Sharing your Vexa data
You've been using Vexa to record your own head movement. This page explains what I'd like to do with that data, exactly what leaves your phone, and how to send it if you decide to. Read it through first — the form is near the end, after the part that tells you how to make the file.
Who's asking
I'm Lee Finlay, the founder and developer of Vexa. Vexa is made by Vexa LLC, a for-profit company registered in Minnesota. I'm asking you to share data from the app to help me improve how it measures head movement.
Two things worth saying plainly. Vexa is a commercial product, and data you share may help build something I eventually sell. And this work is not currently reviewed by an ethics board — it's an early-stage project run by one person. If that changes, I'll tell you.
What I'm asking for
One file, made by the app itself, under Settings → Export my data. Nothing is sent automatically. Vexa never uploads anything on its own — you create the file, and you decide whether to send it.
In the file
- Your session measurements — severity values, per-window analysis, session type and length
- Your own self-ratings after each session
- The DBS or medication settings you entered
- Raw motion recordings from your AirPods, for the sessions you choose to include
- A short manifest: your participant code, app version, and how the dates were shifted
Removed before the file is made
- Your name and email — there is no account, so the app never had them
- Voice-note transcripts
- Anything you've typed: session labels, daily notes, consultation notes, program nicknames, medication names, flare descriptions
- Heart-rate values from Apple Health
- Your real calendar dates — every date is shifted by a fixed number of days
Shifting the dates keeps the gaps between your sessions exactly right while removing when they actually happened. I've checked real exports field by field to confirm the removals hold.
Your participant code
The app shows you an eight-character code. It's generated on your device and contains no name, email, or device identifier. It stays the same every time, including if you reinstall.
You tell me the code separately from the file. That's the only thing linking the two.
This makes your data pseudonymous, not anonymous. The code links your exports together, and the sensor calibration inside the file is distinctive enough that separate exports from you could be recognised as coming from the same person. Someone who already knew a great deal about you and had the file might be able to work out it was yours. I think that risk is low. It isn't zero, and I'd rather you knew.
What I'll do with it
Develop and test how Vexa measures head movement — checking whether the app's numbers track what people actually experience, and finding the cases where they don't.
This may include publishing findings in research papers or presenting them to clinicians. Results would be reported in aggregate or under your code, never under your name. Data may also support future applications to regulators or research funders.
Storage and retention
Files arrive through an encrypted upload service and are stored encrypted. I'll keep them for [5 years] from the date you send them, then delete them.
Risks, and what you get out of it
The main risk is the small chance of re-identification described above. There's no physical or medical risk — you're sending a file, not doing anything different.
There's no direct benefit to you and no payment. Sharing won't change what the app shows you or improve your own results. The honest reason to do it is that it may make the app better for people with your condition.
This doesn't affect your medical care. I'm not a clinician. I won't be reviewing what you send for anything concerning, and nothing here is a substitute for talking to your own doctor. If something in the app worries you, tell your clinician — not me.
Taking part is entirely voluntary
You don't have to share anything. You can keep using Vexa exactly as you are and never send a file. Nothing about the app changes either way, and I won't ask twice if you'd rather not.
Withdrawing
Email lfinlay@vexahealth.app with your participant code and I'll delete your files.
One honest limit: if your data has already gone into an analysis that's been published or submitted, I can't pull it back out of that. I can delete the files and leave you out of anything future.
Questions
Email me at lfinlay@vexahealth.app. I'm the only person handling this, so questions come straight to me. If you'd rather raise something with someone who isn't me, say so and I'll find an appropriate route.
Making the file
Do this first, then fill in the form below — your code is on the export screen, so you'll have it in front of you.
- Open the export screen In Vexa, go to Settings → Export my data. Your code is at the top.
- Choose how much to include Pick Everything the first time, and Since last export every time after. Your full session records are always included either way — the choice only affects the raw motion recordings, which are the large part of the file.
- Create the file Tap Create export file. It'll take a moment, then show you what it made: session count, number of raw recordings, and the size.
- Save it Tap Share, then Save to Files — Downloads is fine. Leave it there for now; you'll upload it after the form.
Don't send the clinician report. The PDF report has your real name on it. The export doesn't. What you send me should always be the vexa-export_…zip file.
Your agreement
Your code should be on screen in the app now. If you're filling this in somewhere else, you can leave it blank — I'll match your upload by email instead.
- You are 18 or older
- You've read this page and had the chance to ask questions
- You understand the file holds your session measurements and raw motion data
- You understand your data is pseudonymous, not anonymous
- You agree it may be used to develop Vexa, and for research that may be published
- You understand Vexa LLC is a commercial company, and you'll receive no payment or share of proceeds
- You know you can withdraw at any time
Last step: upload the file
Open the upload page in Safari and attach the file you saved to Files. No account needed, nothing to install.
A few things worth knowing
The dates will look wrong. If you open the file you'll see dates a few years off. That's deliberate — it's how your real dates stay out of it. The gaps between your sessions are still exactly right.
Send more than once if you like. Later exports fit together with earlier ones, so “Since last export” is all you need after the first. Once a month is plenty. There's no schedule and no obligation.
A big first file is normal. If you've been using the app a while, the first export can be large. If the size looks unmanageable, choose a shorter range and send it in pieces — or just tell me and we'll sort it out.
If something goes wrong, email lfinlay@vexahealth.app with your code and what happened. Don't attach the file to the email — send it through the upload page.