Privacy policy for the Folio journal app
View the Project on GitHub folioprivatejournal-prog/folio-privacy
Last updated: October 7, 2026
Folio is a private journal. It is built so that no one but you can read what you write — including us.
Nothing. Folio has no accounts, no analytics, no advertising, no crash reporting service and no servers. The app never connects to the internet.
Everything you write stays on your device. Entries are encrypted with a key that is protected by your password (and, if you turn it on, by Face ID or Touch ID through the device’s Secure Enclave). Your password is never stored.
When you create your journal, Folio gives you a 25-character recovery key. It is the only way back in if you forget your password, and it is shown once: Folio does not keep a copy, so neither can anyone else. A password-protected copy of the journal key is mirrored through iCloud Keychain (Apple’s end-to-end encrypted keychain sync) so that the same password opens your journal on a new phone restored from your backup. Apple cannot read it: it is useless without your password or recovery key. If iCloud Keychain is off, this copy stays on your phone.
You can export your journal as a PDF from Settings. The file is made on your device and handed to the share sheet; it is not encrypted, so treat it like any paper copy. Folio deletes its own temporary copy as soon as the share sheet closes.
A sealed page and its opening date, and any mood stamp you choose, are stored encrypted like the rest of the entry. Stamps are only ever chosen by you; Folio never infers them.
Photos you add to a page are copied into Folio, shrunk to page size, stripped of their location and camera details, and encrypted with the same key as your entries. Folio only ever receives the photos you pick — it uses the system photo picker and never reads your photo library. The camera is used only when you choose “Take Photo”.
Video clips you add are re-encoded and stored inside Folio, encrypted with the same key as your entries. Only the clips you pick or record reach Folio; they never leave your device.
Voice memos you record are stored inside Folio, encrypted with the same key as your entries. The microphone is used only while you are recording, and recordings never leave your device.
Folio Plus is sold through Apple’s in-app purchase. Apple handles the payment and the subscription; Folio never sees your name, card or Apple ID. The app only learns whether a subscription is active.
If you turn on the daily reminder, Folio schedules a local notification on your device at the hour you chose. It says that your journal is waiting and how long your streak is — never what you wrote. Streaks and the home-screen widget are worked out from the dates you wrote on; that list of dates is the only journal information kept outside the encrypted store, and it stays on your device.
Your device’s own backups (iCloud Backup or a computer backup) include Folio’s encrypted data, exactly as they include any other app’s data. The entries stay encrypted inside that backup; your password (or recovery key) opens them on the restored phone.
Folio uses the device’s biometric system only to unlock the journal. Biometric data never leaves the device and is never available to the app.
Folio does not knowingly collect any information from anyone, including children.
If this policy ever changes, the new version will ship with the app update and be dated at the top.
Questions: folioprivatejournal@gmail.com