Time Guard
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Privacy Policy

What data the Time Guard app processes, where it is sent and where it is stored – for the app on iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Watch and for this website.

In short
  • No user accounts, no ads, no tracking, no analytics or crash reporting services.
  • Your time entries and settings live on your devices and in your private iCloud. The developer has no access to them and runs no server for the app.
  • Your location is only evaluated on device and is never stored or transmitted.
  • AI insights and timesheet scanning run entirely on device.
  • This website sets no cookies and loads nothing from third-party servers.

1. Controller

The controller for the Time Guard app and this website is:

Sebastian Vollmer
Hägisstr. 51/1
71083 Herrenberg, Germany
Email: timeguard@iOSolutions.de

2. At a glance

No server of ours, no accounts
Time Guard does not need an account. The developer runs no server the app exchanges data with and receives no data from the app, unless you send an email yourself.
No tracking, no ads
The app contains no advertising and no analytics, tracking or crash reporting services. Besides Apple's frameworks it only includes open-source libraries for date calculations, CSV files and charts (SwiftDate, CSV.swift, Charts). They only work on device and make no network connections.
External connections
The app only connects to Apple services (iCloud, map search) and, if you use public holidays, to a holiday API (see section 5). As with any internet connection, the service sees your device's IP address.
No sharing
Data is not sold or passed on to third parties. Only what you share yourself is shared, e.g. a timesheet PDF or a CSV export.

3. Storage and iCloud

What is stored
Your time entries (arrival, departure, type, notes), per-day settings such as custom breaks, your locations for automatic clocking (name, address, coordinates, radius or iBeacon identifier) and your settings (target hours, break rules, flextime and vacation balance, German state, timesheet details such as name and title).
On your device
Data is stored in the app's database on your device. So that widgets and the Apple Watch can show it, the database is kept in a shared area of the app on the device (App Group).
iCloud
If iCloud is enabled on your device, the app syncs entries through your private iCloud database (CloudKit) and settings through iCloud key-value storage between your devices. This data lives in the private area of your Apple Account; only your own devices can read it. The developer has no access. Apple's terms and privacy policy apply to storage in iCloud. Without iCloud, data stays on the respective device only.
Device backup
As with any app, the app's data is included in your regular device backup (iCloud Backup or computer) if you use one.
Deletion
You can delete entries, days, weeks and months in the app; with iCloud this applies to all your devices. Deleting the app removes its data from the device. You can delete the iCloud copy in your device's iCloud settings (Settings › [your name] › iCloud › Manage Storage › Time Guard).

4. Location and automatic clocking

Purpose
If you set up locations (addresses or iBeacons), Time Guard clocks you in automatically when you enter a location and out when you leave it. This requires the “Always” location permission, because it should also work while the app is closed.
How it works
Time Guard uses iOS region monitoring: the operating system only tells the app when you enter or leave one of your locations. The app does not record routes, does not build a movement profile and does not transmit your location. Only the resulting time entry is stored.
Address search
When adding a location you can search for an address or use your current location (“While Using” permission). The search term or coordinates are sent to Apple's map and geocoding services to determine the address.
Without location
Without location permission the app keeps working; you then clock in and out by hand.

5. Public holiday import

Purpose
To add statutory public holidays of your German state, the app loads the list of states and the holidays of a year from the holiday API at spiketime.de.
What is sent
Only the abbreviation of the selected state and the year, no data about you or your working hours. The list of states is loaded once when you first open the settings, holidays only after you have selected a state. You can turn automatic holiday entries off in the settings.

6. AI and timesheet scanning

AI insights
Answers to your questions are generated by a language model directly on device (Apple Intelligence, Apple Foundation Models), only on devices that support it. Your questions and working hours never leave the device for this.
Scanning timesheets
If you photograph a paper timesheet or pick a photo, the app recognizes the text on device (Apple Vision) and evaluates it on device. The image is neither stored nor transmitted; only the entries you confirm are added.

7. Other permissions

All permissions are optional. Without them the app keeps working, only the respective feature does not.

Calendar
Only if you turn on calendar sync: the app adds your working hours to the calendar you choose and reads it to update its own events. If that is an iCloud, Exchange or Google calendar, the events are then also stored with that provider.
Notifications
Notifications (end of day, maximum working time, automatic clocking) and the app icon badge are created by the app on device. There is no push server of the developer. The app only uses iCloud background notifications to sync changes from your other devices.
Camera and photos
Only to scan timesheets (see section 6). You pick photos yourself; the app has no access to the rest of your library.

8. Widgets, Watch, Siri and Spotlight

Widgets, Live Activity and Control Center
Show working time, flextime and status if you set them up. They read data on device; the Live Activity is updated on device, not through a push server.
Apple Watch
The Watch app receives data through your iCloud and a direct connection between iPhone and Watch.
Siri, Shortcuts and Spotlight
Siri and Shortcuts run the app's actions on device. So you can find workdays through search, the app adds them to the device's Spotlight index, which stays on the device.

9. Export, sharing and other apps

Timesheets and CSV
Timesheets (PDF) and CSV exports are created on device. They are only sent or saved when you share them yourself via the share sheet or email.
Entries from other apps
Other apps on your device can create a time entry or clock you in and out via a link (timeguard://). iOS asks you whether to open the link in Time Guard. No data leaves the device.
Contact by email
If you email me, I only use the email to answer your request and delete it once it is no longer needed for that.

10. App Store

The app is distributed through Apple's App Store. Apple is responsible for downloads, purchases and updates; Apple's privacy policy applies. If you agreed in your device settings to share analytics with app developers, Apple provides me with aggregated statistics and crash reports that do not identify you personally.

11. This website

Hosting
This website is hosted by IONOS SE, Elgendorfer Str. 57, 56410 Montabaur, Germany, on servers in Germany. A data processing agreement is in place with IONOS. IONOS only hosts this website; the app does not connect to this server.
Access logs
With every request the web server processes technically necessary data: IP address, date and time, requested address, amount of data transferred, browser identifier, preferred language and, if applicable, the referring page. This is needed to deliver the site in your language and to keep it secure. IONOS keeps these logs; they are not combined with other data and are deleted after a short time.
No cookies, no tracking
The website sets no cookies, uses no analytics or statistics services and loads no fonts, scripts or images from third-party servers.
External links
Links to the App Store or your mail app only take effect when you tap them. The respective provider's privacy policy then applies.
  • Providing the app features you use: Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR.
  • Optional features requiring permission (location, calendar, notifications, camera): your consent, Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR, revocable at any time in your device settings.
  • Server logs, secure operation and answering emails: legitimate interest, Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR.
  • Access to information on your device, insofar as strictly necessary for the feature you requested: § 25(2) no. 2 TDDDG.

13. Your rights

You have the right of access (Art. 15 GDPR), rectification (Art. 16), erasure (Art. 17), restriction of processing (Art. 18), data portability (Art. 20) and objection (Art. 21). You can withdraw consent at any time with effect for the future. Since your data only lives on your devices and in your iCloud, you can exercise most of these rights directly in the app: edit or delete entries, export them as CSV or delete the app. For anything else, an email to the address above is enough.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with a data protection supervisory authority, for example the State Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information of Baden-Württemberg.

Last updated: November 13, 2026