Privacy policy

1. Who is responsible?

DearDay is provided by Erik van Eck, the controller for personal data processed within the DearDay service. This policy applies to the DearDay Android app (package name nl.avroditus.dearday) and this website.

For privacy questions or requests about your data, email erik.vaneck@gmail.com. Mention DearDay. Do not include journal texts, passwords or payment card details.

2. Your journal on your device

Entry titles, texts, chosen dates, edit dates, saved reflections and the local search index are held in an encrypted database on your device. Its key is kept using Android’s secure storage. The app offers local search and calendar features; you can write and read without internet access.

DearDay asks the operating system to verify your identity with biometrics or your device passcode. DearDay receives the result of that check, not your fingerprint, facial data or passcode.

The current app does not automatically synchronise your entire journal to a DearDay cloud archive. Restoring a subscription restores access to Plus, not your entries. Deleting local entries, clearing app data or uninstalling the app may cause you to lose local content.

3. AI reflections and dictation

You decide first

AI features require an active Plus subscription and your explicit consent. You can turn AI off in Settings. This stops new processing; previously saved entries and completed reflections remain readable. You can also exclude individual entries from AI reflections.

How does DearDay find related topics?

When AI reflections are enabled, DearDay automatically looks for entries or passages that relate to your new entry. A language model on your device turns passages into numbers that represent their meaning (embeddings). Comparing them helps the app recognise related topics even when you use different words. Word overlap and dates also help with selection. If the local language model is unavailable, the app falls back to word overlap.

This semantic search index is stored in the encrypted database on your device. No journal text is sent to a cloud service to create or compare these embeddings. Entries you exclude from AI are not included. The selected text is subsequently sent to generate the AI reflection, as described below.

What is sent for a reflection?

The app selects your new entry and up to five relevant entries or passages on your device. The selected text and dates are sent through the secure DearDay backend to our AI provider to generate a reflection. Permanent local entry identifiers and the database key are not sent. The DearDay reflection service does not store the submitted journal text or the generated reflection in its database.

On Android, a prepared reflection can continue processing while the app is locked. A separate, temporarily stored encrypted package contains the selected text for this purpose. Your entire journal is not unlocked again. The package is cleaned up after processing; the result is stored encrypted and imported after you unlock the app.

What happens to audio?

Only when you start dictation, after granting microphone permission, is your audio sent through the DearDay backend to our AI provider for transcription. DearDay does not retain audio recordings. You can review the recognised text in the editor and save it as an entry. Audio duration and costs, among other details, are recorded to manage usage.

Processing by our AI provider

Our AI provider is an external cloud service provider for generative AI and speech recognition. It processes the submitted content to deliver the requested response or transcription. Under the provider’s current standard policy, API content is not used for model training unless the API customer opts in. The provider may retain data temporarily for abuse monitoring and legal obligations; DearDay not storing content does not mean that no service provider retains data. See the AI provider’s business privacy information and its API data documentation for the current provider’s identity and terms.

Your entries may contain sensitive information, such as details about health or beliefs. Keep this in mind when consenting to cloud processing. AI reflections are intended for personal reflection, not diagnoses or decisions with legal effects.

4. Technical identity and usage data

You do not need to supply login details yourself. To access the backend, the app creates a random technical identity and associated credentials, which are stored securely on your device. This technical identity is not an email address you provide. It allows us to manage consent, subscription access and usage limits.

When you use cloud services, we record necessary technical data such as the operation type, time, duration, model, quantity of text tokens or audio, status and costs. A secure verification value for a reflection request helps prevent duplicate processing; it is not a copy of your journal text. Network services also process data such as your IP address to handle and secure connections.

Optional usage statistics

Usage statistics have a separate consent choice in Settings. With consent, the app sends a random installation code, first day of use, active days, app version and platform. The server may derive a country code from the IP address. The IP address is not stored in this statistics table. These statistics contain no entry texts and are not linked to your journal through the technical cloud identity.

Withdrawing this consent stops collection and makes the app request deletion of the associated statistics. If you are offline, the request is sent when a connection is available again.

5. Advertising and subscriptions

Free version

The free version may show Google AdMob ads. The app requests non-personalised ads and uses Google’s consent screen where needed. Even non-personalised ads may process technical data, such as an IP address, device or advertising identifiers, app interactions and diagnostic data, for purposes including ad delivery, reporting and fraud prevention. Which data is available also depends on your consent and device settings.

