Your training data stays on your phone. We do not run servers, sell data, show ads or track you.
Who we are
BarkBell is made by Carlos Antonio Bernal Rodriguez ("we", "us"), based in Canada. This policy explains what happens to your information when you use the BarkBell app. Effective November 2, 2026.
Questions or requests: write to support@getbarkbell.com or Carlos Antonio Bernal Rodriguez, 1967 Prestwick Dr, Vancouver, BC V5P 2E8, Canada.
The short version
Your data stays on your phone. Workouts, body numbers, your profile and your plan are saved in a database inside the app on your device. We do not have a server that receives them.
We cannot see your data. We have no copy of it, so we cannot read it, sell it or lose it in a breach.
No ads, no tracking, no analytics. The app has no advertising, no analytics and no crash-reporting tools, and it does not track you across other apps or websites.
Health data is only used inside the app. Heart rate and steps from Apple Health or Health Connect are read only to show them to you. They are never sold, never used for ads and never shared.
You are in control. You can export your data or delete all of it at any time in Settings > Legal & privacy.
What the app keeps on your phone
When you use BarkBell, the app saves the following on your device only:
Your profile: the first name you type or share, your sex, age, height, bodyweight, units, training goal, experience, training days and session length, equipment, focus areas, the aches or limits you tell us about (like knees or lower back), cardio preference, what gets in the way of training, and your reminder settings.
Your training: workouts, sets, reps, weights, cardio distance and time, notes, routines and plans, custom exercises, body measurements, personal records, streaks, ranks and league results.
Your gyms: the gym names and addresses you type, and a gym's map position if you choose to save it.
Your character and game items: your character's look, Milo's outfits and home, bones, items you own, quests, Coach lessons finished and whether you have BarkBell Pro.
Your sign-in: the kind of sign-in you used and an ID for it (see "Signing in" below).
Your choices: app colour theme, notification settings and the version and date you accepted these terms.
None of this is sent to us or to anyone else by the app.
Why the app uses it
To log your training and show your progress, ranks, streaks and history.
To build a training plan that fits your answers (for example, to swap exercises around an ache you told us about, and to keep weight-loss plans away from people under 18).
To time your rests, count your steps and send the reminders you asked for.
To remember your character, items and settings.
Because this all happens on your device, we do not use your information for anything else, and we do not build a profile of you.
Signing in
You can start with Sign in with Apple or as a guest.
Sign in with Apple: Apple tells the app a private ID for you and, the first time only, the name and email you choose to share (you can hide your email with Apple's "Hide My Email"). The app keeps these on your phone. We do not receive them on any server. Apple handles the sign-in under Apple's own privacy policy.
Guest: the app makes a random ID on your phone. No name or email is needed.
There is no BarkBell account on our side today. Logging out keeps your workouts on the phone; deleting your data (below) erases everything.
Health data (Apple Health and Health Connect)
If you turn on Use my heart rate or Count my steps, the app asks your permission to read data from Apple Health (iPhone) or Health Connect (Android). It reads only:
Heart rate, during rests in a workout, to show your live heart rate and tell you when you have recovered.
Resting heart rate, the most recent value, to work out your recovery target. The app saves this one number in your profile on your phone; you can change or clear it in Settings.
Steps, daily totals, to show your step counter. On iPhone, if Apple Health is not available, the app can use the phone's motion sensor to count steps instead.
Health data is used only inside the app to show it to you. We never sell it, never use it for advertising or marketing, never share it with anyone, never store it in iCloud or any cloud service of ours, and never use it to decide anything about you. The app never writes to Apple Health or Health Connect.
You can stop this at any time by turning the switch off in Settings, or by removing BarkBell's access in the Health app (iPhone) or in Health Connect (Android).
Permissions, one by one
The app only asks for a permission when you use the feature that needs it. Saying no only turns that feature off.
Health (Apple Health / Health Connect): read heart rate, resting heart rate and steps, as explained above.
