Privacy policy

Last updated 8 November 2026

1. Who is responsible

The controller for the processing described here is:

TeraShift GmbH publishes Break Reminder and also operates EarnFM, the bandwidth-sharing network the app uses. "We" and "us" below mean TeraShift GmbH. For anything about your data, write to hello@earn.fm.

EU representative under Art. 27 GDPR: [TODO: name and address of an EU representative, or confirmation that none is required]

2. What this policy covers

This policy covers the Break Reminder app for Windows and this website. It is written for the Swiss Federal Act on Data Protection (nFADP) and, where it applies to you, the EU and UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

3. Data the app keeps on your PC

Break Reminder keeps your settings and today's break counts in your Windows user profile, in the folder %APPDATA%\fm.earn.breakreminder. It also keeps:

• a record of your agreement to bandwidth sharing (the date, the version of the consent screen and the text you saw),
• whether it starts with Windows,
• a small technical log (app.log, capped at about 256 KB) with status messages such as "sharing started", used only for troubleshooting.

Break Reminder does not upload this data as files. While the app's window is open, though, the window recordings described in section 5 show whatever the window displays, and that includes this data (for example your clipboard entries, snippets, app names or places). You can delete it by uninstalling the app with "Delete the application data" ticked (see how to uninstall) or by deleting that folder.

4. Bandwidth sharing through EarnFM

Break Reminder is free because, with your consent, it shares a small part of your unused internet bandwidth through EarnFM. Nothing is shared before you agree on the app's first screen.

How it works

After you agree, the app downloads EarnFM's sharing component from cdn.earn.fm into its data folder and runs it while Break Reminder is running. The component connects to EarnFM's servers and relays requests to public websites on behalf of EarnFM's business customers, for purposes such as price comparison, ad verification, search engine and market research, and app testing. Websites reached this way see your IP address as the origin of those requests.

Data processed

• Your IP address and technical connection data (for example connection status and the amount of bandwidth shared), to route relayed requests through your connection, to measure and account for shared bandwidth, and to detect abuse.
• A device ID created by the sharing component on your PC, to tell your device apart from others and link it to your consent record.
• Your consent record (the device ID, the exact consent text shown to you, whether you agreed, the time, and the app name, app version and consent version), to prove that you agreed before any sharing started.
• The app name and version and the version of the sharing component, to run and update the sharing component and fix problems.

The sharing component does not read your files, documents, passwords or keystrokes, does not record your browsing, and has no access to the data Break Reminder keeps on your PC (section 3). We do not use this data to build an advertising profile of you and we do not sell it.

Legal basis

Bandwidth sharing is based on your consent (Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR; under the nFADP, your consent and our legitimate interest in running the service). Keeping the consent record is needed to prove your consent (Art. 6(1)(c) and (f) GDPR). Measuring traffic and preventing abuse are based on our legitimate interest in running a secure network (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR).

Withdrawing consent

You can withdraw your consent at any time by uninstalling Break Reminder. Sharing stops immediately. Quitting the app also stops sharing until you start it again. Withdrawing does not affect sharing that happened before. If you also want us to delete the data linked to your device ID, write to hello@earn.fm.

Recipients

EarnFM's business customers send requests through the network; the websites they reach see your IP address. For usage statistics we use PostHog (section 5). We use service providers for hosting and infrastructure: [TODO: list EarnFM's hosting and infrastructure processors and their locations]. Your data may be processed outside Switzerland and the EU/EEA: [TODO: countries and safeguards, e.g. adequacy decision or standard contractual clauses].

5. Usage statistics (PostHog)

Break Reminder sends usage statistics to us so we can see whether the app works, which features are used, and how long installs keep running and sharing. This helps us fix problems, decide what to improve and measure which of our ads bring people who keep using the app. We use PostHog for this.

What the app sends

• A random install ID created when the app first starts, and a random computer ID shared by the EarnFM apps on the same PC (so we can tell that several of our apps run on one computer). Neither contains your name or anything about you.
• The device ID of the sharing component (section 4), so the statistics can be matched with sharing data.
• App name and version; Windows version, build and edition; processor type; language and region setting; time zone; whether the PC has a battery; the app's memory use.
• Events such as: first start, each start (and whether it started with Windows or after a crash), the first screen shown and whether you agreed or quit, opening the window, sharing status changes, Start with Windows switched on or off, settings changed (the name of the setting and the new on/off or number value; for text settings and lists only that they changed or how many entries there are), the "Stop sharing" dialog and the choice made, quitting, and the start of uninstalling.
• Once a day while the app runs: whether sharing is on, whether Start with Windows is on, how long the app has been running and which of its options are switched on, with counts such as the number of snippets or places.
• How often features are used, for example breaks started, skipped or snoozed, the quick picker opened, an item pasted, snippets expanded or created, places added or the converter used, tabs viewed, or a battery report run. Only that it happened, and counts.
• In Battery Health, the battery's wear and charge cycles.
• A short summary when the app crashed (the program location of the error), without any of your data.
• The campaign code in the installer's file name, if you downloaded it through one of our links or ads (see section 8), so we can tell which campaign led to the install.
• After you agree on the first screen, while the window is open: recordings of the window and how it is used (clicks, scrolling, which screens you open), and the clicks themselves as events. Nothing in the window is hidden: the recordings show everything it displays and what you type into its fields, for example your clipboard entries in Clipboard History, your snippets in TypeShort, the names of the apps you use in Screen Time and your places in Time Zones. Click events include the text of what you clicked. Recording stops when the window is closed to the tray. Other windows and apps are never recorded.
• With every statistic and recording, your IP address (see below).

