Privacy Policy for Blackout

Blackout is an Android TV app that covers the screen with black on demand, so your apps keep running while the picture is hidden. Everything happens on your device. Blackout has no servers and no accounts. Purchases are handled by Google Play.

Data we collect

None. Blackout does not collect, store, or share personal information, and it has no analytics, advertising, or tracking of any kind. The app includes Google's Play Billing Library to sell the one-time unlock; that library is why the app requests internet access (see Purchases below). Blackout's own code sends nothing off your device.

Display over other apps

Blackout asks for permission to display over other apps so it can draw a plain black layer across the screen. The layer is empty: it does not capture, record, or read what is behind it.

Accessibility service

Blackout uses an Android accessibility service, which you turn on yourself in your device's Accessibility settings. It is used for two purposes: to turn the picture off when you press the button you assigned, and to bring the picture back when you press a button.

While the blackout is showing, the service notices that a key was pressed and turns the blackout off. It does not record which key was pressed, and key presses are not stored or shared.

If you assign a button in setup, Blackout saves that one button's code on your device. While a button is assigned, the service receives remote key presses so it can recognize that button; every other press passes through untouched and is not recorded, stored, or shared. If no button is assigned, the service does not receive key presses while the blackout is not showing.

The service is also told when a different window comes to the front, so the blackout can end if another app opens. For this it briefly holds only the name of that app and window in memory. That name is not stored or shared. Blackout does not read screen content, text on the screen, or anything you type, and it does not ask Android for access to window content.

You can turn the service off at any time in Accessibility settings. Blackout will then no longer respond to remote buttons.

Data on your device

Blackout saves a few settings on your device: whether you have finished the introduction; the remote button you assigned, if any, and how it is pressed (single press, double press, or hold); when your free week started; and whether you have unlocked Blackout. Uninstalling Blackout removes them.

Purchases

Blackout is free to try for 7 days, then a one-time in-app purchase unlocks it. The purchase, or a promo code you redeem, is processed entirely by Google Play. Blackout never sees your payment details.

To know whether you have unlocked it, Blackout asks the Google Play app on your device which purchases your Google account owns, and confirms new purchases with Google Play as Google requires. The Play Billing Library may send Google diagnostic information about these billing requests. This is handled under the Google Privacy Policy.

Google Play

If you install Blackout from Google Play, Google may process information about your installation under the Google Privacy Policy. Blackout itself does not receive that information.

Changes to this policy

This privacy policy may be updated as Blackout evolves. Material changes will be reflected in the published policy.

Contact

For questions about this privacy policy, contact support.