Privacy
Local notice updated September 19, 2026. Hosted text dated May 25, 2026.
This notice distinguishes the Local Mac app from this website and the original hosted app. Afternote is independently maintained by Danny Kim.
Afternote Local
Your vault and search
Local does not require an Afternote account. Notes, revisions, the search index, connection approvals, and local activity records are stored on your Mac. The vault is encrypted at rest; its encryption key is protected through macOS Keychain. The included search models run locally. Afternote Local does not upload your vault to an Afternote server or send note content to a remote embedding service. The Local app has no app usage analytics or telemetry transport.
When you use an AI tool
An approved connection can receive note content and metadata within its granted access. The AI tool may send that information to its model provider. If you compose a note in an AI chat, that tool may already have the text before it saves it to Afternote. Those tools have their own privacy, retention, and training policies. Local cannot control or delete copies they have received. Revoking access stops further authorized access through that connection, not earlier disclosures.
Downloads and update checks
Releases and the signed update feed are hosted on GitHub. Official builds check for updates daily by default; you can disable automatic checks in Settings. Checks do not send your notes or an optional system profile. Downloading or installing an update requires your approval. GitHub and its delivery infrastructure receive ordinary network request information, such as your IP address and request headers, when you check or download. See GitHub's privacy statement.
Your copies and exports
You control the files on your Mac. Removing the app does not by itself erase the vault. Exports contain plaintext; protect them and any backups yourself. Deleting local information does not remove copies in exports, device backups, or connected AI services. Afternote does not hold a server copy of your Local vault that the maintainer can retrieve, recover, or delete for you.
This website
The website is hosted on Vercel, which processes network requests and operational logs to serve and protect it. The site uses Plausible for cookieless traffic analytics, including page visits and configured interaction events. These website statistics are separate from Local app usage. Visiting the site does not give it access to your Local vault. The hosted app uses sign-in cookies; see its separate notice below. See Vercel's privacy policy and Plausible's data policy.
Support and information you send
If you email the maintainer or submit an issue, the recipient service and the maintainer receive the information you choose to send, such as your email address, message, screenshots, or diagnostics. It is used to respond, investigate problems, and maintain the project, and kept as needed for those purposes or legal obligations. Public GitHub issues are public. Avoid including private notes, credentials, or vault keys; report security issues privately. Afternote does not sell personal information received for Local support.
Questions, requests, and changes
Contact hello@afternote.dev with privacy questions or requests to access, correct, or delete information you have sent the maintainer. Rights and exceptions depend on applicable law. Requests concerning copies held by an AI provider must also be directed to that provider. Updates to this Local notice are dated here; Local has no account email list for change notices.
Existing hosted app
The following text, dated May 25, 2026, applies to the original hosted service with Google sign-in. It does not describe the Local Mac app or a future Cloud offering.
What afternote collects, why, and the third parties that help run the service.
What we collect and why
- Google profile (email, name, profile picture) — to create your account and sign you in.
- Notes, attachments, and chats you create in afternote — to store them, organize them, and answer questions about them.
- Usage data (how many AI requests you make, when, and how much they cost) — to enforce fair-use limits and prevent abuse.
- Anonymous traffic stats (pageviews, signup, note-created events) — to understand what’s working without tracking individual visitors.
Where your data lives
Afternote uses a small set of vendors to run the service:
- Supabase — database storage (notes, accounts, usage logs) and Google sign-in.
- Vercel — hosting and serverless compute.
- OpenAI— large language models for chat, classification, and embeddings. Your notes are sent to OpenAI when AI features run. Per OpenAI’s API terms, your content is not used to train their models.
- Google — identity provider for sign-in.
- Plausible — cookieless, anonymous web analytics.
None of these vendors are sold your data; they process it on afternote’s behalf to provide the service.
How long we keep it
Notes and account data are kept until you delete them or your account. Usage logs are kept long enough to enforce limits and analyze cost. Analytics is aggregated and contains no personally identifiable information.
One deliberate exception: records of operator access to your data are kept even after you delete your account. These contain no note content — only the fact that access happened and when — and they are retained precisely so that such access can’t be erased by deleting an account.
One deliberate exception: records of operator access to your data are kept even after you delete your account. These contain no note content — only the fact that access happened and when — and they are retained precisely so that such access can’t be erased by deleting an account.
Your rights
You can export your notes at any time from within the app. You can delete your account, which removes your notes and personal data from afternote’s storage. For other requests — data access, correction, or anything else — email us.
Cookies and tracking
Afternote doesn’t use third-party advertising cookies. The app uses essential cookies only — to keep you signed in. Plausible analytics is cookieless and doesn’t track you across sites.
Age
Afternote isn’t designed for use by anyone under 18. Please don’t sign up if you’re younger than that.
Changes
This page may change as afternote grows. Material changes will be sent by email before they take effect.
Contact
Privacy questions, data requests, or anything else: hello@afternote.dev.