Privacy Policy
SortPal is a personal task manager for iPhone. This policy explains what information SortPal collects, how it is used, who it is shared with, and the choices you have. SortPal is made by an independent developer, referred to here as "we" or "us".
The short version
- You sign in with Apple. We store your tasks and lists so they sync to your devices and to the people you choose to share with.
- We don't show ads, run analytics, track you across apps or websites, or sell your information.
- Your calendars, contacts and reminders are read on your phone. Only what you add to a task is stored with us.
- If you connect an AI assistant such as Claude or ChatGPT, it can read and change your SortPal data, and what it reads goes to that assistant's provider.
- You can export your data, and you can delete your account in the app.
1. Information we collect
Your account
SortPal uses Sign in with Apple only. When you sign in, Apple shares with us:
- a user identifier that is unique to SortPal;
- your name, if you choose to share it;
- your email address, or an Apple private relay address if you choose to hide yours.
We keep these in our authentication service. We also store your workspace membership, the date you joined, and your device's time zone, so dates and reminders land on the right day.
The content you create
We store what you put into SortPal so it can sync:
- Tasks and events: titles, notes, dates and times, repeat and alert settings, lists, tags, links, completion and archive state, and their order.
- Lists: names, colours, icons, settings, and the email addresses of anyone you share a list with.
- Attachments: photos, scans and files you attach. A photo you pick from your library is uploaded as the original file, and that file can carry metadata such as when and where it was taken. Photos taken with the in-app camera are re-encoded before upload.
- Places and contacts you attach: an address with its map coordinates, or a contact's name and phone number.
- Authorship: the email address of the person who added each task, so people sharing a list can see who added what.
An app-generated device identifier
SortPal creates a random identifier when it is installed and records it on the tasks created on that device, so the app can tell your devices apart when syncing. It is not an advertising identifier, and it is not linked to your device's hardware.
What stays on your device
- Calendars: SortPal reads your calendar events to show them alongside your tasks. Events are not uploaded to us.
- Contacts: SortPal searches your contacts on the device as you type a name. Only a contact you choose to attach is stored, as above.
- Reminders: if you import from Apple Reminders, the app reads them once on the device. Only the items you import are stored, as tasks.
- Notifications are scheduled locally on your phone. We do not send push notifications.
- Widget, Siri and Spotlight: a summary of your open tasks is kept on the device for the widget, for Siri and Shortcuts, and for Spotlight search.
- Pages you share from Safari are held on the device until the app files them in your inbox.
- On-device AI: when a task has a note but no title, SortPal can suggest a title using Apple's on-device model. This runs entirely on your phone, and you can turn it off in Settings.
2. How we use information
- to provide SortPal: store, sync and show your tasks and lists across your devices;
- to let you share lists and workspaces with the people you choose;
- to keep the service secure and working, including rate limits on the AI connector and diagnosing errors;
- to carry out requests you make, such as exporting your data or deleting your account;
- to answer you when you contact us.
We do not use your information for advertising or profiling. We do not sell or rent it, and we do not share it with data brokers.
3. Where your data is stored, and our service providers
Your account and content are stored with Google Firebase, part of Google Cloud: Firebase Authentication, Cloud Firestore, Cloud Storage and Cloud Functions, in data centres in the United States. Google processes this data on our behalf under its Firebase data processing terms. Our server code uses Google Cloud Run, Cloud Scheduler and Cloud Logging.
Some features use Apple services, which Apple's own privacy policy covers:
- Sign in with Apple;
- MapKit, which receives the address text you search for when attaching a place;
- Siri and Apple Intelligence, if you use SortPal with them;
- your calendar provider: an event SortPal adds to your calendar syncs through whichever account that calendar belongs to (for example iCloud or Google).
SortPal does not include any analytics, advertising or crash-reporting software.
4. Sharing with other people
- Workspace members can see and change everything in the workspace, including attachments.
- People you share a list with can see the list and its tasks and add or change tasks in it. They also see the email address of whoever added each task. They cannot open its attached files.
- Joining a workspace: if you ask to join a workspace with an invite code and aren't yet allowed in, your email address is recorded with the request so it can be approved.
- Items other people add to a list you share appear on an "incoming" card, labelled with who added them.
