Privacy notice

Draft. This has not been reviewed by a lawyer and needs legal review before anyone relies on it.

Last updated 1 November 2026. Plain English first: your footage stays on your device unless you choose to share a session.

Your footage

With the camera on, Locked In saves one JPEG frame every few seconds, up to 120 per session, about 480 pixels on the long edge. There's no audio.
Private sessions (the default): frames stay on your device, in your browser's IndexedDB on the web and in the app's document folder on a phone. They aren't uploaded. The server refuses frames on a private session.
Shared sessions: when you share with friends or a group, the frames upload at that moment. Only you, your accepted friends (for friends sharing) or that group's members (for group sharing) can fetch them. Files need a short-lived token, and someone who blocks you, or who you've blocked, can't see them.
Unsharing or deleting removes the frames from the server. Your copy on the device stays after an unshare. Deleting a session removes both.

Frames in your browser are stored unencrypted on that device. Anyone with access to your device's browser profile could get at them. When you log out, Locked In asks whether to delete them or keep them for next time. Another account logging in on the same browser isn't shown them. Clearing your browser's site data also deletes them.

What the server stores

Account: email, username, optional display name, a hashed password, an invite code, and the date you passed the age check.
Birthdate: checked once at sign-up, then thrown away. We store only that you passed.
Every session, private or shared: subject, goal, goal result, recall line, timer mode, focused, lost and paused time, start and end times, the day it counts towards, your time zone offset, and whether the camera was on. Stats need these.
Social: friendships, requests, kudos, nudges, group memberships and blocks.
Reports: reports you file, and reports filed about you.

Who sees what

Other users see your username and display name. Never your email.
Accepted friends see that you're studying right now, the subject and your time so far, even on a private session. Being live is what's shared. They don't see the goal or footage.
Group members see your total focused time for the week on the leaderboard. That includes private sessions, as a total only.
Blocking hides you from each other everywhere, including in shared groups.

What we don't do

No ads, analytics or trackers. The site uses no third-party services. Fonts are served from this site.
No selling your data.
No AI analysis of your footage. No email: this version can't send any.

This browser

Locked In keeps your login and the state of a running session in local storage, and frames in IndexedDB. There are no cookies for tracking. The clock on the home page runs in your browser, and isn't sent anywhere.

Deleting your data

Settings has a delete account button. It removes your account, sessions, frames on the server, friendships, kudos, nudges, memberships, blocks and the reports you filed, and frames in the browser you delete from. Frames in other browsers or on other devices stay there until you clear them. Reports filed against you stay, reduced to the reason, the time and your username at the time, so that deleting an account can't erase a moderation record.

Age

You must be 13 or over. Depending on where you live, you may need a parent's permission. That's one of the things legal review needs to settle.

Still to be filled in

Who runs Locked In, and how to contact them about privacy. Neither is settled yet.
Where data is hosted and for how long backups are kept. This version runs on a development server.
Your rights under laws such as the GDPR or the Australian Privacy Act, and the legal bases for processing.