StudyNow
DE

Privacy policy

How the StudyNow app and this website handle data. In short: everything you enter in the app stays on your device.

As of: 25 September 2026. This policy applies to the StudyNow app from version 3 onwards on iPhone and iPad, to the Android version (section 6a) and to this website. It replaces version 2.0 of 13 September 2020, which referred to the earlier, server-based app.

This is a convenience translation. Only the German version is legally binding.

1. Controller

coactum GmbH
Neuhäuser Straße 74
33102 Paderborn
Germany
Tel. 0170 7389305
E-mail: datenschutz@coactum.de

2. The key points in brief

  • StudyNow stores everything you enter exclusively locally on your device.
  • There is no account, no sign-in and no StudyNow server. coactum GmbH receives no data from the app.
  • The app contains no analytics, tracking or advertising services and no third-party integrations.
  • The app connects to the internet only when you trigger it yourself – when importing a file via a link, when opening the links to this website, when writing a feedback e-mail and, on iPhone and iPad, when syncing between your devices via iCloud (section 5).

3. Data in the app

In the app you create semesters, courses, appointments and deadlines, and you rate appointments and deadlines (attendance as well as enjoyment, interest, understanding and difficulty). In addition, there are settings such as language, reminders and “Shake to undo”. From this information the app calculates statistics and achievements – likewise only on the device.

This data is held in a database in the app's protected storage area on your device. For the Home Screen widget on iPhone and iPad (from version 6.6), the app additionally stores an extract of your timetable or calendar for the next 14 days in a storage area that only the app and its widget share – likewise only on your device; it is overwritten with every change and deleted together with the app. We have no access to either and can neither view nor restore them. As we do not process any data from the app, no legal basis is required on our part.

You delete the data via Settings → Data → Reset everything or by deleting the app. If you use device backups (such as iCloud Backup or a backup on a computer), the app data may be part of these backups; Apple's terms or your own settings apply to them.

On Android devices the same applies to Android's backup: if it is switched on on your device, Android backs up the app's data in encrypted form to your Google Account (Google Drive) and restores it on a new device; the data may likewise be carried over when transferring to a new device. Google's terms and your backup settings on the device apply to this (depending on the manufacturer, for example under Settings → Google → Backup). coactum GmbH has no access to these backups.

With Export backup, the app creates a file containing your data, which you store or pass on yourself via the share menu of iOS or Android. You alone decide where this file ends up.

3a. Use at school (from version 6)

From version 6, StudyNow can also be used for school, in years 5–10 and in the upper secondary level (gymnasiale Oberstufe). School and university studies are then kept in separate learning areas on the same device. In the school area, you or your child enter the school year and half-year, the class or upper-school phase, subjects or courses (with teacher and room), the timetable with lesson times and A/B weeks, holidays, tasks, class tests and exams, study blocks and weekly goals. Optionally, short look-backs on a subject can be added (for example on understanding); every question can be answered with “No answer” or skipped. The app does not record grades.

Section 3 applies to all of this data: it remains exclusively on the device. Neither coactum GmbH nor the school or teachers receive it; the app has no function that allows teachers to view pupils' entries. Learning areas are not an access protection: anyone who unlocks the device can see all areas.

Teachers can pass on a school template as a .studynow file. It contains the lesson times, holidays, dates, subjects and weekly plan of a class, teachers' names only if the person sharing it explicitly chooses so, but never tasks, look-backs or other personal information. It is passed on through channels chosen by the school; StudyNow is not involved in this.

In the school area there are no notifications for individual lessons. On request, the app schedules a daily overview locally; a quiet time and a discreet preview (on the Lock Screen only “You have a reminder”) can be set, and in years 5–10 the discreet preview is switched on by default.

If a school uses StudyNow in lessons, it decides on the framework of its use and whether it is voluntary, and informs pupils and parents. As coactum GmbH does not receive any personal data in this context, it is not the controller within the meaning of the GDPR for the content in the app.

4. Permissions on the device

  • Notifications: The app schedules reminders of appointments and deadlines locally via iOS or Android. There is no push service and no server that sends reminders. The operating system asks for your consent when you switch them on; you can withdraw it at any time in the app or in the device settings. On Android, the app schedules system alarms for this purpose and restores them after the device restarts; it does not request “exact alarms”.
  • Motion sensor: Only if you switch on “Shake to undo” does the app read the motion sensor – and only while the bar for undoing is visible after a deletion. The readings are not stored. On iOS, the system asks for your permission beforehand; on Android, no separate permission is provided for this.
  • Files: The app reads a file only if you select it yourself or hand it over with “Open in StudyNow” (backup or configuration file). In the school area, calendar files (.ics) and spreadsheets (.csv) containing a timetable are added; these, too, are read only on the device.

5. Connections you trigger yourself

a) Importing a file from your university via a link. Student offices can provide semester data and courses as a .studynow file. If you open such a link or paste it into the app, the app retrieves exactly this one file from the address given in the link; the same applies if you later tap “Reload”. In doing so, the technically necessary connection data is transmitted to the server providing the file – in particular your IP address, the time, the address retrieved and information about the app and operating system. Nothing from your data in the app is transmitted. The operator of this server, usually your university, is responsible for the processing on it; we do not receive this data. A file that you open from Mail, a files app, AirDrop or Quick Share is read by the app without any network connection.

