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Privacy Policy

Last updated: April 2026

1. Controller

The party responsible for data processing in connection with the "local-ai-notes" app is:

Florian Wächter, Mühlenstraße 15, 50321 Brühl E-Mail: support@local-ai-notes.app Website: https://local-ai-notes.app

2. Core Principle: Local-First

local-ai-notes is a strictly local application. All your notes, reminders, clusters, settings, and other content are stored and processed exclusively on your device. No note data is transmitted to us, Apple, Google, or any other third party.

The provider has no access to your content. There are no user accounts, no cloud synchronization provided by us, no tracking, and no analytics.

3. What Data Is Processed?

3.1 Note Data (Local)

The following data is stored exclusively locally on your device:

  • Your notes (title, content, bullet points)
  • Tags, reminders, and tasks you create
  • Automatically computed clusters and semantic connections
  • Numerical embedding vectors of your notes
  • App settings (e.g. appearance, clustering threshold)

Legal basis: Processing is performed to fulfill the user agreement (Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR). Since no data is transmitted to us, no data processing by us occurs.

3.2 Device-Based Services

The app uses the following Apple system services locally on your device:

  • Face ID / Touch ID (Apple LocalAuthentication framework) — to unlock protected notes. Biometric data never leaves your device's Secure Enclave.

  • iOS Calendar (Apple EventKit) — when you use the /calendar slash command, events are created in your iOS calendar. Syncing with iCloud, Google Calendar, or Outlook is managed by iOS itself, not by us.

  • In-App voice input (Apple SFSpeechRecognizer) — When you use the microphone button inside the app, voice input is transcribed exclusively on your device using the requiresOnDeviceRecognition = true setting. No audio data is transmitted to Apple or any third party.

  • Siri & Shortcuts (Apple SiriKit / App Intents) — Optionally, you can control the app via Siri, the Shortcuts app, Spotlight, or the Action Button (iPhone 15 Pro and later) to create notes, set reminders, or search your notes. When you use a Siri voice command, Apple's Speech Recognition converts your voice into text. On devices with Apple Intelligence (iPhone 15 Pro and later) this happens on-device; on older devices, voice data may be transmitted to Apple's servers. Apple's privacy policy applies to this processing. Once the recognized text is passed to the app, all further processing (embedding, clustering, storage) happens exclusively on your device.

    You can disable the Siri and Shortcuts integration at any time in the app settings under "System Integration". Even without this integration, all core features of the app remain functional, including fully local voice input via the microphone button.

  • Notifications (Apple UserNotifications) — local notifications for reminders are managed by iOS.

  • Keychain — to securely store your lock password (if set).

Apple's privacy policy applies to these services: https://www.apple.com/legal/privacy/

3.3 On-Device AI (Smart Mode, Optional)

If you enable the optional "Smart Mode", you can download an AI language model (Gemma 3 E4B or LFM2.5-1.2B) to your device. The following data is processed:

  • Model download: During the download, a connection is established to servers operated by Hugging Face Inc. (USA). Technically necessary data (IP address, user agent) is transmitted by your device. For this connection, Hugging Face's privacy policy applies: https://huggingface.co/privacy
  • Model use: After download, AI inference runs exclusively on your device. Your queries and note content do not leave your device.

You can disable Smart Mode and delete the model at any time. The core functionality of the app works fully without Smart Mode.

3.4 App Store / TestFlight

When downloading and using the app via the Apple App Store or TestFlight, Apple processes certain data (e.g. Apple ID, device data, crash reports if enabled by you). This data is subject to Apple's privacy policy and is outside our control.

4. No Data Transmission to Third Parties

The app does not send data to external servers operated by the provider. There is:

  • No telemetry
  • No analytics (no Google Analytics, Firebase, Mixpanel, etc.)
  • No crash reporting SDK
  • No advertising IDs
  • No tracking mechanism

The only exceptions are:

  • Optional model download from Hugging Face (see 3.3)
  • Connections established by Apple or the operating system independently of our app

5. Retention Period

Your data is stored locally on your device as long as you have the app installed. If you uninstall the app, all data stored by the app is deleted by iOS.

If you use the export function, you can create a JSON file of your notes. This file is stored in a location of your choice — outside our control.

6. Your Rights Under GDPR

Since we do not process or store any personal data from you, the following rights are effectively already guaranteed by the app's architecture:

  • Right of access (Art. 15 GDPR): All your data is on your device and can be viewed there at any time.
  • Right to rectification (Art. 16 GDPR): You can edit your data in the app at any time.
  • Right to erasure (Art. 17 GDPR): You can delete individual notes in the app or uninstall the app to remove all data.
  • Right to data portability (Art. 20 GDPR): The app provides an export function (JSON, optionally encrypted).
  • Right to object (Art. 21 GDPR): Since we do not process any data, this right is not applicable.
  • Right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority (Art. 77 GDPR).

For privacy-related questions, contact: support@local-ai-notes.app

7. Children and Minors

The app is not specifically directed at children under 13. Since no personal data is transmitted to us, no data collection from minors occurs.

8. Changes to This Privacy Policy

This privacy policy may be updated if the app or the legal situation changes. The current version is always available in the app under "Settings → Privacy Policy" and at https://local-ai-notes.app

9. Contact

For questions about privacy or the app:

Florian Wächter E-Mail: support@local-ai-notes.app