1. Scope and operator
This Privacy Policy applies to the Tether mobile application and the Tether pages at budjohnson.com/tether. Tether is operated by Bud Johnson in Savannah, Georgia, United States. “Tether,” “we,” “us,” and “our” refer to the Tether service and its operator.
2. Information Tether collects
Account information
When you create an account, Tether processes your email address, display name, account identifier, authentication session, and password credentials through Supabase authentication. We do not receive a readable copy of your password.
Connection and moment information
Tether stores the private pair relationship between two accounts, invite code, connection and archive timestamps, and moment records. A moment record includes the pair, sending account, whether it was a nudge or shared hold, and its timestamp.
Live touch and presence
While the touch screen is open, normalized finger coordinates and online presence are transmitted through an authenticated real-time channel restricted to active members of the pair. These coordinates are used to render the live interaction and are not written to Tether’s moment-history database. Network providers may process transient technical data needed to deliver the real-time messages.
Notifications
If you allow notifications, Tether stores an Expo push token associated with your profile. When a nudge is sent, the server processes the pair identifier to locate the recipient. The delivered notification may include the sender’s display name, a short message, interaction type, and a route that opens the shared touch screen.
Purchases and entitlements
Apple or Google processes payment information. Tether and RevenueCat process product, transaction, entitlement, expiration, store, and app-user identifiers needed to verify Premium and share access with the active pair. Tether does not receive full payment-card details.
Device-local information
Your selected haptic pattern, quiet-ritual preference, local notification schedule, demo preference, and authentication session may be stored on your device.
Website information
The Tether website is static and does not include advertising pixels or a Tether analytics SDK. The web host may receive ordinary server logs such as IP address, browser, requested page, referring page, and timestamp for security and operations. The pages load typography from Google Fonts, which may receive standard request information under Google’s own privacy terms.
Information Tether does not request
Tether does not request precise or approximate location, contacts, photos, microphone, camera, health information, advertising identifiers, or access to messages. Tether does not provide anonymous or public discovery.
3. How information is used
We use the information described above to:
- create and secure accounts;
- create, join, operate, archive, and display a private connection;
- transmit live touch and presence between the paired devices;
- record and show nudges and shared holds;
- deliver push and local notifications when permitted;
- verify purchases, restore access, and share Premium with the active pair;
- respond to support, privacy, refund, and deletion requests;
- protect the service, investigate misuse, and comply with legal obligations; and
- maintain and improve reliability without behavioral advertising.
Depending on where you live, these uses rely on performance of the service you request, consent for optional notifications, our legitimate interests in operating and securing Tether, and compliance with law.
5. Retention and deletion
Account, profile, active connection, archived connection, moment, push-token, and pair-entitlement records are generally retained while the account exists so the service and Relationship Vault work as described. Store transaction records may remain with Apple, Google, or RevenueCat under their own legal and accounting requirements.
Archiving is not deletion. Archiving closes the active connection but intentionally preserves its shared moments in a private, read-only vault.
Account deletion is permanent. Deleting your Tether account removes the profile and associated Tether data, including pair records and shared history. Because pair history belongs to the connection, deletion can also remove that shared history from the other person’s vault. Backups and security logs may persist for a limited period before routine deletion, and information may be retained when law requires it.
6. Your choices and rights
- Profile: update your display name in Settings.
- Notifications: disable nudges in system settings and turn quiet rituals off inside Tether.
- Connection: archive the active connection from Settings.
- Subscription: restore or manage the purchaser’s subscription from Settings or the applicable store account.
- Deletion: choose Settings → Delete account and data, or use the web deletion instructions if you cannot access the app.
Depending on your location, you may have rights to access, correct, delete, restrict, object to, or receive a portable copy of personal information, and to appeal a privacy decision. Email bud@budjohnson.com. We may need to verify that the account is yours before fulfilling a request. You may also contact your local data-protection authority.
7. Children’s privacy
Tether is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from a child under 13. Users under the age of legal majority should use Tether only with permission from a parent or legal guardian. If you believe a child provided information in violation of this section, contact us so it can be deleted.
8. Security and international processing
We use reasonable administrative and technical safeguards, including authenticated accounts, row-level database access controls, scoped real-time channels, and server-side authorization checks. No internet service can guarantee absolute security.
Tether and its providers may process information in the United States and other countries where they operate. Those countries may have different data-protection laws. Where required, service providers use approved safeguards for international transfers.
9. Changes to this policy
We may update this policy as Tether changes or legal requirements develop. The effective date will change, and material changes may also be communicated in the app or by another appropriate method. Continued use after an update is subject to the revised policy.
10. Contact
For privacy questions or requests:
Bud Johnson — Tether
Savannah, Georgia, United States
bud@budjohnson.com