ResQ Privacy Policy
Overview
ResQ is an offline emergency beacon app. It has no account, no sign-in, and no backend server of any kind. It cannot connect to the internet, because it never asks your device for that permission. Because of that, most of what a typical privacy policy covers (accounts, servers, data breaches, data sales) does not apply here: there is no server for your data to reach, and the developer never receives, stores, or has access to anything the app does on your device.
ResQ works entirely over Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE). It broadcasts your location and an optional message to nearby phones running ResQ, and listens for the same from others. This policy explains what the app accesses on your device and where that information goes: nowhere, except to nearby ResQ devices over Bluetooth.
Information the App Accesses
We use “accesses” rather than “collects” deliberately: nothing described below is sent to the developer, to an analytics service, or to any server. It stays on your device, or is broadcast locally over Bluetooth to nearby phones running ResQ.
- Location (GPS coordinates). Fetched once per broadcast interval while you have Sending turned on, so your SOS carries a current position.
- SOS message text. Whatever you type into the message field, broadcast alongside your location.
- Bluetooth signals from nearby devices. While Scanning is on, ResQ listens for SOS beacons from other phones running the app, so it can display and relay them.
- Battery level. Read from the device to show on your own status screen and to flag a low-battery SOS to others.
- A randomly generated sender ID. Created once on first install and stored only on your device, so other ResQ users can tell your repeated broadcasts apart from someone else’s. It is not linked to your name, phone number, or any other identity.
How This Information Is Used
Your location and message are broadcast over Bluetooth Low Energy to any nearby phone running ResQ, so they can be seen by people physically close enough to help. Other ResQ users within range, or further away through phones that relay the signal onward, may see this information as part of using the app as intended.
That broadcast is the only place this information goes. It is never transmitted to the developer, to any company, or to any server, because ResQ has none. The developer cannot see your location, your messages, or any other data from the app, because there is no mechanism by which it could.
Please note: the Bluetooth broadcast is not encrypted. Anyone within Bluetooth range using ResQ, or a generic Bluetooth scanning tool, could read the location and message you are broadcasting. Only turn Sending on when you want nearby people to find you, and do not put sensitive personal information in your message.
Permissions Explained
| Permission | Why ResQ asks for it |
|---|---|
| Location (fine/coarse) | To attach your GPS coordinates to your SOS broadcast, and because Android requires location permission to see Bluetooth scan results at all. |
| Bluetooth (scan, advertise, connect) | To broadcast your SOS, detect nearby SOS signals, and exchange full messages over a direct connection. |
| Notifications | To show the persistent notification required while the app is actively broadcasting or scanning in the background. |
| Run in the foreground | To keep broadcasting or scanning reliably with the screen off, instead of being stopped by the system. |
ResQ never requests internet access, contacts, camera, microphone, SMS, or any permission unrelated to its core function.
Data Storage and Retention
Everything ResQ stores (your settings, your sender ID, and the log of SOS signals you have received from others) lives in a local database on your device only. None of it is backed up to any cloud service by the app itself.
Received SOS entries are automatically removed from that log after about an hour of no further sightings, so the list reflects who is currently nearby rather than growing forever. Uninstalling ResQ permanently erases all of this data from your device immediately. There is nothing left anywhere else to delete, because nothing was ever sent anywhere else.
Data Sharing and Third Parties
ResQ shares no data with third parties. The only sharing it does is with nearby ResQ users over Bluetooth, which is the app’s entire purpose. There are no advertisements, no advertising SDKs, no analytics or crash-reporting services, and no Google Play Services dependency of any kind. Nothing about your use of this app is sold, rented, or shared for marketing, research, or any other purpose.
Not a Replacement for Emergency Services
ResQ is a best-effort aid that depends on other people running the app being physically nearby. It does not contact emergency services and cannot guarantee that anyone will receive your signal. If you can, always call your local emergency number first.
Children’s Privacy
ResQ is not directed at children and is not designed to appeal to them. In any case, since the app collects nothing on any server, there is no data of a child’s, or anyone else’s, for the developer to hold, regardless of the user’s age.
Changes to This Policy
If this policy changes, for example because a future version of ResQ adds a feature that changes what the app accesses, the updated version will be posted at this same page with a new “last updated” date above. Continued use of the app after a change constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.
Contact Us
Developed by jasonkyawlab. If you have questions about this privacy policy or about ResQ, contact: askdeskbyjkl@gmail.com