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PDNotes

Privacy policy

Last updated: 29 September 2026

The short version

PDNotes is built so that it needs no data about you. There is no account, no sign-in and no server holding your notes. We neither see what you write nor that you write.

Your notes are files in a folder you choose yourself. They stay there even if you delete the app. A complete export is possible at any time.

The app works entirely without an internet connection. There is no advertising, no analytics and no sharing of data for advertising purposes — not even in anonymised form.

1. Controller

P&D Abend Media
Bungerstr. 1
66640 Namborn
Germany
Email: hello@pdnotes.app

2. What stays on your device

The app processes the following on your device. None of it is transmitted to us — we have no way to receive it.

a) Notes

Strokes, typed text, images, embedded PDF files and voice recordings. They are stored as .pdn files in your library folder.

b) A search index

To make search fast, the app keeps an index of text — typed content, text from PDF files and recognised handwriting. It lives on the device and can be rebuilt from the files at any time.

c) Handwriting recognition

Recognition runs on the device using the operating system's text recognition. No images and no text are transmitted to us or to third parties.

d) Settings

Tool colours, stroke widths, the pressure curve per stylus and the reference to your chosen library folder. Plus a random identifier for this installation, which the app uses when merging two versions to tell which device wrote last. That identifier appears only inside your own note files and does not leave your device.

e) System search (iOS only)

If you wish, the app adds titles and text excerpts of your notes to the system search (Spotlight) so you can find them from outside the app. These entries stay on the device and are managed by Apple. You can turn this off in the system settings.

f) Backups of your device

Your device can back up the data of its apps: on iPhone and iPad in the iCloud backup, on Android in your Google account's backup and when you move to a new device. Whether this happens is up to the settings of your device. The backup runs between your device and Apple or Google; we are not involved and have no access. The privacy policy of that provider applies.

On Android, the backup includes your library and your settings. The key store, the search index and temporary files stay on the device. On iPhone and iPad, Apple's rules apply; the key for unlocking with Face ID or Touch ID stays on the device there as well. A protected note remains encrypted in the backup — on a new device you open it with its password.

3. What we deliberately do not process

We keep no user database. There is therefore nothing that could be stolen from us, seized, or accidentally published.

4. If you choose a cloud folder

You may place your library folder in a cloud storage service — iCloud Drive, for example. Your devices then sync through that storage.

That transfer is not ours. It takes place between your device and your cloud provider; we are not involved and have no access. The privacy policy of that provider applies — for iCloud Drive, Apple's.

If you choose an ordinary local folder, no note leaves your device.

5. Transfer to your computer (local transfer)

At your explicit request, PDNotes can start a temporary transfer service on your device. A computer on the same Wi-Fi then opens the address shown in a browser and downloads your notebooks.

This service runs exclusively on your device. There is no server of ours involved, no account and no transmission to the internet. The data flows directly between your device and your computer; we learn nothing about it — neither file names nor addresses nor the fact that you use the feature.

The service only starts when you tap it, is protected by a random access key and a six-digit security code, and ends when you stop it, when the system keeps the app in the background for a longer time, or when you close PDNotes. Every new session gets a new key; old addresses stop working.

Uploading must be switched on separately and is off by default. When it is on, the browser can send files to your device. They first land in an inbox and only become part of your library once you confirm this on the device.

The connection on the local network is technically unencrypted (HTTP). Within your private Wi-Fi this is the usual approach; do not use the feature on foreign, public or guest networks.

6. Purchasing the full version

The purchase runs through the App Store or Google Play. Payment data is processed solely by the respective provider; we receive no personal data from them, only the information whether a valid purchase exists on this device. That check happens on the device.

The privacy policies of Apple and Google apply in addition.

7. PDNotes Education

The school edition can connect to Apple's Schoolwork so that teachers can set assignments and students can hand them in. That connection runs through Apple's ClassKit interface.

Here too: we operate no service and receive no data. No class lists, no student accounts and no learning profiles are created on our side. Managing the classroom rests entirely with Apple and the school.

8. Retention

Since we store nothing about you, there is nothing on our side to delete. Your notes remain as long as you keep them — delete the files and they are gone. Delete the app and the files remain in your folder.

9. Your rights

Under the General Data Protection Regulation you have the right of access, rectification, erasure, restriction of processing, data portability and objection, plus the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority.

In practice these rights largely come to nothing here, because we process no personal data about you: we cannot tell you anything about you because we hold nothing. The right to data portability you exercise yourself — exporting your library is possible at any time and in full.

Questions: hello@pdnotes.app

10. Security

Your notes live in your device's file area and are protected by its mechanisms — device lock and the operating system's encryption. If you choose a cloud folder, that provider's protection is added.

PDNotes does not currently offer encryption of individual notes. If you write particularly sensitive content, turn on the device lock and choose a local folder.

11. Children

PDNotes processes no personal data and is therefore safe for children to use. There is no chat function, no contact with strangers and no advertising.

12. Changes to this policy

If the app changes such that this policy no longer holds, we change it and update the date above. The current version is always available in the app under Settings → Legal.