Crisis Planner Privacy Policy
Table of Contents
- Loading table of contents...
Crisis Planner is a personal crisis-planning app for Android, built for people in New Zealand. This policy explains exactly what the app does and does not do with your information, and which regions its built-in crisis resources are intended to serve. It applies to anyone who installs and uses the app.
| Detail | Value |
|---|---|
| App | Crisis Planner (Android) |
| Package | com.chalwk.crisisplanner |
| Developer | Jericho Crosby (Chalwk) |
| Intended region | New Zealand (built-in crisis resources are NZ-only) |
| Effective date | 23 October 2026 |
| Last updated | 23 October 2026 |
Why this policy exists
The content you put into a crisis-planning app is inherently sensitive: mental health information, emergency contacts, medical notes, and, if you choose to add it, your home address. The app has been designed so that no one, including the developer, can see any of it. This page sets that out in detail, because a privacy claim is only meaningful if you can check it.
Where the app is intended to be used
Crisis Planner is built specifically for people in New Zealand. The crisis resources it surfaces are New Zealand services:
- emergency services on 111;
- the Need to Talk helpline on 1737 (free, 24/7 counselling);
- the Suicide Crisis Helpline on 0508 828 865;
- Lifeline, Healthline, and the regional crisis lines and specialist helplines listed in the app’s Resources tab.
These numbers do not work outside New Zealand, and the equivalent numbers in other countries are different. Dialing 111 in Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom, most of Europe, or anywhere else outside New Zealand will not connect you to emergency services. The app does not include, and cannot be used as a substitute for, crisis resources in any country other than New Zealand.
The app will show an in-app warning banner if your device region is not New Zealand, pointing out that the built-in numbers will not work locally. The banner is a heuristic, based on your device’s default locale. It is a reminder, not a guarantee.
The personal side of the app, including your crisis plan, contacts, safety information, address, and mood history, can be used anywhere. But if you are outside New Zealand, you will need to ignore the built-in crisis numbers and use the appropriate services for your location instead.
If you are in New Zealand and in immediate danger, call 111. If you cannot speak, New Zealand’s emergency text service on 111 is available for Deaf, hard-of-hearing, and speech-impaired users who have registered in advance with Police.
Information we collect
None. The app does not collect any personal data.
Specifically, the app:
- does not require or offer an account, sign-in, or user profile;
- does not send any information to any server, including servers operated by the developer;
- does not include analytics, crash reporting, advertising, or tracking SDKs of any kind;
- does not access your location, camera, microphone, contacts list, photos, or files unless you explicitly select a file to import;
- does not request any Android runtime permissions. The only permissions
the app declares are
USE_BIOMETRICandUSE_FINGERPRINT. Both are install-time normal permissions: they never prompt you, they grant no access to your data, and they are only referenced when the optional biometric lock is on. No other Android permissions are requested.
The optional screen-hiding feature (FLAG_SECURE) does not require any
permission. It only tells Android to blank the app’s content in the recents
screen and to block screenshots. It does not enable the app to read anything
it could not already read.
Information stored on your device
Everything you create in the app is stored locally in the app’s private storage area, which other apps cannot read. This includes:
- the steps you have recorded in your crisis plan, across all levels;
- emergency contacts you add (name, phone number, relationship, an optional pre-written text message you choose to attach to them, and an optional plan level telling the handover summary when to show the contact);
- safety information you choose to record, including GP or support-worker notes, diagnoses, medications, allergies, NHI number, means-restriction notes, reasons for living, your address, a “how to help me” note, and the editable headline and message shown on the can’t-speak card;
- notes about what is happening right now, when you use that section;
- your mood check-in history, including the optional tags and notes you attach to each check-in;
- archived episodes. When you tap “Start new episode”, the currently recorded steps and notes are copied into a past episode so the handover for the next one starts clean;
- your display settings (theme, text size, whether the optional biometric lock is on, and whether the optional screen-hiding feature is on);
- your name, if you choose to enter it.
This data is used only to display the plan back to you inside the app and to generate the handover summary, plan view, pocket card, or can’t-speak script that you ask for.
Optional biometric lock
Crisis Planner offers an optional biometric lock, off by default. When it is on, opening the app asks Android to confirm your fingerprint, face, or device lock-screen credential before your plan is shown. The lock re-engages any time the app has been in the background, so briefly leaving the app and coming back is enough to require a new check.
The check is handled entirely by the Android system on your device, through the platform’s standard biometric prompt. The app never sees, receives, stores, or transmits your biometric data. There is no fingerprint image, no template, no pattern, and no PIN recorded by the app. The app only learns whether the system said “yes” or “no” to a particular unlock attempt, and that result is not logged, saved, or sent anywhere. Nothing about your authentication is attached to your plan, your contacts, or your mood history.
You can turn the lock on or off at any time from Settings. Turning it on first checks that your device can actually authenticate you (a fingerprint, face, or screen lock is enrolled) and refuses with an inline message if it cannot, so the lock cannot be enabled in a state where you would be unable to get back in.
The biometric lock is an extra layer on top of the protections already described in this policy. It does not change what data the app stores, where it stores it, or whether that data ever leaves the device. Those answers remain the same whether the lock is on or off.
Optional screen hiding
Crisis Planner offers an optional “Hide in recents” setting, off by default.
When on, it applies Android’s FLAG_SECURE to the app’s window. This:
- blanks the app’s content in the recent-apps switcher;
- blocks screenshots and screen recording of the app.
