Privacy Policy

What stays on your device

By default, everything stays on your device: your notebooks, strokes, images, the search index built from your handwriting, and your pen settings. HandyNotes has no account system, no tracking, no advertising, and no third-party analytics SDKs of any kind.

Your birthday

HandyNotes asks for your birthday once, during onboarding. It's used only locally on your device to confirm you're 18 or older before you can opt into the research donation described below. Your birthday is never uploaded anywhere.

Optional: handwriting research donation

You can choose to contribute samples of your handwriting to a public research dataset. This is off by default and requires an explicit, two-step opt-in — you turn it on, and then you review and approve every individual sample before it's sent.

If you opt in, a donated sample includes:

• Word-level stroke trajectories — the x/y position, timestamp, pressure, altitude, and azimuth recorded as you write
• The recognized text label and language
• Which recognition engine produced the label, and its confidence score
• The canvas dimensions and pointer type (finger or Apple Pencil)
• The app version and the version of the consent text you agreed to

Donated samples are identified only by a random ID generated on your device (a "writer ID") — never your name, email, or birthday. You can revoke consent at any time in your profile, which immediately stops any further capture. You can also request deletion of everything you've contributed — see Data deletion requests below.

Donated data is published for research use under a CC BY 4.0 license.

Optional: in-app feedback

If you use Settings → Send Feedback, HandyNotes sends your message, any screenshots you choose to attach, and an optional reply email address you provide. This is stored separately from the research donation data above, and is deliberately not linked to your writer ID.

Who processes this data

The optional data described above (research donations and feedback) is sent over HTTPS to Supabase, which hosts the backend and database for HandyNotes. No other third party receives this data.

iCloud backup

If you enable backup, HandyNotes copies your library into your own private iCloud Drive container — the iCloud account already signed into your device. This backup is yours; it lives in your iCloud storage, and I never see it.

Data deletion requests

To request deletion of any data you've sent, contact me on Telegram or by email. If you're requesting deletion of research-donation data, please include your writer ID, which you can find in Settings.

Children

HandyNotes does not knowingly collect personal data from children. The handwriting research donation is restricted to users who confirm they are 18 or older, checked locally against the birthday you entered.

Changes to this policy

If this policy changes, the update will be posted on this page with a new effective date.

Contact

Questions about this policy can go to the same places as support: Telegram or gnaumkin213@gmail.com.