The app sends these statistics from its first start, including before you answer the first screen, so we can see how many people agree. They are kept on your PC for a while if you are offline and sent later.

What the app does not send

The statistics events listed above, apart from the window recordings and clicks, contain counts and on/off states, not the text you copy, your snippets, what you type, the names of your apps or places, or window titles. The window recordings and clicks do contain what the window shows, as described above. The app never sends the contents of your files, what you type in other apps, or your name, email or contacts.

Processor, location and IP address

PostHog is provided by PostHog Inc. (USA). We use PostHog's EU cloud, hosted in Germany (Frankfurt). PostHog receives your IP address with every statistic and recording. The IP address is stored with them and used to work out an approximate location (country and city). PostHog Inc. may access the data from outside Switzerland and the EU/EEA.

Legal basis

Our legitimate interest in running, fixing and improving the app and in measuring our advertising (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR; under the nFADP, our overriding interest). We don't use these statistics to build an advertising profile of you and we don't sell them. You can object at any time by writing to hello@earn.fm; uninstalling the app stops all statistics.

How long

We keep usage statistics for up to [TODO: retention period configured in PostHog, e.g. 24 months], then they are deleted. Window and page recordings are kept for up to [TODO: recording retention configured in PostHog, e.g. 30 days].

6. Automatic updates

Break Reminder keeps itself up to date. About every six hours it asks our update server whether a new version is available. The request contains the app's name and version, the update channel and a random update ID derived from the computer ID in section 5; the update ID only decides when your PC gets a new version while it is rolled out gradually. The update server runs on Cloudflare (section 8), which processes your IP address to answer and to deliver the download. We don't store these requests. New versions are signed by TeraShift GmbH and checked before they are installed. They install silently while you are away from the PC and the app's window is closed, never during a fullscreen app, game or presentation. The app then starts again in the tray. The legal basis is our legitimate interest in keeping the app secure and working (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR).

7. How long we keep data

• Data on your PC: until you delete it or uninstall the app with its data.
• Consent records: [TODO: retention period for consent records, e.g. as long as the device is active plus the limitation period].
• IP address and connection data from sharing: [TODO: retention period for sharing and traffic logs].
• Usage statistics (app and website): see section 5.
• Update checks: not stored (section 6).

8. This website

This website uses PostHog analytics (section 5) to see which pages are viewed, which campaigns and links lead to downloads and app installs, and, on the page shown after uninstalling, why people leave. It records how each page is used: clicks, scrolling, page load times and a recording of the page as you see it, including what you type into the feedback form after uninstalling; nothing on the pages is hidden from the recording. The statistics are sent through this website's own address to PostHog's EU cloud, together with your IP address, which PostHog stores and uses for an approximate location. Nothing is loaded from other sites: no external fonts, scripts or embeds.

Cookies and local storage. If you visit from outside the EU, the EEA and the UK, the site stores a random visitor ID in a first-party cookie and in your browser's local storage (PostHog's ph_… entries and our efm_t, kept for up to one year), so we can recognise your later visits and link them to your download and app install. If you visit from the EU, the EEA or the UK (as Cloudflare determines from your IP address), or we can't tell where you are, the site first asks you in a banner. Only if you choose "Accept" does it store these IDs. If you choose "Decline", the analytics run without cookies and only last for the page you have open, and the site only keeps your choice in local storage. You can change your choice at any time under "Cookie settings" at the bottom of every page: declining there deletes the stored IDs. You can also delete cookies and site data in your browser.

A random visit code is added to the links on the page, so the pages of one visit (and, with the IDs above, later visits) can be counted together. When you download the installer, its file name contains this visit code and, if you came through one of our ads, the campaign code; the download is also recorded with the campaign details from the link (such as utm parameters or an ad click ID). When the app starts for the first time, it reads that code from the installer's file name, so we can tell that your visits led to an install. If you fill in the feedback form after uninstalling, we receive your answer together with the app's install ID.

The legal basis for the cookies and the analytics that use them is your consent in the EU, the EEA and the UK (Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR and the ePrivacy rules); for the analytics without cookies, and outside these regions, it is our legitimate interest in running and improving the website and measuring our advertising (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR; under the nFADP, our overriding interest). The website is hosted on Cloudflare (Cloudflare, Inc., USA), which processes your IP address and request details to deliver the pages and the installer and to protect them from attacks, based on our legitimate interest in running a secure website (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR). Cloudflare may process data outside Switzerland and the EU/EEA.

9. Your rights

You have the right to ask what data we hold about you, and to have it corrected, deleted or restricted. You can object to processing based on legitimate interest, ask for your data in a portable format and withdraw your consent at any time. Write to hello@earn.fm.

You can also complain to a data protection authority: in Switzerland, the Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner (FDPIC); in the EU, the authority in your country of residence.

10. Age

Break Reminder is meant for adults. You must be of legal age where you live to agree to bandwidth sharing.

11. Changes

We will update this policy when the app or the law changes, and change the date at the top. If a change affects what is shared, the app asks for your consent again before sharing continues.

EarnFM's general terms and privacy policy are at https://earn.fm/en/terms and https://earn.fm/en/privacy. For Break Reminder, this policy and our terms of use apply.