WatchCircle-PrivacyPolicy.md

WatchCircle — Privacy Policy

# WatchCircle — Privacy Policy

_Last updated: June 2, 2026_

WatchCircle is built to keep your watching diary completely under your control. We do not run accounts, do not collect analytics, and do not use third-party tracking. This policy explains exactly what data WatchCircle handles, where it lives, and who can see it.

## 1. What WatchCircle stores

WatchCircle stores the entries you create yourself:

- Title of the movie, show, or documentary
- Where you watched it (Netflix, cinema, flight, Apple TV, etc.)
- The date you watched it
- Your rating verdict (Recommended, Time-Pass, Waste of Time)
- Your free-text notes
- Optional watch link (a URL you choose to save)
- Optional custom poster image you pick from your Photos library
- Looked-up poster URL, release year, and movie/TV kind from the metadata services described below
- Your chosen display name (used so friends see who shared a list)

WatchCircle does **not** collect your location, address book, photos library, browsing history, IP address, advertising identifier, or any other personal information.

## 2. Where your data lives

All of your entries live in your own personal iCloud account, in the **private** CloudKit database for WatchCircle. Apple's iCloud sync is end-to-end between your own devices; 3S Studio cannot read this data, and we do not operate any server that holds a copy of it.

If you delete an entry on one of your devices, it is removed from iCloud and your other devices on the next sync.

## 3. Friend sharing

WatchCircle's friend-sharing feature uses Apple's CloudKit Sharing (CKShare). When you invite a friend:

- Your watched list and watchlist are made readable to that friend via Apple's iCloud Sharing infrastructure.
- Your friend's own list is shared back to you in the same way once they accept and reciprocate.
- Each side sees the other's entries (title, where, date, rating, notes, posters) but **cannot edit them**.
- Either party can remove the share at any time from inside WatchCircle. Removing a friend severs sharing in both directions.

All of this is mediated by iCloud directly between the two participants. 3S Studio is not in the loop and cannot read any shared content.

## 4. Title metadata lookups

When you search for a title to log, WatchCircle queries:

- **The Movie Database (TMDb)** — `themoviedb.org` — for posters, release year, and movie/TV classification.
- **Apple iTunes Search API** — `itunes.apple.com` — as a complementary source for the same.

Only the search text you type is sent to those services in order to return matching titles. We do not send your identity, your existing list, or any other personal information. TMDb's privacy policy is at https://www.themoviedb.org/privacy-policy.

## 5. Notifications

If you opt in to "Notify me when a friend watches something" in Settings, WatchCircle posts **local** notifications on your device when a friend's newly-shared title arrives via iCloud. iOS controls how those alerts are displayed; no notification content is sent through 3S Studio.

## 6. Custom posters

If you pick a custom poster from your Photos library, the image is copied into your iCloud-synced WatchCircle data (and shared with friends if you've shared that entry). WatchCircle does not request blanket Photos library access — only the picture you explicitly hand it through the system picker.

## 7. Analytics, advertising, tracking

WatchCircle contains **no** analytics SDKs, **no** advertising SDKs, **no** crash-reporting SDKs, and **no** third-party trackers of any kind. We do not have a "user ID" for you and we cannot tell whether or how often you use the app.

## 8. Children

WatchCircle is a general-audience utility and is not directed at children under 13. We do not knowingly collect any personal information from children.

## 9. Your choices

- **Stop sharing with a friend** — open the Friends tab, tap the friend, choose Remove Friend.
- **Delete all your data** — delete the app from each of your devices. To also clear the iCloud copy, go to iOS Settings → your Apple ID → iCloud → Manage Account Storage → WatchCircle → Delete Data.
- **Disable notifications** — toggle off "Notify me when a friend watches something" in WatchCircle's Settings, or turn off WatchCircle notifications in iOS Settings → Notifications.

## 10. Changes to this policy

Material changes will be reflected in a new "Last updated" date at the top of this page and, where appropriate, mentioned in WatchCircle's release notes.

## 11. Contact

Questions about privacy in WatchCircle?

**appsupport@3sstudio.net**

— 3S Studio