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Most secure journal app? 12 privacy policies read

Published 2026-10-22 · by Swapnil Tiwari · 12 min read

We read the privacy policies of 12 journal apps on 19 October 2026: encryption, audio, AI training and vendors, lock, export and deletion, all linked.

In this guide
  1. What is the most secure journal app?
  2. How were these 12 apps checked?
  3. What does each journal app’s privacy policy say?
  4. Which journal apps can’t read your entries?
  5. Is Day One private?
  6. Is Apple Journal private?
  7. Which journal apps send your entries to an AI company?
  8. Where does your voice go when a journal app records it?
  9. Which journal apps promise not to train on your entries?
  10. How private is Dearly, and where does it fall short?
  11. When will this be checked again?
  12. Sources

What is the most secure journal app?

If secure means nobody but you can read your entries, Standard Notes is the strongest on paper: end-to-end encryption on by default, four published third-party audits, and no AI features. Apple Journal is end-to-end encrypted by default with two-factor authentication and a passcode. Daylio and Diarium never send entries to their makers at all. None of these four is built around voice, though Apple Journal and Daylio can record audio.

Day One is end-to-end encrypted by default for new journals on iPhone and Mac, but its own AI page says that protection is lifted while an entry is processed by AI. Dearly, the app this site is for, is not end-to-end encrypted. The tables below show why each app lands where it does.

How were these 12 apps checked?

On 19 October 2026 we read each app’s own privacy policy, plus its official security, FAQ and help pages. We did not use reviews, listicles or store descriptions. Every cell below links to the page it came from. Where the official pages say nothing, the cell says not stated. A gap in a policy is worth knowing about.

For each app we recorded the same eight things:

  1. End-to-end encryption: none, optional, or on by default, and what it covers.
  2. Where audio goes, if the app records it.
  3. Whether entries are used to train AI models, in the company’s own words.
  4. Which outside AI companies receive your text or audio.
  5. Lock options inside the app.
  6. Export formats.
  7. Deletion, and any window after deletion.
  8. The date on the policy.

There is no numeric score. Apps are listed alphabetically. A policy is what a company says it does, not proof that it does it; of the pages we read, only Standard Notes links to independent audits, the latest from 2022.

Who wrote this: Swapnil Tiwari, an Android engineer who makes Dearly, one of the 12 apps. That is a conflict of interest, so Dearly is held to the same eight questions as everyone else and its weak points are in the tables.

What does each journal app’s privacy policy say?

Read on 19 October 2026. Next re-check: 19 January 2027. Links in the first column go to each app’s privacy policy; the full source list is at the end.

Who can read it

AppEnd-to-end encryptionYour audioTrains AI on entries?Outside AI companies namedPolicy dated
Apple JournalYes, by default, with two-factor authentication and a passcodeRecorded into the entry and synced with it via iCloud; where transcription runs is not statedNot statedNone namedNo Journal-specific policy; iCloud security page dated 5 Jan 2026
AudioPenNo. Encrypted at rest; “retrievable to the operators”Uploaded, deleted within 48 hours of processing; optional on-device transcription keeps audio on the phoneNo (stated in the FAQ, not the policy)Google, ElevenLabs, OpenAI, Groq, Replicate “and others”28 Sep 2026
Day OneYes, by default for new journals on iPhone and Mac; opt-in on Android; older standard journals can’t be converted; lifted while AI runsStored in the entry and synced; transcription by Apple, on-device on iOS 26 with Apple Intelligence, otherwise Apple’s servers; voice chat via OpenAINo, unless you give explicit permissionOpenAI, for features such as Daily Chat; AI is opt-in22 Apr 2024 (does not mention AI)
DaylioNot applicable: stored only on your device; optional backup to your own Google Drive or iCloudVoice memos exist; where they are stored is not statedNot stated; says it does not collect your contentNoneNot stated
DearlyNo. Text syncs to Google Cloud Firestore behind per-user access rules; encrypted in transitStays on your phone; sent encrypted to Google’s Gemini API to be transcribed; not stored by DearlyNoGoogle (Gemini API, paid tier); no retention terms stated17 Oct 2026
DiariumNot stated. Local by default; sync file to your own cloud is “compressed and encrypted”Attachments stay in your journal; never sent to the developerNot stated; no AI features mentionedNoneNot stated
JourneyOptional, on Journey Cloud Sync only, cannot be turned off once on; Google Drive sync is not end-to-endPaid, up to 10 minutes; stored on your sync drive; on encrypted drives media is briefly unencrypted on Journey’s serverNoOdyssey AI is “powered by GPT”; vendor not named; off by default13 May 2024
PenzuNot described as end-to-end. Paid “Encryption Lock”: AES-256 “encrypted on our servers and only you hold the key”Not statedNo; entries “are not processed by artificial intelligence”None1 Feb 2026
ReflectionNo. AES-256 at rest, TLS in transit (FAQ)Not statedNo (FAQ); the policy points to Google’s paid API termsGoogle Gemini; one toggle turns all AI off4 Sep 2025
RosebudNo. The policy explains why it chose not to use user-held keys (you could lose your data if the key is lost)Sent to ElevenLabs under a zero data retention agreement, discarded after processingNo explicit promise; providers are under zero data retention agreementsOpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Amazon Web Services, Groq; ElevenLabs for voice8 Sep 2026
Standard NotesYes, by default (XChaCha20-Poly1305), notes and attached filesNo recording feature mentionedNot stated; no AI featuresNoneNot stated
VoicenotesNo. The policy says it “is not feasible for AI features”Uploaded and kept on AWS in the US; transcribed by Soniox, ElevenLabs or OpenAI; kept “as long as necessary”No, “neither our own models nor those of our providers”OpenAI and Anthropic; ElevenLabs and Soniox for transcriptionNot stated (the help-centre page shows only a relative update time)

