Privacy Policy

Last updated: 2026-10-01

Daily Journal is operated by [Company Name]. We take the privacy of your journal seriously.

What's new in this version

You can now choose which journal sections appear on your journal and in what order, under Settings → Journal. Hiding a section does not delete content you have already saved.
Clarified that an accountability notification email contains only whichever of your core emotion and Faster Scale level you recorded. If you did not record one of them, that detail is left out of the email entirely.
Clarified that AI check-in suggestions may be generated from whichever parts of an entry you recorded, including entries that recorded only free text.
Clarified how notification filters are evaluated when you have configured only one of them: the single configured filter decides on its own, rather than requiring a match on a filter you did not set.
A section you hide is no longer treated as a recorded answer. Previously, leaving the Cravings section out of your journal layout was reported as "no cravings" in your dashboard and weekly insight; it is now simply recorded as not entered.
Added private blog posts: create personal posts with a title, a body in Markdown or plain text, up to ten tags, and a draft or published state. Your blog posts are visible only to you; they are never shared with other users, your connections, or your group leader, and they are deleted when you delete the post or your account.

1. Overview

This Privacy Policy explains how [Company Name] and Daily Journal (the "Service") collect, use, store, and protect information about you. By using the Service, you acknowledge the practices described in this Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use.

2. Information We Collect

When you create an account and use the Service, we collect: • Account information: your email address and password (stored securely, hashed), and any display name you provide. • Journal content: your daily entries, including Faster Scale selections, habits check-ins, cravings notes, emotions, gratitudes, goals, reflections, AI check-in suggestions generated for your entries, and long-form journal text. • Weekly commitments and reflections: the commitments and end-of-week reflections you create. • Habits and settings: the habits you create, their schedules, and your notification configuration, including whether automatic accountability notifications are enabled, which emotion and Faster Scale triggers you have selected, and the names and email addresses of the accountability contacts you designate (up to three). • Technical data: technical information such as IP address, browser and device information, request and error logs, and other information necessary to operate and secure the Service, along with analytics provided by our hosting and observability providers. • Subscription data: subscription status, plan, trial period, renewal and expiration information, and transaction-related identifiers, processed by our payment provider (we do not store your full card numbers, which are handled by Stripe). • Referral and group-leader data: whether you registered through a group leader's invite link (and, if so, the leader and code), any referral credits you earn as a group leader, and your leader-visibility setting, which controls the optional sharing described in Section 5. • Community data: your community connection code and the list of users you are connected with or have requested to connect with, connection request records, and your community-sharing setting, which controls the optional sharing described in Section 5. • Blog posts: the private posts you create, including each post's title, body text, whether it is written in Markdown or plain text, the tags you apply, and whether it is a draft or published. Your blog posts are visible only to you and are never shared with other users, your connections, or your group leader.

3. How We Use Your Information

We use your information to: • Operate and maintain the Service (storing your journal, generating your dashboard, running habit and streak calculations). • Provide AI features: selected AI features (such as weekly insights and check-in suggestions) may process portions of your journal data using our AI provider (Google Gemini) to generate summaries, suggestions, or insights (see Section 4). • Send you service-related and transactional emails, including account verification, password-reset messages, scheduled check-ins, weekly insight emails, and accountability notifications you enable. • Authenticate your account, respond to your requests, and provide support. • Operate group-leader and referral features: record which group leader (if any) referred you, make your weekly insight and latest journal status available to your group leader when you have enabled "Leader visibility," and track referral credits earned by group leaders. Sharing to a group leader is always opt-in (off by default), as described in Section 5. • Operate community features: let you manage connections, send and receive connection requests, and share a brief snapshot of your latest journal check-in with your connections when you have enabled "Community sharing." Sharing to your connections is always opt-in (off by default), as described in Section 5. • Improve, maintain, and secure the Service, including understanding Service performance and diagnosing errors. • Prevent fraud and abuse and meet legal obligations. We do not sell your personal information. We do not use your journal content to independently advertise to you.

4. AI Processing

This section describes how the Service uses Google Gemini, a third-party AI provider. When the features described below operate, the relevant data is transmitted to Google for processing. • Weekly insights: when you access your dashboard and no recent insights are cached, the Service may automatically analyze your journal data from the previous week, typically once per week, to generate a summary, themes, and suggestions. Depending on your data, this may include Faster Scale responses, emotions, gratitudes, cravings, goals, reflections, portions of your journal text, and habit activity and completion information. Cached results are automatically deleted after seven days. • Check-in suggestions: when you record a journal entry and request a check-in, the Service may send whichever of your core emotion, Faster Scale level, cravings response, and journal text you actually recorded for that entry, to generate suggestions. A check-in can be requested from an entry that recorded only free text, so any of these values may be absent from the request. Only a short portion of your journal text is sent (up to 300 characters). These suggestions are stored on your journal entry. Each AI feature receives only the information relevant to that particular feature and may not be aware of other content you have recorded. AI outputs are generated by machine learning models and may be inaccurate; review them critically and refer to our Terms of Use. Pre-generated content: spiritual insights accompanying the weekly Bible verse are generated through our administrative tools and stored in a shared verse database. Your journal data is not used to generate this content.

