BackThen Privacy Policy

Effective date: 14 October 2026

In short: BackThen keeps your files and their history on your Mac. The only data that leaves your Mac is your licence key and your computer's name, sent to Dodo Payments to check the licence. I (the developer) do not receive, store, sell or share your files or anything about them. There are no ads, analytics, trackers or accounts.

1. Who this policy applies to

This policy covers the macOS app BackThen, made by Onkar Sarvade (“I”, “me”) under the name Ship on Friday, and downloaded from shiponfriday.com. It explains what the app reads and stores on your Mac, and the one thing it sends over the internet.

2. What the app reads and stores on your Mac

BackThen only looks at the folders you choose to protect. For each one it stores, in the folder ~/.backthen in your home folder:

Copies of your files’ contents, deduplicated, so it can show and restore earlier versions.
An index of each moment: file paths, sizes, modification times and content fingerprints (hashes), plus any names or stars you give moments.
Which app was in front when a change was saved (for example “Visual Studio Code”), read with macOS’s own lsappinfo tool. Only the app’s name is kept; never window titles, keystrokes or screenshots.
Small previews of images and PDFs, so versions can be shown side by side.
Your settings and your activated licence (the key, an activation id and the email address from your purchase).

None of this is sent anywhere. You can delete it at any time by deleting ~/.backthen; BackThen’s history then starts again from scratch, and your own files are not affected.

3. What the app sends over the internet

Only one thing: to activate, check and deactivate your licence, BackThen sends your licence key, an activation id and your computer’s name (for example “Jamie’s MacBook Air”, so you can recognise it in your list of activations) to Dodo Payments. It does this when you activate or deactivate, and about once a week in the background. Dodo’s reply says whether the licence is valid and, on activation, includes the email address used for the purchase, which is shown in Settings.

BackThen never sends your files, file names, folder names, history or usage anywhere. Being offline doesn’t stop it working.

4. Buying a licence

Purchases are made on Dodo Payments’ checkout, not in the app. Dodo Payments acts as the merchant of record: it collects your payment details, email address and billing country, emails your receipt and licence key, and handles taxes and refunds. I receive the order details Dodo Payments shares with sellers (such as your email address and what you bought), and use them only to provide your licence and support. Dodo Payments’ own privacy policy applies to the checkout.

I don’t share your data with anyone. The app never sends your files or history off your Mac, and I don’t sell or rent order details.

6. Children

BackThen is not directed at children under 13, and I don’t knowingly collect information from them.

7. Changes

If this policy changes, I’ll update it here and change the effective date above.

8. Contact

Questions about privacy, or about your licence: message me on Instagram, @shiponfriday.