Data protectiondeclaration

As of: August 2026

1. Responsible person

back to ctrl · Owner Manuel Schmidt
Mollstraße 13, 68165 Mannheim, Germany
Email: hello@backtoctrl.com

2. The most important things in brief

This website does not use tracking cookies or advertising trackers.
We only collect data that you actively give us (e.g. your waiting list email address).
When you access the website, server log data is generated for technical reasons (see section 3).

3. Hosting and server log data

This website is hosted as a static website. When you access the website, the hosting provider automatically processes information in so-called server log files that your browser transmits: IP address, date and time of the request, page accessed, browser type and version, operating system, referrer URL. This data is technically necessary to deliver the website and to ensure stability and security (Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f GDPR - legitimate interest). A merger with other data sources does not take place.

Our website is hosted by Cloudflare (Cloudflare, Inc., 101 Townsend St, San Francisco, CA 94107, USA); the server log files are stored there. Cloudflare may transfer data to the USA. The EU standard contractual clauses in accordance with Article 46 (2) (c) GDPR serve as the basis for this third country transfer; Cloudflare is also certified under the EU-US Data Privacy Framework (Art. 45 GDPR).

4. Waiting list (email registration)

If you sign up for our waiting list, we will process your email address to inform you about the launch and availability of the ctrl key. The legal basis is your consent (Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. a GDPR). You can revoke this consent at any time - every email contains an unsubscribe option, or you can write to us informally at hello@backtoctrl.com. We use Klaviyo (Klaviyo, Inc., 125 Summer Street, Boston, MA 02110, USA) as a processor for the waiting list and for sending our confirmation, launch and update emails. Your email address will be stored there and processed for shipping. Klaviyo may transfer data to the USA; The basis for this third country transfer is the EU standard contractual clauses (Art. 46 para. 2 lit. c GDPR); Klaviyo is also certified under the EU-US Data Privacy Framework (Art. 45 GDPR). The data will be deleted after the purpose has been fulfilled or your consent has been revoked and will not be passed on to third parties for advertising purposes.

To protect the form from automated and abusive entries, we use Cloudflare Turnstile. Cloudflare evaluates technical connection and browser characteristics to distinguish whether the request is likely to come from a human. The check is solely for the security of the waiting list and not for advertising or reach measurement. The legal basis is our legitimate interest in protecting the service (Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. f GDPR). Further information can be found in the Cloudflare Privacy Policy and the Cloudflare Data Processing Addendum.

5. Contact by email

If you contact us by email, we will process your information to process the request (Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. b or f GDPR). The data will be deleted as soon as it is no longer required for processing and there are no legal retention obligations.

6. Orders and payment

As soon as you order in our shop, we process the data required for contract processing (name, address, email, order data) based on Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. b GDPR. Payment processing is carried out via Stripe (Stripe Payments Europe Ltd., Ireland). Your payment information (e.g. card information) is collected and processed directly by Stripe — we do not receive or store complete payment information. Further information: stripe.com/de/privacy. For shipping, we pass on your delivery data to the shipping company assigned (e.g. DHL). We store invoice and booking data in accordance with the statutory deadlines (§ 147 AO: up to 10 years).

7. The ctrl app (iPhone)

This section applies to our iOS app “ctrl”. It is built so that as little as possible leaves the device.

7.1 What never leaves your cell phone

This data is only processed locally on your iPhone and not transferred to us: your screen time data from Apple's Screen Time (which app and for how long), the selection of blocked apps and websites, your modes, schedules and lock settings, health data from Apple Health (pulse, heart rate variability, steps) and an optionally set profile picture. Apple's Screen Time extensions technically do not have network access.

7.2 Account (voluntary)

The app's lock function works without an account. You can create an account for friend functions (“Connect”), family and to secure your successes. Depending on the method you choose, we process: email address and password (as a hash value), telephone number, your display name and an identifier from Apple or Google if you use it to log in. The legal basis is the fulfillment of the contract (Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. b GDPR).

When you register with your phone number, we will send you an SMS with a confirmation code via the service provider seven.io (seven communications GmbH & Co. KG, Germany) as the processor. When you register with Google, registration codes are exchanged with Google; No usage data is transferred. When you use “Sign in with Apple,” Apple’s privacy policy applies.

7.3 What is transferred with account

With an active account, the app transmits to our server: your locked status (whether it is currently locked or not) for the display of "how many are currently in ctrl" and for the time spent with friends, as well as a device identification token from Apple if you have allowed notifications.

If you turn on the "Sync with account" switch, you will also see: your streak, your wins, your ctrl time for today and this week as well as a weekly score calculated from this (a value between 0 and 100). Also your settings so that a new device picks up where you left off: your modes (name, icon, strictness, time window), schedules, sleep mode, alarm times and display settings. The underlying screen time and health data as well as the selection of which specific apps a mode blocks are not transferred: This selection is only stored on your device as an anonymous Apple token; We also cannot tell from this which apps you have chosen.

Further transfers only take place if you actively use the respective function: progress in challenges that you have joined; your visibility settings per friend; a self-selected pseudonym when you join the public list; the locked state for the device network if you pair several of your own devices.

7.4 Find friends from contacts (voluntary)

If you use this function, the phone numbers from your address book will be converted on your device into non-recalculable check values (SHA-256 hashes). Only these test values are transferred and compared with the test values of other users. Your contacts' names and phone numbers don't leave your device; Non-hits are not saved. The legal basis is your consent (Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. a GDPR); you can skip this step and switch off the function at any time.

7.5 Family and children's devices

If you set up a family, we process the membership of the members, their role (parent or child) and the management status of a paired child device so that agreed blocking times can take effect. A child’s device is specifically set up by a legal guardian. The legal basis is the fulfillment of the contract (Art. 6 Para. 1 lit. b GDPR) and the consent of the legal guardian (Art. 8 GDPR).

7.6 Purchases in the app

The "ctrl club" subscription is processed exclusively via Apple's in-app purchase. Apple processes your payment data; we don't receive them. We only store whether there is an active subscription.

7.7 Where the data is located

Our app servers are located in Germany (Hetzner Online GmbH, Nuremberg data center). There is no transfer to third countries, with the exception of the above-mentioned registration services from Apple and Google and Apple's purchase processing.

7.8 Delete

You can delete your account at any time directly in the app (System → Account → Delete account). This will remove your account and synchronization information from our servers. Your local settings remain on the device and disappear when you delete the app.

7.9 No tracking, no advertising

The app contains no advertising networks, no third-party analysis services and no cross-device tracking. No advertising identifier (IDFA) is used; therefore no tracking query appears.