If someone is using ZeroPercent to control you

Last updated: 25 September 2026

If you are in immediate danger, call 999 in the UK or 911 in the US.

ZeroPercent is meant to help a family notice when someone's phone is about to die. It is not meant to be a way of keeping someone in line, and it is built so that it cannot do much of that. This page says exactly what it can and cannot do, how to step out of a family, and who to talk to.

What the people who run your family can see

The people who run your family (the app calls them admins) can see:

Your battery level, and when it was last updated. They can tap Check now to ask your phone for a fresh reading, at most once every 10 minutes, and your phone shows you who asked each time. Your phone also shares its battery in the background without a notice.
Whether ZeroPercent is set up and ready on your phone.
When you last used the rescue sign-in from a borrowed phone: the time, never what you said or who you reached.
How many backup contacts you have: the number only.
A security notice if something happens to your account: a sign-in on a new phone, a ZeroPercent PIN change, three wrong guesses at your rescue sign-in in an hour, or a lockout.
Alerts when your battery runs low, and if your phone then goes quiet, has probably died, or is back on, unless you switch them off (see below).

They can never see:

Who your backup contacts are. Names and numbers stay yours.
Your location. The app never asks for it, so there is nothing to share.
Your messages, on your phone or in a rescue.
What apps you use.

That is the whole list. The app shows you the same one under Privacy: what your plan can see, and the privacy policy says the same in more words. Nobody who runs your family can quietly switch on more.

How to leave a family, and what you keep

You can leave a family at any time, at any age, and you do not need anyone's permission.

If you are a member, tap Leave my family at the bottom of your home screen and confirm.
If you run the family too, it is in Settings, as Leave family.

The moment you leave, the people who ran your family stop seeing your battery, your readiness and everything else on the list above. Be aware that they are told: each of them gets a notice that you have left, and the family's code word is cleared so everyone remaining is told to agree a new one. If being seen to leave is itself a risk for you, read the confidential way to reach us below before you tap anything.

You keep everything that is yours: your account, your backup contacts, your PIN and your rescue sign-in. Leaving a family does not delete anything and does not stop the rescue page working for you.

Two limits, so you are not surprised by them. The person who created the family cannot leave it this way: they remove the other people from the Family tab instead. And if you are the last adult in a family that still has someone under 16 in it, another adult has to be added before you can go.

How to change your PIN

Your PIN is what lets you sign in to the rescue page from a borrowed phone. If someone else knows it, change it. On your home screen, in the yellow rescue sign-in card, tap Change my PIN (or Set a 6-digit PIN, if yours is still four digits). The app asks for your current PIN, and for Face ID or your phone's passcode.

Be aware of one thing: the people who run your family are told that your PIN changed. That is one of the security notices above, and it exists so that a stranger who takes over an account cannot change the PIN without anyone noticing. The notice says only that the PIN was changed. It never says what the new PIN is, and we cannot tell anyone what it is, because we do not store it in a form anyone can read.

If you have forgotten your PIN and ask for a reset without it, the new PIN only takes effect after 24 hours, and the people who run your family are told about that too. Again, they are told it is happening, not what the PIN is.

How to switch off the low-battery alert about yourself

By default, when your battery runs low, the people who run your family get a notification, and a few more if it keeps dropping or your phone goes quiet. In the latest version of the app you can turn that off: go to Settings, then Low-battery alerts to your family, and switch off Alert them when my battery is critically low.

Once it is off, nobody is told when your battery gets low, and only you can turn it back on. They can still see your battery level on their screen, and their own copy of the switch will say that you turned it off. If you would rather they saw nothing at all, leaving the family is the way to do that.

If you are 18 or over, you can also stop them asking your phone for a fresh reading: in Settings, switch off Let admins check my battery now. Under 18, Check now stays on, and your phone shows you every check.

How to stop someone on your plan reaching you in a rescue

Everyone on a plan can reach everyone else on it in a rescue, by default. You can switch off one person without leaving: in the app, go to Settings, then Rescue texts from your plan, and switch them off; in the web app, tap Who can reach you. They are told that you turned it off, and if you are under 18 the adult(s) who run your family can see that too. If you would rather they were not told, leaving the family ends it for everyone on the plan at once.

A confidential way to reach us

Email [email protected]. You can write from any address, and you do not have to give your name.

We will not tell the people who run your family that you wrote to us, or what you said, unless you ask us to, or we believe someone is at immediate risk of serious harm. Even then, we would go to the police or another authority whose job it is to help, not to your family. If you are under 18, the same promise applies to you.

We are a small team and we read every message ourselves. We can tell you exactly what your family's screen shows about you, walk you through leaving, or just listen.

Where to get help

If you feel unsafe, you do not have to deal with it alone. These services are free and confidential.

UK, under 19: Childline on 0800 1111.
UK, domestic abuse: in England, the National Domestic Abuse Helpline on 0808 2000 247. In Scotland, 0800 027 1234. In Wales, Live Fear Free on 0808 80 10 800. In Northern Ireland, 0808 802 1414.
US, young people: Childhelp on 1-800-422-4453, or text HOME to 741741 for Crisis Text Line.
US, domestic violence: the National Domestic Violence Hotline on 1-800-799-7233. Call or text 988 if you are in crisis.
In an emergency, call 999 in the UK or 911 in the US.

Sites: childline.org.uk, refuge.org.uk (the National Domestic Abuse Helpline is run by Refuge), thehotline.org and childhelphotline.org. If you are an adult worried about a child, the NSPCC helpline is 0808 800 5000 (nspcc.org.uk).

If someone can see your phone, remember that this page will be in your browser history. Every one of the sites above has a way to leave it quickly.