Alibi Privacy Policy
App: Alibi - Quick Privacy Button (shown on your phone as "Quick Button")
Effective date: 30 September 2026 · Version 1.0
- There is no account and no sign-in. We don't ask for your name, email, contacts, photos or messages.
- Your settings stay on your phone. We don't run servers that store information about you.
- Alibi never records audio, reads your messages or takes screenshots.
- Optional rewarded videos come from Google's ad service, which collects some device information. Where the law requires it, you're asked first.
- You have rights over your information, and you can complain to a regulator. See Your rights.
1. Who we are
Alibi is provided by THE EXPONENTIAL COLLECTIVE, registration number 2024/293185/07, of 1 Burning Bush Avenue, Unit 172 Theresa Park Estate, Pretoria, Gauteng, 0155, South Africa ("we", "us"). For the personal information described in this policy, we are the "responsible party" under South Africa's Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013 (POPIA) and the "controller" under the EU and UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
Our Information Officer is Fortune Shane Mahule, registered with the Information Regulator (South Africa). Contact for all privacy matters: fortuneshanemahule@gmail.com.
2. Information that stays on your phone
Alibi stores the following only in its private storage on your phone. We cannot see it, and it is not sent to us:
- Your settings: the fallback app you chose, the button's position and look, triggers, time rules, reminder time and sound options.
- How many times you've used the button and when you last used it. This is used only to time reminders and the one-time review request.
- Whether you have a Day Pass or have unlocked Alibi, and when you first installed it.
To let you choose a fallback app, Alibi reads the list of apps on your phone that have a home-screen icon. If you turn on shake or flip, Alibi reads the motion sensor while your phone is unlocked, only to notice a shake or flip. When you tap the button, Alibi pauses or mutes sound that is playing. None of this is stored beyond what is listed above, and none of it leaves your phone. Alibi does not listen to or record audio.
Usage access (optional). If you turn on usage access for Alibi, Alibi notes which app was open when you tapped the button, and checks which app is open while it waits, so it can turn the sound back on when you return to that app. It stops checking once you're back, or after 30 minutes. This information is used only on your phone at that moment; it is not stored, and it is never sent to us or anyone else. You can turn usage access off at any time in your phone's settings.
Reminders are created by your phone itself and don't involve the internet. You can switch them off in Alibi's Settings or in your phone's notification settings.
Android backup. If Android backup is switched on for your phone, Android also saves your unlock and Day Pass status and your first install date in your own Google account's backup, so your unlock can come back if you reinstall. Google encrypts this backup, and we cannot read it. Your settings are not included.
3. Information processed by services we use
Alibi uses a small number of services from Google. The table shows what they process, why, and the legal basis we rely on.
| Service | Information | Why | Legal basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rewarded videos (Google AdMob, Google Mobile Ads SDK and User Messaging Platform) | IP address (which can show your approximate location), device identifiers such as the advertising ID and app set ID, interactions with ads, and diagnostic information about app and ad performance. | To show the video you choose to watch for a Day Pass, measure it, and prevent ad fraud. With your permission where required, to show personalised ads. | Consent for personalised ads and for storing or reading information on your device where the law requires consent (EEA, UK, Switzerland). Otherwise, our legitimate interest in keeping the core app free and preventing fraud (GDPR Art. 6(1)(a) and (f); POPIA s11(1)(a) and (f)). |
| Usage measurement (Google Analytics for Firebase, linked to AdMob) | An app-instance ID, device identifiers such as the advertising ID, basic device and app details, how the app and its ads are used (for example, that a rewarded video was shown), and diagnostic information. | To measure how ads perform, understand which features are used, and keep the app stable. | Consent (GDPR Art. 6(1)(a); POPIA s11(1)(a)). It stays switched off until you agree in the consent form, and switches off again if you withdraw consent in Settings → Privacy choices. Where consent isn't required by law, our legitimate interest in improving the app. |
| App settings (Google Firebase Remote Config and Firebase Installations) | A random installation ID for this copy of the app, app version, Android version, device model, language, country and time zone. | To deliver app settings such as when the free launch period ends, without an app update. | Our legitimate interest in running and configuring the app (GDPR Art. 6(1)(f); POPIA s11(1)(f)). |
| Purchases (Google Play) | Google handles your payment details. Alibi only receives confirmation, on your phone, of which Alibi products your Google account owns. | To give you the unlock you bought and restore it later. | Performance of our contract with you (GDPR Art. 6(1)(b); POPIA s11(1)(b)). |
| Reviews (Google Play In-App Review) | Handled entirely by Google Play. Alibi does not see whether or how you rated it. | To let you rate Alibi without leaving the app. | Our legitimate interest in feedback (GDPR Art. 6(1)(f); POPIA s11(1)(f)). |
| Support emails (when you write to us) | Your email address, what you write, and any phone and app details you choose to include. | To answer you. | Our legitimate interest in helping you, or our contract with you (GDPR Art. 6(1)(b) and (f); POPIA s11(1)(b) and (f)). |
For Firebase, Google acts on our behalf (as our "operator" or "processor"). For ads and Google Play, Google also uses information for its own purposes as an independent controller, described in how Google uses information from apps that use its services and the Google Privacy Policy. Firebase: Firebase privacy information.
