Privacy Policy
Effective Date: 14-May-2026
App: Self Note (com.selfnote.app)
Version: 48 and later
Thank you for using Self Note. We value your privacy and have written this
policy in plain language to explain exactly what data Self Note handles, who
gets to see it, and what controls you have.
────────────────────────────────────────
1. Data You Provide Directly to Self Note
────────────────────────────────────────
Your notes (text, attached images, audio, drawings, reminders, tags) are
created by you and stored:
a) Locally on your device — always. Your notes work offline and never
require any account.
b) On your own Google Drive — ONLY IF you turn on "Cloud Backup" in
Settings and sign in to Google. Backups are written to a private,
app-specific folder inside YOUR Drive that no other app can read,
using the standard Google Drive "appDataFolder" scope. We (the
developers) cannot see or access this folder. You can revoke this
access at any time at https://myaccount.google.com/permissions.
────────────────────────────────────────
2. Account Information (Optional)
────────────────────────────────────────
Self Note does NOT require an account to use core note-taking features.
You may optionally sign in with Google in order to use:
- Cloud Backup (Section 1b)
- Groups & shared notes (Section 3)
- Premium subscription management (Section 5)
When you sign in, Firebase Authentication (a Google service) receives:
- Your Google account email address
- Your display name
- Your profile photo URL
- A unique anonymous user ID assigned by Firebase
This data is used only to identify you across your own devices and to
authorize access to your groups and subscription. You can delete this
account from inside the app at any time (Account → Delete account), which
permanently erases your sign-in record and all associated cloud data.
────────────────────────────────────────
3. Groups Feature (Premium)
────────────────────────────────────────
If you create or join a "Group", the following information is stored on
Google's Cloud Firestore service (servers located in Mumbai, India,
region asia-south1):
- Group name and members
- Messages and shared notes within the group
- Timestamps and the sender's display name & user ID
Only members of a given group can read its messages. This data is required
for the feature to function and is retained until you (or another group
admin) delete the group or remove the message. Deleting your account
removes you from all groups and erases your message history.
────────────────────────────────────────
4. Push Notifications
────────────────────────────────────────
If you allow notification permission, Self Note uses Expo Push Service to
deliver reminders for your notes and alerts for new group messages. To do
this, a randomly-generated push token is sent to Expo's servers and stored
on Google Firestore alongside your user ID. The token does not identify
you personally. You can disable notifications anytime in your device's
system settings, which deletes the token.
────────────────────────────────────────
5. Subscriptions & In-App Purchases
────────────────────────────────────────
Self Note offers an optional "Premium" subscription processed through
Google Play Billing. Subscription state is managed by RevenueCat (a
subscription-management service). RevenueCat receives:
- A pseudonymous user ID linked to your Self Note account
- The product purchased and the timestamps of purchase / renewal /
cancellation events
- Your country (derived from the Google Play account)
RevenueCat does NOT receive your name, email, or payment card details —
payment is handled entirely by Google Play. You can cancel your
subscription anytime in Google Play → Subscriptions. See RevenueCat's
privacy policy at https://www.revenuecat.com/privacy.
────────────────────────────────────────
6. Device Permissions
────────────────────────────────────────
Self Note requests the following permissions, each used only for the
described purpose:
- Storage / Media: to save notes and attached images locally
- Camera (optional): to attach photos to notes
- Microphone (optional): to attach voice notes
- Notifications (optional): to deliver reminders and group alerts
- Internet: required for sign-in, backup, groups, and ads
- Billing: required to process Premium subscription purchases
────────────────────────────────────────
7. Advertising (Free Tier Only)
────────────────────────────────────────
Free users see advertisements served by Google AdMob. AdMob may collect:
- Device information (model, OS version, language)
- Advertising ID (resettable in Android Settings → Privacy → Ads)
- Approximate location (city-level, derived from IP)
- Usage data for ad performance
This data is used by Google to serve relevant ads. Premium subscribers
do not see any ads, and no advertising data is transmitted from a
Premium device. See Google's policy at https://policies.google.com/privacy.
────────────────────────────────────────
8. Children's Privacy
────────────────────────────────────────
Self Note is not directed to children under 13. We do not knowingly
collect personal data from children. If you believe a child has provided
us with personal data, please contact us and we will delete it.
────────────────────────────────────────
9. Data Retention & Deletion
────────────────────────────────────────
- Notes on your device: stay until you delete the app or the notes.
- Notes in your Google Drive backup: stay until you delete them via
the app or revoke Drive access.
- Account and group data on Firebase: deleted within 30 days of you
tapping "Delete account" in the app.
- Subscription records on RevenueCat: retained per RevenueCat's policy
(typically the duration of the subscription plus 7 years for tax
compliance).
────────────────────────────────────────
10. Third-Party Services Used by Self Note
────────────────────────────────────────
- Firebase Authentication (Google) — sign-in
- Cloud Firestore (Google) — groups & messages
- Cloud Functions (Google) — subscription claim sync
- Google Drive API (Google) — Cloud Backup
- Expo Push Service (Expo / EAS) — notifications
- RevenueCat — subscription management
- Google AdMob — advertising (free users only)
Each is bound by its own privacy policy, linked from
https://policies.google.com/privacy, https://expo.dev/privacy,
and https://www.revenuecat.com/privacy.
────────────────────────────────────────
11. Your Rights
────────────────────────────────────────
You may at any time:
- Export your notes by enabling Cloud Backup and downloading from Drive.
- Delete individual notes, groups, or messages within the app.
- Sign out, which stops all cloud sync immediately.
- Delete your account, which permanently erases all cloud data.
────────────────────────────────────────
12. Security
────────────────────────────────────────
All network traffic between Self Note and our backend services is
encrypted in transit using HTTPS / TLS. Stored data is encrypted at rest
on Firebase, Google Drive, and RevenueCat servers. We follow Google's
security best practices but cannot guarantee absolute security.
────────────────────────────────────────
13. Changes to This Policy
────────────────────────────────────────
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Material changes
will be communicated through an in-app notice. The "Effective Date" at
the top of this policy will be updated accordingly.
────────────────────────────────────────
14. Contact Us
────────────────────────────────────────
Questions, requests for data deletion, or general feedback:
📧 virudha2104@gmail.com
By continuing to use Self Note version 48 or later, you acknowledge that
you have read and agree to this Privacy Policy.