Privacy Policy

Last updated: 20 October 2026

1. Who we are

The Morning Work is a journal, an app and an online shop. They are published by Pand-Apparel B.V., registered with the Dutch Chamber of Commerce (KVK) under number 75089602, with its registered address at Hogelanden W.z. 94BS, 3552 AD Utrecht, the Netherlands. In this policy, "we", "us" and "our" mean Pand-Apparel B.V.

We are the controller of your personal data. Send questions, requests or complaints to hello@themorningwork.com.

2. The short version

• If you use the journal, you write on paper. We never see what you write there.
• If you use the digital route, you type your answers in the app. We keep them with your account, and we also use them to improve the questions. For that, they are sent to PostHog, our analytics tool, which runs in the EU.
• Your circle sees your first name, your photo, whether you've finished today, at what time, and whether you used the emergency button. Never what you write, and never your surname.
• The greeting in the welcome message from Niels, our founder, is made with an AI clone of his voice. To make the greeting, your first name is sent to ElevenLabs in the United States.
• The lock on your phone runs on the phone itself. On iPhone, the app can't see which apps you pick. On Android, your choice stays on your phone.
• Your notifications and the smart notification time are handled on your phone.
• You can delete your account in the app at any time. We then delete what we hold about you, except what the law requires us to keep (see section 7).

3. What you write

Below, step by step, is where your answers go.

If you use the journal, you write your morning on paper. The app doesn't know what you write. It only knows that your morning is done and at what time, because you hold your phone against the back of your journal to finish.

If you use the digital route, you type your answers in the app: the five steps of each morning, your one thing and your letter to yourself. This is what happens to them:

1. On your phone. The app keeps everything in its own storage on your device.
2. With your account. A copy is stored with us at Supabase (Frankfurt, Germany), so nothing is lost if you reinstall the app or get a new phone. Other users, including your circle, can't read this copy.
3. To PostHog. Each answer is also sent to PostHog (EU), together with the question, the day and the step, and linked to your account. Your letter is sent at the moment you seal it. This shows us how people answer each question, so we can make the questions better. This is on by default, and you can switch it off at any time in Profile, under Share your answers. Only our own team can see this data.

What you type may touch on your health, your relationships or your beliefs. Only write in the app what you're happy to share with us. If you'd rather we saw none of your answers, use the journal.

• Legal basis: for storage on your phone and with your account, performance of our contract with you (Article 6(1)(b) GDPR). For PostHog: our legitimate interest (Article 6(1)(f) GDPR) in making the questions better. You can object at any time by switching off Share your answers in Profile. Your answers then stop going to PostHog; only the day, the step, the question and the length of your answer are sent. The app works exactly the same.
• How long we keep it: with your account for as long as your account exists. In PostHog, for as long as we need it to improve the questions, after which we delete it. Until 19 October 2026 the app also asked "Were you there for yourself?" in the evening. That question is gone from the app, but the answers you gave then stay with your account until you delete it.

4. What data we use, and why

4.1 Your account

• What: your email address, how you sign in (with Apple, or with a code sent to your email) and an internal account number. If you sign in with Apple and choose to hide your email, we only receive Apple's forwarding address.
• Why: so you can sign in, and so your journal, your circle, your subscription and your progress stay with you, even on a new phone. We send the sign-in code through Resend.
• Legal basis: performance of a contract (Article 6(1)(b) GDPR).
• How long we keep it: for as long as your account exists.

4.2 Your profile

• What: your first name (required) and, if you like, your surname, your date of birth and a profile photo. We also store your time zone, so your morning happens at the right time.
• Why: we use your first name to address you, in the app and in Niels's voice messages, and to show you to your circle. Your photo is for your circle. We use your date of birth so that, later on, we can bring together people of a similar age. Other users, including your circle, can't see your surname or date of birth.
• Legal basis: for your first name and time zone, performance of a contract (Article 6(1)(b) GDPR). For your surname, date of birth and photo, your consent (Article 6(1)(a) GDPR). You can withdraw it by clearing the field or removing the photo in Profile.
• How long we keep it: for as long as your account exists, or until you clear the field yourself. The app crops and shrinks your photo before storing it in a private folder. Your circle can only see the photo through a link that expires after an hour.

