Legal
Privacy Policy
Last updated: June 23, 2026
Our promise, in plain language:
- —Hydrate is a paid app. We make money from subscriptions, never by selling your data.
- —The app contains no advertising trackers and no third-party analytics SDKs.
- —Your cycle, health, and activity data never leave your device — they are never sent to our AI or any server.
- —You can export or delete everything, at any time, from inside the app.
Hydrate ("we", "us", or "our") is committed to protecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect through the Hydrate iOS app and this website (hydrateai.app), how we use it, and your rights regarding that data.
By using the app or visiting this website, you agree to the practices described in this policy. If you are a Washington, Nevada, or other US-state consumer, please also see our Consumer Health Data section, which serves as our Consumer Health Data Privacy Policy.
1. Information We Collect
Profile & Onboarding Data
When you set up the app, we collect your name, age, weight (in lbs), activity level, wake and sleep times, and any health considerations you choose to share (such as whether you are pregnant or breastfeeding). We also store your preferred AI coaching personality. This information is used solely to calculate your personalised hydration goal and tailor in-app coaching messages. It is stored on your device.
Hydration Logs
Every water entry you log is stored on your device. Each entry includes the amount (fl oz), timestamp, drink type (e.g. water, coffee, herbal tea), an optional note, and whether it came from the app or Apple Health. This data is used to track your progress, calculate streaks, and generate coaching messages.
Cycle Phase Data
You may choose to enable cycle-aware hydration goals. If you do, we store the following information locally on your device:
- —Current cycle phase: self-reported (menstrual, follicular, ovulatory, or luteal), or automatically derived from your period start date.
- —Period start date: optionally provided so the app can automatically advance your phase day-by-day without requiring manual updates.
- —Cycle length preference: an integer between 21 and 40 days (default 28) used to calibrate automatic phase detection for your individual cycle.
All cycle data is stored exclusively on your device and is never transmitted to our servers, the AI coaching API, or any third party. Cycle tracking requires explicit consent, which you can provide or withdraw at any time from Settings › Cycle Tracking. Withdrawing consent and tapping "Clear" removes all stored cycle data immediately.
Glow Journey Photos
The Glow Journey feature lets you capture milestone selfies at hydration milestones (days 1, 7, 14, 30, 60, 90). Photos are stored as JPEG files inside the app's sandboxed storage on your device and are never uploaded to our servers. Metadata (milestone day, optional note, hydration percentage) is stored locally alongside the photo.
Device & Usage Preferences
We store app preferences locally on your device: streak data, milestone achievements, selected theme, notification settings, and subscription status. This data does not leave your device except via your private iCloud sync (see below).
Apple HealthKit Data
With your permission, we read the following data from Apple Health: active energy burned, step count, exercise minutes, and water intake logged by other apps. We use this to adjust your daily hydration goal based on your activity level. We also write your water logs back to Apple Health as dietary water samples. HealthKit data is never sent to our servers or any third-party service.
2. How We Use Your Information
- —Calculate and personalise your daily hydration goal
- —Generate personalised AI coaching messages and daily recaps
- —Track streaks, milestones, and hydration progress over time
- —Schedule smart hydration reminders based on your patterns and preferences
- —Sync your data across your own devices via your private iCloud account
We do not use your data for advertising, profiling, or any purpose beyond operating and improving the Hydrate app and website. We do not sell or share your personal information for cross-context behavioural advertising.
3. Third-Party Services
OpenRouter / Google Gemini AI
To generate personalised coaching messages, we send a limited set of data to the OpenRouter API, which routes requests to Google's Gemini AI model. This includes your first name, current hydration percentage, streak count, time of day, AI coaching mode, and aggregated hydration patterns (e.g. weekly averages). We never send your cycle phase, health considerations, weight, exact activity data, or HealthKit data to this or any other external service. No persistent account is created with OpenRouter or Google on your behalf. Messages are cached on-device to minimise API requests. Responses are not used to train AI models.
Apple CloudKit
We use Apple CloudKit solely to sync your data between your own devices. Your profile, water logs, and app preferences are stored in your private CloudKit database, tied to your personal Apple ID, using Apple's encrypted infrastructure. We do not operate a public database and do not have access to the contents of your private iCloud data. Hydrate has no public, shared, or social database.
Apple HealthKit
HealthKit integration is subject to Apple's own privacy framework. Data exchanged with HealthKit remains under your control and is governed by your iOS Health settings. We only access HealthKit data you explicitly authorise.
