Volata Privacy Policy

Effective date: September 27, 2026 (added a Coaching section describing what a coach you link can see, how each piece is shared only after you say yes, and how to end it; added a paragraph on messages to your coach. Previously effective September 22, 2026.)

Volata is a running-coach app made by Appnika Inc ("Appnika," "we," "us"). This policy explains what information Volata collects, why, and what control you have over it. It is written to be read, not skimmed past — if anything is unclear, email us at privacy@volata.run.

Because Volata processes fitness and health-related information, we also maintain a separate Consumer Health Data Privacy Policy as required by certain state laws.

What we collect

Account information. When you sign up we collect your email address and, if you use Sign in with Apple or Google, the identifier those services share with us. We collect your date of birth once, to verify you are 16 or older. Your date of birth is used for age verification and is never shown to anyone but you, never used for marketing, and never shared.

Runner profile. To build your training plan, you provide information such as your running experience, typical weekly distance, recent race results, goal race and target time, preferred training days, height, weight, and any injury history you choose to tell us about. You control what you enter, and you can leave optional fields blank.

Training and activity data. Your training plans, workouts, manually logged runs, (when you record a run in the app) GPS-recorded activities, and any note you add to an activity (up to 4,000 characters). Each recorded run also notes what the recording cost your phone: the battery level when the run started and ended, whether the phone was charging at those two moments, how much of the run the app was on screen, and which location setting the app used to record it — kept with the run and deleted with it.

Location data. When you record a run in the app, we collect precise GPS location for the duration of that run — including while your screen is locked — to measure your route, pace, and distance. Location collection stops when you stop the run. This location data powers your activity history, maps, and stats. It is never used for advertising, never sold, and never shared with third parties for marketing. It is deleted permanently when you delete the activity or your account. One more detail, in the interest of precision: before you start, while the Record screen is open outdoors, the app checks your GPS signal so it can tell you when you're ready. During that check it reads only how accurate the fix is and immediately discards the coordinates — nothing is stored and nothing is sent to our servers. Outside of the Record screen, Volata does not touch your location at all, and it never tracks you in the background outside a run you are actively recording.

Apple Health data (if you connect it). If you choose to connect Apple Health, Volata reads workout data (such as runs, walks, and rides recorded on your Apple Watch or other apps) and, if you grant it, heart-rate data associated with those workouts, so your training from other sources can count toward your plan. If you enable write-back, Volata writes your in-app recorded runs to Apple Health. You control both directions: the write-back switch lives in Volata's own settings, and the permissions themselves are granted, changed, or revoked in Apple's Health app at any time. Revoking there stops the flow in that direction immediately. Data received from Apple Health is used only to provide Volata's training features. It is never used for advertising or marketing, never sold, never shared with third parties other than a coach you choose to link (see Coaching), and never used to make eligibility or credit decisions. Deleting an activity or your account deletes the copy Volata holds; your data in Apple Health itself remains under your control on your device.

Check-ins and injury reports. Volata has a "Check in" screen and a "Pain or injury?" screen where you can tell us how you are doing. If you use them, we store what you told us on our servers along with the rest of your account data:

• That something hurts, and which of these you picked: it changed your stride, it got worse while running, it's severe, it hurts at rest, you have trouble bearing weight.
• That you are feeling unwell, or unusually tired.
• How a workout felt — about what you expected, harder than expected, or way too hard — and anything you write in the optional note on that screen (up to 500 characters).
• An injury report: whether you marked it minor or moderate, and anything you write in its note (up to 2,000 characters).
• What you chose to do next: ease my plan, stop this plan, or keep my plan.

We use this to decide what to suggest next. When you tell us something hurts or that a session was too hard, Volata may offer you an easier version of your plan. You accept or decline that offer, and your plan does not change unless you accept it. These entries are never sent to the AI model, never used for advertising, never sold, and are deleted when you delete your account.

The "Check in" screen also asks about urgent warning signs — chest pain or pressure; fainting or near-fainting; severe or unusual shortness of breath; sudden numbness, weakness, or slurred speech; and signs of heat illness. If you pick one, Volata tells you to stop and seek medical help. Your answer is sent to our server and processed to decide what to show you, but which sign you picked is deliberately never stored: our records keep only the fact that the warning screen was shown, with no symptom content.

