Legal

Privacy Policy

Last updated: September 26, 2026

fathom is made by Unruly Vision, LLC. This policy explains what fathom collects, where it goes, and what happens to it. We've written it plainly, because you deserve to understand it.

The short version: fathom needs no account. Obstacle alerts always run on your phone. fathom asks before anything goes to Google. When Cloud AI is on, fathom sends Google's Gemini AI pictures from your camera, the text of what you say, and what it remembers about you, so it can answer you. While Lookout, Go, or a task is running, it sends a picture every few seconds. In Live mode, your voice is sent too, while the microphone is on. With On-device AI, nothing goes to Google. In both modes, fathom sends usage data and recordings of its menu screens to PostHog, unless you turn that off in Settings. We never sell your data or use it for advertising.

What fathom collects

No account

There is no sign-up, no sign-in, and no login of any kind. You never give us your name, email, or any other personal identity to use fathom.

Two AI modes, and you choose

fathom has two AI modes. With Cloud AI, Google's Gemini AI answers you. With On-device AI, fathom's AI runs on your phone and nothing is sent to Google. You can switch between them any time: in Settings under AI Mode, or on the main screen, open Menu and choose AI mode.

What goes to Google when Cloud AI is on

When Cloud AI is on, fathom sends these to Google's Gemini AI to answer you:

  • Pictures from your camera. While Lookout, Go, or a task is running, fathom sends one every few seconds, even when you haven't asked anything.
  • The text of what you say or type. What you say is turned into text on your phone, and only the text is sent.
  • In Live mode, your voice, while the microphone is on. That includes the times fathom turns the microphone on by itself after asking you a question. Your voice is not sent at any other time.
  • If your iPhone has a depth sensor, how far away nearby obstacles are.
  • What you've told fathom about yourself, such as your sight, how you get around, who you live with, and any notes you added.
  • What fathom remembers for you, such as your saved rooms, where you keep things, notes you gave a skill, and landmarks from routes you've walked.
  • Whether you are at home, and which saved room you are in.
  • If you set up your profile by talking, the text of what you say during setup, including your name if you give it. fathom uses the answer to fill in your profile.

fathom leaves your own name out of what it sends with each request. Other names can be sent, such as your guide dog's name, the names of people you live with, or a name saved in a memory. It never sends your GPS location. It works out on your phone whether you are home and which room you are in, and sends only that.

To stop sending what you've told fathom about yourself: in Settings, open More options, then Memory, then About you, and turn off the switch called Send profile to AI. Your saved rooms, what fathom remembers, and whether you are home are still sent while Cloud AI is on.

Everything except Live mode goes from your phone to fathom's own backend, which passes it to Google. For Live mode, fathom's backend gives your phone a short-lived key that works for one connection, and your phone then talks to Google directly. Every connection is encrypted.

If you still use fathom 1.2 or earlier

This page describes fathom 1.3. Earlier versions differ in two ways. They can include your own name in what they send to Google with each request. And they carry a Gemini key built into the app, which they can use to send a request straight to Google instead of through fathom's backend. Update fathom from the App Store to get the behavior described here. Usage data and screen recordings work the same way in every version.

What stays on your phone

  • Turning speech into text. fathom uses Apple's speech recognition on your phone, and your voice is not sent to Apple.
  • Obstacle alerts. They run on your phone in both AI modes and never use the cloud.
  • On-device AI. Reading text works on every iPhone. On iOS 27 with Apple Intelligence, Look Now can also describe what is around you. Both run on your phone.
  • Your profile, memories, places, skills, routes, and history. They are stored on your phone. fathom does not copy them to its backend or sync them to iCloud. Like other apps' data, they are included in your iPhone's own backup if you use iCloud Backup or back up to a computer.

What fathom's backend keeps

fathom's backend stores none of the pictures, text, or audio you send. For each request it passes to Google, it keeps a usage record: a random install number made on your phone, which AI model answered, how long the request and the answer were, what it cost, and when. It also counts how often each install number asks, to keep usage within limits.

To tell that requests come from the real fathom app, the backend keeps a security key from Apple's App Attest, made for your copy of the app, and a pass made from that key that lasts 30 days. While your phone gets a new pass, the backend briefly keeps a one-time code with your install number. It also logs each attempt to set up the security key, and the log can include the key's identifier. How long each of these is kept is under How long we keep it.

Usage data and screen recordings

fathom uses PostHog to learn how the app is used and to fix problems. This is on when you first open fathom, in both AI modes. To turn it off: in Settings, under Subscription & Privacy, turn off the switch called Share usage data (in fathom 1.2, Share anonymous usage data). That stops everything described here, including the screen recordings. The Send feedback button works only while usage data is on.

