Consumer Health Data Privacy Policy

Your injuries, pain and rehab stay on your iPhone. Ascent doesn't sell them, doesn't use them for ads, and doesn't send them to the Coach.

This policy is for people in Washington, Connecticut and other US states with consumer health data laws. It adds to Ascent's privacy policy, which covers everything else.

What consumer health data Ascent handles

In Ascent this is Body data, which you type in yourself:

injuries: the name you give it, the body region, and the structure and diagnosis if you enter them, when it started, its status and how bad it is;
pain check-ins, out of 10;
rehab exercises, set by you or your physio, and the days you did them;
load rules, such as "Max 2 crimpy sessions a week";
"Sore" as the reason you skipped a Daily suggestion.

Ascent doesn't read Apple Health, your location or anything else on your iPhone to build it.

Where the law reads consumer health data more widely, the summary of your training that the Coach reads (Load, grades and sessions, and your age band, sex and climbing years if you set About you) may count too. It's covered below and in the privacy policy.

Where it's kept

Only on your iPhone, in its own file that's kept out of iCloud Backup and computer backups. Ascent has no account and no server copy, so we can't see it. It leaves your iPhone only if you export a backup yourself.

Why it's used

On your iPhone, to show the Body ring and your pain trend, check plans and climbs against your load rules, keep suggestions away from an injured body region, and remind you about rehab and pain check-ins. All of that runs on the iPhone.

Nobody, for now. The Coach doesn't receive Body data, and Ascent's server refuses any Coach request that carries it. Your load rules and injury limits still apply on your iPhone.

If the Coach is later allowed to read Body data, Ascent will ask for your separate, explicit consent first, and you can say no without losing anything else. With that consent, Body data would be sent with Coach requests through Ascent's server to OpenRouter, which passes them to Google's Vertex AI to write the reply. They act only on Ascent's instructions, delete it promptly after the reply apart from short-lived caching and abuse checks, and never use it for training. This page will be updated before that happens.

The training summary above goes to OpenRouter and Google the same way, and only after you agree on the Coach's consent screen.

Ascent never sells consumer health data, never uses it for advertising, and never shares it with data brokers. Ascent doesn't set geofences around health care locations.

Your rights

You can ask Ascent to confirm whether it collects, shares or sells your consumer health data, to give you a copy and a list of everyone it was shared with, to delete it, and to withdraw any consent you gave. Ascent won't treat you differently for asking.

Most of this you can do yourself, because the data is on your iPhone:

see or export it: Settings › Export backup;
delete an entry in the Body tab, or everything with Settings › Clear everything, or by deleting the app;
withdraw the Coach's consent: Settings › Ascent Pro › Withdraw consent.

For anything else, or to ask in writing, email hello@climbascent.app with "Health data request" in the subject. We answer within 45 days, and tell you if we need up to 45 more. Because Ascent has no account, we may ask for something only you have, such as the purchase details on your Apple receipt, to find any server records that relate to you.

If we turn down a request, you can appeal by replying with "Appeal" in the subject. We answer an appeal within 45 days. If you're not satisfied, you can contact your state's Attorney General: in Washington at atg.wa.gov/file-complaint, in Connecticut at portal.ct.gov/ag.

Who we are

Ascent is made by Sean and Ivan, co-founders. Sean publishes Ascent on the App Store as an individual. Contact: hello@climbascent.app.