Privacy Policy
This policy explains, in plain words, what information the Tech Checkup app uses, why, and how you stay in control.
Tech Checkup is operated by Ricky Knoblock (“Tech Checkup,” “we,” or “us”) in Ocala, Florida.
The short version
- We only see your screen during a help visit that you start.
- You can hide your screen or stop the visit at any time.
- Screen video and voice are sent live and are never recorded or stored.
- The free app check runs on your phone. Your app list stays on your phone unless you start a live visit or ask for the paid double-check.
- You type your own passwords. We never ask for them.
- No account is needed. We never collect your location, contacts, messages, photos, or email address.
- We have no ads and we never sell your data.
- You can ask us to delete your data, and we will do it within 30 days.
Screen sharing
- Only during a visit. Your screen is shared only while a help visit is active.
- You start it. Screen sharing never starts on its own. You tap a button to start it, and Android asks for your permission first.
- You can hide it or stop it any time. Use the hide or stop button in the app whenever you like. While your screen is hidden, the helper sees only a black screen. When the visit ends, screen sharing ends too.
- Live only, never recorded. Your screen is streamed live, normally straight from your phone to the helper's phone. It is never recorded or stored, by us or anyone else.
- Passwords. You type your own passwords. We will never ask you to tell us a password. We suggest hiding your screen while you type private information.
Voice
During a visit, you and the helper can talk through the app, after you give the app permission to use the microphone. Voice is live only and is never recorded or stored.
If you choose to type your phone number when you ask for help, the helper may call you back with a regular phone call. Those calls are not recorded either.
Your app list
Tech Checkup can look at the apps you have installed to find ones that commonly cause problems, like pop-up ads or fake virus warnings.
- Free app check (“See my apps”): stays on your phone. The free check runs on your phone. Your app list is not sent to us.
- When the list leaves your phone: only in these two cases:
- During a live visit, while your screen is shown (not while it is hidden), the list is sent to the helper so he can help you. It is passed along live and not stored.
- With the $5 technician double-check, you review the list first and send it by tapping Send. It is stored with your help request and deleted 30 days after the request is resolved.
- What the list includes: for each app you installed: the app name, the package name (the app's technical ID), which store or installer it came from, the install date, and whether it has special access permissions (powerful permissions that some problem apps abuse).
- What it never includes: what is inside your apps, such as your messages, photos, or emails.
- Why: only to find problem apps and explain the results to you.
“Check my settings”
During a visit, the helper may ask to check a few of your phone's settings, such as screen brightness or whether Wi-Fi is on. These results are shown to the helper only during a visit while your screen is shown. They are not stored.
Help requests
When you tap Get help, you can fill in a short request. It can include:
- Your name (optional). A first name is fine, so the helper knows who asked.
- Your phone number (optional), only if you want the helper to call you back.
- What's wrong: the words you type and any quick choices you tap.
- For the double-check, the app list you chose to send (see above).
The request is stored along with the helper's reply note. It is deleted automatically 30 days after the request is resolved (done, cancelled, declined, or reviewed). The helper's own visit history is kept only on the helper's phone.
Device ID
Tech Checkup does not use accounts. Instead, the app creates a random ID for your phone, plus a secret code (a “token”). This is not your phone's Android ID or advertising ID. Our server keeps only a scrambled (hashed) version of the token.
We use this ID only so that your phone can see its own help requests and no one else's, and to keep the service secure.
Payments and tips (Square)
- Who handles payments: payments and tips are processed by Square. You pay on Square's own secure checkout page in your browser, not inside the app. The app never sees your card details, and we never store them.
- Optional tips: after a visit, or after a free app cleanup, you can choose to leave a tip ($2, $5, $10, or an amount you pick). Tips are never required.
- What we send to Square: only fixed text that describes what you are paying for (“Phone help visit,” “Technician double-check,” or “Tip”), the price, and a request number. We never send Square your name or your message.
- What we keep (purchase history): for payments, the amount, date, whether it was paid, and Square's reference numbers. For tips, a tip record with the amount, whether it was paid, and the visit it is linked to. These records contain no personal details.
- Business plans (coming soon): subscription billing for Business plans, and payments that customers make to a business through Tech Checkup, will also be handled by Square. On payments to a business, Tech Checkup keeps a small app (platform) fee, and the business receives the rest.
What we never collect
Tech Checkup does not collect your location, contacts, email address, text messages or emails, photos or files, calendar, web history, health information, advertising ID, passwords, or what you type. There are no analytics or advertising tools in the app. The app's accessibility feature cannot read your screen.
Business plans
Business plans are coming soon. They will let a business (for example, a store location) use Tech Checkup so its own staff can contact their customers and help them with their phones.
- If a business's staff helps you, what you share during that visit (your screen, voice, and app list) is shared with that business. The same rules apply: you start screen sharing, you can hide or stop it any time, and nothing is recorded.
- That business may have its own privacy policy for information it keeps about its customers.
- We will update this policy with more details before Business plans launch.
We never sell your data. No ads.
We never sell your information to anyone. Tech Checkup has no ads, and we do not share your information with advertisers. We only use service providers that help us run Tech Checkup (such as our server host and Square), or share information when the law requires it.
Keeping your data safe
- Everything the app sends is encrypted in transit. Live screen and voice are encrypted end to end between the two phones.
- To connect two phones for a visit, the app uses Google's public connection servers (called STUN servers). Your screen and voice do not go through them.
- Our server sees your internet (IP) address to prevent abuse, such as too many requests at once. It is kept in memory only, is not stored with your requests, and is not used to find your location.
How long we keep information
- Screen video and voice: never recorded, so nothing is kept after the visit.
- App list during a visit, and “Check my settings” results: not stored.
- Free app check: stays on your phone; we never receive it.
- Help requests (name, phone number, message, the helper's reply, and any double-check app list): deleted automatically 30 days after the request is resolved.
- Payment records and paid tips (amount, date, paid status, Square reference numbers, linked visit; no personal details): kept as long as tax and accounting rules require.
- Unpaid tips: if a tip is started but not paid, its record is deleted after 30 days.
Asking us to delete your data
You can ask us to delete your information at any time. Just email us at techcheckupapp@
A family member can also contact us on your behalf with your permission.
Children
Tech Checkup is made for adults. It is not meant for children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect information from children under 13. If you believe a child has given us information, contact us and we will delete it.
Changes to this policy
If we change this policy, we will update the effective date at the top of this page. If the change is important, we will also let you know in the app.
How to contact us
For questions or to ask us to delete your data:
- Operated by: Ricky Knoblock
- Email: techcheckupapp@
gmail.com - Location: Ocala, Florida