Privacy policy

Last updated 7 November 2026

Who is responsible

Svetlina is made by Viktor Dedek, one person in the Czech Republic. I'm responsible for the personal data that reach me (in the GDPR's words, I'm their controller): the e-mails you send me, the tests' lists of testers, and what Google Play, Apple and Cloudflare show me. Your notes never reach me. Everything else on this page happens on your devices, or with other companies under their own terms. For anything about privacy, write to support@svetlina.app.

The apps

Svetlina for Mac

• Your notes are Markdown files in a folder on your Mac that you choose; Svetlina calls such a folder an archive. They leave your devices only when you move them yourself. If the folder is one that a cloud service keeps in sync, such as iCloud Drive (which can include your Desktop and Documents) or Dropbox, that service has a copy under its own terms.
• Once sync is on, Svetlina's own folder in your Mac's Library (Application Support › Svetlina) also keeps the text of your pages as they were last synced, and may keep a copy of the whole archive as it was when you turned sync on. Both stay there if you delete the archive or the app.
• Updates. Once a day, and when it starts, the app asks dl.svetlina.app for the list of Svetlina's versions. When there is a newer one, it downloads it from there and installs it when you restart. These requests carry your IP address, which Cloudflare sees as it delivers the files (see This website), and the version numbers of Svetlina and of the software it is built on. Nothing else goes with them. You can turn the check off in Settings › Updates; the app says so when you first open it.
• Apart from updates, the app makes no connections to the internet of its own: no analytics, no crash reports. Links you open go to your browser or your mail app, and a file in a note opens in the app your Mac has for it. A photo's Share sends that photo, or a whole set, only where you pick in macOS's share menu. Pictures in notes that point to the web aren't loaded.

Sync between your Mac and your phone

• You pair the two once, with a QR code the Mac shows. Then the archive on your Mac comes to your phone, or a notebook you started on the phone goes to a Mac that has none (the phone asks you first), and the two keep it in sync directly over your local network, Wi-Fi or Ethernet. The phone connects to the Mac, never the other way round.
• Once sync is on, Svetlina starts without a window when you log in to your Mac; you can turn that off in its Sync settings. While it runs, until you pause sync or quit it, the Mac waits for the phone on whatever Wi-Fi or Ethernet network it's on. Devices that can reach your Mac, such as others on that network, can see that it accepts connections on port 41283, but get nothing from it they could read.
• Each time your phone syncs or pairs, its connection opens with a short greeting in the clear. It names Svetlina's protocol and whether the phone pairs or syncs, and to sync it carries a one-time code that only your Mac can match to your phone. After it, everything between them is encrypted end to end. Each device has its own key, the two exchange them when you scan the code, and every connection gets fresh keys. No server is involved, and nobody else can read it, me included. Others on the network can see that the two talk, when and how much, but not what.
• To find your Mac, the phone tries the addresses it knows for it, also in the background, on whatever Wi-Fi or Ethernet network it's on; on another network that numbers its devices the same way, one of those addresses may belong to another device. On a network like the one where it last reached your Mac (one with the same router address), while Svetlina is on screen and the Mac isn't found, the phone also knocks on port 41283 of the other devices near it on that network, about once a minute. A device that isn't your Mac receives at most the greeting and a message only your Mac can read, never your notes.

