Effective Date: October 2, 2026 · Last Updated: October 2, 2026
The Short Version
- No account, no ads, no analytics, no tracking.
- To let your household find your phone, PhoneHome sends your phone's latest location and battery status to our household sync service, where only members of your household can see it.
- We keep only each phone's latest status. There is no location history feature.
- Every phone must install PhoneHome and join the household itself, and your phone tells you whenever it shares its location because someone asked.
- You can leave or delete a household at any time.
Who We Are
PhoneHome is developed by Nectar Mobile Development ("we," "us," or "our"). This policy explains what happens to your information when you use the PhoneHome Android app ("the App") and the household sync service it connects to.
What We Collect
When you create or join a household, the following are sent to and stored on our household sync service (sync.nectarmobile.dev), which we operate on our own infrastructure in the United States:
- Your household and role (admin, member, or kid).
- Your display name and device name (for example, "Alex" and "Pixel 9"), which other members of your household can see. These do not need to be your real name.
- A device token that identifies your phone to the service. The service stores only a hash of it, never the token itself.
- A Firebase Cloud Messaging token so household members can reach your phone to ring or locate it.
Location and Battery
- What: your phone's precise location (with its accuracy and the time it was taken), its battery level, and whether it is charging.
- When it is sent: when another member of your household asks to locate your phone; when your phone is rung; and about every 30 minutes while Background location updates is on. Background location updates is turned on during setup once you agree to it, and you can turn it off at any time in the App's Settings.
- Only the latest status is kept: our live database keeps only your phone's latest status; each update overwrites the previous one. The App has no location history feature, and no past locations are shown to anyone. Two limited exceptions: copies of the database may remain in our nightly server backups for about 30 days (at most 31), and in rare cases where updates arrive out of order, a superseded status may be kept in a conflict log for up to 30 days. Neither is used to build a location history.
- Who can see it: only members of your household.
- You will know: your phone shows a notification whenever it shares its location because someone asked for it.
We use this information only to let your household ring and find your phone. We do not sell it, use it for advertising, or share it with anyone outside your household except the service providers listed below.
Ring and Locate Records
When a phone is rung or located, the App records an acknowledgement: which phone, which household member asked, what happened (for example, "ringing" or "located"), and when. These are kept as household records for as long as the household exists. They do not contain location.
Server Logs
Our service logs incoming requests, including the IP address, the request path, and the household, member, and device identifiers involved. The service's own logs are size-capped rolling files on our server and are typically overwritten within days. Our web server also keeps a standard access log (IP address, request path, time, and browser or app identifier), which is kept for up to 14 days. Logs are used only to operate and secure the service.
Bug Reports and Feature Requests
If you choose to send a bug report or feature request, we receive the text you write, the App version, your device model and Android version, and, only if you provide it, a contact email address so we can reply. Reports are stored on our sync service (linked to your household member and household if you send one from a phone that has joined a household) and relayed to the developer through our self-hosted notification server and by email. The email copy passes through and stays in our email provider, Google (Gmail). Reports are kept until we delete them; contact us if you'd like a report removed.
Service Providers
- Google Firebase Cloud Messaging delivers the push messages that wake a phone to ring or report its location. These messages carry only the command (such as "ring" or "locate"), a command identifier and time, and the display name and internal member and device identifiers of the household member who asked, never your location. FCM is the only Google or Firebase component in the App. Firebase Analytics and Crashlytics are not used.
- Google (Gmail) is our email provider and carries the email copy of bug reports and feature requests you choose to send. Location and status data are never sent by email.
All network traffic between the App and our service uses HTTPS.
What We Do Not Collect
- No email address (unless you add one to a bug report), phone number, or password
- No advertising identifier, analytics, or crash-reporting data
- No contacts, messages, photos, or browsing history
- No location history
Permissions
- Precise location: to look up your phone's location when a household member asks to find it.
- Background location ("Allow all the time"): so your phone can answer a locate request, and send the periodic update while Background location updates is on, when the App is closed.
- Notifications: to show the ringing alert, and to tell you whenever your phone shares its location because someone asked for it.
- Full-screen alerts: so the ringing alert appears over the lock screen and the ring can be stopped quickly.
- Do Not Disturb access: to ring loudly even when your phone is on silent or in Do Not Disturb. Your previous sound and Do Not Disturb settings are restored afterward.
- Battery optimization: the App guides you to exempt PhoneHome from battery optimization so your phone can still be rung or located when it is asleep in battery-saver (Doze) mode.
Children
PhoneHome is intended for adults and families. It is not directed to children on their own. A parent or guardian who is a household admin may invite their child's phone with a kid role. A kid can ring and locate household phones but cannot manage the household. The parent controls the household and can remove the child's device at any time. We suggest a first name or nickname as a kid's display name. We do not knowingly collect any other information from children.
How Long We Keep Data
- Leave a household: use "Leave household" in the App. Your phone's access to the household is removed.
- Remove a member or device (admins): an admin can remove any member or device from the household.
- Delete a household (admins): access ends immediately. The household's data is permanently erased from our live database after 30 days, and any copies in our nightly server backups age out within about a further 30 days.
- Bug reports and feature requests are kept until we delete them; contact us to have one removed.
- Uninstall: uninstalling the App stops all reporting from your phone.
- End of the App's supported life: if we discontinue PhoneHome, we will post a notice on this website at least 90 days ahead, and then delete the data held by our sync service. See the Terms & Conditions.
- Ask us: you can also contact us (see "Contact" below) to request deletion of your data.
Security
On your phone, the App keeps its data, including your device token, in the App's private storage, and excludes it from Android cloud backup. Our service stores only a hash of each device token and join code. No method of storage or transmission is completely secure, but we work to protect your information.
Changes to This Policy
We may update this policy from time to time. If we do, we will update the "Last Updated" date above and post the new policy on this page.
Contact
If you have questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact us through the Google Play Store listing or via the contact information on our website at nectarmobile.dev.