Privacy policy

Last updated August 14, 2026

What we collect

Nothing. Cairn has no account system and no back end. We don't run analytics in the app, we don't use ad networks, and we don't share or sell data, because there's no data to share. We couldn't sell it if we tried.

The apps you block

You choose the apps and categories in Apple's own Screen Time picker. iOS hands Cairn an opaque token rather than the app's name or bundle id, so Cairn cannot see which apps you picked, even on your own device. That selection is stored on your phone and is never sent to HYTimes or anywhere else.

Usage limits

If you set a daily limit, Apple's Screen Time counts your usage on the device itself. Cairn is only told that a limit was crossed. It never learns how long you spent or in which app, which is also why Cairn can't show you a usage report.

Notifications

Cairn can send an optional heads-up, off by default, which you turn on in Settings. It warns you before a scheduled block starts and as you approach your own daily limit.

A warning is only ever about something Cairn is about to do to you, never about how you spent your time. The extension that sends it is told only that a threshold was crossed, so there is nothing else it could say.

Location, for place blocks

If you set a block that turns on at a place, Cairn uses a geofence on your device to notice when you arrive and leave. There's no continuous location tracking, your location is used only for that, and it never leaves the phone.

Your blocks and settings

The blocks, schedules, and preferences you create are stored locally on your device. Deleting the app removes them.

The parental password

If you set a password on a block, it's stored as a salted SHA-256 digest, never as the secret itself. There is no recovery path, in the app or from us, and that's deliberate: any recovery a parent could use, a child could use too.

Purchases

Cairn is a one-time purchase after a free month, handled entirely by Apple's App Store. Apple processes the payment. HYTimes never receives your name, your card, or your Apple ID. Apple's own privacy terms cover that transaction.

About this website

The app collects nothing. This website is a separate thing, and it's worth being precise about it rather than making a claim that isn't quite true:

• Page views are counted with our host's cookieless analytics. It sets no cookies, and it doesn't follow you between sites.
• The typeface is served from this domain, not a font CDN, so loading a page here doesn't tell anyone else you did.
• If you use the launch-notification form, that submission is handled by Formspree so the address reaches us. Your address goes to us and nowhere else, and there's no obligation to use the form at all.

Questions

Email support@hytimesgroup.com and a real person will answer.

Changes to this policy

If this policy ever changes, we'll update this page and the date at the top.