Privacy Policy
Last updated: October 18, 2026
1. Introduction
This Privacy Policy describes how the Lord of the Steps application ("App") collects, uses, and protects personal data of its users. Data controller and developer of the App: Khakimov Aynur Khusainovich (Хакимов Айнур Хусаинович). In Google Play and the App Store the developer is listed as Khakimov Ainur — the same person. Website: lord-of-the-steps.ru Contact email: ainr.khakimov@gmail.com
2. Data We Collect
The App collects the following data: • Email address — when you sign in with Google, Apple or a code sent to your email • Username — set by you in your profile • Height (cm) — to calculate step length and walking distance • Daily step count — from system health data sources: Samsung Health, HUAWEI Health or Health Connect (Android), HealthKit (iOS), or the device's built-in step sensor • Device identifier — to sync steps across multiple devices • Texts you write yourself — the names and descriptions of groups and challenges • Requests to join groups and reports — the reason is picked from a list, there is no free text • Avatar — the set of drawing parts you put together in the editor; no photos are uploaded • Messages you write in group chats, and your reactions to messages • The list of people you have blocked • Your app language and your device's time zone — to show days and texts correctly and to find people near you • Follows — who you follow and who follows you • Events of your progress, such as entering a new place on the route. The server creates them from your steps • Comments on feed events, and reactions to events and comments • Tasks — your monthly target and its result, the list of your walking partners, shared tasks with your partners and their results • A link to your profile — if you created one to share your profile We do NOT collect location data, contacts, photos, or any other personal information. The App has no private messages between users — only a group's shared chat.
3. Why We Collect Data
All data is used solely for the App's functionality: • Email — account identification and authentication • Username — display in groups and challenges • Height — automatic distance calculation from step count • Steps — route progress, statistics, participation in groups and challenges • Device identifier — correct data aggregation across devices • Group and challenge texts — shown to members and, for a public group, to every user of the App; texts are checked automatically before they are shown • Reports — reviewing violations; a copy of the reported text is kept with the report, and the author is not told who reported it • Avatar — shown next to your name • Chat messages — shown to the group's members. The chat is visible only to the people currently in the group, including those who join later; it is not visible to anyone outside the group. If you leave the group, your messages in it stay. A group member can translate a message into their app's language — see the section on sharing data • Blocked people — to hide their messages from you in group chats, and to hide you from each other in the feed and on profiles. A blocked person is not told about it • Tasks and walking partners — matching shared tasks and showing their progress. The members of a shared task see each other's names and avatars and how many steps each of them added to the shared target. Someone becomes your walking partner only with your consent, and you can remove a partner at any time In a group, all of its members see your name and steps. If the group is public, App users you do not know can join it and will also see your name and steps. The member list and members' steps are not visible to anyone outside the group. To stop a group's members from seeing your data, leave the group. Feed. Your events are seen by the people who follow you, by the members of your groups and, while the setting “Show me to people outside my groups” is on, by other App users with the same language and a similar time zone (“near you”). These people can open your profile (name, avatar, steps today and in total, distance walked, achievements, the number of people you follow and of your followers, and the lists themselves — who you follow and who follows you) and follow you. While the setting is on, any App user can find you by name in search. The setting is on by default. You can turn it off in the App: Profile → Settings → Following. Once it is off, people you do not know stop seeing you and your events and finding you in search, while your followers and the members of your groups still see them. To make someone stop seeing you altogether, block them: a block hides you from each other in the feed and on profiles and cancels follows in both directions. Profile link. You can share a link to your profile or a QR code. Whoever opens the link sees your profile and can follow you, even while the setting “Show me to people outside my groups” is off. In a browser, the page behind the link shows only your name and is closed to search engines. You can remove a follower: Profile → Settings → Following → “Remove from followers”. Comments on an event are seen by everyone who sees the event itself. The author of an event can delete any comment under it and hide their own event from the feed.
