Privacy Policy

1. Introduction

This Privacy Policy explains how Coach Vita ("we", "us", or "our") collects, uses, and protects your personal data when you use our personal training and coaching application. Coach Vita is available as a web application and as a mobile app for iOS and Android. It is operated by Martin Eliason, based in Berlin, Germany. We are committed to protecting your privacy and complying with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR/DSGVO).

By using Coach Vita, you agree to the collection and use of information in accordance with this policy.

2. Data Controller

The data controller responsible for your personal data is:

3. Personal Data We Collect

We collect the following types of personal data:

Account Information

• Name
• Email address
• Password (stored securely using industry-standard hashing)
• Authentication tokens (for Google and Apple Sign-In)

Workout and Training Data

• Training programs and exercises
• Workout session logs (dates, weights, sets, reps, RIR)
• Personal notes on exercises
• Progress metrics and statistics
• Daily check-in responses (energy, mood, tags)

Health and Fitness Data (Special Category, see Section 4)

• Heart rate variability (HRV) and resting heart rate
• VO2 Max and cardiovascular fitness metrics
• Sleep data (duration, stages, scores)
• Body weight and body composition measurements
• Recovery scores and strain data
• Stress levels and Body Battery data (Garmin)
• Activity data (workouts, steps, calories) from wearables
• Nutrition data (calories, macronutrients) if you enable it

Health data is collected from Apple Health (HealthKit), Google Health Connect, and/or third-party wearable integrations (Garmin, WHOOP, Withings, Strava) only when you explicitly connect them.

Location and Route Data (Mobile App Running Feature, see Section 5)

• Precise GPS location, collected only while a guided run is active
• Your run route, stored on your device as a simplified line of GPS points
• Distance and pace, calculated on your device from that location

Location is used only during an active run, never in the background at any other time. Your precise location and route stay on your device and are not sent to our servers. See Section 5 for full details.

Coach Vita Conversations

• Messages you send to the AI coaching assistant
• AI-generated responses and recommendations
• Conversation summaries for context continuity

Technical Data

• Device type and operating system
• App version
• Push notification tokens (for delivering notifications)
• Crash reports and performance data (via Sentry)
• IP address

Data Stored on Your Device (Mobile App)

• Authentication tokens in the OS-encrypted keychain (iOS Keychain / Android Keystore via expo-secure-store)
• Offline workout data in a local SQLite database (synced to the server when online)
• App preferences and cache in AsyncStorage

4. Legal Basis for Processing

We process your personal data based on the following legal grounds:

General Personal Data (GDPR Article 6)

• Contract (Art. 6(1)(b)): Processing is necessary to provide the training tracker and coaching service you have subscribed to. This covers your account data, workout logs, and program data.
• Consent (Art. 6(1)(a)): For optional integrations with third-party services, we process data only with your explicit consent. You can withdraw consent at any time by disconnecting the integration in Settings.
• Consent (Art. 6(1)(a)): For anonymous product analytics (PostHog), we collect usage data such as screen views and feature adoption only with your explicit consent. You can enable or disable analytics at any time in Settings. Analytics data never includes health information, workout details, or personal content.
• Legitimate Interest (Art. 6(1)(f)): For crash reporting and performance monitoring (Sentry) to maintain service quality and fix bugs. You can object to this processing by contacting us.

Health Data: Special Category (GDPR Article 9)

5. Location and Route Data (Running Feature)

The Coach Vita mobile app includes a guided running feature. When you start a run, the app can record your location to show your live pace and distance and to draw your route. This section explains exactly what that involves and where the data goes.

What we collect

• Precise GPS location from your device, collected only while a run is active
• Your route, stored as a simplified line of GPS points for that run
• Distance and pace, calculated on your device from those location readings

On iPhone, if you allow it, location keeps recording while your screen is locked, so a run does not stop tracking when your phone is in your pocket. This background recording happens only during an active run. Location is requested when a run starts and switched off when the run ends or when you pause it yourself. If the app pauses a run automatically because you stopped moving, for example at a traffic light, location stays on during that short pause so the run can resume by itself when you move again. Coach Vita never records your location at any other time, and never in the background when you are not on a run. On Android, location is recorded only while the app is open during a run.

Location is entirely optional. If you decline the location permission, a run still works as a timer; it simply does not show pace or distance, or draw a route.