Your choices about ads. Ads only appear when you choose to watch a video. In the EEA, the UK and Switzerland, Google's consent form asks for your choice first, and you can change it any time in Alibi under Settings → Privacy choices. Anywhere, you can reset or delete your advertising ID, or turn off ads personalisation, in your phone's settings. You can also manage ad choices at My Ad Center.
4. What we don't do
- We don't sell your personal information for money.
- We don't track your location with GPS.
- We don't make decisions about you based solely on automated processing.
- We don't knowingly collect information from children (see section 9).
5. Where information goes
Google may process information in the United States and other countries. When information leaves South Africa, the EEA or the UK, Google relies on legal safeguards such as the EU-U.S. Data Privacy Framework and standard contractual clauses, which protect it to a standard comparable to your home country's law (POPIA s72; GDPR Chapter V).
6. How long information is kept
- Information on your phone: until you uninstall Alibi or clear its data. The Android backup copy stays until you delete it from your Google account.
- Support emails: as long as needed to help you, and deleted no later than 24 months after our last contact, unless the law requires us to keep them longer.
- Information held by Google: according to Google's own retention policies (see the links above).
7. Security
Information sent by the services above is encrypted in transit. Information on your phone is kept in Alibi's private app storage, which other apps can't read. If a security compromise affects your personal information, we will notify you and the relevant regulator as the law requires.
8. Your rights
Depending on where you live, you have the right to:
- ask whether we hold personal information about you, and get a copy of it;
- ask us to correct, update or delete it;
- object to, or ask us to restrict, how we use it, including for direct marketing;
- withdraw consent at any time, without affecting earlier use (for ads: Settings → Privacy choices);
- receive information you gave us in a portable format;
- complain to a regulator.
Because Alibi keeps almost everything on your phone, the simplest way to delete it is to uninstall Alibi (and delete its Android backup in your Google account's backup settings, if you use backup). For anything else, email fortuneshanemahule@gmail.com. We'll answer within 30 days, free of charge. We may need to confirm it's really you before acting. For information Google holds, you can also use Google's privacy tools.
Complaints
- South Africa: the Information Regulator, Woodmead North Office Park, 54 Maxwell Drive, Woodmead, Johannesburg, 2191. Email enquiries@inforegulator.org.za, inforegulator.org.za.
- EEA: the data protection authority in the country where you live or work.
- UK: the Information Commissioner's Office, ico.org.uk.
We'd appreciate the chance to sort out any concern first, so please contact us too.
United States
We don't sell personal information for money. Google's ad service may use information from your phone for personalised advertising, which some US state laws call "sharing" or "targeted advertising". You can opt out at any time by deleting your advertising ID or turning off ads personalisation in your phone's settings. You may also have rights to access, correct and delete information, as described above. We won't treat you differently for using any of these rights. Alibi is not a web browser, so it doesn't receive browser "Do Not Track" signals; use the phone settings above instead.
9. Children
Alibi is intended for people aged 18 and over and is not directed at children. We don't knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 18. If you believe a child has sent us personal information, contact us and we'll delete it.
10. Changes to this policy
If we change this policy, we'll update this page and the effective date above. For significant changes, we'll also tell you in the app before they take effect.
11. Contact
THE EXPONENTIAL COLLECTIVE
1 Burning Bush Avenue, Unit 172 Theresa Park Estate, Pretoria, Gauteng, 0155
Email: fortuneshanemahule@gmail.com
Phone: 074 614 1865
Or in the app: Settings → Contact support.
See also our Terms of Use.