What you control

AppLockExportDeletion
Apple JournalFace ID, Touch ID or passcodeOne ZIP with media; PDF (iOS 18+)Per entry; recoverable for 30 days; no separate account
AudioPenFace ID or Touch ID (Apple apps); none stated on AndroidCSVAccount deletion at audiopen.ai/delete; no backup window stated
Day OnePasscode, Face ID, Touch ID, fingerprint; whole app onlyPDF, JSON with media, plain text or Markdown, CSVIn-app; the policy says 5 days, the help guide says 14
DaylioPIN, fingerprint, Face ID (PIN is Premium on iOS)PDF, CSV, backup fileNo account; not stated
DearlyFace ID or fingerprintPro onlyIn-app; removes cloud data, account and on-device audio
DiariumPassword, PIN or biometricsWord, plain text, HTML, JSONNo account; your files, your cloud
JourneyPasscode, then biometricsZIP, DOCX, PDF, ePubIn-app; 30-day recovery window
PenzuPer-journal lock; paid Encryption Lock; app PINPDF, paid plans, website onlyOn the website; deleted within 30 days, backups up to 90 more
ReflectionFace ID, Touch ID or passcode (Premium)ZIP with JSON and CSV on every plan; PDF PremiumIn-app per the FAQ; the policy says to email them
RosebudFace ID, Touch ID or fingerprint (mobile)MarkdownIn-app; backups kept up to 30 days
Standard NotesPasscode; biometrics on mobileEncrypted or decrypted backup (plain text files)Web reset tool; no window stated
VoicenotesNot statedPer note: PDF or text, plus the original audioIn-app; no window stated

Which journal apps can’t read your entries?

Five of the 12 say, on their own pages, that they cannot read your entries or never receive them. Standard Notes, Apple Journal and Day One encrypt entries on your device before they sync, so the company holds data it cannot read. Daylio and Diarium never receive your entries: they stay on your phone or in your own cloud storage. Journey joins the first group only if you choose its encrypted sync.

Everyone else, Dearly included, stores entries in a form the service can process. That is what lets them transcribe, summarise and sync without a passphrase. The protections then come from access rules, encryption in transit and at rest, and the promises in the policy.

Two caveats from the source pages:

  • Day One: content from end-to-end encrypted journals is “temporarily not end-to-end encrypted while being processed with AI” (Day One AI features). AI is opt-in.
  • Standard Notes: on mobile you can turn off device storage encryption, and with no account and no passcode, local data is not encrypted (Standard Notes help).

Is Day One private?

Mostly, if you stay off the AI features. Day One’s journals are end-to-end encrypted by default on versions newer than 4.2 on iPhone and Mac, using AES-GCM-256, and that covers media added to entries as well as text.

On Android you turn it on yourself. An older journal with standard encryption can’t be converted; Day One’s encryption FAQ says to start a new encrypted journal instead. Day One says entries are not used to train AI models unless you give permission.

AI features, which are opt-in, send content to Automattic’s servers or to OpenAI, and lift the end-to-end protection while they run. Exports and text backups are not encrypted. The privacy policy was last revised on 22 April 2024 and does not mention AI at all; the AI rules live on a separate help page. The policy and the help guide also disagree on how long account deletion takes (5 days or 14).

