FlowTeams: Privacy Policy & Terms of Use

This document provides an overview over the FlowTeams software, the aim of this software, and the data collection and security principles behind it. Note that you find more information on the research project and FlowTeams software on our website on hasel.dev.

The research project is conducted by Dr. Andre Meyer and Prof. Dr. Thomas Fritz of the Human Aspects of Software Engineering lab (HASEL) at the University of Zurich, Switzerland. In case of questions, please contact Dr. Andre Meyer via email.

This privacy policy and terms of use document was last updated on April 1, 2023.

Project Vision

One of the largest challenges that knowledge workers are facing at work is to find a balance between making progress on their own tasks, and collaborating with / supporting co-workers in their team. The nature of collaborative work is causing interruptions which can reduce focus and productivity, especially when these happen at in-opportune moments. The challenge, however is, that in today's hybrid work, it's difficult for teams to know who is currently focused on their work (where an interruption is expensive) and who is open/available for an interaction. The aim of this project is to develop a team awareness tool that improves teamwork, focus and productivity by increasing teams' awareness about co-workers' current and upcoming focus/interruptibility to help balancing focused personal work and interactions with co-workers.

Software Overview

FlowTeams is a desktop application that reduces interruptions at times of focus, by visualizing your current and upcoming focus to your team members. That way, whenever they need to ask you a question, they will know if now is a good moment to interrupt, and if not, when later will be a more opportune moment. Thus, you can ideally focus for longer durations with less interruptions, while at the same time, effectively interact with your team.

To determine your current flow state, which is either 'available for interruptions', 'busy (e.g. in a meeting)', 'focused (i.e. do not disturb)' or 'away', an automated algorithm that was developed in our previous work will sense your current flow based on your computer interactions. Of course, you can always manually override the flow status or pause the automated measure. In addition, you can also sync the presence state of your Microsoft Teams, Slack and/or Zoom account, to make the automated flow state more accurate, such as when you are in a video call.

To determine your upcoming flow state, you can plan sessions you want to focus on your work (i.e. personal focus sessions) and sessions that you reserve for interactions with your team (i.e. interaction sessions). Think of the latter ones as times when you plan for work that requires less intensive focus, i.e. when an interruption is not as intrusive. These might be times you answer emails or organize your documents. Your team members will see the times you plan to focus (i.e. bad moment to interrupt) and times you plan to be available for interactions (i.e. good moment to interrupt) in FlowTeams. Finally, you can connect your Microsoft or Google Account, to sync these sessions as well as meetings between the calendar and FlowTeams. That way, if you already have something planned (in the calendar), FlowTeams will display it too.

Collected Data

The following data is collected by FlowTeams. Note that all data is stored locally on your machine and only the data marked with an asterisk (*) is shared with your co-workers (via the FlowTeams Server, see chapter below).

Computer Interaction Data: For research purposes, FlowTeams collects usage data on the computer it is installed, including your app usage data (start/end times of app in foreground, app name and current window title, NO app contents), user input data (aggregated to 1 minute from mouse and keyboard, NO key logging) and telemetry data (e.g. starting/stopping FlowTeams, opening/closing the FlowTeams window, changing the settings, connecting/disconnecting the physical LED light, answering post-session questionnaire, errors in the app). Note that the collectiono of app usage and user input data can be collected, by disabling the automated flow sensing algorithm.

Usage Data: In order to function, FlowTeams needs additional data that it asks you to enter through the app interface: work location* (no exact location, only whether you’re working at the office, from home, remotely or not at all), planned work days and hours* (only approximate start and end time), and planned personal focus and interaction sessions* (planned daily through FlowTeams). In addition, you can (voluntarily) sync your planned workday with either the Microsoft or Google calendar, meaning that FlowTeams can better help you plan your workday by showing you planned meetings (only start time, duration and number of attendees is stored from only meetings marked not as private, NO other details are stored). Finally, you can (voluntarily) sync your current focus state from/to selected communication apps, such as Microsoft Teams, Zoom and/or Slack. Other than the connection and current presence state, no data is stored or accessed by FlowTeams.

FlowTeams Server

As noted above, a limited set of data is stored on the FlowTeams server (marked with an asterisk * above), in order for FlowTeams to work properly. Only approved team members within the same company can access the data. In addition, only the latest flow state (and no history) and sessions of the current day (no history) are stored on the server, as the status is always overwritten.

The FlowTeams server is operated by the University of Zurich, regularly updated and data transfer is encrypted.

Connecting to Third-Party Services

As mentioned above, users of FlowTeams can voluntarily connect FlowTeams to Microsoft Teams, Slack, Zoom, Microsoft Calendar and Google Calendar, in order to not have to manually change their states and set sessions and, thus, save time. Note that the calendar sync is running locally on your computer and NOT on the server. The companies providing the sync service thoroughly reviewed the FlowTeams app to confirm its correct use and appropriate management of data.

Specifically concerning the Google Calendar integration, FlowTeams' use and transfer of information received from Google APIs to any other app will adhere to Google API Services User Data Policy, including the Limited Use requirements.

Accessing your own Data

You can access all the collected data anytime by rightclicking the FlowTeams icon in the task tray (Windows) or menubar (macOS) and clicking `Collected Data`. There, you will find a file `database.sqlite` which is a local database storing all collected data. To inspect it, you can use the DB Browser for SQLite

Using your Data for Research

When using FlowTeams during a research study, the researchers might ask you to share teh collected data with them. The researchers will never use any of the collected data for research without your previous explicit consent.

The computer interaction data that FlowTeams captures is saved locally on your computer and will not be automatically uploaded to external data storages. You will have the opportunity to review (as described above) and obfuscate all data before sharing it with us manually. The consent form of the particular study will outline in detail, which data is collected, why, and how it is processed.

Deleting your collected data

As noted above, you can delete all the collected and locally stored data anytime by deleting or modifying the `database.sqlite` file.

In case you want to delete your FlowTeams account, please contact Dr. Andre Meyer via email. He will respond to your inquiry within 4 weeks the latest.

Terms of Use

The FlowTeams software is provided as described above and the developers of the application as well as the University of Zurich can NOT be hold liable against ANY problems that using the software might cause. ALL users use the software at THEIR own risk. The developers of the application are careful to provide a stable software that fulfills the data protection and data security laws of most countries. Note that this is a research project and NOT a commercial application. By using this application you agree that you are aware of using a research prototype at YOUR OWN risk and that you understand that the developers of the application as well as the University of Zurich are can NOT be hold liable in ANY way. As a participant in a research study as well as when using the software voluntarily, you are free to stop using it any time.