4.3 Linking your journal

• What: your journal's identifier, a fixed number built into the back of your journal, and when you linked it.
• Why: your journal unlocks the content in the app. When you link it, our server checks once that it's a genuine journal of ours and that nobody else has linked it. After that, the app checks on your phone each morning that you're using your own journal. That daily check doesn't go through our server.
• Legal basis: performance of a contract (Article 6(1)(b) GDPR).
• How long we keep it: the link for as long as your account exists. If you delete your account, we remove the link. The identifier itself stays in our list of journals sold, but it's no longer connected to you.

4.4 Your mornings and your settings

• What: which days you did, when you started and finished, how long it took, which route you follow and how many mornings you've completed. Also the settings that travel with your account: your lock times and days, your notifications, your language and theme, and whether your circle can see you. Which apps you lock is not included (see 4.7).
• Why: so the app knows which day you're on, you can look back at what you did in Journey (the overview of your mornings), and you can pick up where you left off after reinstalling or on a new phone.
• Legal basis: performance of a contract (Article 6(1)(b) GDPR).
• How long we keep it: for as long as your account exists.

4.5 Your circle

Your circle is optional. You invite people yourself, up to four.

• What your circle sees: your first name, your photo if you've added one, whether you've finished today, what time you finished and whether you used the emergency button. Your circle never sees what you write, and never your surname, your date of birth or your email address.
• What we store and what your circle can see: for each day, whether you finished, at what time, and whether you used the emergency button that day. Your circle can see this data. At the moment, the app only shows them whether you've finished, and how many mornings the whole circle did together in the last seven days.
• Invitations: anyone who receives your invitation link or code sees your first name before they join.
• Signals: if you send someone in your circle a signal, only the two of you can see it.
• Turning it off: in Profile, switch off "My circle sees whether I've finished". We then stop recording whether you've finished for your circle, and your circle will never see you as finished. You can also remove someone from your circle, or empty it entirely.
• Legal basis: performance of a contract (Article 6(1)(b) GDPR), because you choose to have a circle.
• How long we keep it: for as long as you're in each other's circle and your account exists. If you remove someone, the connection disappears on both sides.

4.6 Niels's voice message, and the AI voice

Shortly after you create your account, you receive a welcome message from Niels, the founder of The Morning Work. More messages may follow at key moments, such as halfway through and after your final morning.

• How it works: Niels records the message himself. Only the greeting at the start, "Hey" followed by your first name, is made with an AI clone of his voice. The clone was made with his consent, from his own recordings.
• What happens to your data: our own server, hosted by Hetzner in Germany, sends your first name to ElevenLabs in the United States. ElevenLabs creates the greeting and uses speech recognition to check that your name sounds right. Our server then places the greeting in front of Niels's message. The temporary file on the server is deleted straight away.
• Where it's stored: the finished audio file is kept in our storage at Supabase (Frankfurt), in a folder other users can't access. We also record whether you've listened to the message.
• Why: so the message opens with your own name.
• Legal basis: our legitimate interest (Article 6(1)(f) GDPR) in welcoming you personally. If you'd rather not have a greeting with your name, email hello@themorningwork.com and you'll get the message with just "Hey" at the start.
• How long we keep it: the audio file for as long as your account exists. If you delete your account, we delete the file within a few hours. ElevenLabs keeps your first name no longer than it needs to create the greeting.

4.7 The lock on your phone

The lock keeps the apps you choose closed until your morning is done. It runs on your phone itself.

On iPhone, the app uses Apple's Screen Time (FamilyControls). You choose which apps, categories or websites to lock in Apple's own screen. Apple only gives the app encrypted codes back. With these, the app can lock those apps, but it can't see which apps they are. The codes stay on your phone. Only the number of apps, categories and websites you picked is sent to PostHog (see 4.9).

On Android, the app uses an accessibility service. The app needs it to see which app comes onto your screen, so it can keep that app locked until your morning is done.

• The service only reads the name of the app that comes to the foreground.
• It reads nothing of what's on your screen: no text, no messages, no input, no passwords.
• It doesn't act on your behalf or operate your phone.
• The names of the apps you choose, and of the apps that come to the foreground, stay on your phone. They're never sent to us, to PostHog or to anyone else.
• You switch the service on yourself in Android's settings, and you can switch it off there at any time. The lock then stops working.

• Legal basis: performance of a contract (Article 6(1)(b) GDPR).
• How long we keep it: on your phone, until you change your choice, delete your account or remove the app.

