Paperstead is a notes app made by MyliusTech LLC ("MyliusTech", "we", "us"). This policy explains what happens to your information when you use Paperstead on the web, on Mac and Windows, on iPhone, iPad and Android, and in the Paperstead browser extension.
The short version: Paperstead stores your notes on your device. If you use it without an account, your notes are not sent to us. If you subscribe to Premium, your notes sync through our servers, but they are encrypted on your device first so we cannot read them, unless you choose the optional Standard protection mode described below. We don't show ads, we don't sell data, and the app contains no analytics or tracking.
1. Using Paperstead without an account
You can use Paperstead for free without creating an account. Your notes, drawings, photos, scans, attachments, folders, tasks and reminders are stored only in local storage on your device (the browser's storage on the web, app storage on Mac, Windows, iPhone, iPad and Android). None of that content is sent to us.
A few things still touch the internet:
- Loading the app. The web app is downloaded from our hosting provider (Firebase Hosting, run by Google). Like any website, the host receives your IP address and browser details in its request logs.
- Link cards. When a note contains a link card, its small site icon is loaded from DuckDuckGo's public icon service (
icons.duckduckgo.com), which receives the website's host name (for example,example.com) but not the full link or your note. - Desktop updates. The Mac and Windows apps check GitHub, where our releases are published, for new versions.
Text recognition in photos, scans and PDFs runs on your device. The recognition engine ships with the app, so nothing is uploaded to recognise text.
2. Accounts and Premium
You need an account only to sync with Premium, to share notes, or to open a note someone shared with you. We use Firebase Authentication (Google) for sign-in. Depending on how you sign in, we receive your email address, and from Google or Apple your name and profile photo address if the provider shares them. Your password is handled by Firebase Authentication; we never see it.
When you use Premium, your encrypted notes and related records are stored with Google Cloud (Cloud Firestore, Cloud Storage and Realtime Database) so your devices can sync them.
If you tick "This is a shared or borrowed computer" when signing in, Paperstead keeps your data in memory for that browser tab only and deletes it when you sign out or close the tab. Signing out after 30 minutes of inactivity is automatic in this mode.
3. End-to-end encryption
Everything you write that syncs is encrypted on your device before it is uploaded, using keys that stay on your devices. This covers note text and titles, snippets, tags, links between notes, drawings, photos, files and PDFs, comments, folder names, tasks, calendar events, reminders, per-note settings, and the live cursor positions and names shown while editing together.
We use standard, well-reviewed building blocks (AES-256-GCM for content, ECDH P-256 key agreement for sharing keys between devices and people) provided by your device's built-in cryptography. When you set up encryption you receive a 24-word recovery key. We never see it and cannot recover it for you.
4. What our servers can see
End-to-end encryption protects content, not every detail needed to run the service. Our servers, and therefore we and our hosting provider, can see:
- your account email, display name and profile photo address, and the public keys your devices use;
- which notes exist, who owns them, who they are shared with and in which role (viewer or editor);
- when notes are created, changed or deleted and by which account, counts of updates, and the size of encrypted data;
- which account is present in which shared note, and when, while you are editing;
- your devices' names (such as "Safari on macOS" or "iPhone"), platforms and when they were last seen;
- push-notification tokens, and the email addresses you send invitations to.
5. Maximum privacy and Standard protection
When you turn on sync you choose how your account key is protected. You can change this later in Settings.
- Maximum privacy (the default). Only your own devices, or your 24-word recovery key, can unlock your notes. A new device must be approved from a device you already use (you compare a code on both screens) or unlocked with the recovery key. If you lose every device and the recovery key, nobody, including us, can recover your notes.
- Standard (optional key backup). Paperstead keeps a copy of your account key, encrypted with a key held in our cloud infrastructure, so that signing in is enough to unlock your notes on a new device. This means MyliusTech, or anyone who gained control of that backup key or of your account sign-in, could decrypt your notes, including notes others share with you. Each unlock with the backup is limited in frequency, recorded in a log you can see in Settings, and triggers an email and push notification to you. You can turn the backup off at any time, which deletes it.
6. Sharing and collaboration
When you share a note, its key is encrypted to each person you share it with. Share links carry the note's key in the part of the link after #, which browsers never send to a server. Anyone who has the full link can join the note until you revoke the link or it expires, so share links only with people you trust. People you share with can read the note and, if they are editors, change it; they could copy what they see.
If you set a display name, it is shown to people you share notes with and to people who mention you.
7. Link previews, emails and notifications
- Rich link previews are off by default. If you turn them on in Settings, the web and desktop apps send the address of a link you paste to our server, which fetches the page's title and image for the preview card. The iPhone, iPad and Android apps fetch previews directly from the device instead.
- Emails. We send invitation emails, mention emails, and security emails (such as "your notes were unlocked with the key backup" or an encryption reset link) through the Firebase "Trigger Email" extension and an email delivery provider. These emails never contain the title or content of a note.
- Push notifications (for example, when someone edits a note you share or mentions you) are delivered through Firebase Cloud Messaging and, on Apple devices, Apple's push service. They contain a person's display name but never note titles or content. You can turn them off in your device settings.
8. Payments
Premium subscriptions are sold through the App Store, Google Play, or on the web, and managed with RevenueCat. Apple, Google, or the web payment processor handles your payment details; we never receive your card number. RevenueCat receives an anonymous app user id linked to your Paperstead account, your purchase and subscription status, and your device platform, and tells our server whether your subscription is active.
9. Service providers
- Google (Firebase and Google Cloud): hosting, sign-in, database, file storage, cloud functions, push notifications and the encrypted key backup for Standard protection.
- RevenueCat, Apple and Google Play: subscriptions and payments.
- Our email delivery provider: sending the emails described above.
- DuckDuckGo: site icons on link cards (host name only).
- GitHub: hosting desktop app downloads and update checks.
These providers may process data in the United States and other countries.
10. Analytics, ads and cookies
Paperstead has no advertising, no third-party analytics, no crash-reporting service and no tracking pixels, and we don't sell or rent personal information. The app uses your device's local storage to keep your notes and settings, and Firebase uses it to keep you signed in. This website uses no cookies; it loads fonts from Google Fonts, which receives your IP address.
11. Keeping and deleting data
Local notes stay on your device until you delete them or remove the app or its site data. Deleted notes go to Recently Deleted first, where you can restore or permanently delete them.
Synced data is kept while your account exists. When you delete a synced note, it is marked as deleted on our servers so the deletion reaches your other devices; its encrypted data may remain stored until your account is deleted. To delete your account and all synced data, contact us at the address below; we will remove it within 30 days, apart from records we must keep by law (such as billing records held by the stores and RevenueCat). You can export all your notes as a .zip file from Settings at any time.
12. Your choices and rights
Depending on where you live, you may have the right to access, correct, delete or export your personal information, and to object to or restrict its use. Because your content is encrypted, most of it can only be accessed through the app itself; we can help with account details and the metadata listed above. Contact us to make a request. You may also complain to your local data protection authority.
13. Children
Paperstead is not directed at children under 13 (or the minimum age in your country), and we don't knowingly collect personal information from them. If you believe a child has created an account, contact us and we will delete it.
14. Changes and contact
If we change this policy, we will update the date at the top and, for significant changes, tell you in the app or by email.
MyliusTech LLC
Email: support@paperstead.com