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Privacy Policy

Last updated: February 20, 2026

Overview

Step FWD is designed with privacy as a core principle. Your health and location data never leaves your device. There are no accounts, no cloud sync, and no tracking.

Data we collect

Step FWD reads the following data from Apple HealthKit (read-only — we never write back to Apple Health):

  • Steps
  • Distance walked
  • Calories burned
  • Exercise minutes

Additionally, the app stores:

  • GPS route during active walking sessions (via CoreLocation)
  • Weight and height (entered manually by you)
  • Your daily step goal

Where data is stored

All data is stored locally on your device using SwiftData (SQLite). There is no cloud database, no server, and no way for us to access your data. Your information exists only on your iPhone.

No accounts or identifiers

Step FWD does not require you to create an account. There are no logins, no user identifiers, and no way to link any data to you as an individual.

Location data

Step FWD requests "When In Use" location permission only. GPS data is recorded exclusively during active walking sessions, with a 5-meter distance filter and a maximum accuracy of 20 meters. Background location is used only while a session is active (the blue indicator is shown in your status bar) and stops immediately when the session ends. Location data is stored locally on your device.

Third-party services

Step FWD uses Apple WeatherKit to display weather information. This sends your device location to Apple to retrieve weather data, governed by Apple's Privacy Policy.

There are no analytics SDKs, no crash reporting services, and no advertising or tracking frameworks in the app.

On-device AI

Insights and summaries are generated using Apple's on-device Foundation Models. All processing happens locally — no data is sent to external AI services.

Data deletion

Since all data is stored on your device, deleting the Step FWD app permanently removes all your data. There is nothing to request deletion of — we never had it.

Contact

If you have questions about this privacy policy, reach out at contact@step-fwd.app or use our contact form.