Your journal (your words, photos, voice notes, moods and places) stays on your device and in your own private iCloud. I can't read it.
Smart features like prompts, smart search, Ask Your Journal, weekly reflections and voice transcription run on your device. Your writing and recordings are never sent to me or to an AI service.
If you connect Apple Health, sleep and activity are compared with your moods on your device and never leave it.
No ads. Your data is never sold, and you aren't tracked across other apps or websites.
The only personal details I receive are the ones you choose to give: your name, email, birthday or goals during setup, a mailing-list sign-up, or feedback.
I use anonymous usage statistics and crash reports to fix bugs and improve the app. They never include what you write.
1. Who I am
My Journal is made by Taiwo Omisore, an independent developer based in London, United Kingdom. In this policy, "I" and "me" mean the developer, and "the app" means My Journal on iPhone and iPad and its widgets. I am the data controller for the personal information described in sections 5 to 7. You can reach me at myjournalapps@gmail.com.
2. Your journal
Everything you write in My Journal, including entries, titles, photos, voice notes, moods, tags, places, weather and prompts, is stored on your device.
iCloud sync. If you're signed in to iCloud, your journal is synced through Apple's iCloud (CloudKit) into the private database of your own Apple Account, so it appears on your other devices. Apple stores and encrypts this data. I have no access to it, and it never passes through any server of mine. See Apple's Privacy Policy.
Exports and backups. Files you create with Export, PDF Book, Share or backup are made on your device and go only where you choose to send them.
Deleting. Deleting an entry removes it from your device and, through iCloud, from your other devices. To remove everything, delete the app, then delete My Journal's data under Settings › [your name] › iCloud › Manage Account Storage.
3. What happens on your device
These features work entirely on your iPhone or iPad. Nothing they use or produce is sent to me.
Apple Intelligence. On supported devices, personal prompts, "Go deeper" follow-up questions, title ideas and smart-search suggestions are generated by Apple's on-device language model. It sees the time of day, the moods, weather and place you've added, recent entry titles, and, for follow-ups, what you've written so far.
Ask Your Journal. When you ask a question, the app finds the most relevant entries on your device and Apple's on-device model writes an answer from them. Your question, your entries and the answer are not sent to me or to any AI service.
Weekly Reflection and Stats headline. Your weekly reflection and the one-line summary on the Stats screen are made on your device from your entries and moods. Each week's reflection is saved in the app's storage on your device, is not synced and is excluded from device backups.
Voice note transcription. When you tap Transcribe, your voice note is turned into text by Apple's on-device speech recognition. The audio is never uploaded. The text is only added to your entry if you choose to add it.
Templates. Templates you save yourself are stored on this device only. They are not synced or sent anywhere.
Smart search. To find entries by meaning, the app builds a search index on your device. It holds numbers only, not your text, and is excluded from device backups. Hidden entries are never indexed.
Journal lock. Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode is checked by your device. The app never receives your biometric data.
Widgets and Spotlight. Widgets read your journal on your device. With the journal lock on, widgets that would show your entries or moods show a locked card instead, and your entries are removed from Spotlight search.
Journaling Suggestions. Apple's Journaling Suggestions picker shows moments from your day. Only the suggestion you pick is added to your entry.
Reminders and recaps. Reminders, On This Day, Year Wrapped and monthly recap notifications are scheduled on your device.
4. Permissions
The app only asks for access when a feature needs it, and you can change any of these in iOS Settings at any time.
Permission
What it's used for
Location (while using)
Adding a place to an entry, the map, Passport and the globe, and the current weather. Places are saved with your entries in your journal.
Photos and camera
Adding pictures to entries and saving images you create, such as share cards. The app only sees photos you choose. Location data is removed from new photos before they're stored.
Microphone
Recording voice notes. Recordings are saved in your journal.
Health
If you turn it on in Settings, the moods you log are saved to Apple Health as State of Mind. If you connect Apple Health in Stats, the app reads your sleep, steps and exercise minutes to show how they relate to your moods. This is worked out on your device only: the values are never stored in your journal, synced, sent to me or shared.
Speech recognition
Turning a voice note into text when you tap Transcribe. Recognition happens on your device.
Notifications
Reminders and notes you've switched on, and, if you start a free trial, one reminder the day before it ends.
Face ID
Unlocking the journal when the lock is on.
5. Details you choose to send me
A small amount of information is saved to a private database I run on Google Firebase (Cloud Firestore). It's sent only from the screens below. The app can only write to this database, never read from it, so nobody can read your data back through the app. Only I can see it.