5. Sharing and Third-Party Processors

We share your information only as needed to provide the Service, with: • Your group leader: another user of the Service (not a company or processor). Only when you have enabled "Leader visibility" can your group leader see your display name or email address, plan status, current weekly insight, and most recent journal status. The leader cannot see your full journal history and cannot edit your content. Sharing is optional, off by default, and can be disabled at any time. • Your connections: other users of the Service you are connected with through the Community feature. Only when you have enabled "Community sharing" can your connections see your display name, plan status, and a snapshot of your most recent journal check-in (your core emotion, Faster Scale level, today's goal, gratitudes, and yesterday's win, never your full journal text, cravings notes, or AI suggestions). Sharing is optional, off by default, and can be disabled at any time; you can also remove a connection at any time. • Google (Gemini): AI summarization and suggestions (see Section 4). • Resend: sending transactional, check-in, insight, and accountability notification emails. • MongoDB: database hosting for your account and journal data. • Stripe: payment processing for paid subscriptions. • Vercel and analytics providers: hosting, observability, and usage analytics. These providers receive information necessary to perform the services they provide to us and process that information in accordance with their applicable terms, privacy practices, and contractual obligations. Where required, your information may also be disclosed to comply with law, legal process, or to protect the rights, safety, or security of others.

6. Accountability Contacts

When you add accountability contacts and enable automatic notifications, we send them emails using the name and email address you provide. These emails include your display name (or your email address if you have not set a display name), plus whichever of your core emotion and Faster Scale level you recorded on that entry; if you did not record one of them, that detail is left out of the email entirely rather than filled in. They never include your full journal content, emotion categories or specifics, or AI-generated suggestions. A notification is sent only when an entry records an emotion or a Faster Scale level that matches the filters you selected. An entry that recorded only free text is never sent to your contacts, and neither are reported cravings on their own. You affirm that you have each contact's consent to receive these messages.

7. Cookies and Local Storage

We use cookies and browser local storage for essential functionality, including keeping you signed in and remembering preferences such as your theme and which in-app announcements you have dismissed. We do not use cookies for third-party advertising. You can clear these in your browser settings, though some features may not work as expected.

8. Data Retention

We retain your information for as long as your account is active and as needed to provide the Service or to comply with legal obligations, as described below: • Journal entries, habits, commitments, settings, and notification configuration: retained while your account exists and deleted when you delete your account. • Cached AI weekly insights: automatically deleted seven days after generation. • AI check-in suggestions: stored on your journal entry and retained with it. • Scheduled email records: retained as operational records and deleted from our active systems when you delete your account, subject to applicable retention requirements. • Payment information: Stripe may retain transaction information in accordance with its own policies and legal requirements. • Referral and group-leader records: referral assignments, credited referral earnings, and your leader-visibility setting are retained while your account (or the referral relationship, for a leader) exists and are deleted or de-identified when you delete your account, subject to applicable retention and legal obligations. • Community records: your connection code and connection/request records are retained while your account exists and are deleted when you delete your account, subject to applicable retention and legal obligations. • Blog posts: retained while your account exists and deleted when you delete your account or when you delete the individual post.

9. Your Choices and Rights

You can update your profile, notification settings, habits, and accountability contacts at any time in the Service. You can disable AI-related emails and check-in emails in your notification settings. You can enable or disable "Leader visibility" (sharing your weekly insight and latest journal status with your group leader) at any time under Settings; when disabled, your group leader can no longer access that information. Similarly, you can enable or disable "Community sharing" (sharing a snapshot of your latest check-in with your community connections) at any time from your Community page or Settings; when disabled, your connections can no longer access that information, and removing a connection immediately stops the sharing both ways. Depending on your jurisdiction (including [jurisdiction] where applicable), you may have rights to access, correct, or delete your personal information, and to object to or restrict certain processing. You can exercise these by contacting us at [contact email].

10. Deleting Your Account

You may permanently delete your account and all associated data at any time from Settings in the Service. When you delete your account, we delete your account and associated data (including journal entries, blog posts, habits, logs, commitments, settings, and contacts) from our active systems, subject to any data that we are required or permitted to retain for legal, security, fraud-prevention, dispute-resolution, or other legitimate purposes. Third-party providers may retain information in accordance with their own retention policies and legal obligations.

11. Security

We take reasonable administrative and technical measures to protect your information, including hashed passwords, encryption in transit, access controls, secure hosting, and logging and monitoring of the Service. No method of transmission or storage is fully secure, so we cannot guarantee absolute security. Please use a strong, unique password and keep your login credentials private.

12. International Data Transfers

Your information may be processed and stored outside your country of residence, including in the United States and other locations where we or our providers operate. By using the Service, you acknowledge that your information may be transferred to and processed in these locations, to the extent permitted by applicable law.

13. Children's Privacy

The Service is not directed to children under 18 (or the age of majority in your jurisdiction), and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children. If you believe a child has provided us personal information, contact us at [contact email] and we will take steps to delete it.

14. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. When we make material changes, we will update the "Last updated" date below and, where practical, notify you in the Service. Continued use of the Service after changes take effect constitutes acceptance of the revised policy.

15. Contact Us

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or your data, contact us at [contact email].

Questions? Reach us at [contact email]