It does not stop someone who has already unlocked your phone from opening the app. It only reduces the chance of your plan showing up in a screenshot or on the recents screen. It also does not add any permissions and does not change what the app stores.
Android backup and device transfer
The app explicitly opts out of Android’s cloud backup. Your plan, contacts, safety information, address, and mood history are not uploaded to Google’s servers as part of Android Backup, and they are not included in any automatic cloud sync.
Android’s device-to-device transfer, the flow used when you set up a new phone, is permitted, so that you can move your plan to a new device without retyping it. That transfer goes directly between your two devices and does not pass through any server controlled by the developer.
Sharing and external actions
We do not share any information. There is nothing to share, because the app never transmits data off your device.
The app provides features that can deliberately expose information when you choose to use them:
| Feature | What happens |
|---|---|
| Call a number (hotlines, contacts) | The app opens your phone’s dialer with the number pre-filled. The app does not place the call and does not see whether you complete it. The built-in crisis numbers are New Zealand services only and do not work elsewhere. |
| Text a contact | The app opens your messaging app with the number and, if you have one, your pre-written message pre-filled. Nothing is sent until you press send inside your messaging app. |
| Show the can’t-speak script | The app shows a full-screen card with your custom headline and message, your address, and your how-to-help note. Nothing is sent; it is for you to show to someone in the room. |
| Share or copy the handover summary | Only when you tap Share or Copy. What you share, and with whom, is entirely your choice. |
| Export plan as JSON | Only when you choose Export and dismiss the warning that the file is unencrypted. You pick where the file goes using Android’s standard file picker. The file contains the plan data in plain text, so store it accordingly. |
| Import plan from JSON | Only when you choose Import and select a file. The app reads that file, and nothing else. |
In every case above, the action is initiated by you. The developer receives no notification, copy, or log of any of these actions.
Third-party services
The app does not use any third-party services. It contains no advertising networks, no analytics providers, no crash reporting services, no social-media integrations, and no other SDKs that would process your data.
The only third parties involved are the standard Android system components,
specifically your dialer, your messaging app, the system file picker, the
share sheet, the system biometric prompt, and the OS-level window flags that
provide FLAG_SECURE. These are standard Android parts, not external
services, and they do not receive copies of your data.
Data retention and deletion
Because all data is stored locally on your device, you are in full control of it:
- you can edit or delete individual plan items, contacts, and notes inside the app at any time;
- you can archive the current episode from the Plan screen, or delete a past episode from the Past episodes section;
- you can clear all plan data from the Settings dialog, or reset only the “what’s happening right now” section from the Now screen;
- you can turn the optional biometric lock and the optional screen-hiding setting off from Settings;
- uninstalling the app removes all of its data from your device;
- you can also clear the app’s storage from Settings → Apps → Crisis Planner → Storage → Clear storage (the exact wording and menu path vary slightly by Android version).
No copy of your data exists anywhere else, so deletion is immediate and complete.
Children’s privacy
The app is not directed at children. It is a personal crisis-planning tool, written for adults and for people old enough to be managing their own mental health. It does not knowingly collect personal information from anyone, including children, because it does not collect personal information at all. Some of the crisis resources it lists are for young people (What’s Up and Youthline), but that does not make the app itself a service for children.
If you are a parent or guardian and believe a child has used the app to record crisis information, you can clear the app’s data at any time from the device settings as described above.
Security
Because the app never transmits data off the device, the main security boundary is your device itself: your screen lock, your device encryption, and Android’s app sandboxing (which prevents other apps from reading Crisis Planner’s private storage) are what protect your plan.
The optional biometric lock adds a further layer: it prevents someone who has picked up your unlocked phone from opening Crisis Planner and reading your plan, contacts, address, or safety information. Because the check is performed by the Android system and nothing about it is recorded by the app, turning the lock on does not create any new place where your information, or any hint of it, is stored.
The optional screen-hiding setting reduces the risk of your plan appearing in a screenshot or on the recents screen. It does not replace the lock, and it is off by default.
The app does not currently encrypt its local storage beyond the protection Android’s app sandbox already provides. If you want defence-in-depth, keep your device’s screen lock on and keep device encryption on (which is the default on modern Android).
Please keep those protections in place. If you share your handover summary by text or email, or export your plan to a file, remember that the content is no longer protected by the app. Exported files are plain text JSON and are not encrypted.
Medical disclaimer
Crisis Planner is a personal planning tool, not a medical device. It is not a substitute for professional mental-health care, diagnosis, or treatment. It does not monitor you, does not detect a crisis, and does not contact anyone on your behalf.
If you are in New Zealand and in immediate danger, call 111. If you need to talk to someone now, call or text 1737 (free, 24/7) or call the Suicide Crisis Helpline on 0508 828 865. These numbers are New Zealand services only. See “Where the app is intended to be used” above. If you are outside New Zealand, use your country’s own emergency number and local crisis services instead.
Changes to this policy
If the app’s data practices ever change, for example if a future version adds an optional feature that transmits data, or adds crisis resources for another region, this policy will be updated before that version is published, and the “Last updated” date at the top of this page will change. The current version of this policy is always available at the URL you are reading now, and a link to it is also provided inside the app.
Contact
Questions about this policy, or about how Crisis Planner handles your information, can be sent to chalwk.dev@gmail.com.
Because the app collects no personal data, most questions can be answered directly from the sections above.
This policy applies to the Crisis Planner Android app. This page is a static document and does not itself set cookies, run scripts, or use analytics.