4.8 Notifications and the smart notification time

• What: the app schedules your morning notification, your other notifications and the notification for a voice message on your phone itself. They don't go through any server of ours, nor through Apple's or Google's push service.
• Smart notification time: if you haven't set the time yourself, the app looks at when you usually finish once you've done at least five mornings, and moves the notification to fifteen minutes before that. Your phone works this out. Only the old and the new time are sent to PostHog.
• Legal basis: performance of a contract (Article 6(1)(b) GDPR). Notifications only work if you allow them on your phone, and you can switch them off in Profile or in your phone's settings.

4.9 Usage analytics and session recordings

We want to understand how people use The Morning Work so we can improve it. For this we use PostHog, on servers in the EU.

• What: which screens you open, when you open and close the app, and what you do, such as signing in, permissions, choosing times, linking your journal, finishing your morning and the emergency button. Each event includes your route, the day, your language and your theme. Your PostHog profile holds your account number, email address, first name, sign-in method, lock times and the number of locked apps. We also collect details about your device, such as the model, operating system and app version, and your IP address, from which PostHog can derive an approximate location. What you type on the digital route is included too (see section 3).
• Session recordings: PostHog records how you move through the app, a bit like a video of the screens. Input fields are always masked, so your text can't be seen while you type. Other text and images on screen can appear in a recording, such as the first names and photos in your circle, and also an earlier answer you're reading back.
• Why: to see where people get stuck, which questions work and what we need to improve.
• Legal basis: our legitimate interest (Article 6(1)(f) GDPR) in improving The Morning Work. You can object by emailing hello@themorningwork.com.
• How long we keep it: events and session recordings for as long as we need them to improve the app, after which we delete them. If you delete your account, we delete your data at PostHog as well.

4.10 Your subscription and payments

On the digital route you take out a subscription. You pay Apple (App Store) or Google (Google Play), not us.

• What: we never receive payment details such as your card number. Through RevenueCat we can see which subscription you have, since when, whether it's active, and the purchase details Apple or Google pass on. RevenueCat links this to your account number with us.
• Why: to know whether you have access, including on a new phone.
• Legal basis: performance of a contract (Article 6(1)(b) GDPR) and, for our records, a legal obligation (Article 6(1)(c) GDPR).
• How long we keep it: for as long as your account exists, and after that for as long as the law requires for our accounts, which in the Netherlands is 7 years. To cancel your subscription, go to Apple or Google. Deleting your account doesn't cancel it.

4.11 App updates

The app downloads small updates through Expo (EAS Update). When it does, Expo sees technical details such as your IP address, device type and app version.

• Legal basis: legitimate interests (Article 6(1)(f) GDPR): keeping the app secure and working.
• How long we keep it: this data sits with Expo; we don't store it ourselves.

4.12 Getting in touch

If you email us, we keep your message, your email address and whatever you tell us. If you email from within the app, the app version and your device type appear at the bottom of the message. You can see those lines and delete them before sending.

• Legal basis: legitimate interests (Article 6(1)(f) GDPR): answering your question.
• How long we keep it: for as long as we need it to deal with your question, after which we delete it.

4.13 The online shop

You buy the journal in our online shop, which runs on Shopify.

• What: your name, address, email address, phone number if you give one, your order and your payment. Payments are handled by the payment provider shown at checkout. We never see your full card details. If you subscribe to new journals, that also runs through Shopify.
• Why: to deliver and handle your order, and for our accounts.
• Legal basis: performance of a contract (Article 6(1)(b) GDPR) and a legal obligation (Article 6(1)(c) GDPR).
• How long we keep it: order and invoice details for 7 years, as Dutch tax law requires.

4.14 If we contact you for business

We also offer the journal to companies as a gift for staff or clients. To do this, we contact decision-makers personally by email or on LinkedIn.

• What: your name, job title, company, business email address or LinkedIn profile, and the history of our contact. We take this from public sources, such as your company's website and LinkedIn.
• Why: to make you an offer that suits your company.
• Legal basis: legitimate interests (Article 6(1)(f) GDPR).
• Opting out: every email has an unsubscribe link at the bottom. If you unsubscribe, we add you to a suppression list so you won't hear from us again. We don't use tracking pixels in these emails.
• How long we keep it: for as long as we need it for our contact with you, after which we delete it. We keep the suppression list for as long as we send business emails; without it, we couldn't honour your opt-out.

