Privacy policy

What the app stores, and where

Your notes and settings are saved in a single file on your own PC, in your local application data folder. The app keeps a small error log and a folder of backups in the same place. Nothing is written outside that folder unless you ask for it.

That file is an ordinary file on your disk. It is not encrypted. Anyone who can sign in to your Windows account can read it, the same as any other document you keep on the machine.

What the app sends over the internet

Your notes never leave your PC. Qirtas goes online for three things:

• Update check. At startup and once a day, Qirtas asks whether a newer version exists. It sends no notes or settings. An update installs only when you click, after the publisher's signature is checked.
• Counting users. About once a day, Qirtas sends a random ID made on your PC, the app and Windows version, the language, and where you got it. Our server also notes your country. The ID is not linked to your name or your PC. We use it only to count how many people use Qirtas.
• Feedback, only when you press Send. Your message, your email if you add one, and basic app and system details. A "Problem" report also includes the recent error log, with your user name, PC name and folder paths removed.

Never sent: your notes, note titles, files, your name or your IP address. Nothing else connects to the internet.

Backups and export

The app saves a backup copy in its own folder on your PC, at most once a day, and keeps the last ten. You can also export your notes to a file wherever you want one.

You can also point the app at a second backup folder. If you choose a folder that syncs to a cloud drive, your backups go wherever that folder goes. That is your decision. The app writes the copies and does nothing else with them.

Crash reports

If Qirtas crashes, a report is saved on your computer with the error, the app version and basic system details. It stays there. If you later send a "Problem" through the feedback panel, the latest crash and recent errors go with it, cleaned as described above. Anything you type into the crash window is never sent.

The keyboard shortcut

Qirtas registers one system-wide shortcut, Ctrl+Alt+Q, so you can show and hide the window from anywhere. Windows tells the app when that combination is pressed and nothing else. The app does not read what you type in other programs and does not look at your screen.

What the app does not do

No accounts, no cloud sync of your notes, no advertising, no purchases, and no third-party analytics or tracking services. The user counts above go only to our own server. We do not sell or share any information.

Deleting your notes

A deleted note with text in it stays in Settings, Recently deleted, for 30 days so you can bring it back, then it is removed. "Empty" removes them all at once. Daily backups (up to ten) may still hold older copies until they are replaced. Uninstalling and deleting the data folder removes everything, including backups.

Children

Qirtas is not directed at children and does not knowingly collect information from them. The user counts and feedback described above contain no names or contact details unless someone adds an email to a feedback message.

Keeping and deleting what we receive

User counts and feedback are kept for up to two years, then deleted. Only daily totals with no ID are kept after that, such as how many PCs ran Qirtas on a day. To have your records deleted sooner, email qirtas@xpandtech.bh with your PC's ID, shown in Qirtas under Settings, About ("This PC's ID"). Feedback is read only by the developer and is never published without your permission.

This page

This page is part of my own site. It sets no cookies. Cloudflare, which hosts it, counts visits for me without cookies and without identifying you.

When you open the apps or Qirtas page, or download Qirtas, I count it with basic information such as your country and browser. Your IP address is not stored.

Changes to this policy

If the app ever changes how it handles data, this page is updated before that version is released, and the date at the top changes with it.