Svetlina for Android

• Your notes are kept in Svetlina's own storage on the phone. Android's cloud backup and phone-to-phone transfer leave them out, so they don't go to Google Drive or to a new phone. An archive that comes from your Mac syncs back to it. The one a new install starts, called Notebook, stays on the phone unless you send it to a Mac whose archive is empty: the phone asks first, and from then on the two keep it in sync. It has no backup or export of its own, so while it is only on the phone, uninstalling Svetlina, clearing its storage or losing the phone loses it.
• Link titles. If you share a link into Svetlina from another app and it comes without a title, or write a link in a note with its address alone, your phone asks that website for the page's title: right away if Svetlina is open, otherwise the next time you open it, and if that fails, each time you come back to Svetlina, for up to 30 days. The request always goes over an encrypted connection, straight from your phone to the website and to any site the link redirects through. Those sites see your IP address and the link; the phone sends them no cookies. Links you type or paste are never fetched.
• Photos. Taking a photo opens your phone's camera app, which hands the photo straight to Svetlina. Svetlina asks for the camera permission first, but never turns the camera on itself. Depending on the camera app, it may also keep a copy of its own. Choosing a photo opens Android's photo picker, or on some older phones its file chooser, and Svetlina gets only the photo you choose. On phones whose Android has no photo picker of its own, such as Android 10, Google Play services provides one, which it may download when you install or update Svetlina.
• Adding a task by voice opens your phone's own speech recognition. Svetlina asks it to work offline and has no access to the microphone itself; it receives only the text. Depending on your phone, the recognition service (often Google's) may send the audio to its servers under its own terms.
• Pairing reads the Mac's QR code with Google's code scanner, which is part of Google Play services, so pairing needs Play services. Play services may download the scanner the first time you pair, or ask you to update it. Google says the camera image is processed on the phone and not stored. The scanner works under Google's own terms and hands Svetlina what the code holds: your Mac's addresses on your local network, its public key and a one-time key. Google's scanner code inside Svetlina would otherwise send Google reports about its use; Svetlina turns that off. Play services may still note that the scanner was used.
• The editor runs in Android System WebView. If you share usage and diagnostics with Google in Android's settings, WebView sends Google its crash reports, which Google says contain no web addresses. Svetlina switches off WebView's usage statistics.
• A link you tap opens in your browser or your mail app, or in an app your phone uses for that website. A file in a note, such as a PDF, opens in the app your phone has for it. A photo's Share… sends that photo, or a whole set, only to the app you pick in Android's share sheet, which may read just those photos. Pictures in notes that point to the web aren't loaded. Reminders are scheduled and shown by your phone itself; Svetlina uses no push service.

Svetlina for iPhone

• Your notes are kept in Svetlina's own storage on the iPhone. Svetlina leaves them out of iCloud and computer backups, so they don't go to iCloud or to a new iPhone. An archive that comes from your Mac syncs back to it. The one a new install starts, called Notebook, stays on the iPhone unless you send it to a Mac whose archive is empty: the iPhone asks first, and from then on the two keep it in sync. It has no backup or export of its own, so while it is only on the iPhone, deleting Svetlina or losing the iPhone loses it.
• Link titles. When you write a link with its address alone, your iPhone asks that website for the page's title, over an encrypted connection, straight from your iPhone. The website sees your IP address and that someone asked for that page, as with any visit. Nothing else is fetched.
• Photos. Taking a photo opens the iPhone's own camera, which hands the photo straight to Svetlina. Choosing a photo opens the iPhone's photo picker, which gives Svetlina only the photos you pick, without access to your library. A photo keeps the details stored in it, such as where it was taken, in your notes on your devices; Svetlina never sends them anywhere. It saves photos to your library only when you ask it to.
• Pairing reads the Mac's QR code with the iPhone's own scanner, on the iPhone. iOS asks you to allow access to the local network when you pair, because sync runs over your Wi‑Fi.
• Reminders are notifications your iPhone schedules and shows itself. No server is involved.
• The editor runs in the iPhone's web view, loading only Svetlina's own page, and pictures in notes that point to the web aren't loaded. A link you tap opens in Safari or in the app that handles it. A file in a note opens in a preview inside Svetlina, or in another app you pick.

Downloads and app stores

Google Play handles data about your download under its own privacy policy and is responsible for that data itself. From Google Play I get download statistics, and crash reports from phones that share diagnostics with Google. They show the phone's model, the Android and app versions and what went wrong, but not your name or e-mail address. I use them only to fix Svetlina. If you send feedback through Google Play, I see what you write.

