Tan Buddy · Legal

Tan Buddy Privacy Policy

Tan Buddy is made by iOS Visual. This policy explains what the app does with information, and what it does not do.

Last updated: 15 August 2026

The short version

We do not have a server, we do not have accounts, and we never receive your data.

Everything the app knows about you stays on your iPhone. The one thing that ever leaves it is a rounded coordinate, sent to a weather service to fetch the UV forecast where you are.

Who is responsible

iOS Visual is the data controller for the limited processing described below. You can reach us at support@iosvisual.com about anything in this policy, including any request to exercise the rights described under Your rights.

We do not collect personal data

We do not operate a backend service for the app. There is no sign-up, no login, no account, and no user profile held by us. We do not receive, store, transmit, sell, rent, share, or otherwise disclose your personal data, because we never have it in the first place.

Specifically, we do not collect:

  • your name, email address, phone number or any other contact detail;
  • your skin type, tan level, session history, photographs, or any other information you enter into the app;
  • your precise or approximate location;
  • device identifiers, advertising identifiers, or the IDFA;
  • analytics, crash reports, usage statistics, or behavioural data;
  • any information for advertising, profiling, or tracking purposes.

The app contains no third-party analytics SDK, no advertising SDK, and no tracking technology of any kind. It does not participate in Apple’s App Tracking Transparency framework because it performs no tracking.

What stays on your device

Everything you tell the app, and everything it works out about you, is written to a private file inside the app’s own storage area on your iPhone. This includes:

  • the name and age you enter;
  • your Fitzpatrick skin type, current tan level and accumulated UV dose;
  • your goal, pace, plan length and program progress;
  • your recorded sessions, including durations, UV levels, estimated dose and how you said your skin felt;
  • your settings and reminder preferences;
  • any progress photographs you take, which are stored as image files inside the app’s own storage.

This data is protected by iOS’s app sandbox and by your device passcode and encryption. We cannot see it, and neither can any other app.

If you delete the app, this data is deleted with it. There is no copy anywhere else, and no way for us to restore it. If you use iCloud Backup or an encrypted local backup, a copy may exist in that backup under Apple’s terms and your own iCloud settings; that backup is between you and Apple, and we have no access to it.

The one thing that leaves your phone

To tell you the UV index where you are, the app needs a UV forecast for your location. It gets this from Open-Meteo, a free weather API.

When the app refreshes the forecast, it sends only a latitude and longitude, rounded to four decimal places, to Open-Meteo’s servers over an encrypted HTTPS connection. Nothing else is sent: no name, no device identifier, no account, no session data, and nothing that identifies you or your device to us or to them.

The request does not pass through any server of ours. It goes from your iPhone straight to Open-Meteo, which is an independent third party with its own privacy policy that we do not control. Like any web service, it will see the IP address your request comes from. You can read their terms at open-meteo.com/en/terms.

If you do not grant location permission, or you deny it later, the app still works: it falls back to a clear-sky estimate calculated on your device from the sun’s position, and it labels that estimate as such so you know it ignores cloud cover.

Location

The app requests “While Using the App” location access only. It never requests background or “Always” location access, and it cannot see where you are when it is not open.

Your coordinates are used for exactly two purposes:

  • to request a UV forecast from Open-Meteo, as described above; and
  • to work out the sun’s position, sunrise and sunset on your device, for the sun-arc display and the offline fallback.

Your location is not stored by us, not logged by us, not linked to any identifier, and not used for advertising or profiling. The most recent forecast, which includes the coordinates it was fetched for, is cached on your device so the app still shows something useful when you are offline.

You can revoke location permission at any time in iOS Settings → Privacy & Security → Location Services → Tan Buddy.

Photographs and the camera

If you use the progress-photo feature, the app will ask for permission to use your camera or photo library. Photographs you take or choose are saved inside the app’s own private storage on your iPhone.

Photographs are never uploaded anywhere. They are not sent to us, not sent to any third party, and not processed by any remote service. You can delete any photograph from inside the app at any time, and deleting the app deletes all of them.

Notifications

The app uses local notifications only — reminders scheduled by the app on your own device for flips, sunscreen reapplication, the end of a session, your morning forecast, and the end of a free trial. There is no push notification server, and no notification token is generated or transmitted. You can turn reminders off inside the app, or all notifications off in iOS Settings → Notifications → Tan Buddy.

Purchases and subscriptions

Tan Buddy Pro is sold through Apple’s In-App Purchase system. All payment processing is handled entirely by Apple. We never see and never receive your name, billing address, payment card, Apple Account details, or any other financial information.

The app asks Apple’s StoreKit framework whether the current Apple Account holds an active subscription, and receives a yes or no answer plus the transaction record for that subscription. That exchange happens between your device and Apple. We have no subscriber database.

Apple’s handling of your purchase is governed by Apple’s own privacy policy.

Your rights

Data-protection law — including the EU and UK General Data Protection Regulation, and the California Consumer Privacy Act — gives you rights over personal data held about you. Those rights include access, correction, deletion, restriction, portability, objection, and the right not to be discriminated against for exercising them.

Because we hold no personal data about you, there is nothing for us to produce, correct, export or erase in response to such a request, and we would not be able to identify you if you made one. You already hold complete and direct control over all of your data:

  • To see it or change it: open the app. Everything is there.
  • To delete all of it: delete the app from your iPhone.

We do not sell or share personal information as those terms are defined under the CCPA, and we have not done so in the preceding twelve months.

If you believe we have processed your personal data improperly, you may complain to your local supervisory authority. In Italy this is the Garante per la protezione dei dati personali (garanteprivacy.it).

Children

Tan Buddy is not directed at children and is not intended for anyone under 13 (or the minimum age of digital consent in your country, whichever is higher). We do not knowingly collect personal data from children. Since we collect no personal data from anyone, no such data can have been collected. If you believe a child has used the app in a way that concerns you, contact us at support@iosvisual.com.

Security

Your data is protected by iOS’s app sandbox, by file-system encryption, and by your device passcode or biometric lock. Network requests use HTTPS. No method of electronic storage or transmission is completely secure. Because we hold none of your data, the security of that data depends principally on the security of your own device: keep iOS up to date, use a passcode, and be careful about who has physical access to your iPhone.

International transfers and retention

We transfer no personal data internationally, because we receive none. The forecast request described above is sent by your device directly to Open-Meteo, whose servers may be located outside your country and whose practices are governed by their own terms.

We retain nothing, because we receive nothing. Data on your device is retained for as long as you keep the app installed, and is destroyed when you delete it.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time — for example if a future version of the app adds a feature that changes what data is handled. The “Last updated” date above will change, and material changes will be described in the app’s release notes. Continuing to use the app after an update means you accept the revised policy. Previous versions are available on request.

Contact

support@iosvisual.com

We aim to reply to privacy questions within 30 days.