PlaceTimerPlaceTimer privacy policy
Last updated: September 8, 2026
PlaceTimer is a macOS menu bar app that automatically tracks how much time you spend at each place. This policy explains which data the app touches and where that data goes.
The short answer: nowhere. The app has no server.
Data collected
No data is collected. PlaceTimer has no server. You do not create an account or sign in, and the app contains no analytics, crash reporting or advertising SDKs. The developer has no access to any information about you.
Data stored on your device
The following stays only on your own Mac, inside the app's sandbox container, as plain JSON files (the event log is plain text):
| Data | Why |
|---|---|
| Names of saved places | To recognise where you are |
| Wi-Fi network names (SSID) and access point addresses (BSSID) linked to those places | For place matching |
| Coordinates of places | To tell apart networks with the same name (for example two branches of a café chain) |
| Session history: start and end times | For durations and statistics |
| Your app settings and dismissed suggestions | To remember your preferences |
| Event log (last 14 days): sleep/wake, name and address of the connected Wi-Fi network, location accuracy, session events | To see why a session split unexpectedly; never sent anywhere and removed with Delete all data |
Location:
~/Library/Containers/com.ardaipek.placetimer/Data/Library/Application Support/PlaceTimer/
You can open these files from the app: Settings → About → Data location → Show in Finder.
Permissions
Location
Since macOS 14, the name of the connected Wi-Fi network can only be read when Location Services permission is granted. Because PlaceTimer depends entirely on recognising your place from the network, this permission is required.
Your location never leaves your device and is not sent to any server. It is only written to a local file as the coordinates of a place.
Notifications
Used to show reminders at the interval you choose. Notifications are entirely local; no remote (push) notification service is used.
The only request sent to Apple
When you connect to a Wi-Fi network it does not recognise, PlaceTimer sends your current coordinates to Apple Maps (MKLocalSearch) to suggest a name, asking for the names of nearby places.
- This request goes to Apple, not to the developer, and is subject to Apple's privacy policy.
- It is made only when a new, unrecognised network appears, as the question window opens. The app does not send requests continuously in the background.
- If you prefer not to: ignore the suggestions and type the place name yourself, or choose "Skip for now". No feature other than name suggestions needs a network connection.
Apart from this, the app never goes online.
Data sharing
No data is shared with third parties, sold or used for advertising. No data is collected that could be shared.
Deleting your data
- In the app: Settings → About → Delete all data. Your saved places and full session history are deleted.
- Complete removal: Move the app to the Trash and delete the
~/Library/Containers/com.ardaipek.placetimerfolder.
Because the data exists only on your device, deletion cannot be undone and no copy remains with us, because there never was one.
Children
PlaceTimer is not directed at children, and since it collects no data from anyone, it collects none from children.
Changes
If this policy changes, this page will be updated and the date above changed.
Contact
For questions: developer.ardaipek@gmail.com