Privacy Policy

Forge is designed with your privacy as a priority. Your journal entries are personal and we treat them that way. This policy explains what data Forge handles, how it is used, and your rights.

We do not collect, store, or have access to:

• Your journal entries or their contents
• Your AI analysis results
• Your photos
• Your health data
• Your location data
• Device identifiers or advertising IDs
• Payment or billing information

The one exception is the optional feedback survey described below, which collects only what you choose to type into it.

All journal entries, photos, and AI analysis results are stored locally on your device using Apple's SwiftData framework. If you have iCloud enabled, this data syncs privately across your Apple devices through Apple's CloudKit service. We never have access to your iCloud data.

When you request an analysis of a journal entry, the text of that entry is sent to Anthropic's API (our AI provider) for processing. This is required to generate your analysis. Anthropic's API does not use your inputs to train their models. The request passes through a relay we operate, which forwards it to Anthropic and returns the result. Journal content is never written to disk or stored on that relay — it exists only for the moment it takes to pass the request along.

For more information on how Anthropic handles data, please review Anthropic's Privacy Policy.

Forge offers a subscription managed entirely through Apple's App Store. All payment processing is handled by Apple. We do not collect or have access to your payment information. Your subscription status is verified through Apple's StoreKit framework on your device.

Forge does not include any third-party analytics, tracking, or advertising SDKs. We do not track your usage behavior, and we do not serve ads.

Forge can optionally read health data from Apple Health, including sleep analysis, heart rate variability (HRV), resting heart rate, workout sessions, step count, and active energy. This data is used solely to personalize your journaling experience by learning your personal baseline patterns and adjusting prompts accordingly.

• HealthKit data is read-only — Forge never writes data back to Apple Health
• Health metrics are stored locally on your device alongside your journal entries and synced through your private iCloud
• Health data is not sent to any external service, including Anthropic's API — only natural-language context derived from your data (such as "sleep was below personal baseline") is included in AI analysis requests, never raw health numbers
• HealthKit data is not used for advertising, marketing, or sold to third parties
• HealthKit integration is entirely optional — all features work without it, and you can deny or revoke permissions at any time through iOS Settings

In compliance with Apple's HealthKit guidelines, Forge does not use health data for any purpose other than providing personalized journaling functionality directly to you within the app.

If you attach photos to a journal entry, those images are stored locally on your device and synced through iCloud if enabled. Photos are not sent to any external service and are not included in AI analysis requests.

Forge includes an optional feedback survey, reachable from Settings and occasionally offered as a dismissible banner. It is entirely voluntary — the app works exactly the same if you never open it.

If you choose to submit it, we receive:

• The satisfaction rating you select
• Whatever you type into the free-text fields about what is working, what is frustrating, and what you would like built next
• Your email address, but only if you enter one — the field is optional and exists solely so we can reply
• Your app version, build number, and iOS version, so we can reproduce any problem you describe
• A random identifier generated by the app on first launch, used to group repeat responses and limit abuse of the endpoint

That random identifier is not your Apple ID, not a device identifier, and not an advertising ID. It cannot be linked back to you unless you provide an email address.

Survey responses are stored on infrastructure we operate at Cloudflare and are used only to decide what to fix and build next. They are never sold, shared with third parties, or used for advertising. Your journal entries, analyses, photos, and health data are never included in a survey submission — only the fields listed above are sent. If you gave us an email address and want your response deleted, contact us and we will remove it.

Forge includes an on-device feature that detects language indicating a potential crisis. If triggered, the app displays mental health resources including the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. This detection happens entirely on your device. No data about crisis detection is sent anywhere.

Since all your data is stored on your device and in your personal iCloud account, you have full control over it at all times. You can delete individual entries within the app or remove all data by deleting the app. We have no data to delete because we never had it.

Forge is not intended for use by children under the age of 13. We do not knowingly collect any information from children.

If we update this privacy policy, the revised version will be posted at this URL with an updated effective date.

If you have questions about this privacy policy, you can reach us at: forgejournalapp@gmail.com