Privacy Policy

Minus 5 · Last updated September 4, 2026

Minus 5 is designed to collect as little data as possible. We don't have accounts, and we don't use analytics or advertising SDKs.

One feature sends anything off your device: Rankings, and it is off unless you switch it on. Everything else stays in your own iCloud, where we cannot see it. Rankings is described in full below.

What the app stores

• Your tasks, levels, and stats. Stored locally on your device and synced through your personal iCloud account using Apple's CloudKit. Only you can read this data. We never see it.
• Your settings (theme, accent color, reminder times). Stored in your device's local preferences and shared with the Minus 5 widgets via an App Group.
• Calendar events (only if you turn on the Calendar Mirror). Read from your device's calendar using EventKit. Events are displayed read-only and are never copied, uploaded, or written back.

Rankings (optional, off by default)

If — and only if — you turn on Rankings, the app publishes three things to a shared database in our iCloud (CloudKit) container so leaderboards can be shown:

• Your current streak, as a number of days.
• Your country code, taken from your device's region setting. Not GPS, and not location services — the app never asks for your location.
• A made-up display name the app generates for you, such as "Bright Otter", plus any digits you choose to add. You cannot type a name yourself.

Alongside those is a random identifier created on your device the first time you opt in. It is not derived from your Apple Account, your email, your device, or anything else about you, and it is used for nothing except identifying your own row so it can be updated.

What is never sent: the text of your things, your completion history, your dates, your Apple Account, your email, or your location.

Other people using Minus 5 can see your display name, your country flag and your streak on the leaderboard. That is the entire point of the feature, and it is why it is off until you choose it.

Turning it off deletes it. Choosing "Leave the rankings" removes your row from the database — it is not merely hidden.

What the app does not do

• No third-party analytics.
• No advertising or tracking SDKs.
• No account system, no email collection.
• No tracking across apps or websites, ever.
• Apart from Rankings, nothing you enter is sent anywhere we can read it. Your things sync only through your own private iCloud.

Notifications

If you enable reminders, they fire locally on your device via iOS. No notification content leaves your phone.

Permissions

• Notifications — to deliver the reminder times you set.
• Calendar (optional) — to read today's events for the Calendar Mirror feature.

You can revoke either permission at any time in iOS Settings.

Data deletion

Uninstalling Minus 5 removes local data. To remove iCloud-synced data, delete it from Settings → Apple ID → iCloud → Manage Storage → Minus 5.

If you joined Rankings, open Settings → Rankings → "Leave the rankings" before uninstalling. That deletes your leaderboard row. Uninstalling alone leaves the app no way to remove it; if that has already happened, email us and we will delete it for you.

Children

Minus 5 does not knowingly collect any personal information from anyone, including children.

Contact

Questions: arenasdbavaro@gmail.com