Ember Migraine Tracker
Privacy Policy
1. Information We Collect
Authentication Data
When you create an account, Ember collects your email address through Firebase Authentication for the sole purpose of managing your login credentials. If you sign in with Apple, we receive only the identifiers Apple provides. No health data is stored in your account.
Subscription Data
If you subscribe, RevenueCat (our subscription management provider) processes your purchase through Apple's App Store. We receive only your subscription status and purchase receipts. We do not receive or store your payment details.
Health Data You Enter
Ember allows you to record daily headache and migraine symptoms, severity, and functional impact; medications taken; menstrual cycle data; treatment history and injection dates; disability questionnaire responses; baseline frequency estimates; and provider and pharmacy information.
All health data is stored locally on your device only. It is never transmitted to our servers, to third parties, or to any cloud service.
Data We Do NOT Collect
We do not collect your location data. We do not use behavioral analytics platforms, tracking pixels, or advertising identifiers. We do not use cookies, session replay, or similar tracking technologies. We do not collect advertising identifiers (IDFA) or behavioral usage telemetry.
Crash Reports
Ember uses Sentry, a crash reporting service, to capture stack traces when the app encounters an unexpected error. Crash reports include the location of the error in our code (file name, line number), your device's iOS version, and basic device model information.
Crash reports are configured to explicitly exclude your name, email, or any other identifying information; any health data you have entered; your IP address or device-level identifiers (IDFV, IDFA); and any screen recordings or session replays. This data is used solely to identify and fix bugs in the app.
Optional Data Sharing
If you choose to use the export features, Ember generates a PDF report or chart note that you can share via your device's standard sharing functionality. This sharing is initiated and controlled entirely by you. We have no access to shared reports.
2. How Your Data Is Stored
All health data entered into Ember is stored locally on your device using your device's built-in storage system. No health data is transmitted to external servers.
Because your health data exists only on your device:
- If you delete the app, your health data is permanently deleted.
- If you use the "Delete all my data" feature within the app, all data is permanently and irreversibly removed.
- If you lose or replace your device without a device backup, your data cannot be recovered.
- We cannot access, retrieve, or restore your health data under any circumstances.
We recommend using your device's built-in backup system (e.g., iCloud Backup) if you wish to preserve your data across device changes.
3. How We Use Your Data
Your health data never leaves your device, so we never see it, process it, or use it. The app processes your data entirely on your device to provide its core features: automatic classification of headache and migraine days, report generation, medication tracking, treatment response calculations, and clinical chart note generation.
Your email address is used solely for authentication purposes.
4. Third-Party Services
Ember uses three third-party services, none of which receives your health data:
- Firebase Authentication (Google): Manages your login credentials only. Receives your email address or Apple Sign-In identifier. Does not receive any health data.
- RevenueCat: Manages subscription status and purchase receipts only. Does not receive any health data.
- Sentry: Receives anonymized crash reports (stack traces, iOS version, device model) when the app encounters an error. Configured to exclude all user identifiers and all health data. See "Crash Reports" in Section 1 above.
Ember does not integrate with behavioral analytics platforms, advertising networks, cloud databases of health information, or social media services.
5. Data Sharing and Disclosure
We do not share, sell, rent, or disclose your health data to any third party because we do not have access to your health data. The only way your health data leaves your device is if you actively choose to share it using the app's export features.
6. Children's Privacy
Ember is not directed to children under 17 years of age. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 17. If you are a parent or guardian and believe your child has used the app, please note that all health data is stored locally on the device and can be deleted using the "Delete all my data" feature.
7. HIPAA and Health Data
Ember is designed to assist patients in tracking their own health information. Because the app stores health data exclusively on your personal device and does not transmit health data to any server or third party, the app itself is not a "covered entity" or "business associate" under HIPAA.
The app is designed with privacy principles consistent with HIPAA's minimum necessary standard: no unnecessary data collection, local-only storage, patient-controlled data sharing, and complete data deletion capability.
If you share your data with your healthcare provider, that communication is subject to your provider's own privacy practices.
8. Data Security
Your health data is protected by your device's built-in security features, including device passcode and biometric authentication (Face ID, Touch ID), device encryption (enabled by default on modern iOS devices), and app sandboxing (iOS prevents other apps from accessing Ember's data). Because no health data is transmitted over the internet, there is no risk of interception during transmission.
9. Your Rights and Choices
You have complete control over your data:
- Access: All data you enter is visible to you within the app at all times.
- Export: You can export your data as a PDF report or chart note at any time.
- Deletion: You can permanently delete all your data using the "Delete all my data" feature. This action is irreversible.
- Modification: You can edit your entries, baselines, and settings at any time.
- Account: You can delete your account, which removes your authentication credentials from Firebase.
10. Changes to This Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. If we make material changes, we will notify you through the app or by updating the "Last Updated" date at the top of this policy. Your continued use of the app after changes are posted constitutes your acceptance of the revised policy.
11. California Residents (CCPA)
Because Ember does not collect, store, or transmit personal health information to any server or third party, the categories of information typically disclosed under the California Consumer Privacy Act do not apply. We do not sell personal information. We do not share personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising. Your email address used for authentication is the only personal data we hold, and you may delete your account at any time.
12. European Users (GDPR)
Because Ember stores all health data locally on your device and does not transmit health data to servers located anywhere, no personal health data is processed by us as a data controller or data processor. You retain complete control of your health data at all times. The app's local-only architecture means that GDPR data subject rights (access, rectification, erasure, portability) are exercised directly through the app's built-in features. For your authentication data (email), you may request deletion by deleting your account within the app.
13. Contact
If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or Ember's data practices, please contact us at:
Email: hello@cascadeheadache.com
Developer: Cascade Headache, LLC