Privacy Policy

Pilcrow is operated by The Pilcrow ("The Pilcrow," "we," "us," or "our"), based in Texas, United States. This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect through the Pilcrow application and the thepilcrow.app website (together, the "Service"), why we collect it, and the choices you have.

1. Information we collect

Account information

When you sign in with Google, Microsoft, or Apple, we receive the basic profile information those providers share — typically your name, email address, and profile picture. We don't receive or store your password with any of them.

Your content

Everything you create in Pilcrow — snippets, notes, lists, images, links, tags, and laundry piles — is encrypted at rest with AES-256-GCM, using a key derived independently for your account. We don't read your content as part of normal operation; it's decrypted only when serving it back to you while you're signed in.

Billing information

If you subscribe to Pro, payment is handled entirely by Paddle.com (our merchant of record) and RevenueCat (our subscription management provider). We never receive or store your card number or other full payment details. We do receive subscription status information (for example, that your subscription is active, and when it renews or expires) tied to your account, so we can grant you Pro access.

Support and contact requests

If you use the contact form, we collect the name, email, subject, and message you provide, along with a hashed IP address and browser user-agent used for spam prevention.

Bug reports

If bug reporting is enabled on your account (an admin-controlled setting, off by default), a report you submit — including your email — is sent to our issue tracker (Atlassian Jira Cloud) so we can act on it.

Usage and analytics data

We use Google Analytics (GA4) on the marketing site and sign-in page to understand aggregate usage — pages visited, approximate location, device and browser type. GA4 is not loaded on the pages behind sign-in.

Technical data

Like most web services, our servers log standard technical data (IP address, user-agent, request timing) for security, debugging, and abuse prevention.

2. How we use information

We use the information above to:

• Provide, maintain, and secure the Service;
• Process subscription payments and grant the access you've paid for;
• Respond to support, contact, and bug report requests;
• Understand aggregate usage so we can improve the product;
• Detect, prevent, and investigate fraud, abuse, and security incidents.

We don't sell your personal information, and we don't use your content to train any models.

3. Cookies

Signing in sets an essential, HttpOnly session cookie so you stay signed in — it holds an opaque session identifier, not readable account data. A few short-lived cookies are also set during the OAuth sign-in flow itself for security (state/replay protection). If GA4 is active on a page, it sets its own standard analytics cookies. We don't use advertising or cross-site tracking cookies. Your app preferences (theme, font, and similar settings) are stored on your account server-side, not in a cookie.

4. How we share information

We share information only with the service providers needed to run Pilcrow, specifically:

• Google, Microsoft, Apple — for sign-in;
• Paddle and RevenueCat — for billing and subscription management;
• Google Analytics — for aggregate usage analytics;
• Atlassian Jira — for bug reports, only if that feature is enabled;
• Cloudflare Turnstile — for bot protection on the contact form, if enabled.

We may also disclose information if required by law, or to protect the rights, safety, or property of The Pilcrow, our users, or others. We don't sell personal information to third parties.

5. Data retention

We retain your account and content for as long as your account is active. When you delete a snippet, it moves to a "Deleted" pile and is permanently purged after a retention period tied to your account tier, rather than immediately. Contact form submissions and export activity logs are retained for our internal record-keeping. If you'd like your account and associated data deleted entirely, contact us (see Section 8) — we don't yet offer fully automated self-service deletion, but we'll process your request promptly.

6. Data security

Your content is encrypted at rest as described above, and access to the Service requires authenticating through a trusted identity provider. No method of storage or transmission is 100% secure, but we take reasonable, industry-standard measures to protect your information.

7. Your rights and choices

You can export a complete copy of your content at any time from your Profile page — no request needed. For anything else — accessing, correcting, or deleting your personal information, or asking what we hold about you — contact us (Section 8) and we'll respond within a reasonable time.

If you're a California resident, you have rights under the CCPA to know what personal information we hold and to request its deletion; we don't sell personal information, so there's nothing to opt out of in that respect. If you're in the EU, EEA, or UK, you have rights under the GDPR to access, correct, delete, restrict, or port your data, and to object to certain processing. Contact us to exercise any of these rights.

8. Children's privacy

The Service isn't directed to, and isn't intended for use by, anyone under 18 (see ourTerms of Service). We don't knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has provided us information, contact us and we'll delete it.

9. International users

Our infrastructure runs in the United States. If you use the Service from outside the United States, your information will be transferred to and processed in the United States.

10. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. We'll update the effective date above when we do; continuing to use the Service after a change means you accept the updated policy.

11. Contact us

Questions about this Privacy Policy, or want to exercise any of the rights above? Reach us through thecontact form.