier com.flx_apps.digitaldetox), a digital-wellbeing and self-control tool created and published by FLX Apps (Felix Heller), flx.es. It explains what the Application does and does not do with information, which device permissions and system services it uses and why, and how the optional in-app purchase is handled. Please read it in full before installing or using the Application.
DetoxDroid helps you reduce compulsive phone use. It can turn your screen grayscale, interrupt endless “doomscrolling” sessions, block or deactivate distracting apps, enforce daily screen-time budgets, switch on Do Not Disturb, and lock its own settings behind a commitment password. All of these are self-control features that you configure for yourself, on your own device. The Application is not a monitoring or parental-surveillance tool: it has no remote component, no companion dashboard, and no way for anyone — including us — to observe your device usage.
DetoxDroid uses Android’s AccessibilityService API. This is what allows it to act on your phone use in real time, and Google requires us to explain exactly what it is used for:
The accessibility service processes these events transiently, in memory, on your device only. It does not read, record, store, or transmit the content of your screen, your keystrokes, your passwords, or your messages. No information obtained through the accessibility service is ever collected by us or shared with anyone; the Application contains no code that could send it anywhere.
For the avoidance of doubt, the Application does not collect or transmit any of the following: your name, e-mail address, phone number, or contacts; your precise or approximate location; your device’s advertising identifier or any persistent hardware identifier; the list of apps installed on your device; your app-usage or screen-time statistics; the content of your screen or notifications; your search queries or navigation within the Application; crash logs or diagnostic telemetry; or any behavioural or analytics event. None of this information is sent to us or to any third party, because the Application contains no code that would do so.
Your configuration — feature settings, app exception and block lists, screen-time budgets, pause settings, and the optional commitment password — is stored locally in the Application’s own private storage on your device. Screen-time figures shown in the Application are read on demand from Android’s own usage-statistics system and are not kept by us anywhere. You remain in full control: you can change or reset any setting at any time, and you can remove all of the Application’s local data by clearing its data in Android’s system settings or by uninstalling it. Uninstalling the Application removes its local settings from your device. If you have enabled Android’s own device backup, your device may include the Application’s settings in that backup; this is a system feature operated by Google (or your device vendor) under its own terms, and you can exclude the Application or disable backup in your device settings.
The Application requests only the permissions required for its features. Each is used strictly on-device, and none of them results in any data being sent to us. Several are optional — if you do not use the corresponding feature, you never need to grant them.
WRITE_SECURE_SETTINGS). Required for the grayscale and extra-dim features and for enabling the accessibility service programmatically. Android only allows this permission to be granted manually, once, from a computer via adb (or on rooted devices). It is used solely to toggle your device’s own display and accessibility settings.
QUERY_ALL_PACKAGES, MATCH_UNINSTALLED_PACKAGES). The Application’s core features are configured per app: you choose which apps stay colored, which are blocked, and which get a screen-time budget. To present those choosers it must enumerate the packages installed on your device (including work-profile apps). The app list is used only locally, to render the on-device picker; it is never transmitted, logged, or shared.
PACKAGE_USAGE_STATS). Used to read your apps’ daily usage time from Android’s usage-statistics system, so the Application can enforce the daily screen-time budgets you set and show you your own usage. This data is read on demand, processed on-device, and never transmitted.
SYSTEM_ALERT_WINDOW). Used to show the doomscroll-break prompt and the “app blocked” screen on top of the app concerned. The overlay displays the Application’s own content only; it does not capture what is beneath it.
REQUEST_DELETE_PACKAGES exists solely so the Application can offer to cleanly uninstall itself from this mode.
ACCESS_NOTIFICATION_POLICY). Used only to switch Do Not Disturb on or off according to your settings. The Application does not read your notifications.
BIND_QUICK_SETTINGS_TILE, FOREGROUND_SERVICE, POST_NOTIFICATIONS). Used to offer the pause tile, keep the Application running reliably, and show its own status notifications.
moe.shizuku.manager.permission.API_V23) / root (optional). On devices where you run the third-party Shizuku service or have root, the Application can use that access to perform the same setting changes without a computer. It uses these privileges only for the actions described above and never to access or transmit personal data.
INTERNET, com.android.vending.BILLING). These are present solely because of the Google Play Billing and In-App Review libraries used for the optional Premium purchase and the optional review prompt (see below). The Application itself requests no network permission and has no other network functionality whatsoever.
The Application offers an optional one-time in-app purchase (“Premium”) that unlocks additional features. This purchase is processed entirely by Google Play Billing. Google handles the transaction and your payment details; we never see, receive, or store your payment-card information or billing address. From Google, the Application receives only your purchase / entitlement status (that is, whether Premium has been bought), which it uses locally to enable the Premium features. The Application may also occasionally show Google’s standard in-app review dialog, which is provided and processed by Google Play; whether and what you rate is handled by Google, not by us. Google’s processing is subject to the Google Privacy Policy. If you never purchase Premium and never submit a review, no data-relevant interaction with Google’s services takes place through the Application.
We do not share information with third parties, because the Application does not collect information to share. It contains no advertising SDK, no analytics SDK, and no crash-reporting SDK. The only third party involved in the Application’s operation is Google, and only in its role as the operator of Google Play Billing and Google Play In-App Review for the optional interactions described above.
We would disclose information only where legally compelled to do so — for example to comply with a subpoena or comparable legal process, or where we believe in good faith that disclosure is necessary to comply with the law or to protect our rights or the safety of others. In practice, because the Application stores no personal data on any server we operate, we hold no such user data to disclose.
The Application is a self-control tool intended for people who want to manage their own phone use. It is not directed at children, does not knowingly collect any information from anyone (including children under 13/16), and offers no social or content-sharing features.
Because your data stays on your device and is not transmitted to or stored by us, there is no server-side repository of your information to be breached. On-device data remains protected by Android’s standard application sandboxing and by whatever device security (screen lock, encryption) you have configured. The optional commitment password is stored only on your device; if you hand it to a partner or friend for accountability, that is an arrangement between you and them and involves no data processing by us.
For users in the European Economic Area and the United Kingdom: since the Application does not collect or process personal data on our infrastructure, no processing of your personal data by us takes place through your use of the Application. Any processing performed by Google in connection with the optional purchase or review is carried out by Google as an independent controller/processor under its own terms, on the legal basis of contract performance (Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR) for the transaction you initiate.
We may update this privacy policy from time to time, for example to reflect changes in the Application or in legal requirements. The current version is always the one published at this URL, and the “Last updated” date above indicates when it last changed. Continued use of the Application after an update constitutes acceptance of the revised policy.
The section above concerns the mobile Application. The website on which this policy is hosted (operated by FLX Apps on the operator’s own first-party server, flx.es) may use a self-hosted, cookieless system to compile anonymous, aggregate visit statistics (such as page views, referring sites, browser/device type and approximate country). No cookies are set, no data is shared with any third party, and your IP address and browser user-agent are never stored — they are used only transiently, with a secret key that changes every day, to derive an anonymous identifier and an approximate two-letter country code. Visits cannot be linked to a person or across days. You can opt out at any time by enabling the “Do Not Track” or “Global Privacy Control” setting in your browser. Legal basis: Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR (legitimate interest in privacy-friendly, aggregate statistics).
By using the Application you consent to the terms of this privacy policy as it may be amended from time to time.
If you have any questions about this privacy policy or the Application’s privacy practices, please contact FLX Apps (Felix Heller) at felixheller@mailbox.org.