Privacy Policy

Journalcast ("we," "our," or "us") provides guided audio journaling through our mobile application (the "App"). Members can also sign in with the same account on the web at app.journalcast.app (the "Web App"). This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect and how we use it.

Information We Collect

We may collect:

• Account information (such as your email address)
• If you ask for the app link on our website: your email address, the page you were on, and any campaign details in the page address (see Emails We Send)
• Basic usage data (such as sessions started and completed)
• Device and diagnostic data (such as device type and crash logs)

Journalcast does not store or access your handwritten journal entries.

How We Use Information

We use this information to:

• Operate and improve the App
• Understand usage and performance
• Communicate with you for support or important updates
• Send account emails and, unless you opt out, occasional product emails (see Emails We Send)
• Email the app link and a few short notes about Journalcast to people who ask for them on our website

Website and Web App Analytics

This website and the Web App use Google Analytics, in the same way, to count visits and see which pages people read. What it stores depends on where you are. Outside the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom and Switzerland, Google Analytics sets first-party cookies on your device (_ga and _ga_ followed by our measurement ID) containing a random identifier, which it uses to count visits and sessions. Google keeps them for two years by default. It collects the pages you view, the page that referred you, your approximate location (derived from your IP address), and your device and browser type. In the EEA, the United Kingdom and Switzerland, Google’s consent mode is set to denied, so it writes no cookie and stores no identifier on your device, and only cookieless measurement pings are sent; because nothing is stored, we cannot tell whether two visits are the same person. For everyone, Google receives your IP address to deliver the measurement and processes it in the United States. We do not use it for advertising, and Google Signals and ad personalization are switched off. The Web App does not tell Google Analytics who you are: it sends no account identifier, email address or name, and it removes sign-in details from the page addresses it reports. To stop the measurement entirely, use Google’s opt-out add-on or any tracker blocker — the site and the Web App work the same either way. This section is about the website and the Web App; the App does not use Google Analytics.

Cookies Needed to Sign In

When you sign in to the Web App, it sets strictly necessary first-party cookies (their names begin with “sb-”) that hold your sign-in session so you stay signed in. They are set when you sign in, or when you start signing in with Apple or Google (a temporary one covers that step and is removed when it completes), removed when you sign out, and otherwise expire after at most 400 days. We use them for nothing else: not for analytics and not for advertising. The Web App cannot work without them, so they are set wherever you are and are separate from the analytics settings above. The website itself does not sign you in and sets no sign-in cookies.

Protecting Sign-In From Abuse

To stop automated attempts to guess passwords, the Web App counts sign-in attempts in a rate-limiting store run for us by our service provider Upstash. It keys those counts on your IP address (for an IPv6 address, its network prefix), and on a one-way hash of the email address being signed in to and of your sign-in session token, never on the email address or token itself. Each count is kept only for the length of the limiting window, at most ten minutes, and is used for nothing else.

Emails We Send

We send account emails, such as sign-in codes and password resets, through our service provider Resend. Account emails are always sent, because you need them to use your account.

We also send members a few other emails through our service provider Loops, from a journalcast.app address or a subdomain of it such as mail.journalcast.app: a short welcome series in your first week (a welcome note, a nudge to finish your first session, and a reminder before a free trial renews), and occasional product emails, such as news of a new series or an offer of a free session or series if you haven't listened in a while.

We personalise these emails only from your account and usage data: your first name if we have it, the sessions you've listened to, your trial or renewal date, and your subscription status, which comes from our subscription provider RevenueCat. We never use anything you write. Your journaling stays private: journal content is never used to write, choose or time an email.

Every email other than an account email has a one-tap unsubscribe link. You can also opt out by contacting us at support@darndest.co. We stop within a reasonable time, and no later than 10 business days. Opting out never affects account emails, which are always sent.

If you use Apple's Hide My Email, we email you only through Apple's relay address, never any other address. You can turn off forwarding from that address at any time in your Apple ID settings; that stops all our emails to you, account emails included.

Product emails to members rely on our legitimate interest in telling customers about our own similar service, with an easy opt-out, and we send them only where the law permits it.

Account emails contain no tracking: no tracking pixel and no tracked links. Product emails include a small invisible image (a tracking pixel). When your mail app loads it, Loops records that the email was opened, when, and the IP address and mail app that loaded it, and links in product emails pass through Loops so a click can be recorded. We record whether product emails are opened and which links are clicked, to measure whether the emails help. None of this is ever linked to journal content, and we do not use it for advertising. Some mail apps, including Apple Mail with Mail Privacy Protection, load images automatically or through a proxy, so an open may be recorded even if you didn't read the email. To stop open tracking, turn off remote images in your mail app; the emails work the same either way.

You do not need an account to get the app link. If you leave your email address on our website to be sent the link to download Journalcast, we collect that address, the page of our website you were on when you submitted it (for example the home page, the download page, or a particular series or session), and any campaign details in that page's address (the source, medium and campaign of the link you followed, known as UTM parameters). We use them to email you the link and a few short emails about Journalcast, and to see which pages and campaigns lead people to download the app. We do not use them for anything else, and we do not collect them from anyone who does not submit the form.

These emails are sent through our service provider Loops, which stores your email address and those details for us and sends the emails. Loops may record whether an email is opened and which links are clicked, which we use to see whether the emails help. The emails are sent because you asked for them, on the basis of your consent; the form says so when you submit it. If you later become a member, these website emails stop.

You can unsubscribe at any time using the unsubscribe link in any of these emails. You can also ask us to delete your address and the details stored with it by contacting us at support@darndest.co, and we will delete them within a reasonable time, and no later than 10 business days. Unsubscribing stops the emails; if you submit the form again later, we will not re-subscribe an address that has unsubscribed.

Data Sharing

We do not sell your personal information.

We may share limited data with service providers (such as analytics tools) or if required by law.

Data Retention

We keep data only as long as necessary to operate the App. You can request deletion at any time.

Your Rights

You may request access to or deletion of your data by contacting us at: support@darndest.co

Children's Privacy

Journalcast is not intended for children under 13.

Changes

We may update this policy. Continued use of the App means you accept any updates.

Contact

Journalcast — support@darndest.co