Google Analytics (Website Only)
We use Google Analytics 4 on hydrateai.app to understand how visitors use the website (pages viewed, clicks, general location by country). This is website-only — the iOS app does not use Google Analytics or any third-party analytics SDK. GA4 data is governed by Google's privacy policy.
4. Consumer Health Data (Washington, Nevada & other US states)
This section serves as our Consumer Health Data Privacy Policy under the Washington My Health My Data Act, Nevada SB 370, and comparable US state laws. "Consumer health data" means personal information linked to your past, present, or future physical or mental health — for Hydrate, this can include your hydration logs, cycle phase information, period start date, pregnancy or breastfeeding status, and the activity data you grant via HealthKit.
What we collect and where it comes from
We collect consumer health data directly from you (information you enter during onboarding and logging) and, with your permission, from Apple HealthKit. We do not purchase or acquire consumer health data from data brokers or other third parties.
How we use it
We use consumer health data only to provide the app's core functionality: calculating your hydration goal, adjusting it for your cycle phase or activity, tracking your progress, and generating on-device coaching. Sensitive health data (cycle, period, pregnancy/breastfeeding status, weight, and HealthKit data) is processed on your device only and is never transmitted to our servers, our AI provider, or any third party.
Who we share it with
We do not sell consumer health data, and we do not share it with any third party for their own use. Your private iCloud sync is handled by Apple as a processor under Apple's terms; no human at Hydrate can read it. We will never collect, share, or sell consumer health data without your consent, and we do not condition use of the app on consent to any secondary use of that data.
Your rights
You have the right to access the consumer health data we hold, to withdraw consent, and to have it deleted. Because this data lives on your device, you can exercise these rights directly:
- —Access / export: Settings › Privacy & Data › Legal & Data › Export (JSON or CSV).
- —Withdraw cycle consent: Settings › Cycle Tracking › Clear.
- —Delete everything: Settings › Privacy & Data › Delete My Data, or simply uninstall the app.
- —Revoke HealthKit access: iOS Settings › Health › Data Access & Devices › Hydrate.
You may also email privacy@hydrateai.app to make a request or appeal a decision. We will respond within the timeframe required by applicable law. You will not be discriminated against for exercising any of these rights.
5. Data Storage & Security
- —All personal data is stored primarily on your device, protected by iOS's built-in data protection.
- —iCloud sync uses your private CloudKit database. Data is encrypted in transit and at rest by Apple, and is accessible only through your Apple ID. For end-to-end encryption of eligible iCloud data, you can enable Apple's Advanced Data Protection in iOS Settings.
- —Glow Journey photos are stored in the app's sandboxed directory and are not accessible to other apps.
- —We do not operate our own servers or databases storing your personal data.
- —API keys used to access third-party services are not stored in the app bundle.
6. Data Sharing
We do not sell, rent, or trade your personal information. We share data only as described in this policy:
- —With OpenRouter/Google Gemini AI to generate coaching messages (limited, non-health data, as described above)
- —With Apple via CloudKit, solely to sync your data to your own private iCloud account
- —As required by law, valid legal process, or to protect the safety of users or others
7. Your Rights & Controls
You have meaningful control over your data:
- —Export your data: Download your profile, water logs, and Glow Journey metadata as JSON or CSV from Settings › Privacy & Data › Legal & Data.
- —Delete your data: You can delete your profile and all associated data from the Settings screen inside the app. Uninstalling the app removes all locally stored data.
- —HealthKit access: Revoke at any time in iOS Settings › Health › Data Access & Devices.
- —Notifications: Disable in iOS Settings › Notifications › Hydrate, or within the app's Settings screen.
- —iCloud sync: Manage in iOS Settings › Apple ID › iCloud.
- —Website analytics: You can opt out of Google Analytics via a browser extension or by enabling Do Not Track in your browser settings.
8. Data Retention
Your data is retained on-device for as long as you use the app. iCloud data is retained according to Apple's iCloud policies and remains under your control through your Apple ID. If you delete the app, all local data is removed. Deleting your data from within the app removes it from your device and, on next sync, from your private iCloud database.
9. Children's Privacy
Hydrate is not directed at children under the age of 13 (or the applicable minimum age in your jurisdiction). We do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has provided us with personal information, please contact us and we will take steps to delete it.
10. Changes to This Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we do, we will update the "Last updated" date at the top of this page. For significant changes, we will notify you via an in-app notice. Your continued use of the app after changes are posted constitutes your acceptance of the updated policy.
11. Contact Us
If you have any questions or concerns about this Privacy Policy or how we handle your data, please reach out:
Hydrate
privacy@hydrateai.app