Privacy policy
Updated 2026-09-30. Applies to the AlignerCue app for iOS and Android.
AlignerCue has no account and no server of ours. What you record stays on your phone unless you choose to export it or to back it up to your own Google Drive. The only company that receives anything is Google, in the two places described below, and you can turn off the one that is optional.
What the app stores on your phone
- The times your aligners come out and go back in, and the tag you give a break (meal, drink, brushing, and so on).
- Your tray plan: which tray you are on, change dates, days per tray, your daily wear goal and the hour your day starts.
- Notes you write per tray, including the ones you flag as questions for your orthodontist.
- Retainer nights, once treatment ends.
- If you add profiles for other people on this phone, their names and all of the above for each of them.
- Names of any break tags you create yourself.
- Smile photos you take in the app. They are saved in the app's private folder, not in your photo library.
- Reminder, language and display settings.
Wear time is health-related information. It is stored only in the app's private storage on your device and is removed when you delete the app's data or uninstall the app.
Lock screen and widgets
While your trays are out, the elapsed time is shown in a notification, a Live Activity or a home-screen widget, so it is visible to anyone who can see your phone's lock screen. You can turn this off under Reminders → “Timer on the lock screen”.
Google Drive backup (optional)
You can sign in with Google to keep one backup file in your own Google Drive. This is optional and every feature works without it. If you sign in:
- We receive your Google account's email address and use it only to label the backup in the app. No name, no contacts, no other profile data.
- The app asks for the
drive.appdatapermission only. It can see the hidden folder Google reserves for it and nothing else in your Drive. - The backup is a single file,
alignercue-backup.json, holding your wear times, plan, notes and settings, plus the file names of your photos but not the photos themselves. - The file lives in your Drive under Google's terms. We cannot read it; there is no server of ours involved.
To delete it, open You → Backup & restore → Sign out and choose “Delete Drive backup & sign out”, or remove AlignerCue's hidden app data from Google Drive's settings under Manage apps. Signing out removes the Google session from this phone. AlignerCue's use of information received from Google APIs adheres to the Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements.
Exports you start
You can export your data as a CSV file or a JSON backup, generate a PDF wear report for your orthodontist, or render a time-lapse video of your smile photos. Each is created on your phone and handed to the app you choose in the share sheet. Where it goes from there is up to that app.
Anonymous usage statistics
AlignerCue uses Firebase Analytics, a Google service, to learn which features are used. Events record app state only, such as “trays out”, “tray switched” or “report exported”, with the tray number, a duration or which button was tapped. They never include your notes, photos, name or email. Advertising identifiers are disabled on both platforms. Google also receives standard device information: device model, operating system version, app version, approximate country derived from your IP address, and a random per-install identifier. Google processes this under the Firebase privacy terms.
This is on by default. Turn it off any time under You → “Share anonymous usage”; collection stops immediately. The data is aggregated and cannot be linked back to you, which is also why there is nothing we could single out to delete on request.
Update check
On launch and when you return to the app, AlignerCue asks Firebase Remote Config, also a Google service, whether this version of the app is still current. The request carries the same per-install identifier and the app version, and no personal data. It cannot be turned off; it downloads a few configuration values and nothing else.
Permissions
- Notifications — the reminders you set, and the ongoing “trays out” card.
- Exact alarms and start after reboot (Android) — so reminders fire on time and survive a restart.
- Camera — only when you tap Add photo. The photo goes to the app's private folder.
AlignerCue does not ask for location, contacts, microphone, or access to Apple Health or Health Connect.
Selling and sharing
We do not sell your data, show ads, or share anything with advertisers or data brokers. There are no advertising SDKs in the app. The only third party that receives any data is Google, as described above.
Deleting your data
Open You → Backup & restore → Start over → “Erase all data” to delete everything on your phone, photos included. Uninstalling the app removes all of it as well. The Drive backup is deleted as described above. Usage statistics are anonymous; turning them off stops further collection.
Children
AlignerCue is not directed at children under 13 and we do not knowingly collect information from them. Nothing personal is collected from anyone.
Changes
When this policy changes, the new version is published here with a new date at the top.
Contact
AlignerCue is a personal timer, not a medical device. Follow your orthodontist's instructions.