Plai

Privacy Policy for Plai

Last Updated: September 25, 2026

1. Introduction

Plai (“we,” “us,” or “our”) respects your privacy and is committed to protecting your data. This Privacy Policy outlines what information we collect, how we use it, and your choices regarding your data.

Plai is an iPhone journaling app. Journal entries (text, audio recordings, and transcripts) and derived data such as embeddings, sentiment scores, tags, monthly summaries, and Ask AI history are stored locally on your device and, if you enable iCloud sync, in your private iCloud account. We also operate a small backend service to authenticate accounts and route AI requests to OpenAI. The sections below explain both.

2. Information We Collect

We collect the following types of data:

  • Account Data:When you sign in with Apple, our backend stores your Apple opaque user identifier (“sub”), the email address Apple shares with us (only if you choose to share it; this may be a private relay email), and your account creation timestamp. We use this to identify your account on subsequent requests and to anchor your trial window.
  • Session Tokens: After Sign in with Apple, our backend issues a session token (a JWT, valid for up to 365 days) that your device sends with each AI request. The token is stateless and stored only on your device.
  • Rate-Limit Counters: To prevent abuse, the backend keeps per-day, per-endpoint counters of how many AI requests your account has made, and token totals used for cost monitoring. No request content is stored — only counts.
  • Subscription Data: When you purchase a subscription or restore access, we receive purchase details from Apple (plan type, localized price, subscription status, transaction identifiers, renewal status, and billing period end dates). This information is stored locally on your device.
  • Diagnostics from Apple: If you have chosen in iOS Settings to share analytics with app developers, Apple may provide us with optional, aggregated crash reports and App Store analytics. We do not run a separate analytics or crash-reporting SDK in the app.
  • Content Data: Text entries, voice recordings, transcripts, and materials you create, plus derived data stored on your device: search embeddings, sentiment scores, emotion and topic tags, monthly summaries, Ask AI history, and cached insight prompts. If you enable iCloud sync, this content is also stored in your private iCloud account. We do not store your journal content on our servers.
  • On-Device System Features: If you add the Plai Home Screen widget, it reads an on-device snapshot of your journals (name and id) from an App Group and opens a new voice or text entry in the journal you chose in Edit Widget. While you record, an optional Live Activity can show a recording timer on the Lock Screen and Dynamic Island; it does not display journal text. These features stay on your device and are not sent to our servers.
  • Biometric Authentication Status: If you enable biometric authentication (Face ID or Touch ID), we access only the success or failure status of the authentication request from your device. No biometric data is stored or transmitted.
  • AI Request Data:Journal text and audio leave your device only to power AI features, as described in Section 6. When you save or edit an entry, Plai sends that entry’s text through our backend to OpenAI to produce a search embedding and a sentiment score with emotion and topic tags. If you use Ask AI, insight prompts, or monthly summaries, Plai also sends the relevant question, recent excerpts, or a month’s tagged entries. Prompts and summaries are written in the language of those entries. The app may send an on-device language hint with those requests. Your phone’s language is not used as a fallback, and we do not store a language profile. Audio is sent only for transcription. The content is not retained on our backend after the response is returned.
  • Server Logs: Our backend records minimal request metadata (HTTP method, path, status code, response time) for operational monitoring. Request bodies, IP addresses, and journal content are not written to logs.
  • Website Analytics: The marketing site at plaijournal.app uses Vercel Web Analytics to count page views. It does not use cookies. Each page view records the page URL, referrer, device, browser, and approximate location. These stats are aggregated and are not tied to your Plai account or journal content.

3. How We Use Your Information

We use the collected data to:

  • Authenticate your account and authorize AI requests from the app.
  • Provide, maintain, and enhance the Plai experience.
  • Enable optional features like iCloud sync across your Apple devices (if you turn it on).
  • Transcribe your voice recordings.
  • Generate search embeddings, sentiment scores, and emotion or topic tags when you save or edit an entry.
  • Power Ask AI, insight prompts, and monthly summaries from your own entries.
  • Write insight prompts and monthly summaries in the language of the entries they draw on.
  • Enforce reasonable per-user rate limits and prevent abuse.
  • Ensure app security and integrity.
  • Understand how people use the marketing website, in aggregate.
  • Comply with applicable legal requirements.

4. Subscription & Payment Processing

Plai Plus purchases, renewals, and cancellations are processed through Apple’s in-app purchase system. We do not receive your payment card number or billing address. Apple provides us with transaction identifiers, plan selection, renewal status, and refund or cancellation notices so we can manage your entitlements. You can view or cancel your subscription anytime in Settings > Apple ID > Subscriptions on your device.

