Privacy Policy

Last updated: January 2025

Our Commitment to Privacy

Custos is built on a foundational principle: your screen content never leaves your device. We designed Custos specifically to provide accountability without compromising your privacy. This policy explains exactly what data we collect, what stays on your device, and how we handle any information that does reach our servers.

Data That Never Leaves Your Device

The following data is processed entirely on your local machine and is never transmitted to Custos or any third party:

  • Screenshots and screen content - All image analysis happens locally using on-device AI models
  • AI detection results - The CLIP model runs on your machine; we never see what triggered an intervention
  • Guardian conversations - Your dialogue with the AI Guardian is processed through your own OpenAI API key
  • Browsing history or application usage - We do not monitor or log what applications you use

Data We Collect (Managed/Patron Tier Only)

If you subscribe to the Patron tier with cloud sync enabled, we collect minimal metadata to provide the service:

  • Account information - Email address for authentication and communication
  • Subscription data - Payment status managed through Stripe (we never see your full card number)
  • Audit log metadata - Timestamps of interventions, session IDs, and unlock events (no content details)
  • Device tokens - For delivering software updates to your installation

Self-hosted users: If you use the free self-hosted version, we collect no data whatsoever. Your installation is completely independent.

OpenAI API Usage

The Guardian AI feature uses GPT-4o through OpenAI's API. When you interact with the Guardian during an intervention:

  • Requests are sent directly from your device to OpenAI using your personal API key
  • Custos servers never see or proxy these conversations
  • OpenAI's data usage policies apply to these interactions
  • We recommend reviewing OpenAI's Privacy Policy

How We Use Your Data

For Patron subscribers, we use collected data exclusively to:

  • Authenticate your account and manage your subscription
  • Deliver software updates and security patches
  • Provide customer support when you contact us
  • Display your journey statistics in the dashboard (if cloud sync is enabled)

We do not sell, rent, or share your personal information with third parties for marketing purposes.

Data Security

We implement industry-standard security measures to protect your data:

  • All data transmission uses TLS 1.3 encryption
  • Passwords are hashed using bcrypt with appropriate work factors
  • Database access is restricted and audited
  • We use Supabase for authentication, which provides enterprise-grade security
  • Payment processing is handled entirely by Stripe; we never store payment credentials

Data Retention

We retain your data only as long as necessary:

  • Account data - Retained while your account is active, deleted within 30 days of account closure
  • Audit logs - Retained for 90 days, then automatically purged
  • Payment records - Retained as required by law for tax and accounting purposes

Your Rights

You have the right to:

  • Access - Request a copy of all data we hold about you
  • Correct - Update any inaccurate personal information
  • Delete - Request deletion of your account and associated data
  • Export - Receive your data in a portable format
  • Opt-out - Disable cloud sync while retaining local functionality

To exercise any of these rights, contact us at privacy@custosshield.org.

Children's Privacy

Custos is not intended for use by individuals under 18 years of age. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us immediately.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We will notify you of any material changes by posting the new policy on this page and updating the "Last updated" date. For significant changes, we will also send an email notification to registered users.

Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact us: