Notepad Free

Privacy policy

This document describes data collected and processed by the "Notepad Free" app and third party software. By using the app, user consents to the privacy policy.

1. Notes

All of the notes that user creates are stored in the app's internal storage. The notes can't be accessed by any other app on the phone. The only way to access the notes is to use the app. To be clear: only user of the app can see notes stored on the phone. Although this document may seem long, that (in the author's opinion) is the most important information.
Since the 1.7.0 version, the app uses Google device backup copy, if it's turned on in the device's and the app's settings. In that case an encrypted copy of notes is stored on Google Drive. It can be changed by a user at any time. More information is available on Google's support pages.

2. Email address

Using the "Technical support" in the app will open an email app and allow to send an email to notepad.free@outlook.com. After receiving an email the user's address will be used to answer any question or problems related to the app. Email addresses are not stored anywhere outside the email service provider used by the developer (outlook.com). The diagnostic data that can be sent using the "Technical support" function contains: device's model/vendor, version of the operating system, operations performed in the app, and optionally note titles. Sending note titles is optional, is set in the app's settings, and is meant to help diagnose an issue with a specific note. Notes are never sent with the aforementioned diagnostic info.

3. Information collected

Category	Examples	Purpose
A. Identifiers	IP address, advertising ID, device identifiers	analytics, advertising
B. Geolocation data	IP address, country, region, language set on a device	analytics, advertising
C. Internet or other electronic network activity information	IP address, advertising ID, cookies, activity in app: time spent on each screen	analytics, advertising

All of the information is collected from the device.

4. Purposes of collecting the information

4.1 Analytics

This app uses Firebase and Google Analytics for Firebase as an analytic tool. It provides the developer information about usage of the app like: number of active users, most popular devices, etc. The information is used to analyze performance of the app and detect any problems, for example after publishing an update. Advertising ID is not collected, so no demographics or interests data is collected. IP addresses are anonymized.
More information:
- Firebase information about privacy
- data collected by Google Analytics for Firebase.

4.2 Advertising

The app uses AdMob and InMobi to provide ads.
AdMob is an advertising service provided by Google. AdMob can collect and use anonymous data to customize the ads for the user. It may use unique Advertising ID which is provided by Google Play services on the device. For users in EEA there is an additional dialog which allows to choose between personalized and non-personalized ads. The decision can be changed at any time. More information about Google's ads can be found here. The difference between personalized and non-personalized ads is explained here.
More on information collected by InMobi is available here.

Personalized ads and Advertising ID settings can also be changed in the device settings. More information is  available here.

5. Information shared during 2019 (last 12 months)

Information shared during last 12 months consists of the information listed in point 3. The information was shared for analytics and advertising purposes. As one can see no personal information that could identify a user (email address, for example) was shared. The app doesn't even collect such information (e.g. email address). Please note that notes are kept securely, and the only way to access the notes is to use the app.

6. Selling "personal" information

The app displays ads on some devices. If personalized advertising is enabled, then ad networks may use information listed above (point 3): advertising ID, IP address, etc. Sharing these information may be considered as a sale under California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). The same categories of information were used during last 12 months. Please check that no personally identifiable information like email address is even collected by the app. It's worth repeating that notes stored in the app can only be accessed by the user of the app.

7. Users rights

Users in EEA and California have rights to access, obtain, delete, or opt-out of selling personal information. Please use the notepad.free.privacy@outlook.com to exercise any of the rights. California residents can use the followink link to opt-out of selling "personal" information: Do Not Sell My Personal Information

8. Policy changes

All policy changes will be reflected by updates of this document.

9. Contact

Please contact me at notepad.free.privacy@outlook.com in case of any questions regarding the policy.

Updated on March 30th, 2020