Last updated: 4 July 2026
Dear Diary, ("the app") is a private journaling and diary app. Your privacy is the whole point, and this policy explains, in plain language, what data the app handles and how.
Dear Diary, has no account and no sign-in. We do not collect, sell, rent, or share your entries or any personal data. There are no ads, no third-party analytics, and no tracking in the app. Your words stay on your device.
Everything you create — journal entries, tags, moods, reflections, letters to your future self, attached songs, photos, and voice memos — is stored locally on your device. If you turn on iCloud sync, this data also syncs to your own private iCloud account using Apple's iCloud service. It is never sent to the developer or to any other party.
You can lock individual entries or set an in-app passcode. Locked entries are encrypted at rest on your device, and passcodes and encryption keys are held in the device Keychain. With at-rest encryption on, only ciphertext is stored and synced; entries are decrypted in memory on your device with your key. A recovery code lets you regain access if needed.
If you grant permission, Dear Diary, can save a "State of Mind" reflection (the mood and feelings you named) to Apple Health, and read your recent sleep to gently show it on an entry. This data stays within Apple Health and your device, is governed by Apple's privacy protections, and is never transmitted off your device by the app.
If you record a voice memo, the microphone is used only for that recording, which is saved on your device. Speech-to-text transcription is performed on your device. If you use the optional "identify what's playing" feature to attach a song, Apple's ShazamKit sends a short audio fingerprint to Apple's music-recognition service to name the track — no journal content is involved. You can always add a song by typing it instead.
If you grant location permission, your approximate location is used only to add place and weather context to an entry, using Apple's WeatherKit and on-device reverse geocoding. It is not stored by the developer or linked to your identity, and the app works fully without it.
The app's gentle "close" reflection runs entirely on your device and sends nothing anywhere. On supported hardware it can use Apple's on-device model; this also stays on your device.
An optional cloud reflection is off by default. If you choose to turn it on and provide your own API key, the entry text and the feelings you named are sent directly from your device to the AI provider you selected (for example Anthropic or OpenAI) to generate a reflection — never through the developer's servers. If the app's on-device safety check detects a crisis signal, your words are never sent to any model, on-device or cloud.
The support and crisis resources card is static information. Opening it is never logged, and the app does not scan or analyse your writing to trigger it.
In-app purchases are handled entirely by Apple. Dear Diary, does not see or store your payment details.
If you enable reminders, notifications are scheduled locally on your device. No notification content is sent through external servers.
The app may include an optional "report a bug or request a feature" link. If you choose to use it, it opens a Google Form in your browser; anything you enter there is submitted to Google Forms and used only to improve the app. Using it is entirely optional.
Dear Diary, is a private space that people of many ages may use. All data stays on the device and, if sync is enabled, in the user's own private iCloud, under the same protections described above. The app has no social features, no accounts, and no advertising.
You can edit or delete any entry, and export everything as plain text, Markdown, or PDF at any time. Deleting the app removes its local data from your device; data stored in your iCloud can be removed from your iCloud settings.
Dear Diary, is a journaling companion, not therapy and not a medical or mental-health treatment. Its reflections are for comfort and self-reflection only and are not a diagnosis or professional advice. If you are struggling, please reach out to a qualified professional or a crisis line.
If this policy changes, the updated version will be posted on this page with a new "last updated" date.
Questions about privacy? Email venetsia@icloud.com.