Device data on BUSY Bar

Last updated: September 28, 2026

BUSY Bar can send us statistics about how it is used and how it is working, so we can improve it and fix problems faster. You decide whether it does, and you can change your mind at any time.

Is it on for my BUSY Bar?

It depends on where you use it. When you set up BUSY Bar in the BUSY App or the local web interface, our server checks which country your connection comes from (in the US and Canada, also the state or province). Your BUSY Bar then starts in one of two modes.

Mode Where What happens
Off until you agree EU and EEA, United Kingdom, Quebec, Maryland, Florida, every country not listed in the row below, and anywhere we can't tell where you are During setup, a screen asks whether you want to share device data. Nothing is sent unless you turn it on.
On, with notice United States (except Maryland and Florida), Canada (except Quebec), Australia, Switzerland During setup, a screen lists what BUSY Bar sends. Sharing is on, and you can turn it off on that screen or at any time later.

If your BUSY Bar was set up before this feature arrived, the BUSY App or local web interface will show the same screen the next time you open it. Until then, your BUSY Bar sends nothing.

We use your connection's IP address only to choose the mode and to count devices by city (see What we use it for). We don't store it with your device's data.

Turn it on or off

Use the Share device data setting in any of these places:

  • On BUSY Bar: Settings → System → Share device data
  • In the BUSY App (iOS, Android, macOS): open your BUSY Bar → Device settings → Share device data
  • In the local web interface: Settings → Share device data

The setting belongs to one BUSY Bar, not to your account. If you have several, each keeps its own setting. A change in one place shows up in the others.

When you turn it off, BUSY Bar stops collecting data and discards anything it hasn't sent yet.

Passing your BUSY Bar on? Reset it to factory settings first (Settings → System → Factory reset). This turns sharing off, and the next owner decides for themselves.

What BUSY Bar sends

Every message carries your BUSY Bar's serial number, so we can tell devices apart. If the device is linked to a BUSY account, our servers can connect its data to that account.

What Details
Device and firmware At each start-up: serial number, firmware version and build details, hardware revision. When an update begins: the version being replaced.
Timer sessions When a timer starts: mode (infinite, simple or interval), its length or work and rest intervals, number of cycles, profile (BUSY or Custom) and theme, what started it (BUSY Bar itself, the HTTP API, Matter or MQTT), whether it's a demo. When it ends: completed, stopped or interrupted, how long it ran, cycles completed, what stopped it.
Apps Which app opens and closes on BUSY Bar. Which app takes over or releases the front screen through the HTTP API. Public apps are identified by their app ID. For apps and themes you create yourself, BUSY Bar sends a code derived from the name instead of the name itself.
Settings Brightness and whether it's automatic, volume, charge limit, profile and theme changes, whether developer mode is on.
Physical controls Each time the dial moves to a new position. How many times OK, Back and Start were pressed and the wheel was turned, as totals per sending interval, not a record of each press.
Power Battery level, whether it's charging, and each switch between mains power and battery.
Network When BUSY Bar goes online or offline and how long it was offline. When Wi-Fi connects or disconnects and why, the Wi-Fi security type (for example WPA2), and when you add or remove a network.
Smart home Whether BUSY Bar is set up with Matter, and with how many smart home systems.
Account Whether BUSY Bar is linked to a BUSY account, and when it is linked or unlinked.

The full list of messages and fields is in the Technical reference below.

What BUSY Bar never sends

  • Sound, video or images: BUSY Bar has no microphone and no camera.
  • What's on its screens, the text of your statuses, or the contents of your calendar events.
  • Wi-Fi network names or passwords.
  • The names you give your own apps and themes.
  • Your precise location. BUSY Bar has no GPS.
  • Your name, email address or contacts.

The BUSY App collects its own analytics, which are covered by our Privacy Policy. This setting doesn't change them.

What we use it for

  • Improving BUSY Bar. Seeing which features, apps and timers people use and which they don't, and which settings they change.
  • Fixing problems. Finding bugs, checking how updates go, and helping you when you contact support.
  • Quality. Linking defects to hardware revisions and firmware versions.
  • Anonymous statistics. For example, how many BUSY Bars are in use in each city, to plan languages, sales and shipping. When your BUSY Bar first sends data in a month, our server adds one to its city's count, based on the IP address, without recording the time. A separate note marks that the device was already counted that month, and that note doesn't contain the city. These statistics are never applied to individual owners.

