How network access is controlled
Apart from iCloud, which the system handles, every connection the app makes goes through one gate. It refuses any request unless the feature is switched on, the host is on that feature’s list (built in, or added by you for features where you pick the server), and the connection is encrypted HTTPS. Requests carry no account name, e-mail address or device identifier. A Network activity screen in Settings lists each host the app has contacted, with the feature, the time and the number of bytes, so you can check this page against reality.
iCloud sync: sealed before it leaves
Sync is off until you turn it on and agree to sync a particular vault. Then Squill replicates your vault through your own private iCloud database (Apple’s CloudKit) or through a folder you choose, such as one kept in step by another sync tool. We run nothing in between and cannot read either.
Before anything is uploaded, Squill seals it on your device with ChaCha20-Poly1305 under a random 256-bit key made for that vault. Note text, ink, attachments, file names, folder structure and device names are all inside the sealed envelope. The key lives in your Keychain and reaches your other devices through iCloud Keychain, which is end-to-end encrypted; you can also keep an offline recovery key or pair a device with a code.
What goes to Apple
Apple stores the sealed records in your iCloud account, under Apple’s privacy policy and your iCloud storage. CloudKit encrypts them again; under standard iCloud data protection Apple holds that second layer’s keys, and with Advanced Data Protection it does not. Either way, Apple holds only Squill’s ciphertext. Apple can see how many records there are, roughly how large they are (sizes are padded), when they change, their general kind, and how many devices and vaults you sync. Timing can reveal when you are writing.
If you lose every key
If your iCloud Keychain is reset, no device still holds the key, and you kept no recovery key, the cloud copy cannot be decrypted by anyone, including us. Your vault on each device is unaffected, and any device that has it can upload it again.
AI, only with services you configure
Every AI feature is off by default. Apple’s on-device models never send your notes anywhere. If you add a remote provider with your own API key, the request goes from your device straight to that provider under your account with them; we never see it. You choose which folders it may read. Before each request you see exactly what will be sent, with secrets such as API keys, e-mail addresses and phone numbers redacted, and nothing goes until you press Send. Each request is recorded in an audit log on your device (metadata only, never the text). API keys stay in this device’s Keychain.
Your notes are treated as data, never as instructions. AI and agents (through the local MCP server on the Mac, which opens no network port) cannot change a note directly: their edits arrive as proposals you accept or reject.
Permissions the app may ask for
- Face ID or Touch ID. To unlock vaults, only if you turn on the vault lock. The check happens in the system; we never see biometric data.
- Camera. Only to scan a pairing code shown by your other device when you set up sync.
- Microphone. Only while you record in Talk mode. Recordings are saved in your vault.
- Speech recognition. To transcribe Talk mode recordings on your device.
- Files and folders. Only the vault folders you pick.
On your device
Your vault is plain Markdown files, readable by any tool you give access to: that is the point. Squill also keeps a search index, local snapshots of earlier versions and its own settings on your device. These never leave it, and the app writes nothing about your notes to its logs. You can lock vaults with Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode; this hides them inside the app but does not encrypt the files, which other apps you gave access to can still read.
So that notes show up in system search, Squill adds titles and text to the system’s Spotlight index on your device. You can turn this off for each vault.
Keeping and deleting your data
Because we hold none of your data, there is nothing for us to keep, hand over or delete. You control everything: delete a note or a vault and it is gone from your device (after Squill’s own trash, which you can empty); delete the app and its private storage goes with it. To remove synced data from iCloud, stop syncing the vault in Squill, or delete Squill’s data in your device’s iCloud settings; neither deletes the files on your devices. Data you sent to a third-party service is held by that service; ask them to delete it.
Your rights
Privacy laws such as the GDPR and the CCPA give you rights to access, correct, delete and port personal data, and to object to its use. We do not process personal data through the app, so those requests have nothing to act on; if you have written to us, we will gladly delete that correspondence on request.
Children
Squill is a general-purpose notebook, not directed at children, and collects no data from anyone of any age.
This website
This site is static. It sets no cookies, runs no analytics and loads nothing from third parties: fonts and images are served from here. The company that hosts these pages may keep ordinary server access logs (such as IP addresses and requested pages) for security and operation; we do not use them to track you.
Changes to this policy
If Squill gains a feature that changes what can leave your device, this page changes first, with a new effective date. Earlier versions are in the public history of this page. If Squill ever behaves differently from this page, that is a bug; please tell us.
Contact
Questions about privacy: contact@flock.holdings. Security issues: please report them privately through GitHub security advisories. More help is on the support page.
Flock Capital, LLC, publisher of Squill.