DearDay does not send journal text for ad targeting. You can adjust advertising choices through the ad privacy option in Settings when available, and through Android settings. See how Google uses data from apps. When an active Plus subscription is confirmed, DearDay does not initialise advertising.

DearDay Plus

Google Play processes your purchase and payment. DearDay receives technical subscription data to verify access and restore purchases, including the product, status, expiry date and proof of purchase in the form of a purchase token. DearDay stores the token encrypted and uses a verification value to recognise purchases. DearDay does not receive complete payment card details.

Cancelling a subscription, deleting a DearDay identity and deleting local entries are separate actions. You cancel Plus through Google Play; uninstalling the app does not cancel your subscription.

6. Purposes and legal bases

Refusing consent for AI or optional statistics does not prevent you from writing or reading your local journal. Withdrawal does not affect the lawfulness of earlier processing.

7. Who processes data?

• Microsoft Azure: hosting the website, DearDay backend and technical database.
• Our AI provider: an external provider of cloud services for generative AI and speech recognition, processing selected content for AI reflections and audio for transcription. Its privacy and data processing information is linked in section 3.
• Google: Google Play for subscriptions and AdMob for ads in the free version. Google also processes data for its own purposes under its privacy policy.
• Erik van Eck: administration, support, security and handling privacy requests. The current reflection service does not give the admin portal access to your local journal text.

The current DearDay backend is hosted in European Azure regions. This does not guarantee that all processing takes place exclusively within the European Economic Area: our AI provider, Google and their service providers may also process data outside it. The relevant provider’s applicable transfer safeguards apply, such as standard contractual clauses and, where applicable, an adequacy decision. You can contact us for details about the specific recipients, processing countries and applicable safeguards.

8. How long is data retained?

• Local entries and reflections: until you delete them on your device or clear local app data. DearDay cannot remotely recover or delete this local data for you.
• Text and audio for the current AI features: DearDay processes these for the request without a lasting server archive of text, responses or audio. Our AI provider’s own retention rules described above apply.
• Optional activity statistics and reflection verification values: deleted during regular cleanup after 90 days. Statistics are also deleted at the app’s request when you withdraw consent.
• Settled AI usage and cost records: the direct link to the technical user identity is removed after 90 days; settled records are deleted after 13 months. Records with unresolved costs may be retained longer to settle them. These are not journal texts.
• Technical cloud identity, consent and subscription proof: retained as long as needed for access, restoration and usage management. There is currently no automatic fixed deletion period for expired purchase tokens. You can request deletion; a legal retention obligation or necessary investigation may justify keeping certain data longer.
• Operational Azure logs: the current central log environment has a 30-day retention period. SQL recovery copies have a 7-day recovery window. Deletion from the active database therefore does not immediately affect every recovery copy.
• Contact messages: as long as needed to handle your request and any follow-up questions or obligations.

9. Your choices and privacy rights

In the app, you can delete entries and reflections, exclude entries from AI and withdraw consent for AI or usage statistics. You can also manage microphone and notification permissions through Android.

You can request access to, a copy of, correction, deletion or restriction of personal data we process about you. Where applicable, you can request data portability and object to processing based on legitimate interests. We generally handle requests within one month; if a permitted extension is needed, we will tell you.

Because the app uses random technical identities, we cannot always find data using only your email address. We may ask for minimal additional information to safely link your request to your installation or purchase. Do not send passwords, complete identity documents or journal content.

To request deletion, visit Delete your data or email erik.vaneck@gmail.com. You can also make a request without reinstalling the app. If you are unhappy with how your request is handled, you can complain to the Dutch Data Protection Authority (Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens).

10. This website

This is an informational website. We do not place analytics or advertising cookies, use tracking pixels or load external fonts. The journal example is fictional and runs in your browser; it does not send entries. The website has no registration or data-entry form.

When you visit the general homepage, we use your browser’s preferred language to choose Dutch or English. We do not request your location or use an external location service. You can switch using NL / EN. We store only that language choice in your browser’s local storage (localStorage), until you change it or clear the website’s data. This preference is not sent to DearDay or used for tracking.

The hosting service processes network data needed to deliver pages, such as your IP address and request data. Clicking an email link opens your own email app; we receive your message and sender details only when you send it yourself. External links, such as those to Google or our AI provider, have their own privacy policies.

11. Changes

We update this page when the app or data processing changes. The date at the top shows when this policy was last updated. We ask for consent in the app for new processing that requires it.