This policy explains what Kaizen Locator does — and, more importantly, what it does not do — with information on your device. Please read it before installing or using the app.
To work as a location-by-SMS tool, the app needs the following Android permissions. Except for the optional license verification noted below, all processing is local to your phone.
SMS (send only). The app sends ping requests, replies, and SOS alerts as standard text messages. It does not hold permission to read or receive your SMS. Incoming app messages are delivered by Android's SMS Retriever — a permission‑free system service that hands the app only a message ending in this app's own one‑time signature, and never exposes any of your other texts. No SMS content is uploaded anywhere — it stays in your phone's SMS database, where it already lives.
Contacts. When you choose someone to ping, the app reads your contacts so it can show names and phone numbers in a picker. When a ping arrives, the app looks up the sender's number in your contacts so it can display a name instead of a raw number. Contact data is read only on-device and is never transmitted off your phone.
Location (foreground + background, fine + coarse). When a contact you have allowed sends you a ping, the app reads your current GPS coordinates and includes them in the SMS reply. Background location is requested so this can work when your screen is off. Location is only included in replies you have authorised, either by tapping "Approve" on the prompt or by setting that contact to "Always allow" in advance. You can revoke either setting at any time. Your location is sent only by SMS, to the contact you authorise — we never receive it.
Physical activity / usage access (optional). To tell a Family member whether you have recently been active, the app can detect movement (motion sensor) and recent phone use. This is processed on your device; only a coarse "active within X hours" status and the time of your last movement/use are included in an SMS reply to a Family contact you have chosen. None of it is sent to us.
Foreground service / foreground service location. Required by Android so the app can fetch GPS to answer an authorised ping while the phone is in Doze mode. While the service is running you'll see a notification — that's Android's requirement.
Camera (optional). Used only by the in-app QR scanner, to read a "Connect by QR" or "Join trip" code when you choose to scan one. The camera image is processed on your device to decode the code and is never photographed, saved, or transmitted. You can skip it entirely by pasting a copied code instead.
Wake lock & ignore battery optimisations. Used so that an incoming ping can wake the phone briefly to compute your location and reply. Nothing is collected or transmitted because of them.
Vibrate & full-screen intent. Used by the optional SOS feature. When a contact you have marked as "Family" triggers SOS, your phone vibrates and shows a full-screen alarm. No data is sent off-device for this.
Internet & network state. Used for two things: (1) best-effort reverse geocoding (turning latitude/longitude into a street address) when you view a received location — a single request containing only the coordinates; and (2) the optional license/email verification described below. Aside from those, the internet permission is not used to send your contacts, SMS, or location to us or anyone.
Notifications. Local notifications inform you when a ping has arrived or when a reply has been sent. They are generated by your phone — not pushed from a server.
Kaizen Locator offers optional Pro features. If you choose to verify your email (you can skip this and still use the app), or if you enter a license key, the app sends the following to our license server — hosted on Microsoft Azure — over an encrypted (HTTPS) connection:
We use this only to issue, verify, and manage your license, and to email you about it. We do not sell it, use it for advertising, or share it with third parties for their own purposes. If you never verify your email and never enter a license key, none of this is sent. You can request deletion at any time — see Data deletion below.
Apart from the optional license/email verification described above, the app does not:
Anything else stored by the app — your name, ping history, per-contact policies, blocklist, language and theme preferences — lives only in your phone's app-private storage. Uninstalling the app removes it.
Kaizen Locator is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect information from children. The optional email/phone verification is intended for the adult who sets up the app.
Open Settings → Apps → Kaizen Locator → Permissions on your phone to grant or revoke any permission. The app will continue to run, but any feature whose permission you revoke will stop working (for example, revoking Location means replies can no longer include coordinates).
Your location, contacts, and SMS are never transmitted to us, so there is no remote database of them to breach. The optional license/verification data (email, phone, device identifier) is sent over an encrypted HTTPS connection and stored only for license management. SMS messages between phones travel over your carrier's network as normal SMS — Kaizen Apps does not see them. Please be aware that SMS itself is not end-to-end encrypted; only share location with people you trust.
You can ask us to delete the personal data tied to your license — your email address, phone number, and device identifier.
To request deletion: email [email protected] from the email address you verified, with the subject "Delete my data — Kaizen Locator", and include the email and/or phone number you used in the app. We will delete your email, phone number, and device identifier from our license records within 30 days and confirm by email.
You can also remove a license from a device in-app via Settings → License, and uninstalling the app deletes everything stored locally on your phone.
If we change this policy, we'll update the Effective date above and post the new version at the URL where this document is hosted.
Questions or concerns about privacy? Email [email protected].