This policy covers the BrickOS Android application
(com.sgtzaddy.brickos), published by SgtZaddy Productions. It does not cover
any other app or website.
Effective 31 July 2026 · Last updated 24 August 2026
BrickOS keeps its settings in Android's private app storage. This data is not readable by other apps, is not transmitted anywhere, and is deleted when you uninstall.
BrickOS disables Android cloud backup for this data and excludes it from device-to-device transfer, so your lock state and purchase status are not copied off the phone by the operating system.
BrickOS shows no permission prompt on launch. It declares three install-time permissions that Android grants automatically:
| Permission | Why |
|---|---|
| Vibrate | Haptic feedback when you move through menus. |
| Set alarm | Hands an alarm request to your own clock app. BrickOS does not read your alarms. |
| Network access | Used by the optional weather tile, and by the ads and billing libraries. With the weather tile off, BrickOS makes no requests of its own. |
Four permissions are requested, and each only if you ask for the feature that needs it: Contacts, Calendar, Photos and Approximate location. Each is described in its own section below. Refusing any of them leaves every other part of the app working exactly as before — the feature that asked simply stays empty.
Additional permissions appear in the app listing because the Google Mobile Ads and Google Play Billing libraries require them, including the advertising identifier. These are described under Third-party services below.
Network access is also declared. Those libraries need it, and so does the optional Weather tile, which is the only part of BrickOS that sends anything off your phone. With the Weather tile off, BrickOS itself makes no network requests of its own.
BrickOS can show a small unread count on its own Messages, Phone and Voicemail tiles. To do that it uses Android’s notification access, which you turn on yourself in Android settings and can turn off there at any time. With it off the launcher works exactly as before, without the counts.
The calendar tile is optional and off until you turn it on. If you grant Calendar access, BrickOS reads the title and start time of events happening today - nothing further ahead, and nothing else about them. Events you have declined, and calendars you have hidden in your own calendar app, are skipped. They are drawn on the tile and forgotten: nothing is stored, indexed, or transmitted. When the day’s events are over the tile goes quiet, and turning it off or revoking the permission stops it immediately.
The weather tile is optional and off until you turn it on. If you grant Approximate location access, BrickOS reads a recent coarse location while a BrickOS screen is open and rounds the latitude and longitude to two decimal places - roughly a kilometre - before anything is done with it. Those rounded coordinates are sent to Open-Meteo to fetch current conditions, and nothing else goes with them: no account, no device identifier, no advertising identifier. This is the only feature in BrickOS that sends anything off your phone, and only once you have asked for it. Only the latest temperature, condition, and update time are kept, on your device. Closing every BrickOS screen stops the location and network work, and turning the tile off or revoking the permission stops it immediately. Open-Meteo is described under Third-party services below.
The photo tile is optional and off until you turn it on. If you grant Photos access, BrickOS reads only images you have marked as a favourite in your own gallery - never your whole camera roll. A favourite is shown on the tile and forgotten: nothing is copied, indexed, or transmitted, and no photo leaves your device. On Android 14 and later you can grant access to a chosen few photos rather than all of them, and BrickOS works with whatever you choose. Turning the tile off, or revoking the permission in Android settings, stops it immediately.
It reads metadata only: which app posted a notification, and whether Android itself considers that notification badge-worthy. It does not read titles, message text, sender names, images, or any other notification content, and it ignores notifications from apps outside the few the launcher draws badges for. The counts are kept in BrickOS’s private storage on your device and are used only to draw those tiles. Nothing from your notifications is uploaded, logged, or shared — there is nowhere for it to go.
The search field finds people as well as apps, so typing a name offers you the call or the text rather than nothing. That needs read access to Contacts.
BrickOS asks for it at the moment you tap Search people in a search result — never on launch, and never before you have typed something. You can refuse, and search keeps working for everything else.
You can withdraw the permission at any time in Android Settings, under Apps → BrickOS → Permissions. Search continues to work without it.
Brick Lock uses an optional Accessibility service called Lock Guard. You must turn it on yourself in Android Settings, and you can turn it off at any time.
While a lock is running, Lock Guard receives the package name of the app that just came to the foreground and nothing else. If that app is not on your approved list, BrickOS brings itself back to the front.
Specifically, Lock Guard:
As a home-screen replacement, BrickOS needs to know which apps can be launched so it can show an app list and let you choose defaults and approve apps for a lock. It asks Android only about apps matching a fixed set of launcher actions rather than requesting broad access to your full installed-app inventory. App names and package names are used on the device to draw those lists and are never uploaded.
BrickOS shows rewarded ads only, and only when you choose to watch one to earn a credit. There are no banner ads, no interstitials, and no ads that play by themselves. Ads are never shown while a Brick Lock is running, and never on emergency screens.
To serve an ad, Google's Mobile Ads SDK may collect your device's advertising identifier and technical information such as device model, operating system version, coarse location derived from your IP address, and ad interaction data. This is handled by Google under its own policy, not by SgtZaddy Productions.
Where required, BrickOS asks for your consent choices through Google's User Messaging Platform before requesting ads, and you can reopen those choices from BrickOS settings. You can also reset or delete your advertising ID in Android Settings, under Privacy and then Ads. Purchasing BrickOS Premium removes ads entirely.
If you turn on the weather tile, BrickOS asks Open-Meteo for current conditions. The request carries a latitude and longitude rounded to two decimal places and nothing else. Open-Meteo is a free weather API, operated independently of SgtZaddy Productions, and it handles that request under its own terms. No request is made unless you have granted location access and the tile is on.
BrickOS Premium is a single one-time purchase. Payment is handled entirely by Google Play. BrickOS never sees or stores your payment details, card number, or billing address. It records only whether the purchase is active, and that record is kept on your device.
If BrickOS closes unexpectedly, it writes a crash report to its private storage. The next time you open the app it asks whether you want to share it. Nothing is sent unless you choose Share and then select a recipient. Android opens your sharing apps with no recipient pre-filled, so you can inspect the contents, choose where they go, or cancel.
A crash report contains the BrickOS version, your Android version, your device manufacturer and model, the name of the thread that failed, and a technical stack trace. It does not contain messages, contacts, call logs, your installed-app list, or anything you typed.
BrickOS is not directed to children under 13 and is not intended for use by them. SgtZaddy Productions does not knowingly collect personal information from children.
Because BrickOS stores its data only on your device, there is nothing held on a server to request, export or delete. Uninstalling BrickOS removes everything it stored. You can also clear it at any time from Android Settings, under Apps, then BrickOS, then Storage, then Clear data.
Data held by Google in connection with ads or purchases is governed by Google's policy and can be managed through your Google account.
If this policy changes in a way that affects how BrickOS handles your information, the updated version will be posted at this address with a new "last updated" date.
Questions about this policy or about BrickOS can be sent through the SgtZaddy Productions contact form.