We may also disclose information if the law requires it, or to protect the rights, safety or security of our users or the service.
5. AI assistants (optional)
You can connect SortPal to an AI assistant, currently Claude (by Anthropic) and ChatGPT (by OpenAI). Nothing is shared with an assistant unless you connect it yourself.
- How it connects: you sign in with Apple and approve the connection on a SortPal consent page. The assistant then receives a token that lets it read, create, change and delete your SortPal lists and items, across your whole workspace.
- What the assistant receives: the content it reads, such as task titles, notes, dates, lists, tags, links, attached places and contacts, attachment names, and your time zone. It does not receive your attachment files. If you ask it to attach a file from a web address, our server downloads that file into your SortPal storage.
- The provider's own policy: what the assistant receives is then handled under that provider's privacy policy and your settings with them.
- How we store the tokens: only in a hashed form. Access tokens expire after an hour. Refresh tokens expire after 90 days without use.
- Disconnecting: you can remove SortPal from the assistant's connector settings at any time. Deleting your SortPal account revokes every connection.
6. Requests your device makes to other sites
- Links: when a task has a link, your device fetches that page directly to show its title and preview. The site sees an ordinary request from your device, including your IP address.
- Map links: a shortened map link you paste is resolved with one request to the link's host.
7. Permissions
SortPal asks for each permission only when you use the feature that needs it. You can change each one in iOS Settings.
| Permission | What SortPal does with it |
|---|---|
| Calendars | Shows your events with your tasks, and adds an event to your calendar when you make a task an event. SortPal removes a calendar event only when you ask it to. |
| Reminders | Reads your Apple Reminders once, when you import them. SortPal never changes them. |
| Contacts | Finds a contact by name so you can attach it to a task. |
| Camera | Takes photos, scans documents and reads QR codes for attachments. |
| Photos | Uses Apple's photo picker, which gives SortPal only the photos you choose. |
| Notifications | Reminds you of tasks, scheduled on your device. |
SortPal does not access your location, microphone or advertising identifier.
8. How long we keep your data
- While your account is open, we keep your content until you delete it.
- Completed tasks and past events stay in your archive until you clear it.
- Deleted tasks and lists are hidden at once and permanently erased, with their attachments, after 30 days. Until then, you can recover them.
- Deleting your account (Settings › Account › Delete Account): you confirm with Apple, we revoke SortPal's Apple sign-in, and your account is scheduled for erasure 30 days later. Signing in again within those 30 days cancels the deletion. After that, we erase:
- your profile and your sign-in record;
- your AI assistant connections;
- if no one else is in your workspace, the workspace with all its content and files.
- Server logs record technical events, such as account identifiers and errors, but not the content of your tasks. They are kept only for a limited period, typically about 30 days.
9. Exporting your data
You can export your lists, with their attachments, as Markdown files from Settings, and export a single list as a PDF.
10. Security
Data travels to and from our servers encrypted, and Google encrypts it at rest. Access rules on our database and storage limit each record to the people it belongs to or is shared with. No system is perfectly secure, but we work to protect your information and to limit who can access it.
11. Your rights
Depending on where you live, including the European Economic Area, the United Kingdom and California, you may have the right to:
- access your information, or receive a copy of it;
- correct it;
- delete it;
- object to or restrict how it is used;
- withdraw consent you have given.
Most of this you can do in the app: edit or delete content, export it, and delete your account. For anything else, email us at the address below. We will respond within the time the law requires. You can also complain to your local data protection authority.
Where these laws apply, we rely on the following legal bases:
- Contract: to provide the service you signed up for.
- Legitimate interests: to keep the service secure and working.
- Consent: for device permissions, and for connecting an AI assistant. You can withdraw it at any time.
We do not sell or share personal information for cross-context behavioural advertising, as those terms are defined under California law.
12. International transfers
Your data is stored in the United States. Where data moves from the EEA, UK or Switzerland, we rely on our providers' safeguards, such as the European Commission's Standard Contractual Clauses.
13. Children
SortPal is not directed at children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect information from them. If you believe a child has given us information, contact us and we will delete it.
14. Changes to this policy
If we change this policy, we will post the new version here with a new effective date. If the changes are significant, we will also let you know in the app.
15. Contact
For any questions or requests about your privacy, email shaulzofef@gmail.com.