Privacy Policy

Hence — last updated 28 October 2026

Hence keeps the thoughts you speak or type as a simple list. It has no accounts of its own, no advertising, no analytics and no trackers. This page explains exactly what happens to what you write or say.

What stays on your device

Your notes, the people and projects they mention, and your settings are stored on the device you use — in the app's own storage on iOS, or in your browser's storage on the web. They are never sent to us, and we cannot read them. On iOS a copy can also be kept in your own iCloud (see below). Deleting the app deletes what is on the device. In Settings you can also save a backup file, which you keep wherever you choose, and restore from it.

A copy in your iCloud (iOS)

If iCloud Drive is on for your iPhone, the app keeps a copy of your notes and their photos in your own iCloud account, so they come back if you reinstall the app or change iPhone.

• The copy is stored in the app's private folder of your iCloud, under your Apple ID, by Apple. It counts against your iCloud storage, not ours.
• It never passes through the Hence server, and we have no access to it.
• It is updated a few seconds after each change. It is only read when the app starts with no notes, to bring them back.
• To stop it, turn off iCloud Drive for Hence in the iPhone's Settings → [your name] → iCloud. You can delete the copy there too, under Manage Storage.
• If iCloud is off, nothing is copied and everything stays on the device.

Turning speech into text

When you use the microphone, your speech is transcribed by the operating system or browser you are using, not by us:

• In the iOS app: Apple's speech recognition. Apple may process the audio on its servers. See Apple's privacy policy.
• In a browser: that browser's speech service (for example Google in Chrome, Apple in Safari).

We do not record, store or transmit audio ourselves.

So that names are spelled correctly, the iOS app gives Apple's speech recognition a short list of words it is likely to hear with each recording: the names of people and projects in your list, and names that appear in your open notes. It is sent to Apple with the audio and used only to transcribe it.

Photos (optional)

If you tap the camera button, the photo you take is kept with that note, on this device only:

• The photo is written into the app's own private storage. It is not added to your camera roll, and no other app can read it.
• The words in the photo are read on your iPhone, using Apple's built-in text recognition, so you can search for them. Nothing is sent anywhere to do this.
• It is never sent to us. It is not sent to the Hence server, and it is not sent to any AI service. If iCloud is on, it is copied to your own iCloud with your notes (see above).
• Deleting the note deletes the photo; the app removes orphaned photos the next time it starts.
• The app asks for camera permission the first time. It opens your photo library only if you choose one of your own photos as a background (Settings → Background), through iOS's own picker: it sees only the photo you pick, keeps a copy in its private storage on this device, and sends it nowhere.

Turning a note into a clear line — on your device

Hence reads what you said on your device: it finds the reminder in "remind me tomorrow at nine", keeps your line breaks, and recognises the names on your list. This happens entirely on your iPhone.

• No AI service. The iOS app does not send your notes, or anything else you say or write, to any third-party AI service.
• No Hence server. The app does not send your notes to the Hence server either. The server only hosts this page and the support page.
• If a future version offers an optional AI feature, it will ask for your permission first, naming the company and listing what would be sent, and this policy will be updated before that version is released.

Sending a thought to someone (optional)

In Settings → People you can exchange codes with other Hence users and send them thoughts. There is no account and no directory: a person is added only by scanning their code or opening their link, and nobody can look you up.

• Your identity is a random identifier, a key pair and the name you choose, made on your iPhone. The private key stays in your iPhone's Keychain (synced by iCloud Keychain if you use it); it is never sent to us.
• A thought you send is encrypted on your iPhone so that only its recipient can read it, then left for them in Apple's iCloud database for this app. It is addressed to their random identifier and carries yours. Neither Apple nor we can read what it says.
• It is deleted from iCloud as soon as the recipient's app collects it; their app then sends back a small encrypted receipt, deleted the same way. Something that cannot be read is cleared after 30 days.
• Your contacts (their names, identifiers and public keys), teams and blocked people are kept on your iPhone, with a copy in your own iCloud with your notes.
• You can remove or block anyone in People; nothing from a blocked person is opened. Report opens an email to us that you write and send yourself.
• iCloud sends a notification when something arrives. If you allow it, Hence also checks for new thoughts in the background now and then.

Reminders

Reminders are scheduled locally by your device and delivered by it. They are not sent through any server and are not shared between devices.

Your calendar (optional)

If you choose to connect a calendar in Settings — a Microsoft 365 or Outlook account, a Google account, or both — the app can show your upcoming meetings and add a note to your calendar as an event. When you tap a meeting and confirm, it can also cancel a meeting you organise (your calendar then tells the attendees) or decline one you were invited to (the organiser is told). It only does this when you ask. This connection is between your device and Microsoft or Google directly; it does not pass through the Hence server.

• You sign in on Microsoft's or Google's own page. The app never sees your password.
• The app asks only for access to your calendar and your basic profile, so it can show which account is connected. It cannot read your email or files.
• The key that keeps you connected is stored in your device's Keychain, encrypted by iOS and readable by no other app.
• Your upcoming meetings — their titles, times and organisers — are kept on the device so they appear instantly and offline. They are not sent anywhere else.
• "Email the organiser" opens your own Mail app with their address filled in; nothing is sent until you press Send.
• Disconnecting in Settings removes the key and the stored meetings from the device. You can also revoke access from your Microsoft or Google account at any time.

Hence Pro (optional)

Hence Pro is bought through Apple's App Store with your Apple ID. Apple handles the payment; we never see your card, your name or your Apple ID.

• The app asks the App Store on your iPhone which Hence Pro purchases are active, so it can unlock Pro. Nothing about them is sent to the Hence server.
• To recognise founding members, the app reads which version of Hence you first downloaded, from the App Store's record on your iPhone. It is checked there and kept there.
• Subscriptions are managed and cancelled in your Apple ID settings. Apple's privacy policy covers the purchase itself.

What we never do

• No account, so nothing is tied to your identity.
• No advertising, no ad identifiers, no tracking across apps or websites.
• No analytics SDKs, no behavioural profiling, no selling of data.

Children

Hence is not directed at children and collects no information about them.

Changes

If this policy changes, the date above changes with it, and the current version is always at this address.

Contact

Questions, or a request to delete anything: iHenceteam@gmail.com.