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, and retains this data only briefly under its data processing terms before deletion.

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

Connecting Garmin is optional. If you choose to connect your Garmin account in Settings, we receive health and activity data from Garmin's Health API and Activity API, delivered to us by Garmin's push notification service. This section explains exactly what we receive, why we use it, who else processes it, where it is stored, and how you can stop it.

What we receive from Garmin

• Sleep: total duration, time in deep, light and REM sleep, time awake, and Garmin's sleep score
• Heart rate variability (HRV): your overnight average and your highest five-minute reading
• Stress and Body Battery: average and maximum stress level, time spent stressed and at rest, and Body Battery charged, drained, and current level
• Daily summaries: steps, active calories, resting heart rate, and average stress level
• Body composition, if you use a Garmin scale: weight, body fat percentage, muscle mass, bone mass, and body water percentage
• Fitness metrics: VO2 Max for running and cycling, and Garmin's fitness age estimate
• Skin temperature deviation, if your device records it
• Health snapshots recorded on your device
• Activities: activity type, the name you gave it, start time, duration, distance, calories, steps, average and maximum heart rate, average and maximum speed, average pace, elevation gained and lost, and the name of the device you used

Alongside the details listed above, we store the complete record Garmin sends us for each item, exactly as Garmin delivers it. For activities, that record can also include the detailed sample data your device recorded during the session, which for an outdoor activity can include the GPS track of your route. We keep the original record so your history stays complete and accurate when we improve how the app reads it, without asking you to reconnect or re-sync.

When you first connect, we ask Garmin to send your recent history so your account is not empty. Garmin makes this available from up to 30 days before the day you connected.

How we use it

We show your Garmin data back to you in your activity and health views. We use it to build your recovery and readiness picture, to adjust your training plan around how well you have slept and recovered, to record your cardio work alongside your strength sessions, and to give Coach Vita the context it needs to coach you accurately.

Sending planned workouts to your Garmin calendar

Garmin data also travels in the other direction. If you turn this on, Coach Vita sends the running workouts in your plan to your Garmin Connect account through Garmin's Training API, so they appear on your Garmin calendar on their planned day and your watch can guide the session. What we send is the workout itself: its name, the sport, its steps and their durations, the pace or heart rate targets for each step, and the date it is planned for. We do not send your health data, your account details, or anything else about you to Garmin. If you change or skip a session, we update or remove it on your Garmin calendar so it does not show a workout you are no longer doing. You can turn this off at any time in Settings, and it stays off unless you turn it on.

Is Garmin data shared with or processed by third parties, including AI services?

Yes. Three kinds of processing happen outside our own code:

• Hosting and database: your Garmin data is stored in our database, hosted by Neon in the European Union, and served by our application hosted on Vercel in the United States. Both act as our processors and are listed in the Third-Party Service Providers section above.
• AI coaching: to generate your coaching guidance, summaries derived from your Garmin data, for example how you slept, your recent HRV and resting heart rate, your Body Battery, your VO2 Max, and the type, duration, distance and average heart rate of your recent activities, are sent to Anthropic and processed by its Claude AI service, acting as our processor for this purpose only. We do not send Anthropic the complete records Garmin delivers to us, and we never send it the GPS track of an activity. Anthropic does not use this data to train its models, and retains it only briefly under its data processing terms before deletion.
• Garmin itself: if you turn on the workout sending described above, the workouts we send are processed by Garmin under Garmin's own privacy notice.

We do not sell your Garmin data. We do not share it with advertisers, with other users, or with any other third party for their own purposes.

Where it is stored and how long we keep it

Your Garmin data is stored in our database in the European Union and is kept for as long as your account is active, so your training and recovery history stays intact. If you delete your account, your Garmin data is deleted along with everything else in your account within 30 days, as described in the Data Retention section above.

Disconnecting Garmin

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