Privacy Ratings

Journaling apps

Apple Journal privacy rating

Apple's built-in journaling app for iPhone, iPad and Mac, with multimedia entries, multiple journals and on-device writing suggestions. Journal data syncs through iCloud with end-to-end encryption.

United States Five EyesPlatforms: iOS · macOS

Summary

Apple Journal scores 35 out of 100 (grade F) on the journaling apps criteria. It meets 1 of 4 criteria: no ads or data sales. It partly meets no trackers or telemetry. It does not meet open source and independent audit. It is based in the United States: Five Eyes member; subject to the US CLOUD Act.

Score 35 out of 100. How scoring works

Criteria

  • No

    Open source Weight 3 of 3

    Is all the source code needed to run the product public?

    Closed source.

  • Partial

    No trackers or telemetry Weight 3 of 3

    Are the website and apps free of third-party trackers, with any analytics anonymous and any telemetry off by default?

    No third-party trackers in the app, and sharing device analytics with Apple is opt-in. Apple web pages load Apple's own analytics (ac-analytics, sent to metrics.apple.com) by default.

    apple.com

  • Yes

    No ads or data sales Weight 2 of 3

    Is the product funded without advertising, ad targeting or selling user data?

    No ads in the app, which is included with Apple devices. Apple states it does not sell personal data.

    apple.com

  • No

    Independent audit Weight 2 of 3

    Has an independent security or privacy audit been published within the last three years?

    No independent audit is published.

Other journaling apps

All 9 journaling apps