Last updated 29 September 2026
What BenchBear keeps about you, who can see it, and what you're agreeing to when you make an account.
The short version
BenchBear (“we”, “us”) is based in Ireland and is the data controller for the personal data described here. That means we decide how it's used and answer for it under the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). How to reach us is under Contact.
BenchBear does not use your location, your contacts, your camera or your photos, and it has no advertising or analytics trackers.
Your weight, waist, body measurements, food intake and how you feel count as health data under GDPR, which is a special category that needs your explicit consent. You give it by ticking the box when you create your account. You can withdraw it at any time by deleting that data, or your whole account; withdrawing doesn't affect what happened before you did.
Nothing about you is used for advertising, sold, or used to make automated decisions about you. Where the app works something out for you, like a weekly average or the weight to beat next time, that's arithmetic on your own numbers for your own screen.
Other BenchBear users can't. Every account is walled off from every other one at the database level. The shared list of exercise names is the only thing every account sees, and it contains nothing about any person.
BenchBear administrators can see your data. They can read the database to maintain it, and the app has a support feature called Ghost that lets an administrator open the app as your account, seeing exactly what you see, to find and fix a problem. While in your account they can see and change what you can, but they can't change your password or delete your account.
Ghost is used to look into problems, not to browse. Every use is recorded: which administrator opened which account, and when. You can ask us for that record for your account at any time.
These companies process data on BenchBear's behalf, only to provide their part of the service:
GitHub and Google are US companies. Where your data leaves the EU with them, it's covered by the EU–US Data Privacy Framework and the European Commission's standard contractual clauses.
The app keeps some things on your phone: your sign-in, a copy of your recent screens so it opens instantly, and any workout you haven't saved yet so a dropped connection doesn't lose it. These are needed to make the app work, not cookies for tracking, and deleting your account clears them from that phone.
For as long as you have an account. When you delete your account, everything in it is deleted from the live database straight away and can't be recovered.
We keep backup copies of the database in case it's ever lost. Backups are replaced over time, so a deleted account can remain in an older backup for a while. If you want it removed from the backups too, ask us and we'll do it.
Under GDPR you can:
BenchBear is for adults. You must be 18 or over to make an account.
If this notice changes in a way that affects you, you'll be told in the app before the change applies. The date at the top is the version you're reading.
By creating an account you agree to these terms. They're short because the deal is simple.
BenchBear is a training log. You record what you lift and what you weigh, and it shows you what you did last time so you can beat it. It's in beta: it's free, it's still being built, and it's being tested by a small group of invited people.
Nothing in BenchBear is medical, dietary or professional coaching advice. Numbers such as targets, averages and the weight to beat next time are general information worked out from what you entered. Talk to a doctor before starting a new training or diet programme, especially if you have an injury or a health condition. Train within your limits and stop if something hurts. You are responsible for how you train.
Everything you log stays yours. You give BenchBear permission to store and process it only to run the app for you, as described in the privacy notice above. You can export it or delete it at any time.
Don't try to get into anyone else's account or data, interfere with how the app or its servers work, or use BenchBear for anything unlawful. An account that does any of these can be suspended or closed.
BenchBear is provided as it is, free of charge. It will have bugs; that's what the beta is for, and reports are very welcome. Features can change or be removed, and the app can be unavailable at times. Data loss is guarded against with backups but can't be ruled out, so use Export my data now and then if your log matters to you.
Because BenchBear is a free beta, as far as Irish law allows, we aren't liable for any loss that comes from using it or not being able to use it, including lost data, or injury from training you choose to do. Nothing in these terms limits liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, for fraud, or for anything else the law doesn't allow to be limited, and nothing here takes away your rights as a consumer.
You can stop using BenchBear and delete your account at any time. We can end the beta or close an account, and will give you reasonable notice and the chance to export your data first unless the account broke section 5.
If these terms change in a way that matters, you'll be told in the app before the change applies. These terms are governed by the law of Ireland, and the Irish courts deal with any dispute, without taking away any right you have to use the courts where you live.
For anything about your data, your account or these terms, email hello@benchbear.com.