Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

Ascendo helps you turn real-life goals and habits into quests, XP, and progress across your Life Areas - with connected experiences in the Ascendoverse. To do that well, we handle a small amount of personal information about you, and we want to be straightforward about it.

This Privacy Policy covers the Ascendo app, the Ascendoverse games, our website at ascendoapp.com, and everything around them (together, the "Services"). By using the Services you agree to what's described here. If anything doesn't sit right with you, please don't use the Services - and feel free to tell us why.

2. Who we are

Ascendo ("Ascendo", "we", "us", "our") is the controller of the personal information processed through the Services. The fastest way to reach a real human on our team is to contact us.

3. Information we collect

We try to collect as little as possible, and only what actually helps the product work. Here's the full picture:

Account information

• Your email, display name, password (always stored hashed), and authentication identifiers when you sign up or sign in - including via providers like Google.
• Anything you choose to add to your profile, such as an avatar or short bio.

Growth and activity data

• The Life Areas you track, the quests you create or complete, XP earned, levels, streaks, and review notes.
• Content you create inside the productivity tools - calendar, to-do list, notes, and quick notes.
• Goals, reflections, and journal-style entries you write in the app.

AI Coach interactions

• The prompts and messages you send to the AI Coach, and the responses it generates for you.

Ascendoverse gameplay

• In-game progression, characters, inventory, achievements, and events tied to your Ascendo account.

Device and usage data

• Device type, operating system, browser, language, approximate location (derived from your IP), and crash or performance diagnostics.
• Product analytics - which features you use and how often - so we can keep improving the things people actually rely on.

Communications

• Messages you send us and basic metadata about the transactional or product emails we send you.

What we do not read

The content you put into Ascendo is yours. We do not read your calendar events, notes, quick notes, to-do list, Life Areas, journal entries, goals, reflections, or your progression data. No human at Ascendo opens these to look at what's inside. They are stored and synced so the app works for you - nothing more.

4. How we use your information

We use what we collect to:

• Run, maintain, and personalize the Services for you.
• Generate your daily quests, track XP, level up your Life Areas, and power weekly reviews and stats.
• Operate the Ascendoverse and reflect your real-life progress inside the games.
• Send the emails that keep your account working - sign-in, security, and receipts.
• Answer your questions and help when something breaks.
• Detect and prevent fraud, abuse, security incidents, and the occasional ugly bug.
• Improve the product through analytics and research - using aggregated or de-identified data wherever we can.
• Comply with the law and enforce our terms.

5. AI features and coaching

The AI Coach and other AI features work by sending your inputs (your goals, quests, and messages) to trusted AI model providers who act as our processors. They're contractually prohibited from using your data to train their general-purpose models.

A practical note: please don't paste in things you wouldn't want processed by an AI system - government IDs, full payment card numbers, detailed medical records, that kind of thing. And remember that AI replies can be wrong. They're a great thinking partner, but not a substitute for professional medical, legal, financial, or mental-health advice.

6. The Ascendoverse and games

Your real-life progress in Ascendo powers your experience inside the Ascendoverse. To make that work, your Life Area levels, XP, and relevant achievements are linked to your in-game profile. If you play with friends or in shared worlds, your display name and some progress signals can be visible to other players. You're in charge of the social side - toggle it from your account settings.

7. Legal basis for processing (EEA / UK)

If you're in the European Economic Area, United Kingdom, or Switzerland, we rely on the following legal bases under the GDPR:

• Performance of a contract - to deliver the Services you signed up for.
• Legitimate interests - to keep the Services secure, prevent abuse, and make the product better.
• Consent - for optional things like marketing emails or certain analytics cookies. You can withdraw consent whenever you want.
• Legal obligation - when we have to process data to comply with the law.

8. How we share information

We only share personal information in a few specific cases:

• Service providers who help us run the Services - hosting, database, authentication, email delivery, analytics, AI model providers, and customer support. They work for us under written agreements.
• Authentication providers you choose to sign in with (like Google), limited to what's needed to verify your identity.
• Legal and safety - when required by law, a court order, or to protect the rights, property, or safety of our users or the public.
• Business transfers - if Ascendo is ever part of a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets. We'd tell you and keep protecting your information.
• With your consent for anything else.

9. Where your data is stored

Your data lives with reputable cloud infrastructure providers, and may be processed in countries other than where you live - including the United States and the European Union. When we move data internationally we use appropriate safeguards, like the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses.

10. How long we keep your data

We keep your information while your account is active and as long as we need it to provide the Services. When you delete your account, we delete or anonymize your personal information within a reasonable period - except where we're legally required to keep some of it (for example for tax, accounting, or security reasons, or to resolve a dispute).

11. Security

We use industry-standard technical and organizational measures to protect your data: encryption in transit, encryption at rest for sensitive fields, role-based access controls, and audit logging. No system is ever perfectly secure, so please help us out - use a strong unique password and turn on any extra protections we offer.

12. Your rights

Depending on where you live, you may have the right to:

• See the personal information we hold about you.
• Correct anything that's wrong or incomplete.
• Delete your account and the personal data tied to it.
• Export your data in a portable, machine-readable format.
• Object to or restrict certain processing, including profiling-based personalization.
• Withdraw consent where processing is based on consent.
• Lodge a complaint with your local data protection authority.

You can handle most of this directly from your account settings, or by contacting us. We respond within the timeframe required by applicable law.

13. Children's privacy

Ascendo isn't for children under 13 (or the minimum age in your country, if that's higher). We don't knowingly collect personal information from children. If you think a child has given us their information, please reach out and we'll take it down.

14. Cookies and similar technologies

We use cookies and similar technologies to keep you signed in, remember your preferences, measure how the Services are used, and keep things fast. You can control cookies through your browser settings - blocking some of them may make parts of the experience worse.

15. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy now and then to reflect changes in our product, technology, or the law. If we make material changes, we'll let you know in the app or by email before they take effect. The "Last updated" date at the top always shows the latest revision.