Your profile. If you enter them during setup or in Settings: the name you'd like to be called, your email address, the goals you pick, your birthday (day and month only, no year) and how you heard about My Journal. These are stored with a random ID for your install, the date the app was first opened, whether you're a Pro member, and when the app was last opened. The profile is refreshed at most once a day.
Mailing list. If you join, your first name and email address, so I can send you news about My Journal. Every email has an unsubscribe link, or you can ask me to remove you.
Feedback. If you send feedback through Help Improve My Journal, your message plus the name and email you choose to include (both optional), so I can read it and reply.
Each of these also carries a random anonymous account ID from Firebase Authentication. It isn't linked to your Apple Account or to any other app.
Your journal entries are never part of any of this.
6. Usage statistics and crash reports
Google Analytics for Firebase records anonymous usage events: which screens and features are used, for example "a prompt was shuffled" or "a paywall was shown". It also records a random app-instance ID, device model, iOS version, app version and approximate country (derived from your IP address, which isn't stored). It never includes your journal content, and the app doesn't use the advertising identifier (IDFA).
Firebase Crashlytics sends a crash report when the app crashes: what the app was doing in technical terms, device model and iOS version. It never includes your journal content.
Firebase Cloud Messaging gives your device a push token so that, if you allow notifications, I can send occasional announcements.
My Journal Pro subscriptions, Lifetime and tips are bought through Apple's App Store. Apple handles payment; I never see your name, card or Apple Account details. The app uses RevenueCat to keep track of purchases and subscriptions. RevenueCat receives purchase records (product, price, dates and the App Store transaction) linked to a random anonymous ID. See RevenueCat's Privacy Policy.
8. Other services the app talks to
Apple Weather (WeatherKit). To show the current weather, your location is sent to Apple's weather service. Weather data is provided by Apple Weather; see the data sources.
Apple Maps (MapKit). Searching for a place, and turning a location into an address, sends your search or location to Apple.
taiomi.com. The app downloads small public files from my website, such as quotes, offers, settings and the latest version number. Like any website, the server may log your IP address and the time of the request. These files carry nothing about you.
9. Legal bases (UK and EU users)
Consent: the mailing list, feedback, profile details you enter, Health, and push notifications. You can withdraw consent at any time.
Contract: providing Pro features you've bought.
Legitimate interests: anonymous usage statistics and crash reports, to keep the app working and make it better, in ways you'd reasonably expect.
10. How long data is kept
Your journal: until you delete it. It lives on your device and in your iCloud, which you control.
Profile, mailing list and feedback: until you ask me to delete them, or until they're no longer needed. Mailing-list details are removed when you unsubscribe.
Usage statistics: kept only for the limited period set in Google Analytics, after which Google deletes them. Crash reports are kept by Firebase Crashlytics for a limited period.
Purchase records: kept by Apple and RevenueCat as needed for subscriptions, refunds and legal obligations.
11. Your rights and choices
Depending on where you live (for example under the UK GDPR, the EU GDPR or California law), you can ask to access, correct, delete or receive a copy of the personal information I hold about you, and object to or restrict how it's used. Email myjournalapps@gmail.com from the address you used, or tell me the name and email you gave, and I'll reply within one month.
Turn off location, photos, microphone, Health or notifications in iOS Settings at any time.
Turn off iCloud sync for My Journal in iOS Settings › [your name] › iCloud.
Export your whole journal at any time from Settings › Export Data.
If you're in the UK and unhappy with how your data is handled, you can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office. In the EU, you can contact your local data protection authority. I'd always appreciate the chance to put things right first.
12. Security
Your journal is protected by your device's encryption and, if you turn it on, the app's Face ID lock. iCloud data is encrypted by Apple in transit and at rest. The Firebase database used for the details in section 5 only accepts small, write-only submissions from the app, and only I can read it. No system is perfectly secure, but I work to keep your information safe and to collect as little as possible.
13. International transfers
Google (Firebase) and RevenueCat may process data in the United States and other countries. Where data leaves the UK or EU, these providers use recognised safeguards such as the UK International Data Transfer Addendum and the EU Standard Contractual Clauses.
14. Children
My Journal isn't directed at children under 13, and I don't knowingly collect personal information from them. If you believe a child has sent me personal details, please get in touch and I'll delete them.
15. Changes to this policy
If this policy changes, I'll update the date at the top of this page. For significant changes, I'll also let you know in the app.
16. Contact
Questions, requests or worries about your privacy: myjournalapps@gmail.com. Taiwo Omisore, London, United Kingdom.