Ability-to-run confirmation. Before you train with Volata, you confirm a statement that you're able to run and don't have a known reason — from a doctor or other professional — not to exercise. We keep a record that you confirmed it: which version of the statement you saw, and when. The record contains nothing else about your health.

Feedback you send us. If you send feedback from inside the app, we store the category you picked, your rating, whatever you write (up to 4,000 characters), and which version of the app and of iOS you were using, so we can understand and fix what you are telling us about.

Device and notification data. If you enable notifications, we store a push token for your device and your notification preferences (including quiet hours). Our servers keep operational logs so we can find problems and keep the service secure. Those logs identify your account and record what the service did, but they leave out your location, your date of birth, your sign-in credentials, and anything you write in a free-text field. Volata contains no analytics service and no third-party crash-reporting service. Crash and performance reporting is on by default — one switch covers both kinds of report described here — and you can turn it off at any time in the app's Settings, under "Data & privacy." When it's off, nothing is sent, and any reports still waiting on your device are discarded. When the app crashes or freezes — that is, stops responding to your taps for a noticeable stretch — and reporting is on, it sends us its own technical report. A crash or a freeze is not the only thing that sends one: the paragraph below describes a short report that goes once a day. There are two kinds of crash report. When the crash happens inside our own code, the report says what went wrong — the error's type and the lines of our code it happened in. When the crash comes from the operating system itself, or when the app freezes, the report instead carries the low-level diagnostic the system gives us: the names of the software components that were running (for example, "Volata" or a system framework such as "UIKitCore"), internal reference identifiers and numeric offsets that point us at the exact instruction, the names of the functions involved where they are available, the technical type of the crash (its exception or signal), and, for a freeze, how long the app was unresponsive. Either way the report also includes which version and build of the app you were running, your phone's platform, its operating-system version, your device's type (not its name), and when it happened — technical, build, and diagnostic details, not content. When you are signed in, a report is linked to your account; it is not anonymous. A crash or freeze report never includes the error's message, anything you have written, your location, your name or email, or any part of your training. It is stored under your account, so deleting your account deletes it. It is held on your phone and sent the next time you open the app, so a crash you have offline still reaches us later — and if the app crashes before you sign in, the report waits and is sent with your next sign-in. We limit how many we take: at most three reports of the same crash per day, and at most twenty waiting on your phone at once.

A daily report on what the app costs your phone. With the same switch on, Volata also sends one short report a day about its own power use, so we can tell whether recording a run is draining your battery. iOS measures this for us — through a system feature called MetricKit — and hands it to the app roughly once a day. For that day the report carries counters and timings and nothing else about that day: how much processor time the app used, how long it was awake and in which state, how much data it moved over cellular and Wi-Fi, the average screen brightness while the app was on screen, and how much time the app held each level of location accuracy. Those location figures are lengths of time only — never a coordinate, never a route, never a place, and never anything that says where you were. The report also carries the same app and device details a crash report does: the app's version and build, your phone's platform, its operating-system version, and your device's type (not its name). It carries nothing you wrote, nothing from your training, and no name, email, or advertising identifier. It is stored under your account, so deleting your account deletes it, and we keep it for 90 days and then delete it.

What we deliberately do not collect. No advertising identifiers, no tracking cookies, no contact lists, no social graph, and no location outside the Record screen — never in the background outside a run you are actively recording.

What we do with it

• Build your training plan and suggest changes to it. Your profile and training data are processed by our training engine to build your plan and to suggest changes to it; a suggested change takes effect only when you accept it. This feature is currently turned off: Volata is built to be able to use an AI model (provided by Anthropic) to write plain-language workout descriptions — never paces, mileage, or plan structure, which are always set by the training engine. While it's off, no training data is sent to Anthropic. If we turn it back on, the AI model would receive only derived training information — paces, distances, workout structure, training history summaries — never your GPS route data, your date of birth, or your contact details. We'll update this policy first if that changes.
• Show you your own history — runs, maps, splits, progress.
• Send notifications you asked for — workout reminders and coaching updates, respecting your preferences and quiet hours.
• Keep the service working — authentication, error diagnosis, abuse prevention.

