Encrypted on the phone
Records are kept in an encrypted database (AES-256). Attached documents and your photo are encrypted as separate files.
Privacy and security
How Kinsu protects your data, in plain words
Your health records stay on your phone, encrypted. We can’t read them, and we never receive them. This page explains how that works, and the little that does leave your phone. The privacy policy has the full detail.
Where your data is
What stays on your phone, and what doesn’t.
Stays on your phone
Everything you add, encrypted (AES-256):
- prescriptions, reports, scans and their photos or PDFs
- medicines, doses and reminders
- readings, symptoms, sleep, mood, diet and exercise
- the family members you add, and the records you keep for them
- your Medical ID and emergency contacts
Leaves it
Two things, both to Google Firebase:
- your mobile number, so it can text you a sign-in code
- an encrypted copy of your recovery key, which opens only with the 12-word code you write down at setup
Signing in also sends Firebase the technical details it needs to sign you in safely, such as your IP address.
Your mobile number goes to Google Firebase Authentication, which texts you a one-time code and confirms the number is yours. With each sign-in, Firebase also receives what it needs to do that safely: your IP address, identifiers for the app installation and device, and a Google Play Integrity check that the request comes from the genuine Kinsu app. Firebase processes mobile numbers in the United States.
The encrypted copy of your recovery key is stored in Google Cloud Firestore, in Google’s Mumbai region. It opens only with your 12-word recovery code, which is never sent anywhere or kept by us.
Nothing else leaves your phone: no health record, document, photo or profile detail is sent to us or to anyone on our behalf.
How it’s protected
Encrypted, and locked with your phone’s own lock.
A key only your phone holds
The key is protected by your phone’s secure hardware, and unlocks only with your fingerprint, face or screen lock. Kinsu won’t set up on a phone without a screen lock.
Locked when you leave
Kinsu locks itself two minutes after you leave it, and hides its contents from screenshots and the recent-apps view.
No copies elsewhere
Android’s cloud backup of the app is switched off, so your records aren’t copied to Google Drive either. What goes to Firebase is encrypted in transit.
Your recovery code
Twelve words, written down once.
During setup, Kinsu shows you a 12-word recovery code. Write it down and keep it somewhere safe. If your phone’s security settings change, such as a new fingerprint or screen lock, it’s the only way back into your records on that phone.
The code can’t bring records to another phone. Your records exist only on your phone: if you lose the phone, reset it or uninstall Kinsu, they’re gone, because there’s no copy anywhere. There is no master key, so we can’t recover them either.
To keep a copy elsewhere, use Settings → Export my data. It saves the categories you choose as files in your phone’s Downloads folder. Those files aren’t encrypted, so keeping them safe is up to you.
What Kinsu never does
The things the app doesn’t do with your data.
- No tracking.No analytics, crash reporting or usage tracking in the app.
- No advertising.No ads, and no advertising identifier.
- Nothing sold.No selling, renting or trading of personal data.
- No AI.No AI processing of your data.
- No cloud copy.No cloud sync or backup of your records.
- No sharing.Nobody else can see your records: not family members, caregivers or doctors. Caregivers you add are emergency contacts on the SOS screen.
- No national records link.No connection to ABDM, ABHA or any national health record system.
Notifications hide medicine names unless you choose to show them.
Your rights
Your rights under India’s DPDP Act.
Kinsu handles data in line with the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023. You can:
- See your data. Everything on your phone is visible in the app, and Export gives you a copy. To find out what’s held about you at Firebase, write to the Grievance Officer.
- Correct it. Edit any record or your profile in the app. To change your mobile number, write to us.
- Erase it. Delete single records, or your whole account: Settings → Delete account, or follow the steps at kinsu.health/delete-account.
- Withdraw consent. Turn medicine reminders off under Privacy & consent → Change what you share, or delete your account to withdraw entirely.
- Nominate someone to exercise these rights for you if you die or can’t do so yourself, by writing to the Grievance Officer.
Grievance Officer: write to kinsu.health@gmail.com. We acknowledge within 7 days and resolve within one month. If we don’t resolve your complaint, you may take it to the Data Protection Board of India once it is operating.
No system is perfectly secure, and we don’t claim otherwise. If a breach affects your data, we’ll tell you and the authorities as the law requires.
What this website’s own suppliers see, such as its host and the waitlist form, is listed in section 13 of the privacy policy.
Questions
Questions about your data.
Is my data sent to servers?
Your records aren’t. Everything you add stays on your phone, encrypted. Of what you put in Kinsu, two things leave it: your mobile number, which Google Firebase uses to text you a sign-in code, and an encrypted copy of your recovery key, which only your 12-word code can open. Signing in also sends Firebase technical details, such as your IP address and device identifiers, that it needs to sign you in safely.
What is the 12-word recovery code for?
You write it down at setup. If your phone’s security settings change, such as a new fingerprint or screen lock, it’s the only way back into your records on that phone. It can’t bring records to a new phone, and nobody else has a copy, including us.
What if I lose my phone?
Your records are only on your phone, so they go with it: there’s no cloud copy to restore from. Whoever has the phone can’t open them without your fingerprint, face or screen lock. Your 12-word recovery code gets you back in on the same phone if its security settings change; it can’t bring records to a new one.
Can I move my records to a new phone?
Not yet. Records live only on the phone you added them on. You can export the categories you choose as spreadsheet files, but Kinsu can’t import them back. The files aren’t encrypted, so keep them somewhere safe.
Can someone see Kinsu in my recent apps or screenshots?
No. Kinsu hides its screen from screenshots and the recent-apps view, and locks itself two minutes after you leave it.
What does Kinsu ask my consent for?
Once for the app itself, and separately for medicine reminders. You can see what you agreed to, and when, in Settings → Privacy & consent.
Can I delete everything?
Yes. Settings → Delete account deletes your account and everything Kinsu keeps on your phone, straight away. It needs internet, to confirm with a fresh code. If you no longer have the phone or the app, kinsu.health/delete-account explains how to ask us to delete your account. We can’t reach records on a lost phone. Files you exported or saved to your Downloads folder stay until you delete them.
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