Privacy Policy

In short

What we collect and what we don’t

Your account

So your progress can travel with you, PăcăStop uses an account tied to your email address. That is all we hold: the email, not your real name and not a public profile. You can delete the account at any time, permanently, from inside the app — the steps are on the Delete your account page.

Data kept on your phone

Your progress — your streak, the money you’ve saved, your rank and your block lists — is stored on your device, not on our servers. We do not see how much you lost or how much you saved.

Usage statistics (anonymous)

To understand what works, we use product analytics via PostHog (a processor with servers in the European Union) and, on the website, Google Analytics. We collect anonymous events — for example which button is tapped or which screen is viewed — plus basic technical data such as the app version, device type and approximate region. This data does not identify you personally. Google Analytics anonymises your IP, and some data may be processed outside the EU under the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and standard contractual clauses.

The AI mentor

The AI mentor in the app answers through a server, so what you write to it leaves your phone in order to get a reply. It receives no financial data whatsoever — no amounts, nothing about how much you have saved, nothing about how much you gambled in a session. It works the same on iPhone and on Android.

What we don’t collect

• Ads — the app has none. We show you no advertising inside PăcăStop and send no data from the app to any ad network.
• Your real name or a public profile — the account is just your email address.
• Your contacts or friends list.
• Your money amounts or details about your gambling.
• Your browsing history or exact location.
• The list of apps on your phone — see below for what happens on Android.
• What is on your screen, your messages or your passwords.

Why we use this data

We use anonymous statistics for one purpose only: to understand what helps and to improve the app. The legal basis is our legitimate interest in building a better product and/or your consent to analytics, which you can withdraw at any time from the settings.

Who we share data with

We work with a small number of processors, strictly so the app can function:

• Clerk — holds your account (your email address and sign-in). When you delete your account, the Clerk record goes with it.
• RevenueCat — keeps track of your subscription, so we know you have paid. It sees that a purchase is tied to your account; it sees nothing about your gambling.
• PostHog — anonymous product analytics, with data processed on servers in the European Union.
• Google Analytics (Google Ireland Limited) — anonymous website usage statistics, with your IP anonymised. Some data may be processed outside the EU (Data Privacy Framework / standard contractual clauses). It measures the website only, never what you do inside the app.
• TikTok — on this website only, never inside the app. If you arrive here from one of our ads and accept the “Marketing” category, the TikTok pixel tells us how many people tapped download. It measures the website visit and nothing else.
• Apple — if you download the app from the App Store, Apple processes data under its own privacy policy.
• Google Play (Google LLC / Google Ireland Limited) — if you download the app from Google Play, Google processes data under its own privacy policy.

We do not sell your data and do not give it to data brokers. The only data that reaches an advertising network is the measurement above, collected on this website and only if you accept it — you can turn it off at any time under “Cookie settings”. Nothing leaves the app for any ad network.

How long we keep data

The data on your phone stays until you delete it in the app or uninstall the app. You can delete your account at any time from inside the app, and if you have already uninstalled it you can ask us by email — we delete it within 30 days at the latest. The steps, plus the full list of what is deleted and what stays, are on the Delete your account page.

Anonymous usage statistics are kept for a limited period, in aggregated form, and cannot be linked back to you as a person. Subscription receipts stay with Apple or Google and with our payment processor for as long as accounting law requires.

Blocking apps and websites

PăcăStop exists on iPhone (iOS) and on Android. On both, blocking happens on your phone: nothing goes through our servers — there is no server for your traffic to pass through. We do not send your browsing history anywhere.

To know whether an address is on the blocklist, we have to check it against the list. We do that locally, on the spot, on the phone: the address is never saved, never sent anywhere and never reaches analytics. We do not see the pages you visit or what you do on them.

The list of known betting sites comes from the public ONJN register and ships inside the app — the same list on both platforms. What differs is the mechanism the phone gives us.

On iPhone (iOS)

We use Apple’s Screen Time technologies (Family Controls and Managed Settings). You pick the apps in Apple’s own picker, and PăcăStop receives only opaque identifiers: we never learn which apps you picked and we cannot read the list of apps installed on your phone. Known betting sites are stopped by the system web content filter, over the ONJN list.

On Android

Android has no equivalent of Screen Time, so blocking works differently: through a local VPN connection that filters addresses on the phone itself (no server, no tunnel to anywhere) and an accessibility service that tells us when a betting app opens. So you can choose what we block, the app reads the list of installed apps — only while the selection screen is open. Each of these permissions is only turned on if you turn it on, and you can turn it off at any time. Below is exactly what each one does.

The permissions we ask for on Android

We explain each of them inside the app before you turn it on. The wording below is the same as in the app, word for word.

The list of apps on your phone

So you can choose what we block, PăcăStop reads the list of apps installed on your phone and shows you their names. We read the list only while the selection screen is open. The list is not saved, never leaves your phone, and never reaches us, our analytics or anyone else. Only what you tick is kept on the phone, and analytics receive at most HOW MANY apps you ticked — never which ones.

Local VPN connection (site filtering)

We filter betting site addresses on the phone itself. Nothing goes through our servers — there is no server. Addresses are checked locally, on the spot, and are never saved, never sent anywhere and never reach analytics. We do not see the pages you visit or what you do on them.

Accessibility service

It tells us when a betting app opens so we can cover it immediately. In supported browsers we read only the address in the top bar, to check it against the blocked-sites list. We do not read your messages, passwords or anything else on screen, and nothing leaves your phone.

Device administrator

So you cannot uninstall PăcăStop in a weak moment. You remove it from inside PăcăStop, any time, or from your phone’s security settings. We never ask for a password, never lock your phone, and cannot erase anything on it.

Security

We take reasonable measures to protect data. Most importantly, the most sensitive data — your progress and your lists — never leaves your device, so it stays under your control.

Children

PăcăStop is an app for adults who want to quit betting and slot machines. It is not directed at children under 16, and we do not knowingly collect data from them.

Your rights

Under the GDPR, you have the right to access, rectification, erasure, portability, objection and withdrawal of consent. Because most data stays on your device, you can delete it at any time by uninstalling the app. Your account and everything tied to it you delete from inside the app, or ask us by email — see Delete your account. For any other request, write to us at contact@paca-stop.ro. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Romanian data protection authority (ANSPDCP).

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy as the app evolves. The current version is always available here, with the date of the last update at the top.

Contact

Have a question about your data? Write to us at contact@paca-stop.ro.