We do not sell your data. We do not show ads. We do not use your data for advertising, and we have no advertising partners. We do not use your personal information to train AI models.

Who processes it for us

Volata runs on infrastructure provided by a small set of service providers, each processing data only to provide their service to us:

Coaching

Coaching is something you switch on. If you accept a coach's invitation, that coach can see the training information you agree to share with them, and nothing else. Depending on what you turn on, this can include your planned sessions and their numbers; what you did on each run, such as distance, time, pace, how hard you said it felt and any stretch we could not measure; and, if you choose to turn it on, body measurements such as heart rate. Each of these is shared only after the app has shown you exactly what it is and you have said yes. You can end coaching at any time from Profile. The coach then loses access to your information, and keeps the plans they wrote for you.

Messages to your coach. Anything you type to your coach in the app goes straight to them, exactly as you wrote it, and is stored by Volata so you and your coach can read it. What you put in those words, including anything about your body or health, is your choice. Messages are deleted when you delete your account.

Where your data lives

Your data is stored in the United States. If you use Volata from outside the United States, your information is transferred to and processed in the United States.

How long we keep it

Your data is kept while your account is active. When you delete your account, deletion is scheduled with a 14-day grace period during which you can change your mind: sign back in before it ends and confirm with "Keep my account," which cancels the deletion. Signing in on its own does not cancel it. After the grace period, your data is permanently removed from our live systems within 30 days. Residual copies in encrypted backups are removed as backups rotate on their own schedule.

You can also delete individual activities at any time, which permanently removes them, including their GPS data.

Your rights and choices

You can view and edit your profile in the app, delete individual activities, and delete your account entirely (Profile → Settings → Delete account). You can also email privacy@volata.run to: request a copy of your data (access/portability), correct inaccurate information, or request deletion.

Depending on where you live, state privacy laws may give you additional rights, including the right not to be discriminated against for exercising your privacy rights, the right to appeal a decision we make about a request, and the right to use an authorized agent. Because we do not sell personal information or share it for targeted advertising, there is nothing to opt out of on that front. We will respond to verified requests within the time required by applicable law.

Residents of Washington, Nevada, and other states with consumer health data laws: please see our Consumer Health Data Privacy Policy for rights specific to consumer health data.

Age

Volata is for runners and walkers 16 and older. We verify age at signup, and accounts belonging to anyone under 16 are removed. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 16.

Health and fitness data

Your training data is fitness information you chose to give a training app — we treat it with care. Volata is not a medical service or a covered entity under HIPAA, and your data here is not protected health information under HIPAA. State consumer-health-data laws may still apply to it; see our Consumer Health Data Privacy Policy.

Security

We protect your data with industry-standard measures, including encryption in transit and at rest, per-user access controls enforced at the database layer, and the principle that our systems can only read your data as you. No system is perfectly secure; if we learn of a breach affecting your data, we will notify you as required by law.

Changes

If this policy changes materially, we will tell you in the app before the change takes effect, not after. The current version is always at volata.run/legal/privacy.

What changed on September 27, 2026. We added a Coaching section. It says what a coach can see once you accept their invitation — the training information you agree to share with them, and nothing else — that each piece is shared only after the app has shown you exactly what it is and you have said yes, and that you can end coaching at any time from Profile. We also added a paragraph about messages to your coach: what you type goes straight to them as you wrote it, Volata stores it so the two of you can read it, and it is deleted when you delete your account. We also narrowed one promise that was already on this page, so it stays true: the Apple Health paragraph said data we receive from Apple Health is never shared with third parties, and it now says never shared with third parties other than a coach you choose to link. Nothing was removed, and nothing else about what we collect or what we do with it changed.

Contact

Appnika Inc
5900 Balcones Drive STE 33189
Austin, TX, 78731, USA
privacy@volata.run · support@volata.run