Effective date: September 11, 2026 · Version 1.1

Privacy Policy — AnnualRing Diary

This Policy explains what data the App ("AnnualRing Diary") handles, why, where it goes, and your choices. It is read together with the Terms of Service.

1. What We Collect and Where It Goes

"We" = the operator. Most data never reaches us. The table summarises each category:

2. Local-First Storage and iCloud Sync

2.1 Diary entries, photos, weather text, and writing-place text are stored locally on your device, in the App's own on-device storage.

2.2 If you enable iCloud sync, the App mirrors this data to your own iCloud account, in a private area that the operator cannot read. Sync requires that you are signed into iCloud and is optional; the App works fully offline.

2.3 The "understanding about you" maintained by the Agent is stored locally and synced as a single private record in your iCloud — not shared, not public.

3. The Agent (AI Companion)

3.1 When you use an Agent feature (an observation, a structured chat, or an update to "understanding about you"), the App sends the current entry's text and the relevant "understanding about you" context to our backend — only to generate a response.

3.2 Photos, weather, and writing-place text are never sent to the Agent or the operator's backend.

3.3 After the request completes, the backend does not retain the diary, chat, or understanding content. Only aggregated usage counters (needed for the quota) are kept.

3.4 Agent outputs are generated by an AI model and may be incorrect. They are not stored permanently by the backend.

3.5 AI service notice: The Agent's AI capability is powered by the DeepSeek model (deepseek-v4-flash-0731), provided by Alibaba Cloud Computing Co., Ltd. The model is used under DeepSeek's official license, accessed via the Alibaba Cloud platform and subject to Alibaba Cloud's terms of service. Algorithm filing number: 网信算备110108970550101240011号 (subject to real-time verification at beian.cac.gov.cn). Content is processed only to generate the current response, is not retained after processing, and is not used for model training.

4. Accounts and Sign in with Apple

Core diary writing needs no account. The App uses Sign in with Apple only when you actively enable the Agent or open the Premium page. The App does not request your email, real name, or password. The backend stores only an opaque account token, Premium status, and monthly Agent usage counters.

5. Location

When you enable or refresh weather, or explicitly add or update a writing place, the App requests your current location once. Coordinates are kept only briefly in memory and are sent to Apple Weather or Apple's geocoding service as needed for the requested feature. Coordinates are never written to an entry or draft, synced to iCloud, or sent to the operator's backend or the Agent.

For a writing place, the App converts the coordinates into a coarse place label, such as city and district or country and city, depending on the region. Only that label, or text you edit yourself, is stored with the entry. You can edit or remove it at any time. Weather text is also editable.

6. Push Notifications

Writing reminders use iOS local notifications scheduled on your device. Reminder times and notification tokens are not sent to the operator backend. Apple push notifications may be used by iCloud to signal Agent-related private iCloud changes; the App never sends marketing notifications.

7. No Third-Party Tracking

The App includes no third-party analytics, advertising, attribution, or tracking SDKs. No ATT (App Tracking Transparency) prompt is therefore triggered. Apart from the optional Agent provider described in Section 3, device-side features use Apple services: iCloud, Sign in with Apple, Apple Weather, Apple geocoding, in-app purchase, and Apple Push Notifications.

8. Permissions the App May Request

• Face ID — for App Lock, to protect your diary.
• Location (When In Use) — to fetch weather after you enable or refresh it, or to generate a coarse place label after you explicitly add or update a writing place; coordinates are not saved.
• Photo Library — to choose photo attachments and to save a generated AnnualRing logo to your album.
• Camera — to take a photo to attach to an entry.

Each permission is requested only when the relevant feature is used and can be refused at any time in iOS Settings.

9. Data Retention and Deletion

9.1 Content stays on your device / your iCloud until you delete it. You can remove a writing place from an entry, delete individual entries, or use Settings → Clear all data (requires typing a confirmation), which also removes the iCloud copy.

9.2 Backend usage counters and the account token are retained while your account is active and may be deleted on request (see Contact).

10. Children

The App is not directed at children under 13 and does not knowingly collect their personal information. The App does not ask you to provide sensitive categories of personal data, but diary entries may contain information you choose to write; if you use the Agent, the current entry text is processed as described in Section 3.

11. Your Rights

Because your diary content lives on your own device and your own iCloud, you control it directly — including viewing, correcting, exporting-by-hand, and deleting it. For the limited account data held by the backend, you may request access or deletion by contacting us.

12. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Policy as the product evolves. Material changes will be reflected here and noted in the App where appropriate, with the updated effective date above.

13. Contact