Privacy Policy

• Recess runs on your Mac. There is no Recess account and no Recess server storing your calendar.
• Calendar events, focused-app detection, and activity signals are read on-device through Apple's standard system APIs and used to decide when to remind you.
• Recess does not run its own analytics or crash-reporting service. The only diagnostics it sends are the ones Apple already collects on your behalf if you opt in to "Share with App Developers" in macOS settings.
• We do not sell your data, run third-party advertising trackers, or share your information with brokers.

Recess only accesses what macOS explicitly asks you to approve. Each permission has a specific purpose:

• Calendar (EventKit): Recess reads upcoming events so it can show meeting reminders and the countdown overlay. Event titles, times, attendees, and meeting links stay on your Mac. We do not upload them.
• Notifications: used to deliver meeting nudges and break prompts. Apple delivers these locally; no notification content is sent to us.
• Frontmost app / video-call detection: Recess checks which app is in the foreground (for example, your video call app) so it can pause break overlays during meetings. This check happens locally and is not logged or transmitted.
• Input idle time: Recess asks macOS how long since your last keypress or mouse movement so it knows when you're actively working. It does not record what you type, what you click, or what's on your screen.
• Screen recording: used only if you select the "Screenshot" background style for the break overlay. See section 3 below for details. If you pick any other background style, Recess does not access screen recording at all.
• Google Calendar (optional): if you choose to connect your Google account in Settings → Calendar, Recess uses Google's standard OAuth 2.0 flow to fetch upcoming events so they can be shown alongside meeting reminders. Tokens are stored in your macOS Keychain. Event data is read into memory, used to decide what to show, and is not uploaded anywhere by Recess.
• Launch at login: a macOS service flag that lets Recess start with your Mac. No data involved.

Recess uses macOS's screen recording capability in two narrow cases, both for the same purpose: producing a heavily blurred backdrop for a full-screen overlay so it reads as part of your desktop rather than a floating box.

• When the meeting reminder opens (the full-screen countdown for an upcoming meeting), Recess captures a single still frame of the display the cursor is on, applies a Gaussian blur, and uses it as the reminder's background.
• When a break begins and you have selected the "Your screen" background style in Settings → Break → Background, Recess does the same for the break window. If you choose "Brand gradient" or "Custom image" instead, Recess does not capture the screen for breaks.

In both cases the captured image is held in memory for the lifetime of that one overlay and discarded when it closes.

• Recess does not record video.
• Recess does not analyse the screen contents — no text extraction, no OCR, no logging of window titles or application names.
• Screen-capture data never leaves your Mac. It is not transmitted to us, to Apple, or to any third party, and it is not written to disk.
• You can revoke Screen Recording permission in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Screen Recording at any time. The overlays still appear, just with a plain background instead of a blurred screenshot.

• Google Calendar requests (only if you connected Google Calendar in Settings): Recess calls Google's OAuth and Calendar endpoints with your access token to fetch your events. The events come back to your Mac and stay there.
• Apple crash reports: if Recess crashes and you have "Share with App Developers" enabled in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Analytics & Improvements, Apple may forward an anonymous crash report (stack trace, macOS version, Recess version) to us. Recess does not run its own crash-reporting or analytics service alongside this.
• Support emails: if you email support, we receive your message and email address so we can reply.
• Mac App Store purchase signals: Apple tells us whether you have an active subscription so we can unlock paid features. Apple handles your payment; we never see your card details.

• Recess does not require you to create an account. There is no username, no password, and no cloud profile linked to your usage.
• Settings (timers, reminder cadence, snooze preferences) are stored locally on your Mac in standard macOS preferences.

To run Recess we rely on a small number of standard providers. They only receive what is described above.

• Apple: distributes the app through the Mac App Store, processes purchases and subscriptions, and provides crash reports if you opt in to "Share with App Developers" in macOS settings.
• Google: only if you choose to connect Google Calendar. Recess uses Google's OAuth 2.0 endpoints to sign you in and Google's Calendar API to read your upcoming events. Recess does not write to your calendar and does not send any of your event data to anyone other than Google itself.

Limited Use. Recess's use and transfer of information received from Google APIs will adhere to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements. Specifically, data obtained from Google Calendar is used only to provide and improve Recess's in-app reminder and break features on your device. It is not transferred to others except as necessary to provide those features, to comply with applicable law, or as part of a merger or acquisition; it is not used for advertising; and it is not sold. No humans read your Google Calendar data except with your explicit consent (for example, if you share it with us to debug an issue), or as required for security or to comply with the law.

We do not sell data, share it with advertisers, or use it to build profiles about you.

Recess gives you controls in three places: the menu bar dropdown, the in-app Settings window, and macOS System Settings.

In the menu bar

• Mute reminders: click the Recess icon and toggle reminders off. Meeting and custom reminders go silent until you flip it back. Breaks are unaffected.

In Recess Settings

• Disconnect Google Calendar in Settings → Calendar → Disconnect. Recess signs out of Google, removes its OAuth tokens from your Keychain, and stops fetching events.
• Pick which calendars Recess reads in Settings → Calendar. Calendars you don't tick are never read.
• Turn off the blurred-screenshot background in Settings → Break → Background. Choose "Brand gradient" or "Custom image" and Recess never captures your screen for breaks. (See section 3 for the meeting-reminder case.)
• Turn off activity detection in Settings → Breaks. Recess stops asking macOS for input idle time.
• Turn off calendar awareness for breaks in Settings → Breaks. Breaks no longer check your calendar before they fire.
• Turn off meeting reminders entirely in Settings → Reminders. Calendar events stay private to your Mac and no reminder overlay opens.
• Reset all preferences to defaults from the Settings window. Clears your in-app preferences without touching system permissions.

In macOS System Settings

• Revoke calendar access in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Calendar. Recess stops reading events immediately.
• Revoke screen recording in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Screen Recording. Overlays still appear with a plain background.
• Turn off notifications in System Settings → Notifications → Recess.
• Disable launch at login in System Settings → General → Login Items.
• Stop sharing diagnostics with Apple in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Analytics & Improvements.

If you're done with Recess

• Delete the app to remove all local Recess data from your Mac.
• For any other data request, email hello@kester.work.

• On-device data lives on your Mac until you delete the app or clear its preferences.
• Anonymous crash and usage signals are retained only as long as needed to diagnose issues and improve the app, typically no more than 12 months.
• Support emails are kept while we work with you and for a reasonable period afterwards in case the issue recurs.
• Deletion requests are completed within 30 days of receipt.

• Recess is distributed through the Mac App Store, which sandboxes the app and limits what it can touch on your Mac.
• Data we do receive (crash reports, support emails) is transmitted over encrypted connections.
• No system is perfectly secure. If we ever discover a breach that affects you, we will tell you.

Recess is not directed at children under 13 (or the higher minimum age required by your local law). We do not knowingly collect data from children.

If we make material changes, we'll update the "Last updated" date at the top and, where appropriate, notify you in the app. Continued use of Recess after changes means you accept the updated policy.

Questions, deletion requests, or anything else: email hello@kester.work. The publisher of Recess is Kester Atakere.

This Privacy Policy is governed by the laws of Nigeria, without regard to its conflict-of-laws rules.