Device permission overview

Permissions and access the Blink app uses

Updated over a week ago

Introduction

All data recorded from using Blink is for the sole purpose of improving our apps and to empower you in your work. Frontline workers are at the core of everything we do, and we're not shy about saying so. Check out our company values which we live and breathe.

This article will cover:

Required Permissions

These permissions are required for Blink to work correctly.

ℹ️ Contact info

What is this? You will see contact info listed under permissions on the Apple App Store. This means that we are collecting basic contact info to help us understand issues you may face whilst using Blink.

What data are you tracking?

  • Name

  • Email

  • Mobile Phone

💹 Usage data

What is this? This data allows us to identify parts of Blink that are not as easy to use or helping you at work.

What data are you tracking? This data is all very high level and includes things such as:

  • Whether you complete registration, we want to know if anything might be getting in your way.

  • Which features do you use the most and least? If you're using Hub a lot, we want to know how we can make this even better for you. We're looking for things that take longer than they need to. How to make it easier to access hub content?

  • When we release new features, we like to see how many people use them. We build new features to help you at work. If you're not using it, we try to figure out if we haven't made it intuitive enough and look at what we can do to help you use it.

⚙️ Diagnostics

What is this? This data is used to help us improve the performance of the app and prevent crashes.

What data are you tracking?

  • Crash data - When your app crashed, we want to know why to stop it from happening.

  • Performance metrics - This includes how long it takes the app to launch and how much energy Blink uses. We're always aiming to make the app faster and use less of your battery. This data helps us do that.

Optional Permissions

The following permissions are 100% optional. If, after reading this article, you're still not comfortable with any of these permissions, you can decline them from the settings on your device.

🗺️ Location

Your company cannot track your location in Blink.

Why do you ask for my location? We request location permissions for two reasons.

  1. So that when you choose to share your location with someone in a chat, we can use GPS to help you share your current location.

  2. Any workplace forms that have an input for a location, such as on an incident reporting form, you have the option to autofill your location rather than typing in an address.

Who can see my location? Your current location can only be seen by those you share it with.

Can I block location permissions? You sure can. If you're not happy with this permission, the good news is that Blink works perfectly well without it. Head over to settings and turn the permission off.

📸 Camera

Why do you ask to access my camera: We request camera access so that you can:

  1. Take and share photos in Blink.

  2. Take and share videos in Blink. You will also need to grant permission to the microphone if you want to record sound with your video.

When do you access my camera? We don't access your camera. This permission just allows Blink to open the camera on your phone. Until you take your photo and video and share it into Blink, we can't see what you're taking a photo or video of.

Can I block this permission? Yes. If you would prefer not to accept these permissions:

  • You can still share images and videos into the app, providing that you have granted access to photos.

  • Each time you click on the camera or video camera icon, you will be informed that Blink does not have access to your camera.

🎤 Microphone

Why do you ask to access my microphone? We need to access your camera if you want to record sound on videos you share in Blink.

Can I block this permission? Yes. If you would prefer not to accept these permissions:

  • Any videos that you take and share into Blink will be silent. Other than that, the app will work perfectly.

🚵 Photos

Why do you ask to access my photos? If you want to share an image or video on your device into Blink, we need access to your photos so that you can browse your photos and pick the one you want to share.

Can you see all my photos and videos? Not at all. This just allows the Blink app to open your photo app so that you can select the image you want to share. Once you share a photo or video in Blink, a copy will be stored securely on our servers.

Can I block photo permissions? Yes. You sure can, but doing so will mean that you can't share photos or videos on Blink.

This permission is called Files and media on Android devices.

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