Privacy Policy - Saber

Saber is an application developed by Adil Hanney that facilitates the user in creating and organising handwritten notes.

This privacy policy will change as the app evolves: you can view any changes on this page and can track the app's progress through the Saber progress discussion and the changelogs on the Releases page.

What data does the application use?

The application seeks to access the least amount of data possible and uses a zero-trust approach to cloud storage.

Data the application uses includes the user's:

Notes (including images and backgrounds): Used for the main functionality of the application
In-app settings: Used to customise the application to the user's preferences
Online cloud service (referred to as "the cloud") credentials including the server URI, username, and passwords: Used to enable syncing between devices
Data used by third-parties (see below)

Third-party data usage

The application uses third-party services to provide certain features.

Google AdMob

Update: As of 23 September 2024, ads have been removed from the development version of the application and will soon be removed from the stable version. Please disregard this section if you are using Saber v0.24.7 or later.

Certain versions of the application are supported by Google AdMob ads including Google's ad network and other GDPR-compliant ad networks:

The iOS version available on the App Store
The Android version available on the Google Play Store
The Android version available from the repo's Releases page on GitHub

Note that the Android version available on F-Droid does not use Google AdMob or contain ads.

AdMob may collect data about you, including your device's advertising ID, IP address, and location. You can read more about how Google uses data from apps that use their services.

When you first open Saber, you will be asked to choose between personalized ads and non-personalized ads. You can change this at any time on the Settings page, or disable ads completely.

How is the cloud used?

The cloud is used to store and sync the user's notes and settings between the user's devices but is not necessary for the application to function.

To use this feature, users need to make an account on a Nextcloud server of their choice to use as a cloud service. For users who don't want to choose a custom Nextcloud server, the official Saber server — run by Adil Hanney — is hosted at nc.saber.adil.hanney.org.

To maintain privacy, all notes are encrypted before being sent to the cloud. A randomly generated key is used to encrypt the notes. This key and password are stored on the user's device in secure storage, and an encrypted form of the key is uploaded to the cloud.

My notes are private, right?

With any cloud storage, the server owners can see and read any files you upload. This is why Saber encrypts your notes before uploading them to the cloud, so they're unreadable to the server owner.

So what data can the server owners see?

All information provided during the sign-up process, including but not limited to your username and email address.
Information about any device that connects to the server, including but not limited to the device's operating system, browser, and IP address.
An encrypted (scrambled) form of your notes. However, the server owner can see:
- The size of each note.
- The number of notes you have.
- The last time you edited a note, when it was created, and when you last synced.
An encrypted (scrambled) form of your encryption key. This is required to enable cross-device syncing.
Nextcloud is general-purpose software, so the server owner can see any other files you upload to the server and information you provide outside of Saber.

“Talk is cheap. Show me the code.”

The source code is free and open to the public under the GPLv3 license and is available on GitHub.

How can I delete my data?

How you can delete your data will vary based on which cloud provider you use.

If you don't use a cloud provider, your data is only stored on your device. If you delete the app, your data will be deleted with it. Desktop users will also need to delete the Saber folder in your Documents folder.
If you use the default cloud provider, you can head to the account deletion page by going to Settings then "Delete account". You'll get an email with a link to confirm the deletion of your account. Once you click the link, your account will be deleted after a 1 week grace period. If you change your mind, contact me at adilhanney@disroot.org and I'll cancel the deletion.
If you use a third-party Nextcloud server, there may be a "Delete account" option in the Settings. If not, you may need to contact the server administrator to delete your account. You should see the server's privacy policy for more information.

Privacy point of contact

This application is developed by Adil Hanney. You can contact me at adilhanney@disroot.org for any enquiries, or create an issue on this repo (requires a GitHub account).

See this page on GitHub