Why we use it

• To show your live pace and distance while you run
• To draw your route on the run summary and on an optional keepsake card you can save or share

Where it stays

Legal basis

We process your location during a run under Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR, because it is part of the running feature you chose to use. Granting the location permission on your device is your explicit consent under Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR, and you can withdraw it at any time in your device Settings. To the extent a route could reveal information about your activity or health, that information is only ever processed on your own device, under your control, and is never transferred to us or to a processor, so no additional transfer of special category data under Art. 9 takes place.

Retention and deletion

Because your location and route live only on your device, they stay under your control. They are removed when you delete the Coach Vita app from your device, which clears the app's on-device storage, or when you delete your account and remove the app. Since this data is never uploaded, there is nothing on our servers to erase.

Saving a run keepsake to your Photos

At the end of a run you can save a keepsake card, a summary image of your run that may include your route line, to your device's photo library, or share it through your device's share sheet. This happens only when you tap to save or share. Coach Vita has add-only access to your photo library: it can add the card you chose to save, and it cannot read, browse, or import any of your existing photos. On iPhone this is the "add photos only" permission, which you can change at any time in Settings.

6. How We Use Your Data

We use your personal data to:

• Provide and maintain the training tracker and coaching service
• Authenticate you and secure your account
• Store and display your workout history and progress
• Generate progress charts, statistics, and personal records
• Provide AI-powered coaching features (Coach Vita) including personalized training recommendations
• Deliver recovery and readiness assessments based on health data
• Send push notifications (workout reminders, coaching nudges) when enabled
• Sync with third-party fitness services when you opt in
• Diagnose and fix errors (crash reporting via Sentry)

7. Third-Party Service Providers

We use the following third-party services to operate Coach Vita:

Several service providers are located in the United States. Data transfers to countries outside the EU/EEA are conducted in compliance with GDPR Chapter V requirements, including appropriate safeguards such as Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) pursuant to Article 46(2)(c) GDPR.

8. Cookies and Local Storage

Coach Vita uses only essential cookies and local storage required for authentication and service operation. We do not use tracking cookies or advertising cookies. If you opt in to product analytics, PostHog operates in memory-only mode and does not set cookies or write to local storage.

9. Data Retention

We retain your personal data for as long as your account is active and your subscription is in effect. When you delete your account, all associated personal data is permanently deleted from our systems within 30 days. This includes your profile information, workout history, training programs, coach conversations, health data, and any connected service data.

Crash reports and anonymized performance data may be retained for up to 90 days after the event for debugging purposes.

10. Your Rights Under GDPR

Under the GDPR, you have the following rights regarding your personal data:

• Right of Access (Art. 15): You can request a copy of all personal data we hold about you. You can also export it yourself directly in the app under Profile > Download My Data.
• Right to Rectification (Art. 16): You can request correction of inaccurate personal data.
• Right to Erasure (Art. 17): You can request deletion of your personal data ("right to be forgotten"). You can delete your account directly in the app under Profile > Delete Account.
• Right to Restrict Processing (Art. 18): You can request that we limit how we use your data.
• Right to Data Portability (Art. 20): You can request your data in a machine-readable format, or download it as a single JSON file in the app under Profile > Download My Data.
• Right to Object (Art. 21): You can object to processing based on legitimate interests.
• Right to Withdraw Consent: You can withdraw consent for health data processing at any time by disconnecting health integrations in Settings. Withdrawal does not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before withdrawal.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at support@coach-vita.com. We will respond to your request within 30 days as required by GDPR.

11. Data Security

We implement appropriate technical and organizational measures to protect your personal data against unauthorized access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction. This includes encrypted data transmission (HTTPS/TLS), secure password hashing, OS-encrypted keychain storage for authentication tokens on mobile devices, server-side access controls, and rate limiting on API endpoints.

12. Age Requirement

Coach Vita is intended for users who are at least 16 years of age (in accordance with GDPR Article 8 and German law). We do not knowingly collect personal data from anyone under 16. If you are a parent or guardian and believe your child has provided us with personal data, please contact us so we can delete the information.

13. AI Transparency (Automated Decision-Making)

Coach Vita includes an AI-powered coaching assistant powered by Anthropic's Claude API. In accordance with GDPR Article 22, we inform you about automated processing:

What data the AI processes

• Your workout history, training programs, and progress data
• Health metrics from connected sources (sleep, HRV, recovery scores, weight)
• Your profile information (goals, experience level, equipment, limitations)
• Your conversation messages with Coach Vita

How the AI is used

The AI generates training program recommendations, exercise suggestions, recovery guidance, and coaching conversations. These are informational recommendations only; they do not constitute medical advice and do not produce legally or similarly significant effects. You are always free to disregard, modify, or override any AI recommendation.