Is Apple Journal private?

Yes, by Apple’s account. Journal data is end-to-end encrypted in iCloud under standard data protection, so Apple says even it cannot read entries, provided you have two-factor authentication and a device passcode. Journal entries are not included in iCloud backups, and no outside AI company is named.

What Apple’s pages do not say: whether audio transcription runs on the phone or on a server, and anything specific about training. Apple Journal is also iPhone, iPad and Mac only, so it is not an option on Android. The export is a single ZIP file.

Which journal apps send your entries to an AI company?

Seven of the 12 send your text or audio to an outside AI model when you use AI features, and six of them name the company:

  • AudioPen: Google, ElevenLabs, OpenAI, Groq, Replicate “and others”.
  • Day One: OpenAI, for features such as Daily Chat (opt-in).
  • Dearly: Google’s Gemini API, for transcription and Pro features.
  • Journey: Odyssey AI, “powered by GPT”; the company is not named (off by default).
  • Reflection: Google Gemini.
  • Rosebud: OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, AWS and Groq, plus ElevenLabs for voice.
  • Voicenotes: OpenAI and Anthropic, plus ElevenLabs and Soniox for transcription.

Apple Journal, Daylio, Diarium, Penzu and Standard Notes name none. Penzu says outright that entries are not processed by AI.

Where does your voice go when a journal app records it?

Four apps keep the recording (Voicenotes in its own cloud; Apple Journal, Day One and Journey with the entry). Three send it off only to be transcribed (AudioPen, Rosebud, Dearly): AudioPen and Rosebud state a deletion rule, while Dearly says it does not store the audio but states no retention term for Google. Three don’t say (Reflection, Daylio, Penzu). Diarium keeps audio attachments in your own journal file.

If voice is how you journal, read this column alongside the encryption one: a recording carries your voice as well as your words. Our guide to what happens to your voice in an AI journal app covers these audio models in more depth.

Which journal apps promise not to train on your entries?

Seven say it plainly on their own pages: AudioPen, Dearly, Day One (unless you give permission), Journey, Penzu, Reflection and Voicenotes. Voicenotes goes furthest, covering “neither our own models nor those of our providers”. AudioPen and Reflection make the promise in their FAQ rather than in the formal policy.

Rosebud has no explicit no-training sentence. Its policy says AI providers are under zero data retention agreements and discard data after processing, and adds that “AI systems review real interactions” to check feature quality. Apple Journal, Daylio, Diarium and Standard Notes say nothing about training. The last three have no AI features to train with. Apple’s Journal pages don’t address training.

How private is Dearly, and where does it fall short?

Dearly’s recordings stay on your phone. Audio is sent over an encrypted connection to Google’s Gemini API to be transcribed and, per the policy, is not stored by Dearly; only the transcribed text syncs.

The policy also mentions temporary server-side caches for retries, removed when you delete your account, without saying what they hold. The policy names every processor and says your content is not used to train anyone’s models. Biometric lock is free, and deleting your account in the app removes your cloud journal, your account and the recordings on your phone.

Where it falls short, measured against the other 11:

  • No end-to-end encryption. Your journal text sits in Google Cloud Firestore, protected by per-user access rules, in a form the service can read. Standard Notes, Apple Journal and Day One do better here.
  • Google receives your audio and text. Gemini transcribes every entry you transcribe and processes any entry you analyse with Pro. Dearly’s policy says the paid API tier does not train on it, but it does not state how long Google may keep it or name a zero data retention agreement, which Rosebud’s policy does.
  • Export is Pro only. Reflection, for one, exports a ZIP of JSON and CSV on every plan, free included.
  • The lock is device biometrics. The policy names no separate app passcode or PIN, which Day One, Journey and Standard Notes offer.
  • No independent audit. Of the 12, only Standard Notes links to one on its own pages.

If end-to-end encryption is the thing you need, Dearly is not the right app today. If you journal by speaking and want the audio to stay on your phone, the full detail is in Dearly’s privacy policy and in what happens to your voice in an AI journal app. For how the voice-first apps compare on features rather than privacy, see AI voice journal apps compared.

When will this be checked again?

On 19 January 2027, and whenever one of these apps announces a policy change. Two of these policies are recent: Rosebud’s was rewritten on 8 September 2026 and now covers audio, and AudioPen’s was updated on 28 September 2026. If you spot a mistake or a newer policy, email hello@brooo.app with the link and we will correct the table and note the date.

Sources

Every page below was read on 19 October 2026.