Most apps keep your data on their servers. You type something in, it travels to a company’s computers, and the app on your phone shows you their copy. Checkup works the other way round.
On your phone, and nowhere else
When you set up a person, log a visit or answer “when was the last one?”, Checkup writes it to a database on your phone. That database is the only copy. There’s no Checkup server holding your family’s records, so there’s nothing for us to read, lose, sell or hand over.
That’s also why Checkup has no account. An account exists so a company can match you to your data on its servers. With no servers holding your data, there’s nothing to match.
Locked, even on your phone
The database is encrypted. Its key is a long random number made on your phone the first time you open Checkup, and kept in the phone’s secure storage: the Keychain on iPhone, the Keystore on Android. Another app can’t read the file, and neither can someone who copies it off the phone without the key.
If your phone can’t encrypt it, Checkup won’t store anything. It shows “Encryption unavailable” instead of quietly saving your records in the clear.
What does leave your phone
Only what you choose to send:
- A backup file, when you tap Back up. It’s encrypted with a passphrase you choose, and you decide where it goes.
- A guideline’s website, when you tap a recommendation’s source.
Reminders don’t count: they’re scheduled by your phone itself, not sent from anywhere.
If you lose your phone
Your records go with it, unless you made a backup. That’s the trade-off of keeping data only on your device. Moving to a new phone shows how to keep a backup, and the privacy policy has the details.