Privacy Policy

Jotter for iOS · Last updated 19 September 2026

Who we are

Jotter is made by The Big Head, a software studio based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. You can reach us at info@thebighead.ca.

What Jotter stores, and where

Jotter stores the notes you write — their text, checklists, tags and folders — and what you put in them: photos, scanned documents, drawings, voice recordings and files. This is written to a database on your device. If you are signed in to iCloud, Apple’s CloudKit service copies that database to your other devices using your own private iCloud storage.

• The data is held in your private iCloud database, not ours. We have no access to it and no ability to read it.
• We operate no servers, no databases and no backend of any kind for Jotter.
• If you are not signed in to iCloud, Jotter simply works on that device alone.

Apple’s handling of iCloud data is governed by the Apple Privacy Policy.

What is read on your device

So that search can find them, Jotter reads the words in your handwriting, in your photos and scans (with Apple’s Vision framework) and in your voice notes (with Apple’s Speech framework). All of it happens on your iPhone or iPad. Jotter asks Apple’s speech recogniser to work on the device only; if your device cannot transcribe your language on the device, Jotter keeps the recording and skips the transcript rather than send the audio anywhere.

Permissions, and what each one is for

iOS asks you for each of these the first time Jotter needs it, and you can change your mind at any time in the Settings app.

• Camera — to take a photo or scan a document straight into a note.
• Photos — to add the photos you pick to a note. Jotter receives only those photos. It saves a photo back to your library only when you ask it to.
• Microphone — to record a voice note, and only while you are recording one.
• Speech Recognition — to transcribe your voice notes on your device, as described above.
• Face ID — to open the notes you have locked. Face ID is handled entirely by iOS; Jotter is told only whether it succeeded and never sees your face data.
• Notifications — to remind you about a note at the time you choose. Reminders are scheduled by iOS on your device and never pass through a server of ours.

Locked notes

Locking a note hides it behind Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode inside Jotter: its text is kept out of the list, out of search previews, out of Spotlight and off the page until you unlock it. It is a privacy screen for the moment someone else is holding your phone, not encryption — a locked note is stored and synced like any other note, in your own iCloud.

Spotlight, widgets and the Share Sheet

• Jotter adds your notes to your device’s Spotlight index so that you can find them from the Home Screen. That index lives on your device. Locked notes are listed by title only.
• The widgets and the Share Sheet extension read and write your notes on your device, in storage shared only with Jotter itself.

What we do not do

• We do not collect analytics or usage statistics.
• We do not use advertising identifiers, and Jotter contains no advertising.
• We do not include any third-party SDK, tracker or analytics library. Jotter is built entirely on Apple frameworks.
• We do not sell, rent or share personal information, because we do not receive any.
• We do not create a profile of you or track you across apps or websites.

Purchases

Jotter’s only purchase is an optional tip — Buy me a coffee, in Settings. It unlocks nothing. The transaction is handled entirely by Apple through the App Store. We receive anonymised sales reports from Apple. We never see your payment details, and Apple does not give us your name, email address or billing information. The app keeps a count of the tips left on that device, to say thank you, and the count never leaves it.

Children

Jotter is not directed at children under 13 and we do not knowingly collect information from them. Because we collect no personal information from anyone, this is a statement of design rather than of policy enforcement.

Your rights

Under laws such as PIPEDA in Canada and the GDPR in the EU/UK, you have rights to access, correct and delete personal data held about you. Since we hold none, these rights are satisfied directly by you: your notes are on your device and in your iCloud account, both fully under your control. Settings → Export all notes gives you a copy of everything. Deleting the app and removing its data from iCloud (Settings → your name → iCloud → Manage Account Storage) erases everything Jotter has created.

Data retention

We retain nothing, because we receive nothing. Your notes persist exactly as long as you keep them. A note you delete waits in Recently Deleted for thirty days, in case you want it back, and is then removed from your device and your iCloud.

Changes

If this policy changes we will update this page and revise the date above. Material changes will also be noted in the app’s release notes.

Contact

Questions about privacy: info@thebighead.ca