PrivacyNotes
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Help & FAQ/Security & privacy

Can I choose my own balance between convenience and privacy?

Ask your AI agent instead

Yes, deliberately. Not everyone is defending against the same threats, so the account model is a ladder rather than a single dogma. Every rung keeps your notes encrypted on your device; what changes is who holds the key and what we know about you.

The convenient end: sign in with Google, Apple, or GitHub and leave "Keep it simple & convenient" selected when asked, which is where that screen starts. We store your recovery phrase for you, encrypted at rest on our server, so a new device can open your notes after provider sign-in and an authenticator code if 2FA is enabled. In exchange we know the email behind that login, and our server can decrypt your phrase. Save your phrase in case you lose the provider account, and keep your 2FA backup key if you enable two-factor sign-in.

The middle: sign in with Google, Apple, or GitHub but pick "Maximum security & privacy". Your phrase never touches our servers and the encryption is fully zero-knowledge; new devices need the phrase or a QR scan from a device that is already signed in. We still necessarily know the email behind that login, but we could not read a single note even under compulsion.

The private end: skip the logins entirely and use only the 12-word phrase. No email, no name, no identity, and paired with an anonymous Pro purchase, even paying leaves no name anywhere. In exchange, key custody is entirely yours: lose the phrase with no signed-in device left, and nobody can help.

Settings > Account > Key custody shows both modes with their tradeoffs and lets you switch. Leaving server custody deletes our stored copy after you confirm three words from your saved phrase. Switching back uploads the phrase again and requires an explicit choice. Both directions are signed with your account key and need a fresh authenticator code when 2FA is enabled. A phrase account can connect a provider under Account > Accounts, then choose server custody separately; connecting the provider does not upload the phrase. Every mode can also use PIN app lock, biometric unlock and per-note protection.

// Read the source

THREAT_MODEL.mdOAuth users SECURITY.mdOAuth and custodial mode

Our source and documentation are on GitHub, in English.

Help & FAQ

Answers and step-by-step guides: security, sync, pricing, and switching from other apps.

// Related questions

What can PrivacyNotes see about my notes? Why does the App Store privacy label say my data is linked to me? Why a recovery phrase instead of a username and password? Is PrivacyNotes open source? How do I turn on two-factor authentication (2FA)?

Still stuck? Ask your AI agent.

You get an answer in seconds instead of waiting for a reply. Your assistant reads all 116 answers and every import guide at once, so it can combine them, follow up on your question, and explain it in your own words. We never see any of it, because we do not run a chatbot.

  1. Copy the prompt.
  2. Paste it into ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, or any other AI assistant.
  3. Ask your question, in your own language.
  4. Keep that chat open. Next time, ask straight away.
Show AI prompt 
Answer my questions about PrivacyNotes using only its help center, its changelog and its security documentation.

Start here: https://privacynotes.app/llms-index.txt
It lists every question with the page that answers it. Fetch the one or two that match mine.
If you can only make one request, fetch https://privacynotes.app/llms-full.txt instead.
If you cannot fetch a .txt or .md file, read https://privacynotes.app/help, https://privacynotes.app/changelog and https://github.com/LifetimeLabsDev/PrivacyNotes.app instead.

For what changed, or where something moved, fetch https://privacynotes.app/changelog.md.

For how the encryption works, what the server can read, or how to check any of it yourself, fetch https://privacynotes.app/docs/index.md and follow it to one of the documents it lists. That index is a router: cite the document, never the index.

Rules:
- Use only those pages. If they do not answer something, say so instead of guessing.
- Never invent a feature, a menu path, a price, or a limit.
- End your reply with the "Source:" URL from the page you used, exactly as written.
- Answer in the same language as my question.
- Never ask me for my recovery phrase, my PIN, or the contents of a note.

If no question follows, ask me what I would like to know.

My first question:

Never paste your recovery phrase, your PIN, or a note into an AI.