We don't use device data to send you marketing or to target ads at you. We don't sell it or share it with advertisers, and we don't use it to train AI models.

When data is sent

  • Most data is sent in batches every 15 minutes, or sooner when 32 events have built up.
  • Some events are sent right away, at most once every 5 seconds: start-up, a timer ending, the start of an update, network changes, linking and unlinking an account.
  • While offline, BUSY Bar keeps up to 32 recent events and sends them when it reconnects, along with how long it was offline. Counters and status snapshots are not kept while offline.
  • Data travels over an encrypted connection. BUSY Bar doesn't need to be linked to an account to send it.

With sharing off, BUSY Bar still sends its firmware version when it checks for updates, because the check can't work without it.

Where it goes and who is responsible

Flipper FZCO is responsible for device data: Building A2, DDP Dubai Silicon Oasis, P.O. Box 451495, Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Flipper Devices, Inc., which runs our store, does not receive it.

  • Our servers on Google Cloud in the United States receive and process the data.
  • Long-term storage is in our own analytics system on servers rented from Hetzner in Germany.

Both companies process data only on our instructions. When data from the EEA or the UK leaves those regions, we rely on the safeguards described in our Privacy Policy.

How long we keep it

  • Data linked to your BUSY Bar: up to 12 months from the date of each event.
  • If your BUSY Bar hasn't connected for 12 months, we delete its history or make it anonymous.
  • Anonymous statistics, such as counts per city or per firmware version, have no link to any device, so we may keep them indefinitely. Before an event becomes anonymous, we also make its time less precise, so it can't be matched back to a device.

When you turn sharing off, BUSY Bar stops sending new data, and we delete what it sent before or make it anonymous within 14 days. We keep records we need for other reasons, such as which account the device is linked to and your support requests.

To delete your BUSY Bar's data at any time, email privacy@busy.app with its serial number.

Technical reference

BUSY Bar sends JSON messages over MQTT. Each batch holds up to 34 events, and each event has a type, a timestamp and the fields below. “Right away” means sent at once, at most once every 5 seconds. “Batch” means sent with the next 15-minute batch. “Snapshot” means a current value added to each batch and not kept while offline.

Event Sent Fields
device.boot Right away serial, fw_version, fw_hash, fw_branch, fw_build_date, fw_target, fw_dirty, hw_version
device.state Snapshot charge, charging, charge_limit, matter_fabrics, matter_commissioned, account_linked, dev_mode
fw.update Right away from_version, outcome (started)
timer.session.start Batch source (device, http_api, integration:matter, integration:mqtt), profile, theme¹, mode (infinite, simple, interval), demo, duration_ms (simple), work_ms, rest_ms, cycles, autostart (interval)
timer.session.end Right away outcome (completed, stopped, interrupted), source, duration_s, cycles
timer.theme Snapshot profile, theme¹
app.start, app.stop Batch app¹
canvas.acquire Batch app¹, priority
canvas.release Batch app¹
setting.brightness Snapshot value (0–100), mode (auto, manual)
setting.volume Snapshot volume (0.0–1.0)
input.switch Snapshot pos (busy, status, off, apps, settings)
input.counts Snapshot ok, back, start, wheel_up, wheel_down (totals per batch)
power.transition Batch charging, charge, charge_limit
net.online, net.offline Right away none
net.offline_duration Right away duration_ms
net.wifi.connect Right away security (open, wpa, wpa2, wpa_wpa2_mixed, wpa3, wpa3_transition, wep), reconnect
net.wifi.disconnect Right away reason (requested, connect_failed, connection_lost)
net.wifi.reconfigure Right away action (connect, forget)
account.link, account.unlink Right away linked

¹ For public apps and built-in themes, the ID or name as published. For apps and themes you create yourself, a code derived from the name.

Questions and changes

Write to privacy@busy.app. Our Privacy Policy explains your rights and how to use them.

When a firmware update changes what BUSY Bar sends, we update this page first. If a change goes beyond what you agreed to, we ask you again before anything new is sent.