Privacy policy · G&L StudioClock

Effective date: 5 November 2026, version 1.2.0

G&L StudioClock ("the app") is published by G&L Geißendörfer & Leschinsky GmbH, Maarweg 149-161, 50825 Cologne, Germany ("we"). This policy covers the app on macOS, iOS, iPadOS and tvOS, including its widgets, its App Shortcuts and the Control Center control.

We receive no personal data from the app. It has no user account, no analytics, no tracking, no advertising and no third-party SDKs.

Everything the app processes happens on your device, in your own iCloud account and, if you choose a time server, at that server. In detail:

Settings on your device

All settings (clock face, seconds mode, second hand, digits, 24-hour time, date line, label, time server, per-device options) are stored on the device in the app's own preferences. They stay there until you change them or delete the app.

Settings sync through iCloud (on by default)

With "Sync settings with iCloud" switched on, which it is by default, the app stores your face, display and time-server settings through Apple's CloudKit service, in the private database of your own iCloud account, so that your other devices signed in to the same account show the same clock. The values are stored encrypted on Apple's servers; the time-server address and every other value are additionally encrypted on your device before they are sent, so that only your devices can read them. These settings are: clock face, seconds mode, second hand style, digit style, 24-hour time, date line on or off and its format, weekday, calendar week, second time zone, colour, sync symbol, time server on or off and the server address, and the timer's warning and ending thresholds. The label and the per-device options (keep window on top, keep the display awake, the sync switch itself) stay on each device and are not synced.

Apple processes this data as the provider of your iCloud account, under Apple's terms and Apple's privacy policy (apple.com/legal/privacy). We have no access to it and operate no server of our own; the app sends nothing to us. Whether a device syncs at all depends on your iCloud sign-in and on the iCloud settings of that device.

Switching sync off stops the exchange in both directions. Values already present stay on each device and in your iCloud account until you change or delete them there. You can delete the app's iCloud data with the means Apple provides for your account: in the iCloud settings of a device under Manage Account Storage › G&L StudioClock › Delete, or through Apple's Data and Privacy page at privacy.apple.com. The app itself deletes nothing on Apple's servers.

Time server (optional, off by default)

If you turn on "Synchronize with a time server" in Settings, the app sends standard NTP requests (UDP port 123) to the time server you choose: time.apple.com by default, one of the presets (regional NTP Pool, PTB Braunschweig) or any address you enter, such as your studio's own server. As with every network request, that server sees your device's IP address. The request itself is a standard 48-byte SNTP packet and carries only the protocol's header fields (version, mode "client", the remaining fields set to zero) and the time of sending according to your device's clock; it carries no device identifier, no account data and no settings. While the app is open, a request goes out about every 64 seconds after a successful reply, about every 17 minutes (1,024 seconds) with the pool presets, and every 16 seconds to 5 minutes while a server does not answer. The operator of the server you choose processes the request under its own terms: Apple and PTB run their own servers, the servers of the NTP Pool project are run by volunteers, your own server by your organisation; nothing is sent to us. With the option off, the app sends no time request at all.

Widgets, Siri, Shortcuts and Control Center

The widgets, the App Shortcuts and the Control Center control run on your device. They read the same settings and the system clock and send nothing anywhere. If you use Siri, Apple processes your voice request under Apple's terms; the app only receives the resulting command (open the clock, show a face).

No other network connection

With settings sync off and no time server, the app itself opens no network connection. System services of your device run independently of the app; Apple's push service, for instance, may still notify the system of iCloud changes, because the iCloud notification subscription created when sync was switched on remains when it is switched off; the app then no longer acts on such notifications. There is no other communication of any kind: no crash reports, no usage statistics, no update checks of its own. The app writes no log files of its own; diagnostic messages go only to the system log on your device, which the system manages.

Permissions and sandbox

On the Mac the app runs in the App Sandbox; besides iCloud and Apple's push service, outgoing network access is its only entitlement. On iPhone, iPad and Apple TV the system sandboxes every app. The app asks for no permissions of its own: no location, camera, microphone, contacts, photos or notifications. iCloud tells the app about a change on another device through Apple's push service; these notifications are invisible, need no permission and carry no content of yours. One exception: if a time server on your own network is configured, iOS, iPadOS and macOS 15 or later ask once whether the app may access the local network; the app then sends its NTP requests to that address and nothing else. Apple TV does not ask, because tvOS has no local network permission; there the app sends the same NTP requests to that server and nothing else.

Your rights under the GDPR

You have the rights of access, rectification, erasure, restriction, data portability and objection, and the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority (Art. 15 to 21 and 77 GDPR). The app processes no personal data and sends none to us; from your use of the app we therefore hold nothing about you that we could disclose, correct or delete. For the settings in your iCloud account, Apple is your contact, or you use the deletion described above. Legal basis for the processing in the app, where the GDPR applies to us in that respect at all: Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR, providing the functions you choose to use. It is different when you write to us or call us (see "Contact" below): we then process your message and the contact details you give us in order to answer you, on the basis of Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR (steps prior to, or performance of, a contract) or Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR (our legitimate interest in answering enquiries); for this data, the rights named above apply against us. We delete this data once your request is closed, at the latest after three years, unless statutory retention duties (Section 147 of the German Fiscal Code, Section 257 of the German Commercial Code) require longer. The app does no profiling and makes no automated decisions.

App Store

When you download the app, Apple processes your data under Apple's own privacy policy. We receive no personal data from Apple about you; App Store Connect shows us only aggregated, anonymous download statistics.

Changes

We update this policy together with the app; the effective date above names the version it describes.

Contact

For questions about privacy or about the app: apps@gl-systemhaus.de, +49 221 99809-0. The privacy statement of our website applies in addition: gl-systemhaus.de/datenschutz.

Controller and legal notice

G&L Geißendörfer & Leschinsky GmbH, Amtsgericht Köln HRB 56772, Geschäftsführer: Alexander Leschinsky. Full legal notice: gl-systemhaus.de/impressum

The German version of this policy is authoritative. The English version is the reference translation from which the other languages were translated; in case of a discrepancy, the German text prevails.