CAIRN PRIVACY POLICY
Last updated: June 8, 2026
CAIRN is a private journaling app published by Steppe Summit Studio ("we," "us," "our"). This policy explains how CAIRN handles your information. The short version: your journal lives on your device, we do not run a server, and we never collect or see your entries.
1. OUR PRIVACY PRINCIPLE
CAIRN is private by design. Your journal entries, moods, photos, and settings are stored only on your device. There is no CAIRN account, no login, and no cloud sync. We operate no server that receives or stores your content.
2. INFORMATION WE DO NOT COLLECT
We do not collect, store, sell, or share:
- Your journal entries, titles, or attached photos
- Your moods, feelings, tags, or check-ins
- Your name, email, contacts, location, or device identifiers for tracking
Because there is no CAIRN server and no account, this information never leaves your device through us.
3. DATA STORED ON YOUR DEVICE
All of your content is saved locally on your device and encrypted at rest. You can protect the app with Face ID, Touch ID, or a passcode. Your data remains on the device until you delete an entry, reset the app, or remove the app. You are responsible for your own backups; CAIRN provides an encrypted export and restore feature for this purpose.
4. AI FEATURES AND ANTHROPIC
CAIRN's optional AI features (such as reflections, weekly and monthly insights, and "ask your journal") are powered by Anthropic's Claude models, and only run when you choose to use them.
When you use an AI feature, the relevant text — typically the entry you are reflecting on plus a limited amount of recent context — is sent directly from your device to Anthropic's API to generate a response. This request does not pass through any CAIRN server; we do not see or store it.
As with any internet request, Anthropic receives the content you submit and standard connection information (such as your IP address) needed to deliver the response. Under Anthropic's commercial API terms, data submitted through the API is not used to train their models by default and is retained only briefly for safety and abuse monitoring. Please review Anthropic's Privacy Policy at https://www.anthropic.com/legal/privacy for details on their practices.
If you do not use AI features, no entry content is ever transmitted off your device.
5. VOICE JOURNALING
If you use voice journaling, speech is transcribed using on-device speech recognition where your device and language support it. By default, the audio recording is discarded after transcription and only the resulting text is saved as your entry.
6. NOTIFICATIONS
Reminders and "on this day" notifications are scheduled locally on your device. We do not use a push notification server.
7. PURCHASES
CAIRN offers an optional Pro upgrade (monthly, annual, or one-time lifetime) through Apple's App Store. All purchases and any payment information are handled by Apple under Apple's Privacy Policy. We do not receive or store your payment details. Apple provides us only anonymous, aggregate sales information.
8. ANALYTICS
CAIRN does not use third-party tracking or advertising SDKs. Any usage counters (for example, "an entry was created") are aggregate, contain no entry content or personal information, stay on your device, and can be turned off in Settings.
9. CHILDREN
CAIRN is not directed to children and is intended for users aged 13 and older.
10. YOUR CONTROL AND RIGHTS
You are always in control of your data. You can:
- Export your entries to Markdown, plain text, or PDF
- Create an encrypted backup and restore it on another device
- Delete any entry, or reset the app to erase all data
Because your data is stored only on your device, deleting it on your device removes it permanently.
11. SECURITY
Your content is encrypted at rest on your device, and you can require Face ID, Touch ID, or a passcode to open the app. No method of electronic storage or transmission is completely secure, but because your journal does not leave your device except for the AI requests you choose to make, your exposure is minimal.
12. CHANGES TO THIS POLICY
We may update this policy from time to time. We will revise the "Last updated" date above when we do, and significant changes will be reflected here.
13. CONTACT
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or your data, contact us at:
pradeep.aneesh@gmail.com
Steppe Summit Studio