Shmangus Privacy Policy
Last updated: 13 October 2026
Shmangus is a personal assistant app. This policy explains what it stores, where, and why — in plain terms. The short version: your data is yours, it is used only to run the features you use, it is never sold, and you can delete all of it at any time.
What we store
When you create an account and use the app, the following is stored on our server so it can sync across your devices and the website:
- Account — your email address, and a name/photo if you set one.
- Your content — reminders, notes, to-buy items, saved items, spending and transactions you add, custom apps, and anything you write in chats or the ideas doc.
- Messages — messages you send to other Shmangus users, and read/delivery status.
- Mail — if you claim a Shmangus email address, mail sent to it and any aliases you create.
- Your Claude API key — if you add one, it is stored encrypted at rest and used only to make requests to Anthropic on your behalf.
- Device push token — so reminders and messages can notify you.
- Health — what you log in the Health app: meals and the foods in them, workouts and the weights you lifted, weigh-ins, and the profile you set (goal, height, weight, training days). This is general wellness data you type, not medical records, and it is never used for advertising.
- Community — the communities you join, and what you post there: posts, replies, reactions and votes. Community posts are public to everyone who can see the room, under the name on your account.
- Spending — the transactions and budgets you add or import from a statement. A statement you import is read by the assistant to extract its transactions.
- Voice notes and call audio — a voice note you record is stored so the person you sent it to can play it. Call audio is sent between the two phones and is not recorded or stored.
- Credit — if you buy credit, what you were charged and what you used. Card details are handled by Stripe and never reach our server; we keep only Stripe's identifier for you.
- Drive and Photos — files you upload to Drive, and the photos and videos you add to Photos or back up from your phone (backup runs only if you turn it on). A photo keeps what its file says about it, such as when and where it was taken. They are private to you unless you share them.
- Passwords — the vault syncs between your devices end-to-end encrypted: it is locked on your device with a key only you hold, and our server stores only the locked copy, which it cannot read.
- Shop orders — if you buy something from the Shop, what you ordered and the shipping address you give, so the order can be made and sent.
- Birthday — asked once, so the app can apply the rules for younger people (see Children below).
- Error reports — when the app hits an uncaught error or freezes, it sends the error, the device model and the build number so it can be fixed.
What stays on your device
The key that unlocks your password vault never leaves your devices; Face ID unlocks it on the phone. Your contacts stay on the phone (see Contacts below).
Third parties
- Anthropic (Claude) — when the assistant answers you, your message and relevant context are sent to Anthropic using your own API key, under Anthropic's privacy policy. Shmangus adds nothing to that beyond what you ask.
- Apple / Expo push services — used only to deliver notifications.
- Stripe — if you buy credit on the website, or something from the Shop, Stripe takes the payment. Card details go to Stripe, not to us.
- Printful — makes and ships Shop orders, so it receives what you ordered and the shipping address.
- OpenStreetMap, Photon/Nominatim and the MTA — map tiles, address lookup and transit timetables for ShmangNav. A place you search and, if you allow it, your coordinates are sent to look them up.
- Resend — sends the sign-in code to your email address.
We do not sell your data, we do not run advertising, and we do not share your content with anyone except the services above needed to provide the features you use.
Location
ShmangNav, the trip planner, asks for your location only while you are using the app, and only so a trip can start from where you are. Naming a starting point instead works without it. When you use it, the coordinates go to our server to be turned into a place name and a route, and to OpenStreetMap's geocoder for the same reason. They are not stored and never used to track you.
Arrival reminders are the one feature that uses location while the app is closed, and only if you turn them on and allow "Always". The places you save (a name and a spot on the map) are kept with your account. Your phone watches for arriving at those places itself; when you arrive, it sends us only the name of the place, so we can tell you what is still on today's list. Your position is never sent, stored or tracked. Turning arrival reminders off, or taking the permission away in Settings, stops it.
Contacts
The app reads a contact only at the moment you pick one to add as a friend. It does not upload your address book.
Deleting your data
You can delete your account from Settings → Delete account in the app or on the website. This permanently erases your account and everything stored for it on the server. Anything held only on your device is removed when you delete the app.
Children
Everyone gives a birthday once. A child 13 or under can use Shmangus only once a parent links their own account and approves it, and then can message and call only their parents and the people a parent has approved. Children have no AI assistant, no mail, no communities, no payments and no in-app browser. Nobody under 18 uses the AI assistant. A parent can see and manage their child's account in Settings → Parents & kids, and can ask us at support@shmangus.com to delete it.
Contact
Questions about privacy or your data: support@shmangus.com. See also the Terms of Use.
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