5. Who receives your data

We never sell your data. We only share it with companies that help us run The Morning Work. We have a data processing agreement with each of them, or they are responsible for their own part, as Apple and Google are for payments.

Beyond this, we only share data when the law requires us to, for example with the Dutch tax authorities.

6. Transfers outside the EU

Some of the parties above are in the United States or belong to a US company. Data may only go to a country outside the EU if it's properly protected there. For this we rely on the safeguards the GDPR allows:

• ElevenLabs, RevenueCat, Resend, Expo and Vercel (United States): the EU-US Data Privacy Framework where the party is certified under it, and otherwise the European Commission's standard contractual clauses.
• Apple and Google (United States): they are independent controllers for their part and rely on the EU-US Data Privacy Framework and their own privacy policies.
• Shopify (Canada and the United States): the European Commission's adequacy decision for Canada, and for processing in the United States the standard contractual clauses.
• Supabase and PostHog: the data is held in the EU. As they're US companies, access from the US can't be ruled out. The European Commission's standard contractual clauses cover that.

If you'd like to know exactly which safeguard applies, email us.

7. How long we keep your data

We don't keep your data longer than we need it for the purpose we collected it for. Section 4 lists the periods for each part. In short:

• Everything linked to your account is kept for as long as your account exists.
• If you delete your account, it's removed from our database straight away. We delete your voice file within a few hours. It may remain in our backups for a while, after which it's gone from there too.
• Anything the law requires us to keep, such as orders and invoices, we keep for 7 years.

Data on your phone stays there until you delete your account in the app or remove the app. If you back up your phone yourself, for example to iCloud or Google, an older copy may be in that backup. We can't reach it.

8. How we protect your data

• Your data at Supabase is separated per person. Other users can't read your answers, your letter, your settings or your voice messages.
• Photos and voice messages are kept in private storage. They can only be opened through a link that expires quickly.
• Your sign-in is stored encrypted on your phone.
• All connections are encrypted.
• Only the people on our team who need it for their work can access the data.

9. Your rights

You have the following rights over your data:

• Access: you can ask what data we hold about you.
• Correction: if something is wrong, change it in Profile or ask us to.
• Erasure: you can delete your account (see section 10) or ask us to delete specific data.
• Restriction: you can ask us to stop using your data for a while.
• Portability: you can ask for your data in a common file format.
• Objection: where we rely on legitimate interests, you can object.
• Withdrawing consent: where you've given consent, you can withdraw it at any time. What we did before then remains lawful.

Send your request to hello@themorningwork.com. We'll respond within one month. Sometimes we'll first ask you to show that the account is yours, so nobody else can request your data.

If you're unhappy with how we handle your data, we'd like to hear from you, but you don't have to wait. You can complain to the Dutch Data Protection Authority (Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens) at any time, via autoriteitpersoonsgegevens.nl, or to the data protection authority in the country where you live.

10. Deleting your account

In the app: go to Profile, open your account and tap Delete account. The app first removes the lock from your phone, then we delete what we hold about you (apart from the exceptions in section 7), and finally the app wipes what's on your phone. Your journal is unlinked and can't be linked to you again.

Without the app: if you no longer have the app, email hello@themorningwork.com from the address you sign in with, and we'll delete your account for you.

Please note: your subscription runs through Apple or Google, and you cancel it there. Deleting your account doesn't stop the payments.

11. Age

The Morning Work is for people of any age. If you're under 16, please set up your account together with a parent or guardian.

12. Cookies and tracking on the website

This page and the page behind your invitation link set no cookies and use no trackers. The page behind your invitation link does load a typeface from Google Fonts, which sends your IP address to Google.

Our online shop uses cookies that are needed for the shop to work, such as your basket and checkout. We don't ask for consent for these. We only set cookies for statistics or advertising if you agree to them in the shop, and you can change that choice there at any time.

13. Automated decisions

We don't make decisions about you that are taken solely by a computer and that have legal effects or affect you in a similarly significant way. The smart notification time only changes when your notification arrives, on your own phone.

14. Changes

If we change this policy, we'll update the date at the top. For a significant change, we'll let you know in the app or by email before it takes effect.

15. Contact

Pand-Apparel B.V.
Hogelanden W.z. 94BS, 3552 AD Utrecht, the Netherlands
KVK 75089602
hello@themorningwork.com