4. Third-Party Data Sharing
We do not sell, share, or disclose your personal data to third parties. Exceptions: • Google Sign-In — during authentication, Google receives standard sign-in information per its own privacy policy • Sign in with Apple — during authentication, Apple receives standard sign-in information per its own privacy policy • HUAWEI Health — if you connect HUAWEI Health as a step source, access is granted through your HUAWEI ID, and Huawei receives standard sign-in information per its own privacy policy • OpenAI — the names and descriptions of groups and challenges are sent to an automated text-checking service. A message from a group chat is sent for translation only when a member of the group taps “Translate” on that message. Likewise, a comment in the feed is sent for translation only when someone who sees the event taps “Translate”. In both cases only the text itself is sent — without the author's name, email, steps or any other account data. Messages from group chats and comments are not sent to any other service The App contains no advertising SDKs, analytics trackers, or other data collection services.
5. Data Storage and Security
Data is stored on a secure server. • All data is transmitted over encrypted HTTPS protocol • Authentication tokens are stored in Keystore (Android) and Keychain (iOS) • Database access is restricted and protected Messages in group chats are kept for one year and then deleted automatically. A deleted message (by you, a group admin or a moderator) is kept for another 30 days to handle reports, then deleted permanently. If a message has been reported, a copy of its text is kept with the report — for up to a year after the report is resolved. A message's translation is kept as long as the message itself and is deleted with it. Feed events are kept for 180 days and then deleted automatically. An event you have hidden is deleted, together with its comments, after 30 days. A deleted comment is kept for another 30 days to handle reports, then deleted permanently. If a comment has been reported, a copy of its text is kept with the report — for up to a year after the report is resolved.
6. Data Deletion
You can delete your account and all associated data: • In the app: Profile → Delete Account • By email: send a request to ainr.khakimov@gmail.com When you delete your account, the following data is permanently removed: profile data, avatar, step history, group memberships, challenge participation, your group chat messages and reactions, your follows and followers, feed events, your comments and reactions in the feed, the list of people you have blocked, tasks, the list of your walking partners, your profile link, and subscription data. Shared tasks you took part in stay in your partners' history — without your name and avatar.
7. Health Data
The App requests read-only access to step count data. Depending on your device, this data is read from Samsung Health, HUAWEI Health or Health Connect (Android), from HealthKit (iOS), or from the device's built-in step sensor. We do not write data to any of these sources. We do not request access to other health metrics (heart rate, blood pressure, sleep, workouts, etc.). Step data is used exclusively for calculating route progress, personal statistics, and participating in group challenges. We do not share it with third parties and do not use it for advertising. HUAWEI Health. If you connect HUAWEI Health, the App reads through HUAWEI Health Kit only your daily step count — for today and, if you allowed access to history, for the previous 7 days. This data is used the same way as other step data: for route progress, statistics and group challenges. You can disconnect HUAWEI Health at any time: in the App — Profile → Settings → Step sync → “Disconnect”, or in HUAWEI Health itself — Me → Privacy management → Data sharing and authorization. Neither the App nor HUAWEI Health Service Kit is a medical device. Step data is for reference only and must not be used as a basis for medical diagnosis.
8. Policy Changes
We may update this Policy from time to time. If we make significant changes, we will notify users through the App. The current version is always available at: lord-of-the-steps.ru/privacy
9. Third-Party AI Assistant Access (MCP Connector)
Premium subscribers may voluntarily connect their account to a third-party AI assistant (such as Claude or ChatGPT) over the open MCP protocol, to ask the assistant questions about their own data. A connection is always initiated by you: it requires signing in and giving explicit consent on a screen that lists exactly what data the assistant will receive. No access is possible without your consent. What a connected assistant can read: • profile — name, registration date, height, unit system, subscription status (your email address is never shared); • steps, route and goals — day-by-day step history, route progress, goals and their outcomes; • groups and challenges (if you grant this access) — the leaderboards of your groups, including your groupmates' names and step totals — exactly as the app itself displays them. Access is strictly read-only: the assistant cannot change or delete anything. Data shared this way is processed by the assistant as a third-party service under its own privacy policy. You can revoke access at any time from your account page ("Connected Assistants") — revocation takes effect immediately. Deleting your account automatically removes all connections and permissions.
For any questions: ainr.khakimov@gmail.com