Data handling by Anthropic

Data sent to the AI is processed per Anthropic's Privacy Policy. Anthropic does not use API inputs or outputs to train its models. Your data is not stored by Anthropic beyond the duration of each API request.

You can disconnect any health data source at any time from Settings, which will stop that data from being included in AI coaching context.

14. Garmin Connect Data

If you connect your Garmin account in Settings, we receive health and activity data directly from Garmin's Health API and Activity API through Garmin's push-based webhook system. This section explains exactly what we receive, why, how it's processed and stored, and who else has access to it.

What we receive from Garmin

• Sleep: duration, sleep stages (deep, light, REM, awake time), and Garmin's sleep score
• Heart rate variability (HRV): overnight average and highest 5-minute reading
• Stress and Body Battery: average and peak stress levels, and Garmin's Body Battery energy level
• Daily summaries: steps, active calories, resting heart rate, and daily stress/Body Battery totals
• Body composition: weight, body fat percentage, muscle mass, bone mass, and body water percentage (only if your Garmin scale reports these)
• Fitness metrics: VO2 Max and Garmin's fitness age estimate
• Skin temperature deviation (only if your device supports it)
• Activities: type, name, start time, duration, distance, calories, heart rate (average and max), speed and pace, elevation gain and loss, and the device used

We also keep the original data record Garmin sends us for each of the items above. We keep it so your history stays complete and accurate when we improve how the app reads it, without asking you to reconnect or re-sync.

Why we use it

We use your Garmin data to build your recovery and readiness picture, adjust your training plan around how well you slept and recovered, log cardio activity alongside your strength sessions, and give Coach Vita the context it needs to coach you accurately. You choose to connect Garmin; nothing here is required to use Coach Vita.

How it's processed and stored

Garmin sends your data to us through a secure webhook as soon as it's available in Garmin Connect. We store it in our database (Neon, hosted in the EU, see Section 7) and it's served through our application hosted on Vercel (Section 7). We keep your Garmin data as long as your account is active. If you delete your account, your Garmin data is deleted with everything else in your account within 30 days (Section 9).

Disconnecting stops new Garmin data from syncing to your account and stops it from being used in your coaching. Garmin data already collected remains in your account history so your past training and recovery record stays intact, unless you delete your account entirely or ask us to remove it by contacting support@coach-vita.com.

Workouts we send to Garmin

If your coach builds a structured running workout for you and you choose to send it to your watch, we send that workout to your Garmin Connect account through Garmin's Training API. The workout is placed on your Garmin Connect calendar on its planned date so your watch can guide you through it. We send only the workout your coach created: its name, its steps, and the target pace, heart rate, distance, or time for each step. We do not send any of your health data, your account details, or anything else about you to Garmin. You can remove a workout at any time in Garmin Connect, and disconnecting Garmin in Settings stops us from sending any further workouts.

Does Garmin data go to any third party, including AI services?

Yes. Two categories of processing happen outside our own servers:

• Infrastructure processors: Vercel (hosting, United States) and Neon (database, European Union) process and store your Garmin data as part of running the app. Both are covered in Section 6.
• AI coaching processor: to generate your coaching guidance, short summaries derived from your Garmin data (for example, how you slept, your recent heart rate trend, or the shape of a recent run) are processed by Anthropic's Claude, acting as our data processor for this purpose only. We do not send your full Garmin history or the raw records Garmin delivers to us. Anthropic does not use this data to train its models, and retains it only briefly under its data processing terms before deletion.

Garmin data is not sold, and it is not shared with any other user, any advertiser, or any third party for their own purposes.

German version

A German translation of this section will follow through the ongoing German localization workstream and will be published alongside (or shortly after) the German version of the rest of this policy.

15. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. If we make material changes, we will notify you via email or through the app at least 14 days before the changes take effect. We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically. The "Last updated" date at the top indicates when the most recent changes were made.

16. Supervisory Authority

If you believe we have not handled your personal data properly, you have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority. For Germany, the relevant authority is:

17. Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or our data practices, please contact us at: support@coach-vita.com