PostHog receives:

  • Which features you use, how long they take, and whether they worked.
  • Your iPhone model and screen size, your iOS version and fathom version, your language and time zone, whether you are on Wi-Fi or cellular, whether your phone has LiDAR, and whether VoiceOver is on.
  • Some of your words: the goal you give a task, the place you ask Go to take you, and any feedback you send. It also receives some of what fathom says while guiding a task, such as why a step can't go ahead.
  • Your sight level, such as low vision or totally blind, and how many travel aids you listed, when you finish setting up your profile.
  • Text you type. When you finish typing in one of fathom's text boxes, PostHog can receive what you typed, such as your name or notes in About you, a memory you edit, or a request you type.
  • Screen recordings of fathom's menu screens, such as Settings, History, and Memory. Recording pauses on the main conversation screen. The recordings are not masked, so they show whatever is on those screens, including the name in your profile, your memories, and answers fathom saved.

PostHog does not receive pictures from your camera, audio, or your GPS location. Everything it gets is linked to a random number made on your phone for this install of fathom, not to your name, email, or Apple ID. Because every event from your phone carries the same number, fathom's App Store privacy label lists this data as linked to you. PostHog also stores your phone's internet address with it, and your approximate location worked out from that address, such as your city and country. The screen recordings and the text you type can show your name if you added it to your profile. PostHog keeps this data for seven years (see How long we keep it). fathom does not use Apple's advertising identifier, and it does not track you across other apps or websites.

Purchases

fathom plus is a subscription handled by Apple through the App Store. We never receive or store your payment details.

Notifications

Notifications are optional, and there are three kinds you can switch on or off separately in Settings. Tips & new features and AI usage updates are scheduled on your phone and involve no server. The third, News from fathom, uses Apple's push service. While it is on, fathom's backend stores your phone's notification token, so an announcement can reach you. With the token, it stores the install number from its usage records (not the one PostHog uses), whether you have fathom plus, your fathom and iOS versions, and your language and region setting. None of it is linked to your name. Turning News from fathom off stops announcements and deletes the token and those details. If your phone is offline at the time, fathom deletes them the next time it's open and online. Your phone keeps its install number, because fathom's other cloud features use it too. If you remove fathom without turning News from fathom off, the token and those details stay on the backend until Apple reports that fathom is no longer on that phone. The backend learns that the next time it sends that phone an announcement, and then deletes them.

Notifications never carry safety information. Obstacles and hazards always reach you inside the app, out loud and through touch, as they happen.

This website

Vercel hosts fathomvision.app, so it sees your internet address and your browser's details when you visit. The site uses PostHog to count which pages are visited and what is clicked. To do that, PostHog stores a random number in your browser. With each visit and click, it receives your browser and device details, such as which browser and version you use, your operating system, screen size, language, and time zone, and the page you came from. It stores your internet address, and a rough location worked out from that address, such as your city. The site does not record your screen.

If you use the feedback form, what you write, the topic you choose, and the name and email you give, if any, are sent to our email through Resend.

If someone sent you a link to a fathom plus code, the site records when the link is opened, with your browser's details, such as its name and version, and when you choose to redeem the code, so the person who sent it can see that it reached you. If they noted who the code is for, that note is stored with the code. PostHog also receives which code the link is for, both when you open it and when you choose to redeem it.

Who we share data with

  • Google (Gemini AI) receives the things listed under What goes to Google when Cloud AI is on, only to answer you.
  • Supabasehosts fathom's backend, which passes requests to Google, gives your phone its Live mode keys, and keeps the usage records, the App Attest security keys, and, if you turn on News from fathom, your notification token. It also stores the records of fathom plus code links.
  • PostHogreceives the app's usage data, typed text, and screen recordings described above, unless you turn them off, and the visits and clicks on this website.
  • Vercel hosts this website, including the feedback form and fathom plus code links.
  • Resenddelivers what you send with the website's feedback form to our email.
  • Apple handles App Store purchases and delivers News from fathom notifications.

Google, Supabase, and Resend handle this data for us under data processing terms that are part of our agreement with each of them. PostHog and Vercel handle it under their own terms of service; we do not have a data processing agreement with Vercel. Apple handles purchases and notifications under its own privacy policy.

Like any internet service, fathom's backend and PostHog see your phone's internet address (its IP address) when fathom connects to them, and in Live mode so does Google. PostHog stores the address with the usage data, and uses it to estimate roughly where you are, such as your city.

We do not sell your data. We do not use it for advertising or share it with data brokers.

