Privacy policy

Journal and iCloud

Entries, attached locations, people, tags, chats, recaps, photos, search data, and AI usage history are stored on your device and in your iCloud account when sync is available. We do not store your journal on our servers. Apple processes the synced copy under your iCloud account and its terms.

Optional locations and maps

With permission, location features use your position only while open, never in the background. Photo-based suggestions are looked up only while that feature is open and attached to an entry only if selected. Stored photos retain embedded GPS on your device, in private iCloud sync, and in exports. Removing an entry location does not remove photo GPS, or vice versa. Removing a photo or its entry removes the stored photo and GPS.

Apple Maps receives viewed map regions, place searches, and coordinates for location labels, but not entry text or photos. If AI is enabled, attached place names and addresses may accompany retrieved entries sent to OpenAI; raw coordinates and photo GPS do not.

Optional AI

If you enable AI with your own OpenAI API key, Breadcrumbs can process existing and new entries in the background for search and Chat. Entry text, chat messages, search text, and people details go directly to OpenAI for these features. OpenAI processes them under your account and terms and bills your account. Read OpenAI’s privacy policy.

With AI enabled and a usable key, cloud transcription is the default unless you choose on-device in Settings; without a usable key, on-device is the default. Cloud transcription sends microphone audio and names from your People list to OpenAI to help recognize them. The app holds audio in memory for transcription and does not save a recording.

OpenAI does not train on API inputs and outputs by default unless you opt in. We disable its optional storage of generated responses, but OpenAI may keep API data for up to 30 days for abuse monitoring and temporarily cache requests. These rules apply to personal API accounts separately from ChatGPT settings. See OpenAI’s API data controls for current rules. Removing your key does not erase data OpenAI already retains.

Your API key is stored in the Keychain on the device where you use Breadcrumbs. It is not synced through iCloud, included in backups, or sent to us. Removing it disables AI without deleting existing app data.

Diagnostics and usage statistics

Share crash and error reports and Share app usage statistics are separate choices, both off by default and independent of AI. We ask for consent to collect, temporarily store, and send technical reports and statistics (Article 6(1)(a) GDPR where personal data is involved). Neither includes journal or Chat content, names, queries, or location data.

With crash reporting on, Sentry receives app and device details, where the app failed, and limited technical error details for crashes, freezes, and unexpected failures. Free-form text, account and installation identity, requests, screenshots, and interaction trails are removed before sending. Turning reporting off in Settings → Data sharing stops new reports and removes those queued on your device, but does not automatically delete reports Sentry already received. Diagnostic events are kept for 30 days on our current plan. Sentry stores events in Frankfurt, Germany; some service administration and processing can involve the United States under safeguards in its data processing agreement. See Sentry’s privacy policy.

With usage statistics on, TelemetryDeck receives counts and outcomes for features, Chat, and AI; AI models, token usage and estimated costs; and dictation method, language, duration, outcome, and roughly how much wording cleanup changed. Audio, transcripts, and journal IDs are excluded. A hashed installation identifier recognizes repeat use. Your budgets and monthly totals stay on your device and in private iCloud sync. Turning statistics off stops the channel and deletes its local identifier and queued statistics. TelemetryDeck stores signals in the EU and may keep older statistics without a fixed deletion date. See TelemetryDeck’s privacy FAQ.

Support

If you contact support, you provide an email address and message. We use this information to respond to your request, based on our legitimate interest in providing support (Article 6(1)(f) GDPR). Namecheap Private Email processes them and may process data in the US under the contractual safeguards in its data processing agreement. Please do not send journal content or API keys. We retain support correspondence while handling your request and any related follow-up. We delete it when it is no longer needed, unless legal obligations or the establishment, exercise, or defence of legal claims require longer retention. Provider backups may retain copies for up to four more weeks after mailbox deletion under its Private Email terms.

Website

The public website is hosted by Vercel. It processes technical request information, including IP addresses, requested pages, browser information and request times, to deliver and protect the site. Limited request details are available to us in its dashboard. We use hosting to provide a reliable, secure website (our legitimate interest under Article 6(1)(f) GDPR). We do not use website analytics or performance-measurement scripts or configure log exports. Vercel also processes operational information for its own purposes. Its privacy notice explains retention according to operational and legal needs, possible processing outside the EU, including in the United States, and applicable transfer safeguards.

Retention, deletion, and rights

You control journal retention in the app and iCloud. Deleting app content removes the local copy; the deletion reaches your synced iCloud copy when sync runs. Providers may keep limited operational data under their own terms and retention periods. Contact us for access, correction, deletion, restriction, a copy of data we control, or to object where applicable. You can withdraw optional consent at any time without affecting earlier lawful processing, and lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority.