Legal

Privacy Policy

Last updated · 18 April 2026

Overview

Breather is a wellbeing platform for teams. We designed it with privacy at the core. Your session history stays on your device, we never record your audio, and we only collect what we need to run the service.

What we collect

Account information. When you sign in with Google or a magic link, we store your email address and a unique account identifier. This is held in our database (hosted by Supabase) and used to manage your account and subscription.

Subscription and billing. If your organisation subscribes, payment is handled by Stripe. We never see or store card details. We do store your Stripe customer ID, subscription status, plan type, and billing period dates so the app knows whether your subscription is active.

Analytics and usage data

What we collect. We collect anonymous usage events in the desktop app (app opens, feature usage, session metadata like duration and mood category) and device info (OS, app version, architecture). On the website, we collect page views and clicks.

What we do NOT collect. We never collect calendar event titles or content, meeting participants, audio or voice data, microphone recordings, or any content from your meetings or sessions.

Why we collect it. To understand how people use Breather so we can improve the product, identify bugs, and measure which features are valuable.

Who processes it. Analytics data is processed by PostHog. Data is hosted in the EU. PostHog privacy policy.

Identity linking. When you create an account, anonymous usage data is linked to your account to provide a continuous view of your experience. On sign-out, a new anonymous identifier is generated.

Cookieless website analytics. The breather.work website does not use cookies or persistent local storage for analytics. PostHog is configured in a cookieless mode that uses only browser sessionStorage, which the browser clears automatically when you close the tab. No data persists on your device between visits and no cross-session tracking occurs.

Retention. Analytics event data is retained in PostHog for 12 months, after which it is automatically deleted.

Opt-out. In the desktop app, you can disable analytics at any time via the "Share usage data" toggle in Settings.

Error and crash reporting

The desktop app uses Sentry to collect crash reports and error data. When something goes wrong, Sentry receives a report that includes the error details (stack trace), your app version, operating system, and your account identifier (if signed in). This helps us identify and fix bugs quickly.

Error reports are sent automatically. No calendar data, session content, or meeting information is included in error reports.

Sentry data is processed and stored in the EU (Germany). Sentry privacy policy.

What stays on your device

The following data is stored locally on your machine and never sent to our servers:

  • Sessions. Timestamps, durations, and mood selections from your sessions. This powers your weekly statistics.
  • Preferences. Voice choice, session duration, ambient sound, notification settings, and other configuration.
  • Calendar tokens. If you connect Google Calendar or Outlook, the OAuth tokens are stored locally using the operating system's secure storage API. If you connect Apple Calendar, we use the native macOS EventKit permission. In all cases, calendar event data is processed in memory for notification timing and is never stored or transmitted.

Google Calendar access

If you choose to connect Google Calendar, Breather requests read-only access to your calendar events. It uses this to:

  • Detect gaps between meetings where a guided pause might fit
  • Know when a meeting ends so it can suggest a pause at the right moment
  • Show you context about your upcoming schedule

Calendar data is fetched periodically, processed locally in memory, and never stored permanently or sent to any third party. You can disconnect your calendar at any time from the account screen, which immediately deletes all stored tokens.

Microsoft Outlook access

If you choose to connect Microsoft Outlook, Breather uses Microsoft's Graph API with read-only calendar scopes. The same rules apply as for Google: tokens are stored locally, event data is processed in memory, nothing is transmitted or stored on our servers.

Apple Calendar access

If you choose to connect your Apple Calendar, Breather requests access through the native macOS EventKit framework. It uses the same information as described above for Google Calendar: event start and end times, to detect gaps and time session suggestions around your meetings.

Apple Calendar data is processed locally in memory and never stored permanently or sent to any third party. You can revoke access at any time from macOS System Settings or from the account screen in the app.

Microphone detection

Breather can detect whether your microphone is currently in use. This is the same indicator macOS shows as the orange privacy dot in your menu bar. It uses this to know when you're on a call, so it doesn't interrupt you mid-meeting.

No audio is ever recorded, captured, or transmitted. The app only checks a binary active/inactive status from the operating system. It requires a one-time microphone permission prompt, but this permission is used solely to query the microphone's in-use state.

Team Breathers reporting

For Team Breathers, we collect aggregate attendance data and anonymised post-session pulse responses (a mood word, a number, or a short check-in). Individual attendance and responses are never shared with the purchasing organisation. Reports shown to purchasers are aggregate and anonymous.

Third-party services

We do not use any advertising or ad-tracking services.

Data security

  • Encryption in transit. All communication between the Breather app and our servers is encrypted using TLS (HTTPS).
  • Encryption at rest. Account data stored in our database (hosted by Supabase on AWS) is encrypted at rest using AES-256 encryption.
  • Secure token storage. OAuth tokens and session credentials are encrypted locally on your device using the operating system's native secure storage (macOS Keychain, Windows Credential Manager).
  • Minimal data retention. We limit the data we collect and store to the minimum necessary to operate the service. Calendar data is processed in memory only and is never persisted to disk or transmitted to any third party.
  • Access controls. Access to our infrastructure and databases is restricted to authorised personnel only.

Data retention

Your account data (email, subscription status) is retained for as long as you have an account. If you sign out, your local session is cleared immediately. Local data (session history, preferences) remains on your device until you delete the app or its data.

Your rights

You can:

  • Disconnect Google Calendar or Outlook at any time, which deletes all stored tokens
  • Revoke Apple Calendar access at any time from macOS System Settings or from within the app
  • Sign out, which clears your local session data
  • Request deletion of your account and all associated data by contacting us at hello@breather.work
  • Export your data by contacting us at the same address

If you're in the EU or UK, you have additional rights under GDPR including the right to access, rectify, and erase your personal data. Contact us to exercise these rights.

Children

Breather is not directed at children under 16. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children.

Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. If we make significant changes, we'll let you know through the app or by email. The date at the top of this page always reflects the latest version.

Contact

Questions about this policy? Reach us at hello@breather.work.