Motion & fitness (iPhone): count steps with the phone's own sensor when Apple Health is not available.
Location, only while using the app: when you save a gym with "use my location", and to suggest which saved gym you are at when you start a workout (only if you already allowed it). Your position is compared with your saved gyms on the phone and never sent anywhere.
Notifications: Milo's workout reminders. They are scheduled on your phone; no reminder is sent from a server.
Photos (add only): to save a workout picture to your photo library when you tap Save. The app does not read your photo library.
Files: when you choose a CSV file to import your history, the app reads only that file.
The app does not use the microphone or camera, and it does not track your location in the background.
When information leaves your phone
Only when you choose:
Sharing a workout picture or exporting your data: the app opens your phone's share sheet. You pick where it goes (Messages, email, a file, social media). That app or person then has a copy under their own rules.
Links: a few links (for example to a help page or the store) open in your browser. That website has its own privacy policy.
Your phone's backup: if you turned on iCloud Backup or Google backup, your phone may include the app's data in that backup. Those backups are controlled by you and by Apple or Google, not by us.
Purchases: buying BarkBell Pro or bones is handled by the App Store or Google Play. We never see your card or payment details. The store tells the app that a purchase is valid.
We do not sell or rent personal information, and we do not share it for advertising.
Children and teens
BarkBell is for people aged 13 and older. It is not made for children and we do not knowingly allow anyone under 13 to use it. Because the app does not send us any data, we do not collect information from anyone. If you believe a child under 13 is using the app, the data can be erased on the device with Settings > Legal & privacy > Delete my account, and you can write to us for help.
If you are under 18, please use the app with a parent's or guardian's permission. The app gives under-18s plans that focus on strength and healthy habits, never weight loss or cutting.
How long data is kept, and deleting it
Your data stays on your phone until you delete it. You can:
Delete everything: Settings > Legal & privacy > Delete my account. This erases your profile, training, plans, gyms, character, items and settings from the app, cancels scheduled reminders and signs you out.
Uninstall the app: this also removes the app's data from the phone (but not from older phone backups).
Things the app cannot delete for you: pictures you saved to Photos or shared, copies in your phone backups, Apple Health or Health Connect data (that belongs to those apps), and your purchase history with Apple or Google. To stop using Sign in with Apple for BarkBell, open Settings > [your name] > Sign-In & Security > Sign in with Apple on your iPhone.
Your rights
Depending on where you live, you may have the right to know what personal information is held about you, to get a copy, to correct it, to delete it, and to withdraw consent. This includes rights under Canada's PIPEDA and Quebec's Law 25, the EU and UK GDPR, and California's CCPA/CPRA.
Because your data is on your device and not with us, you can use these rights yourself, right away: see and correct it in the app, get a copy with Export my data, and erase it with Delete my account. For anything else, or if you want to complain, write to support@getbarkbell.com. We answer within 30 days. You can also contact your local privacy regulator, such as the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada.
For the GDPR: we do not process your personal data on our systems. Where any law treats us as responsible for the processing in the app, the legal basis is your consent (for health data and permissions) and providing the service you asked for. California: we do not sell or share personal information as those words are defined in the CCPA.
International transfers
The app does not send your data to us, so we do not transfer it between countries. Apple, Google and the apps you share with may process data in other countries under their own policies.
Security
Your data is protected by your phone's own security (your passcode, Face ID or fingerprint, and device encryption). Keep your phone locked and up to date. No system is perfectly secure, but keeping data off servers removes the biggest risk: a breach of our systems.
Changes to this policy
If we change how the app handles information (for example, if we add cloud backup), we will update this policy and its effective date before the change, and the app will ask you to review it. If a change needs your consent, we will ask for it first.
Contact
Carlos Antonio Bernal Rodriguez 1967 Prestwick Dr, Vancouver, BC V5P 2E8, Canada support@getbarkbell.com
BarkBell