Privacy policy

Last updated 2 October 2026

Water Buddy helps you drink enough water with the help of Koi and the other pond buddies. We collect as little as we can, and we never sell your data or use it for advertising.

What we collect

• Your water log: the time and amount of each drink you log, so your history and streaks are saved.
• Your answers when you sign up, all optional: year of birth, sex, height, weight, how active your day is, how much you exercise and your climate, which we use only to work out your daily goal; and your daily goal, wake and sleep times. If you say you're pregnant or breastfeeding, that stays on your phone and is never sent to us.
• Your account: if you sign up with Google, your Google account's email address (from Google Sign-In, through Firebase Authentication), so you can sign in on a new phone and get your history back, and so we can help you if you write to us. If you use the app without an account, we only get an anonymous account ID.
• App version, country and language of your phone, to decide which features and languages you get.
• Friends: if you use Friends, the name you choose, your friend code, who you're friends with, and nudges you send. Friends see your name, your buddy and how much water you've had today.
• Purchases: if you subscribe to Premium or buy Droplets, what you bought and when, its Google Play order number, and the state of your subscription (for example active or renewing on a date). Google handles the payment; we never see your card or bank details.
• Crash reports and app usage statistics through Firebase Crashlytics and Google Analytics, to fix bugs and see which features help.
• Technical logs: when a request from the app fails, the time, which feature, the error and the app version, kept for 30 days to fix problems and answer support requests. While support is helping you, they can log every request from your app (never what you typed or your water log itself) for up to 3 days.

The waitlist

If you join the waitlist on our website, we keep your email address, the name you give (if any), the buddy you picked, which phone you use (Android or iPhone), and which link brought you (for example a friend's share link). We use it only to tell you when Water Buddy is ready on your phone and to give you the free month of Premium promised for joining: when you first open the app signed in with the same email, we match it to the waitlist once. We never sell it. To be taken off the list, write to the support address on our Google Play listing.

What happens on your phone only

Reminders are planned on your phone, and a reminder sound you pick stays on your phone. The peeking buddy (if you turn it on) only draws on your screen; it doesn't read or record what other apps show.

Who we share it with

Only the services that run the app for us: Google Firebase and Google Cloud (hosting, sign-in, crash reports, analytics). They process data on our behalf and may not use it for their own purposes.

How long we keep it

For as long as you have an account. When you delete it, your water log, settings and account are deleted from our servers straight away; backups are overwritten within 30 days. Records of purchases (what was bought, when, and the order number) are kept as long as tax and payment rules require, separate from everything else.

Your choices

• Delete your account and data at any time: in the app, open More and tap Delete my account and data. See how to delete your account.
• Turn reminders and the peeking pet on or off in the app's settings.

Children

Water Buddy is not directed at children under 13, and we don't knowingly collect data from them.

Contact

Questions about privacy: the support address on our Google Play listing.