Status: draft — must be reviewed by a lawyer and completed with the publisher's name and contact details before release (TODO T-22, T-26). Applies to: 1.0 offline edition (no network features). Last updated: 2026-11-03.
In one sentence
The IvyKey app does not collect, upload or share any of your data. Everything stays on your own devices, encrypted. Our website and download servers keep ordinary access logs (section 2a).
1. What data is processed
| Data | Where it is stored | Can we see it? |
|---|---|---|
| Passwords, usernames, URLs, notes, custom fields | An encrypted vault file on your device | No |
| Master password | Nowhere; used only momentarily at unlock to derive keys | No |
| Recovery key | Shown once; you keep it offline. The file only contains a key wrap encrypted with it | No |
| Device name and ID | Configuration on your device and the vault's encrypted device table | No |
| Settings, failed-unlock counter, last backup time | Configuration on your device (no passwords) | No |
| Merge (sync) history | An encrypted file on your device | No |
| Copies and backups you export | Wherever you choose | No |
2. What we do not do
- No network access: the app contains no networking code; the Flatpak requests no network permission (the permission list is public).
- No account, no sign-up, no login.
- No telemetry, no crash reporting, no ads, no third-party analytics.
- No access to your files except the single file you pick in the system file chooser; no broad file-system permission.
2a. Website, downloads and updates
The app itself never connects to the internet. Separately from the app:
- Website and downloads (
ivykey.xlab.nz): like most websites, our server records each request — the time, your IP address, the page or file requested, the result and size, your browser's user-agent string and the referring page. We use these logs to keep the site secure and working and to count downloads. We do not use cookies, tracking scripts or third-party analytics, and we do not combine the logs with any other data or try to identify individual visitors. - Linux updates: if you install the Linux version from our website, your system's package manager (dnf or Flatpak) checks our server for updates. These checks appear in the same logs and help us estimate how many copies are in use. They contain no vault data. Uninstalling IvyKey (and its repository) stops them.
- App stores: when you install from the App Store, Google Play or the Microsoft Store, the store's own privacy policy applies to that download. We receive only the aggregate statistics the store provides to developers.
- E-mail: if you write to us, we use your address and message only to reply, and delete them when no longer needed.
- Retention: access logs are kept for 12 months and then deleted; we may keep aggregate statistics (such as download counts per month) without IP addresses for longer.
3. System permissions (desktop Flatpak)
| Permission | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Display (Wayland / X11 fallback, GPU, IPC) | Show the window |
System bus org.freedesktop.login1 |
Lock the vault when the computer sleeps or the session locks |
Session bus org.freedesktop.ScreenSaver, org.gnome.ScreenSaver |
Lock the vault when the screen locks |
Not requested: network, home or host file-system access, access to all devices.
4. Retention and deletion
- Data stays on your device until you delete it. Deleted entries go to the trash and are permanently removed after 30 days.
- Uninstalling the app or clearing its data deletes the local vault and related files — export a backup first.
- Copies and backups you export are under your control.
5. Children
The app collects no personal information, so it does not distinguish users by age.
6. Changes
If a future version adds any network feature (for example local-network sync), this policy will be updated, the change will be highlighted in the release notes, and the feature will be off by default.
7. Contact
IvyKey is published by VNET LIMITED (New Zealand) under its XLAB brand.
E-mail: support@xlab.nz (for security issues, put "Security" in the subject).
(To be completed: postal address. See SECURITY.md.)