Apple handles data about your download from the App Store and TestFlight under its own privacy policy and is responsible for that data itself. From the App Store I get download statistics, and crash reports and usage totals from iPhones that share analytics with app developers. They show the iPhone's model, the iOS and app versions and what went wrong, but not your name or e-mail address. I use them only to fix Svetlina. If you write a review on the App Store, I see what you write. If you test Svetlina for iPhone and send feedback in TestFlight, I see your comment and screenshot, your name or e-mail address as you were invited (someone who joined by a public link can stay anonymous), and the iPhone's model, the iOS and app versions and a few technical details Apple adds. I also see crash reports from testers who share them, and how many people installed and opened the app. Svetlina itself sends none of this; Apple's TestFlight app does.

Svetlina for Mac downloads from dl.svetlina.app, which Cloudflare delivers. It shows me only totals, such as how many times a file was downloaded.

The tests

While Svetlina for Android is in testing, only the people on the test's list can install it from Google Play. The list holds the e-mail addresses of their Google accounts. An address comes from you, or from the testing service you signed up with, which keeps it under its own terms. Google has the list too, because the test runs in Google Play. You need such an address to join. I use the addresses only for the test: to let you in and to write to you about it. When the test is over, I delete the list.

Svetlina for iPhone is on the App Store, and its new versions are tested in TestFlight first. Apple keeps the list of testers: the e-mail addresses I invite, or nothing but a count for those who join by a public link. I use the addresses only for the test, and I remove testers when it's over.

This website

• svetlina.app is hosted by Cloudflare, which handles technical data such as your IP address and browser for me, to deliver and protect the site. I don't get Cloudflare's logs. Its dashboard shows me only totals, such as visits per day and per country, and the IP address and browser of a request that Cloudflare blocks as an attack.
• The pages load nothing from other companies: no fonts, scripts or trackers. The site sets no cookies of its own. Cloudflare may set a strictly necessary security cookie when it has to tell people from bots.
• If you switch between light and dark, your choice is kept in your browser's local storage, on your device only.

E-mail

When you write to support@svetlina.app or security@svetlina.app, Cloudflare forwards the message for me to my personal mailbox at Gmail. Testers' feedback comes here too. I use your messages only to answer you, and I delete them when they're no longer needed for that.

Why I use your data

• Your e-mails: to answer you.
• Testers' addresses: to let you into a test and to write to you about it.
• Crash reports, feedback and statistics from Google Play, the App Store and TestFlight: to find and fix problems in Svetlina.
• Technical data at Cloudflare: to deliver this site and keep it safe.

Each of these rests on my legitimate interest in exactly that (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR). I make no automated decisions about you. You don't have to give me any personal data, but without an e-mail address I can't answer you or let you into the closed test.

Data outside the EU

Cloudflare and Google may handle the data described here in the US. Both are certified under the EU–US Data Privacy Framework, which the European Commission found to protect personal data adequately in its decision of 10 July 2023. Apple's privacy policy explains where Apple handles the data of the App Store and TestFlight.

Your rights

• You can ask me for a copy of the data I have about you, and ask me to correct it, delete it or stop using it for a while. Write to support@svetlina.app. I'll answer within a month.
• You can complain to a data protection authority: the one where you live or work, or the Czech one, the Office for Personal Data Protection (Úřad pro ochranu osobních údajů), uoou.gov.cz.

Your right to object. Everything I do with your data rests on my legitimate interests, so you can object to it at any time. Write to support@svetlina.app, and I'll stop, unless I have compelling legitimate grounds that override your interests, or need the data for a legal claim.

Changes

When something here changes, the date at the top changes, and this list says what changed.

• 7 November 2026: Svetlina for iPhone on the App Store, and what the App Store shows me.
• 5 November 2026: a notebook started on the phone can go to a Mac that has none.
• 4 November 2026: Svetlina for iPhone and TestFlight; link titles for links written in a note on Android; Svetlina for Mac checks for new versions and downloads them from dl.svetlina.app.
• 3 November 2026: first version.