5. Data Storage and Security

Your journal data — voice recordings, transcripts, text entries, and derived data such as embeddings, scores, tags, monthly summaries, and Ask AI history — is stored locally on your device. If you enable iCloud sync, it is also backed up to your private iCloud account using Apple’s secure infrastructure. We do not have access to your iCloud content, and we do not store your recordings, transcripts, or other journal content on our own servers.

Account data (the items listed in Section 2 under Account Data, Session Tokens, and Rate-Limit Counters) is stored in a managed PostgreSQL database operated by our hosting provider, Railway, in a European Union region. Connections to the backend use TLS. Locally stored data on your device is protected using Apple’s data protection APIs and industry-standard encryption techniques.

6. Third-Party Services

We use the following third-party services to operate Plai:

  • Apple — Sign in with Apple, iCloud, and App Store: We verify Sign in with Apple identity tokens against Apple’s public keys, rely on iCloud for optional sync, and use Apple’s App Store for billing. Widget and Live Activity surfaces use Apple system APIs on your device.
  • Railway — hosting and database: Our backend service and PostgreSQL database run on Railway (EU region). Railway acts as a data processor for the account data described in Section 2.
  • Vercel — website hosting and analytics: The marketing site is hosted on Vercel. Vercel Web Analytics receives the anonymous page-view data described in Section 2. It does not receive journal content or account data.
  • OpenAI — AI processing: Relevant content is sent from your device to our backend and forwarded to OpenAI in real time:
    • On save or edit: entry text for a search embedding and for a sentiment score with emotion and topic tags. This happens when you write or transcribe an entry, including when writing is free.
    • Transcription: the audio file for a voice entry.
    • Ask AI: your question and similar excerpts from that journal.
    • Insight prompts: a capped sample of recent entry text from that journal, so we can generate follow-up prompts. This feature requires an active trial or Plai Plus.
    • Monthly summaries: entry dates, truncated text, and the emotion and topic tags already stored for that month. Charts and percentages in monthly summaries are calculated on your device from your local entries, not stored from the model. This feature requires an active trial or Plai Plus.

    Insight prompts and monthly summaries follow the language of the entries they use. Those requests may include an on-device language hint. We do not store a language profile, and the phone’s language is not a fallback. Our backend keeps the OpenAI API key server-side; it is never embedded in the app. According to OpenAI’s API data-usage policy, input submitted via the API is not used to train their models. We do not retain the content of AI requests on our backend after the response is returned. Requests are tied to your account for rate-limiting purposes, so they are not fully anonymous, though we do not transmit your Apple identifier or email to OpenAI.

7. Sharing Your Information

We do not sell, rent, or share your personal data with third parties for marketing purposes.

Data may only be shared in the following cases:

  • With the service providers listed in Section 6 (Apple, Railway, OpenAI, Vercel) strictly to enable app and website functionality, under their respective data-processing terms.
  • If required by law or in response to valid legal processes.
  • In the event of a merger, acquisition, or sale, users will be notified of any changes to data handling.

8. Your Rights and Choices

You may:

  • Delete your accountfrom inside the app. This removes your user record and all associated rate-limit counters from our database. The deletion is immediate; there is no soft-delete or archival period. It also wipes this account’s journals, entries, recordings, and derived data (embeddings, tags, monthly summaries, and Ask AI history) on the device. It does not delete the private iCloud copy.
  • Delete your journal data at any time by removing the app or clearing local and iCloud data, including derived data such as embeddings, tags, monthly summaries, and Ask AI history. Journal content does not live on our servers, so deleting the backend account is separate from the iCloud copy.
  • Export your journal as Markdownfrom Settings > Data > Export, for backup or external analysis.
  • Control biometric settings via your device preferences.
  • Turn iCloud sync on or off from the onboarding screen or the iCloud sheet on the home screen. Turning sync off leaves the private iCloud copy in place.
  • Remove the Home Screen widget or disable Live Activities for Plai in iOS Settings if you do not want a journal name or recording status shown outside the app.
  • Request access, correction, or erasure of any personal data we hold (Apple sub, email, rate-limit counters) by emailing us at the address below. Under GDPR and similar laws, you may also have rights to object to processing or to data portability.

9. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy periodically to reflect changes in technology, regulations, or business practices. The updated version will be indicated by a revised “Last Updated” date. Continued use of the app after changes means you accept the updated policy.

10. Contact Us

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or how Plai handles your data, please contact us at:

Plai
Email: badgiovi@gmail.com