Privacy policy

Last updated: October 4, 2026

Paper and Ink is a private writing space. Here is the plain-language version of what happens to your data: your writing never leaves your device. There is no account, no analytics, and nothing to sell. The one thing that can be sent to us is a prompt of your own, and only when you choose to offer it.

The short version

• No account or sign-up. Open the app and start writing.
• No data collection. We don't collect, transmit, or have access to anything you write.
• No analytics, no tracking, no ads, no third-party SDKs.
• Your writing stays on your device, stored using Apple's on-device storage.
• You control every export and backup. Nothing is sent anywhere unless you choose to send it. The exceptions are the optional iCloud sync described below, which never includes your writing, and the optional iCloud Drive copy of your backups, which does and is off unless you turn it on.

What data exists, and where it lives

The app stores the following, entirely on your device:

• The pieces you write, and your daily journal entries, with their titles
• The feeling you mark after writing, if you mark one
• Prompts you keep
• Collections and the status you give a piece (fragment, draft, finished)
• App settings, such as theme, notification time, and whether you've turned on a passcode, Face ID, or Touch ID lock
• The days you wrote, and the recent days' prompts, so the daily prompts do not repeat

All of it is stored using Apple's native on-device storage on your iPhone or iPad. None of it is uploaded to us. There is no server for it to go to, and no way for us to see it even if we wanted to. Kin, the word game, and the rhymes and near words lookup read your writing on your device to choose and look up words, and send nothing anywhere. The days you wrote, your buddy and your ink can also be kept in your own iCloud, as described next.

iCloud

If you use the iPhone app and are signed in to iCloud, your buddy, your ink, your streak, your word hoard and the dates you wrote are kept in your own iCloud so they appear on your other Apple devices. That is Apple's storage, under your Apple ID. We cannot see it. Your writing, your kept prompts and your settings are not included. You can switch this off in Settings, under Sync with iCloud. Turning it off stops the app from reading or writing iCloud and leaves what is already there untouched.

Face ID, Touch ID, and passcode lock

You can lock the app with a numeric passcode, and on devices that support it, add Face ID or Touch ID. The passcode is stored on your device only as a one-way hash: the app can check a passcode you type against it, but it cannot read the passcode back, and the hash never leaves the device. A backup file never includes it. Face ID and Touch ID are handled entirely by iOS; the app only learns whether the check succeeded and never sees your face or fingerprint data.

Notifications

If you turn on the daily writing reminder, it is scheduled locally on your device using iOS's built-in notification system. There is no push notification server involved, and no data about you is sent anywhere to make the reminder happen. It is simply your phone reminding you, on a schedule you chose.

Home screen widget

If you add the widget, the app hands it the day's prompt, your days in a row (unless you hide them), and a picture of your buddy with the name you gave it. They are kept in storage that only the app and its widget on your device can read. Nothing in it leaves your phone, and none of your writing is in it.

Prompts you offer

You can add prompts of your own. They stay on your device like everything else. If you choose "Offer it to everyone" on one, the text of that prompt and the mood you gave it are sent to us so we can read it and decide whether to add it for all writers. Nothing else is sent with it: no name, no account, and nothing from your journal. Our web host records the request the way any website does, including the IP address it came from. If you would rather we not keep a prompt you offered, write to us and we will delete it.

Purchases

The app offers one optional purchase, a one-time unlock. Apple handles the payment through your Apple ID. We never see your name, your card, or any payment details. The app only asks the App Store whether this Apple ID owns the unlock, and keeps a yes or no on your device so it can open without a connection. The app also sells packs of ink for your buddy. Apple handles that payment the same way, and the app keeps a record on your device of the ink you bought so it is never credited twice.

Export and backup

You can export your writing as Markdown, as a Word-compatible file, or as a formatted "Manuscript" (a title page followed by one piece per page). You can also back up everything, including kept prompts and settings, as a single JSON file and restore it later. Every one of these actions happens only when you choose to trigger it. When you export or back up, the app hands the file to iOS's own share sheet, and you decide where it goes from there, for example saving it to the Files app, AirDropping it to another device, or attaching it to an email. We have no part in that transfer and no visibility into it. Nothing is exported without your action.

In the iPhone app, a backup is also made automatically each day you write. That copy stays in the app's own storage on your device, where only the app can read it, and older copies are removed as new ones are made. You can turn this off in Settings, under Back up automatically. If you turn on Also keep a copy in iCloud Drive, the same backup file, which contains your writing, is saved to your own iCloud Drive under your Apple ID. We cannot see it. That file is not protected by the app's passcode, so anyone who can open your iCloud Drive can read it. It is off unless you turn it on.

What we don't do

• We don't collect any personal information.
• We don't use analytics or crash-reporting services.
• We don't include advertising or ad networks.
• We don't use third-party SDKs that track you.
• We don't sell or share your data, because we never have it to begin with.
• We don't require or ask for an account.

Children's privacy

Paper and Ink is not directed at children. The app collects no personal information from anyone, of any age. The same privacy protections described in this policy apply no matter who is using the app.

Changes to this policy

If this policy changes, we will update this page and update the "Last updated" date at the top. Since the app does not collect data, most future changes would just be clarifications of language. If the app's core approach to your data ever changed, we would say so plainly here.

Contact

Questions about this policy can be sent to privacy@paperandink.app.

Note: this is a placeholder address. Confirm it or replace it with a real contact email before publishing this page.