The same applies in the school area to a calendar link (for example to a timetable export from WebUntis or the school portal) and to a school template via a link: the app retrieves the file once when you trigger it. No subscription and no regular retrieval is set up. The operator of the server retrieved from, usually the school or its service provider, is responsible for the processing on that server.

b) Privacy policy and legal notice. These links open the respective page of this website in your browser. Section 7 applies to this.

c) Feedback by e-mail. “Write feedback” opens your e-mail program with a prepared draft to studynow@coactum.de. The draft contains the app version, platform and language so that we can classify an error description; you can delete this information before sending. The message is sent only if you tap Send yourself. We process your e-mail address and the content of your message in order to respond to your request (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR; our legitimate interest is responding to enquiries and improving the app) and delete them as soon as they are no longer required for this purpose and no statutory retention obligations prevent deletion.

d) Sync devices (from version 6.8). If you use StudyNow on several devices, you can sync the data between them. This happens only if you switch it on or start it yourself, and in one of three ways:

  • Via iCloud: The app stores its data as a file in the iCloud storage of your Apple ID and reads the data of your other devices there. The data is then held by Apple; Apple's terms and your iCloud settings apply to it. coactum GmbH has no access to it and receives no data in the process.
  • Nearby: Two devices connect directly via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth (Apple's Multipeer Connectivity), without the internet and without a server. Only a device on which the six-digit code shown on the other device is entered can connect; the connection is encrypted. iOS asks for permission to use the local network for this.
  • By file: The app creates a sync file that you pass on yourself, for example via AirDrop or Quick Share. You alone decide where it ends up.

The first two ways are available only on iPhone and iPad. On Android, StudyNow syncs only by file – also with an iPhone or iPad.

6. App Store and TestFlight

The app is provided via Apple's App Store. Apple is independently responsible for the download, updates and your Apple ID; Apple's privacy policy applies. If you have agreed in the iOS settings to share analytics data with app developers, Apple provides us with aggregated statistics and crash reports via App Store Connect. These do not allow any conclusions to be drawn about the content you enter in the app.

If you take part in a test via TestFlight, we receive the information that Apple provides to us for this purpose – for example your invitation data as well as feedback and crash reports that you send via TestFlight. We use it exclusively to conduct the test and to fix errors (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR).

6a. Android and Google Play

The Android version is provided via Google Play. Google is independently responsible for the download, updates and your Google Account; Google's privacy policy applies. If you have agreed on your device to share usage and diagnostics data, Google provides us with aggregated statistics as well as crash and performance reports via the Google Play Console. These do not allow any conclusions to be drawn about the content you enter in the app.

The Android version contains no Google services such as Firebase, Google Analytics or advertising; everything this policy says about the app applies to it. Unlike on iPhone and iPad, there is no widget and no syncing via iCloud or “Nearby” on Android (sections 3 and 5 d).

If you take part in a test via Google Play, we receive the information that Google provides to us for this purpose – for example the e-mail address with which you were invited as well as feedback that you send via Google Play. We use it exclusively to conduct the test and to fix errors (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR).

7. Visiting this website

When you access this website, the web server automatically processes the data that your browser transmits: IP address, date and time of access, page accessed, amount of data transferred, previously visited page (referrer) as well as browser and operating system. This is technically necessary to deliver the pages and serves their secure operation (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR). These log data are deleted as soon as they are no longer required for these purposes.

This website does not use cookies, does not use any analytics or tracking services and does not load any content from third-party servers; fonts, stylesheets and scripts are hosted on our own server. Links to other services, such as the App Store or Google Play, take you there only when you click them.

8. No disclosure, no profiling

We do not sell any data, do not pass on any data for advertising purposes and do not make any automated decisions within the meaning of Art. 22 GDPR.

9. Your rights

Insofar as we process personal data about you (sections 5 c, 6, 6a and 7), you have the right

  • of access to this data (Art. 15 GDPR),
  • to rectification (Art. 16 GDPR) and erasure (Art. 17 GDPR),
  • to restriction of processing (Art. 18 GDPR),
  • to data portability (Art. 20 GDPR) and
  • to object to processing on grounds relating to your particular situation (Art. 21 GDPR).

To exercise these rights, please contact datenschutz@coactum.de. The data in the app (section 3) is held only by you; we cannot provide information about it, and you delete it yourself.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with a data protection supervisory authority (Art. 77 GDPR), for example with the authority responsible for us, the Landesbeauftragte für Datenschutz und Informationsfreiheit Nordrhein-Westfalen (State Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information of North Rhine-Westphalia), Kavalleriestraße 2–4, 40213 Düsseldorf.

10. Earlier versions of StudyNow

Up to version 2.x, the app worked with a server and a user account; the privacy policy in version 2.0 of 13 September 2020 applied to it. From version 3, the app does not take over any data from this server. Please direct any questions about data from earlier versions to datenschutz@coactum.de.

11. Changes to this policy

If the way the app or this website handles data changes – for example because a new feature requires a connection – we will update this policy beforehand. The version published here at any given time is authoritative.

Disclaimer

coactum GmbH does not guarantee that the service will be free of errors and available at all times without interruption. Possible data loss as a result of technical faults and the disclosure of confidential data through unauthorised access by third parties cannot be ruled out in every case. coactum GmbH accepts no responsibility for the correctness of the information provided by the service. Nor is it liable for the content, in particular for the accuracy, completeness and timeliness of the information. Otherwise, coactum GmbH is liable only in cases of intent or gross negligence. In this case, liability is limited to typical damage foreseeable at the time the user relationship was established. Liability for damage arising from injury to life, body or health remains unaffected.