How long we keep it

Everything fathom stores on your phone, including what you've told it about yourself, what it remembers, and the goals you gave tasks, stays there until you delete it or remove the app.

fathom's backend stores none of the pictures, text, or audio sent to Google. What it does keep, it deletes on a schedule:

  • Usage records are kept for the current month and the month before, then deleted. No usage record is more than about two months old.
  • The counts of how often each install number asks, and the one-time codes, are deleted within two hours.
  • The 30-day pass is deleted within a day after it runs out.
  • The log of attempts to set up the App Attest security key, which can include the key's identifier, is deleted after 30 days.
  • The App Attest security key has no end date, because the backend can't tell when fathom has been removed from a phone. It is stored without your install number.
  • Your notification token is kept while News from fathom is on. If you remove fathom without turning it off, the token is deleted the next time we send that phone an announcement, when Apple reports that fathom is gone.
  • Supabase's own logs of each connection to the backend, which include your phone's internet address, are kept for one day.

What Google does with what fathom sends, in the words of fathom's consent pop-up: “Google uses this to answer you, and doesn't use it to improve its products. Google keeps it for a limited time, only to check for misuse.” Google's Gemini API terms also let it keep this data when the law requires it.

PostHog keeps usage data, including text you typed and your internet address, for seven years. That period is set by fathom's PostHog plan, and fathom can't make it shorter. PostHog keeps screen recordings for 30 days.

For this website: PostHog keeps visit and click data, including your browser and device details and your internet address, for seven years. That includes opening a fathom plus code link. Resend keeps a copy of a feedback message for 30 days, and keeps its backups for 7 days. The message stays in our email until we delete it, and you can ask us to delete it. Vercel keeps the logs of the site's server code for up to a day. For a fathom plus code link, fathom's own record of your browser's details, and any note about who the code is for, are deleted 30 days after the offer ends.

Asking before anything reaches Google

fathom asks before anything is sent to Google. fathom starts in Cloud AI. The first time you open it, a pop-up asks: Allow cloud AI? It lists what is sent, and nothing is sent until you choose the Allow cloud AI button. If you choose the Keep fathom on-device button instead, Cloud AI is off, nothing goes to Google, and fathom tells you so. If you later choose Cloud AI, or ask for a task, without having agreed, the same pop-up appears first.

Nothing is read aloud when the pop-up appears. With VoiceOver on, VoiceOver starts at its title, and you move through it like any other screen. Without VoiceOver, choose the Read it to me button to hear the whole text. The pop-up also links to this policy.

fathom asks again when what it sends, or what the pop-up says about it, changes. fathom 1.3 asks everyone who uses Cloud AI once more, because the pop-up now lists everything that is sent, including what fathom remembers about you. To read the same text again: in Settings, under Subscription & Privacy, open Cloud AI & Privacy. To switch to On-device AI: in Settings, under AI Mode, choose On-device AI.

Your choices

  • To use On-device AI, so nothing is sent to Google: in Settings, under AI Mode, choose On-device AI.
  • To stop sending your profile: in Settings, open More options, then Memory, then About you, and turn off the switch called Send profile to AI.
  • To stop usage data and screen recordings: in Settings, under Subscription & Privacy, turn off the switch called Share usage data (in fathom 1.2, Share anonymous usage data).
  • To stop fathom keeping its answers in History: in Settings, under Subscription & Privacy, turn off the switch called Store what fathom says. The button below it, Delete conversation history, deletes the conversations already stored.
  • To turn notifications off: in Settings, under Subscription & Privacy, open Notifications.
  • To save a copy of your data: in Settings, open More options, then Your data, and choose Export all my data. The file holds your profile, memories, skills, and routes. Pinned spots and conversation history aren't included.
  • To delete what fathom has learned: on the Your data screen, choose Delete all memories. It removes your memories, places, skills, pinned spots, and routes, and keeps your profile. To delete one memory, use Forget on its row in Memory.
  • To delete everything: on the Your data screen, choose Delete everything. It also removes your profile and your conversation and task history. Your settings stay. Deleting on your phone does not remove usage data PostHog already has.

Because fathom has no account, there is no profile on our side for us to look up, correct, or delete. What fathom stores on your phone is yours to export or delete. Usage data is linked to a random install number, not your name, email, or Apple ID, so we can't look it up by your name or email. You are always welcome to email us with a privacy question.

Children

fathom is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect their data.

Changes

If we change this policy, we'll update the date above and, for significant changes, let you know in the app.

Contact

Questions about privacy? Email privacy@fathomvision.app or visit fathomvision.app.

Unruly Vision, LLC