Monitoring personal data

Setting up monitoring of personal data

The setup runs the first time the feature is opened with nothing yet being watched.

1. The first screen reads "We'll keep an eye on your details" and explains that Kiren checks known breach databases continuously and sends an alert as soon as a detail appears somewhere it should not. Tap Start checking for breaches.
2. The next screen, "Let's start with your email", offers the email address used to sign in. Tap Yes, watch this email to use it, Change email to enter a different address, or Skip for now to move on without an email.
3. If Change email was chosen, enter the address under "Email address" and tap Start watching. A note explains that ownership of the address will need to be verified.
4. The screen shows "Checking for breaches..." while the first check runs.
5. The result appears:
   • No breaches: "We're on it", with the note that Kiren is keeping watch and will report anything that comes up.
   • Breaches found: a summary reading "Found in # breach" or "Found in # breaches", with the list of them below.
6. If Skip for now was chosen, the next screen offers to watch something else instead, such as a phone number or another detail. Tap Continue to go to the list of item types.

Until the email address is verified, breach details stay hidden. The setup screens show "Verify to finish setup." or "Verify to see the full details." with a Resend verification email button. Tapping I'll verify later finishes setup, and the details can be unlocked later by verifying.

The email address given during setup becomes the primary contact address for breach alerts. This cannot be seen or changed in the app.

Adding a detail to be watched

Tap Watch items on the You screen, or Watch more items on the "Your personal data" screen or a category screen. The picker is titled "Add new items" and groups the types as follows.

• Personal accounts: Email, Phone number, Username. Email and phone number are marked "Needs verification".
• Financial information: Credit card, Bank account.
• ID Documents: Passport, Social security number, Driver's license, Health insurance.

Choose a type, enter the value in the field, and tap Start watching. Each field has its own label and example format:

A phone number must include the country code. After a phone number is added, the verification screen opens next; every other type opens its detail screen straight away.

If a detail cannot be added

The message shown depends on what went wrong.

• "Required": the field is empty.
• "Enter a valid email address.", "Enter a valid phone number.", and the equivalent message for each other type: the value is not in a format the app recognizes. Check for typos, extra spaces, and missing digits.
• "Add phone number with the country code.": the number needs its country code, for example +44 or +358.
• "Already being watched" / "This item is already in your watch list.": the same value is already on the list. It is already covered.
• "Couldn't start watching" / "Please try again.": a general failure. Retrying usually helps. If this message keeps appearing for one type while other types can still be added, the number of items of that type that can be watched has most likely been reached.

Typing simply stops when a field reaches its maximum length.

Verifying an email address or a phone number

Email addresses and phone numbers need to be confirmed before their breach details can be shown. This protects the information: without it, anyone could enter someone else's address and read what was exposed. The other seven types need no verification.

Email. A verification link is sent to the address. Open the inbox and tap the link. Returning to the app clears the banner by itself within a few seconds. No button needs to be tapped. If the message did not arrive, check the spam folder and use Resend verification email. The button reads "Sent" for a short cooldown afterward.

Phone number. The screen "Verify phone number" reads "Making sure it's really you" and explains that personal information tied to a phone number can only be shown for confirmed numbers. Enter the 4-digit code from the text message under "Confirmation code" and tap Confirm. If the code does not arrive, Resend code becomes available after a one-minute countdown shown as "Resend code in {time}". A wrong code shows "Couldn't verify" / "Please try again."

An unverified detail is still being watched. Only the details of what was exposed stay hidden.

The "Your personal data" screen

This is the main screen for the feature.

While notifications are not allowed for Kiren on the device, a "Get breach alerts" banner at the top offers Turn on notifications. Maybe later hides the banner for good; alerts then arrive by email and in the app only.

The "What we're protecting" card at the top shows how many items are monitored, then one row per category: "Accounts" (emails, phone numbers and similar), "Financial information" (credit card and bank account), and "ID Documents" (passport, social security number and similar). Each row carries the number of items in that category as a badge, color-coded by the most serious breach still open in it: green for none, yellow for a low or medium severity breach, red for a high severity one. Categories with no items are not shown. A Watch more items button sits below the rows.

Under the card, active breaches are listed with the heading "# Breach found" or "# Breaches found". A breach is active while it has not yet been reviewed and its date is within the last 12 months. Each row shows the breach name, the date, and a severity badge: Critical, Moderate, or Minor. An Order control sorts them by Latest or Oldest, and appears only when there is at least one active breach.

Below is the collapsible "Old and reviewed breaches" section. It holds breaches that have been reviewed, marked with a "Reviewed" pill, and breaches older than 12 months that were never reviewed, which carry no pill. A breach moves there by itself once it passes the 12-month mark, which is why a finding can leave the active list without being reviewed. Any breach in this section can still be opened and marked as reviewed.

Only active breaches rated Moderate or Critical affect the colors of the category badges, the You card, and the protection status on the Overview screen.

When nothing has been found, the screen reads "We'll say something if we see something."

How watched details are displayed

Most values are shown partly hidden. A glance over the shoulder does not expose them.

There is no way to reveal a hidden value in the app. This is by design.

Looking at one category or one item

Tapping a category row opens a screen listing the items in it, grouped under headings such as "Your emails", "Your phone numbers", or "Your passports". Each row shows the value, a color-coded badge, and a subtitle: "Pending verification" for an email or phone number still to be confirmed, "No breaches found", or the number of breaches found for it. Items with the most serious findings are listed first.

Tapping an item opens its own screen, which shows the value, the type, and a summary line such as "All clear so far.", "Watching your phone number", or "Found in # recent breaches". An unverified email or phone number is never reported as all clear, because breaches affecting it cannot be shown yet.

Verified items also show a short piece of advice for that type, for example using a unique password for every account, enabling two-factor authentication on key accounts, or contacting the bank if a card appears in a breach. Below that is the list of breaches found for that item, with the same sorting control and the same "Old and reviewed breaches" section as the main screen.

Stopping monitoring for a detail

Open the item and tap Stop watching. A confirmation dialog asks "Are you sure you want to stop watching this item?" and warns that deleting the item stops monitoring and also deletes all the breaches found for it so far. Tap Yes to confirm. This cannot be undone. Adding the detail again starts a fresh check.

The primary contact email cannot be removed while other items are being watched. Trying to remove it shows "Can't stop watching" with an explanation that this email is the address breach alerts are sent to. Removing the last item in a category closes the category screen, and removing the last item of all closes the personal data screen.

If the information does not look up to date

There is no pull-to-refresh and no refresh button, and none is needed. Data is updated automatically when the app is opened and every time one of these screens is opened. If something looks stale, leaving the screen and returning is enough to trigger an update.

A few things are worth knowing when a result looks unexpected:

• The app does not show when monitoring of an item started. There is no "watching since" date.
• A breach found today can still be filed under "Old and reviewed breaches" straight away. The 12-month window is counted from the date of the breach itself, not from when it was found. It is still reported by email and notification like any other new finding.
• A check covers known breaches. A breach that has not been discovered or published yet cannot be reported.
• The same information can appear under slightly different names in different places. A health insurance number is listed as "Health insurance" as a watched item, but a breach may describe the same data as "Medical insurance" or "Insurance number".

Monitoring personal data and Kiren Plus

Watching personal details needs Kiren Plus. The one-off Breach Check stays free. With Plus, an address found in breaches can be added to the watched details straight from its Breach Check result.

If Plus ends, the watched details and the breaches found for them are kept. The screens lock until Plus is active again, and everything then comes back as it was, without repeating the setup.